Adding To Your Debt Relief Snowball To Get Out Of Debt Faster

For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.”

I Corinthians 14:33

Taking an orderly and systematic approach to debt reduction is reminiscent of this passage.

This simple, orderly approach is why we are a fan of the debt snowball method. The debt snowball approach makes sense because it saves you money in the long run and reduces your debt in an orderly fashion. Here are three tried and true methods to improve your financial situation and get out of debt faster.

As a reminder, in the snowball method, you focus on your smallest debt first.

You add every extra dollar that you can to your monthly payment on that smallest account. Once that account is paid off, you roll that payment into the next smallest account, hence the “snowball” concept. 

Let’s stick with the wintry analogy and think of each bit of “extra” money that you add to your snowball as a snowflake. The more snowflakes you can add to your debt snowball, the faster you will see that account paid off.

Makes sense, right?

Since you’re here, we know you are serious about reducing debt. You probably already use various tried and true money-saving tips, such as shopping secondhand, couponing, or working overtime. But here are three creative ways to save small amounts of money—snowflakes—that grow your debt reduction snowball.

While you won’t find anything groundbreaking here, you will find tried and true methods to improve your financial situation and reduce your debt faster.

Less money going out and more money coming in are the key elements to financial progress, so we’ll be touching on both of those. Some of these may already be in your repertoire but sometimes revisiting the tried and true basics can remind us of something that worked well in the past. 

Eat Your Oats

One simple change in your breakfast routine could save you a bundle on groceries.

Instead of spending $5 on a box of cold cereal and finding yourself hungry an hour later, buy a good old-fashioned canister of oatmeal. We’re talking about those round tube you made drums out of in kindergarten, as you won’t see quite as much financial or nutritional value from the flavored packets. 

In addition to costing less than most other breakfast options, oatmeal is easy to customize with fresh fruit, peanut butter, or even chocolate chips. 

Our family goes through a pretty ridiculous amount of oats— we look like we’re stocking up for a pandemic during a normal grocery run— but hey, it is inexpensive, fast, healthy, and versatile. 

There are countless recipes for bulking up your oats. We will sometimes cook a batch of custard oatmeal with eggs mixed in to have a very hearty pre-made breakfast set and ready for the next few days. 

So, eat oatmeal, enjoy a filling breakfast and apply the money you save toward paying down your debt. For a busy family, saving money with a fast and healthy option is a triple win. 

Get a Family Job

Whether you are a newly married couple with student loan debt or a family of 10 trying to become debt-free using Christian principles, consider getting a job together. This is not only a way to earn additional income, but can also bring your family together and promote valuable financial literacy lessons to your kids, too.

Managing childcare is often a hurdle to working a side-hustle. If you can include your children in the job with you, you can overcome that hurdle and teach them important values along the way. Depending on their age, they can work their fair share, earn an income of their own and begin their own financial journey. 

Clean yards, run errands for neighbors, or baby, pet, house or garden sit. By working together, the job gets done faster, and you get to enjoy time as a family while you work toward reducing your debt.

A side hustle doesn’t have to be extravagant or glamorous. My family is planning to start a pooper-scooper hustle this coming spring. My three and 7-year-old will both be able to get in on the job, meeting neighbors and their dogs along the way. Oddly enough, I don’t think it is going to stink. 

Cut Electronics

It is easier than ever to consider canceling cable. You could save over $100 a month, and that money rapidly builds your snowball. While the ideal may be to replace that screen time with other more enriching activities, the reality is that there are enough streaming services available to satisfy our televised desires. 

If you have already done this or aren’t quite ready to give up your cable service, be sure to check your ongoing subscriptions. You may not use some as frequently as you did in the past, or a different plan may be a better fit for your needs now. 

When canceling a subscription service, the company may give you an offer to keep you as a customer. If you are on the fence about keeping or canceling a service, you might find that you can get the best of both worlds by beginning the process to cancel. Our household has successfully done this over the years with services such as XM Satelite Radio, educational apps like ABC Mouse and Adventure Academy, and others. 

Roll It All Up And Get Out Of Debt

These three small snowflakes can all be put into place relatively quickly. Some will reduce your expenses while others will bring in some extra money. Every little bit helps when you are paying off debt using the snowball method. Any small changes that you can make now will quickly add up to create a fast and effective debt relief snowball. 

Which snowflake will you start today?