Staying Motivated During Your Debt Payoff Journey

Paying down debt and trying to get your financial house in order can be a challenging and tedious task, especially when you’re just starting out.

Hearing all the success stories of others who just paid off large amounts of debt can be pretty inspiring, but it can also hit a sore spot if you’re still looking at a sizable balance yourself.

We all know that becoming debt free doesn’t happen overnight; it takes hard work and perseverance. Staying motivated during debt payoff is the key, but what happens when you start to plateau and lose some of that motivation that burned so fiercely at the very beginning of your debt repayment journey?

We’ve all been there. The feeling is somewhat similar to those days when you can barely leave bed but have to pull yourself together just to make it through the day.

If you’re getting bored or feeling discouraged about your debt repayment process, I’ve got a few simple yet effective motivation-boosting tips for you to implement. You’ll be feeling like your debt busting self again in no time.

Embrace the Journey

Debt repayment and anything to do with personal finance for that matter, is about the journey. It’s not a sprint, but a marathon.

Remind yourself every now and then to embrace that journey. Once you’ve established a detailed plan and debt free date, stick with it but know that everything might not turn out exactly how you planned. Unexpected events both good and bad will pop up and that’s the beauty of life.

While I was paying off my student loans, there were so many times when other expenses came up or when I just didn’t have the money to do anything fun or relaxing since I put everything extra toward my debt.

In order to stay motivated, you need to make the best of the setbacks that occur and press on. Don’t let it break you, rather let it make you and your journey all that much more worthwhile.

During those times, I would just try to make the best of my situation by utilizing my small emergency fund or switching some money around and finding something fun and cheap to do instead. I’d visit my family who lives nearby and watch a movie with my sisters.

Or, I’d organize a game night at my home and make nachos for dinner which is probably my husband’s favorite meal 🙂 Super cheap comfort food and super relaxing activities can often lift your mood when you need it most.

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Acknowledge Your Progress

When you have a large amount of debt and/or a high interest rate, it’s easy to focus on what you haven’t paid vs. the progress you’ve made. Maybe you’re making more than the minimum payment on your student loans each month.

Or, perhaps you’ve found a way to cut an expense so you can add more to your monthly debt payments. Pat yourself on the back and don’t discredit your efforts. Every little bit truly does count.

Tracking your progress each month with a spreadsheet will help you better visualize and appreciate the payments you’ve made so far.

If you’re making more than the minimum payment on your student loans each month or if you’ve found a way to cut an expense so you can add more to your monthly debt payments, pat yourself on the back and don’t discredit your efforts. Every little bit truly does count. Tracking your progress each month with a spreadsheet will help you better visualize and appreciate the payments you’ve made so far.

Every little bit truly does count. Tracking your progress each month with a spreadsheet will help you better visualize and appreciate the payments you’ve made so far.

Also, take screenshots of your payment history for your debt. I know with federal student loans, the history tends to delete itself as you make more payments over the course of a year. Look at those old screenshots and see how far you’ve come and how much money you’ve saved in interest.

Related: Creating a Student Loan Debt Repayment Plan of Attack

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Celebrate Milestones

Setting smaller goals within your overall goal of paying off your debt, and celebrating those milestones is a great motivator to look forward to.

If you’ve been side hustling and using the income to add to your loan payments for the past six months, that’s a BIG deal so celebrate that milestone! You don’t have to go overboard and throw a big party but do something small for yourself to celebrate the goal you set.

This could be something as simple as purchasing a new book or gadget that you’ve had your eye on for a while, grabbing a bottle of wine and having a movie night with your friends.

Or, if you have a sweet tooth, check out your local confectionary for a small seasonal treat. You don’t even have to spend money if you don’t want to!

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Read Other Personal Finance Blogs and Interact

Reading other PF blogs really helped boost my motivation when I was in a funk with my debt situation. Reading engaging content from like-minded people who are in the same situation or have recently become debt free can be very uplifting.

Hearing about someone else’s struggles and how they overcame them will help reinstate the notion that YOU can make it through too. The PF blogging community is very friendly and it’s very easy to meet and connect with new friends that can help encourage you just by commenting on a post and sharing your viewpoint.

You can also join Facebook groups to connect with other people who are eager to pay off their debt just like you. Having support from people who ‘get it’ and have a similar mindset can do wonders.

Make a Visual

One easy thing you can do to help boost your motivation during debt payoff involves creating a visual that you can reference. Some people color an image based on how much debt they pay off.

For example, if you have an auto loan, you may put a clear picture of a car up on the wall in your kitchen. Every time you pay off $500 of the car loan, you’ll shade in more space on the car until it’s completely covered in once you pay off your loan in full.

Other people use vision boards which is something I like to do to keep me focused and motivated.

Let’s say you want to go on vacation to the Bahamas after you pay off your debt. Print out a picture of the island and put it somewhere you’ll look at each day or even make the image a screen saver on your phone or computer.

Related: How to Use the Living Well Planner to Meet Your Goals

Think About Your End Goal

It’s so important to keep your end goal in mind at all times as you pay off your debt. If you don’t have a solid reason for why you’re paying off debt, all the hard work and effort you’re contributing may not seem worth it at times.

Take some time to think about where you want to be in the next 5-10 years. How will your life be different/better when you become debt free?

Personally, my end goal is to retire early and become financially independent by the time I’m 45. It’s a steep goal, but it’s what I really want and I know that it won’t be possible if I have debt.

That’s why I’m eager for my husband and me to become and stay debt free so we can truly live life on our own terms.

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Remember You’re Not Perfect

This is the best mindset you can have during your debt repayment journey. You’ve already proved to yourself how committed you are simply by establishing the goal to become debt free.

You don’t have to constantly keep reassuring yourself that you are worthy and disciplined enough to make it happen. Stay dedicated and stick to your plan and budget but remember, you’re not perfect.

You’re not going to make perfect financial decisions 100% of the time. You might go out and grab a lunch one day instead of bringing it from home like you’d originally planned.

Don’t beat yourself up if you have small slip-ups like these. I’m not saying go buy a $300 designer sunglasses and say screw the budget, but focus on the bigger picture overall and not the minor setbacks.

Budget Fun Into Your Life

Don’t forget to budget in money for the fun stuff while you’re paying off debt. I understand the ‘all or nothing’ approach and how it can be beneficial to throw everything you have toward your debt to pay it off ASAP.

However, if you expect to be on your journey for several years, you’ll find it much more tolerable if you establish a reasonable budget for fun and entertainment so long as you’re still able to keep up with your goal.

With this year being the last year of paying off my student loans, I decided to put a fixed amount toward my debt that would ensure I paid it off before December. First, I decided to put $1,100 extra toward my debt each month.

There were some months when I wasn’t able to contribute that much due to having other expenses pop up but I didn’t beat myself up over it and I played catch up for about 2 months when I had more money to play with.

During the summer, I realized I could reduce my extra payment to $950 and still pay off my loans by October, so that’s what I did. I stuck to those $950 extra payments and whenever I had extra money to go out to dinner with friends, buy a new bike, or go see a movie, I did all of that and more guilt-free.

Could I have paid off my student loans before October if I didn’t spend that extra money on fun and entertainment? Yes, but it wouldn’t have made a huge difference financially and I would have been more stressed and unhappy because I still value the experiences and items I spent money on.

Related: How to Keep Your Entertainment Budget Frugal This Year

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What do you like to do to stay motivated during debt payoff? Have you tried any of these techniques?