5 Smart Money Moves to Make Before Paying Off Debt

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1. Save a Small Safety Fund First

Before you attack your debt, you need a little cushion between you and chaos.

Without one, even a flat tire or vet bill can send you right back into debt.

Here’s how a small safety fund helps:

• Covers emergencies. You won’t reach for the credit card every time life happens.
  
• Reduces stress. Knowing there’s a backup calms your mind.
  
• Builds confidence. You’re saving and tackling debt at the same time. double win.
  

👉 Here's How You'll Do It: Save $500 to $1,000 in a separate account before making any big debt payments.

Make It Easy: Use a Betterment Cash Reserve Account to automatically stash your safety fund while earning interest.

2. Cut Unnecessary Spending Before Paying Debt

It’s hard to pay off debt if your money keeps sneaking out through impulse buys.

You don’t need to live like a monk, just get rid of the extras that drain your wallet.

Here’s what to look at first:

• Streaming overload. Cancel or pause subscriptions you barely use.
  
• Takeout temptation. Limit delivery apps and cook more at home.
  
• Impulse traps. Unsubscribe from store emails. They’re digital sirens for spending.
  

👉 Here's How You'll Do It: Track your last month’s spending and cancel or pause anything that doesn’t bring daily value.

Make It Easy: Consider a budget planner notebook to spot wasteful patterns and track savings progress.

3. Pause Using Credit Cards

You can’t fix a leak while adding more water, right?

Same with debt. Stop using credit cards for a bit so you can actually make progress.

Here’s how this helps:

• Prevents new debt. You’ll stop adding to the problem.
  
• Forces mindfulness. Cash or debit makes you feel each purchase.
  
• Simplifies progress. Your debt balance finally starts going down.
  

👉 Here's How You'll Do It: Remove credit cards from your wallet and delete them from online stores temporarily.

Make It Easy: Consider a small cash envelope wallet to manage your weekly spending categories.

4. Automate Minimum Payments to Avoid Extra Fees

Missing payments because life got busy? That’s how late fees sneak in and mess up your plan.

Automation makes sure you never fall behind again. No excuses.

Here’s why this simple move works wonders:

• No late fees. Your payments always arrive on time.
  
• Better credit score. Consistency keeps your report healthy.
  
• Peace of mind. You’ll never forget another due date.
  

👉 Here's How You'll Do It: Set up auto-pay for at least the minimum amount on all debts to stay penalty-free.

5. Focus on One Debt at a Time

Trying to pay everything at once spreads your effort too thin.

Focus builds momentum. And seeing one balance drop to zero feels amazing.

Here’s how to do it smart:

• List debts from smallest to largest. That’s the debt snowball method. simple and powerful.
  
• Pay minimums on others. Focus your extra cash on one target.
  
• Celebrate each win. Progress keeps motivation alive.
  

👉 Here's How You'll Do It: Choose your smallest debt and throw every spare dollar at it while keeping other payments minimal.

Make It Easy: Consider a debt-free progress chart you can color in as you go.

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