How do I get out of debt in my 30s

If you're in a position where you're feeling overwhelmed, stuck and hopeless because of the bad financial decisions you made in your 20s, you aren't alone. Many people spend their 20s getting into too much debt, trying to create an Instagram-worthy lifestyle or just trying to survive, but needing to supplement their income with credit to survive. Regardless of the decisions you made in your 20s, you can course-correct and make better ones in your 30s. 

Do NOT take out any more credit

As tempting as it may be, do NOT take out more credit to get out of debt. While things like payday loans may provide temporary relief, looking to credit to pay off credit (debt) is not a sustainable way to get out of debt. In fact, it is making your already difficult debt life, even worse. When you take out more debt when you are already struggling, you are just making it more difficult to get out. 

Track your income & expenses and identify how much you really owe

Before you can pay off any debt, you first have to take a very honest look at all your expenses and track how much you really owe. Once you have worked out how much you owe, set your financial goals and then determine a budget that aligns with those goals. One of your goals would be to prioritise paying off your debt. 

Pay off your debt

The third step to getting out of debt in your 30s is to pay off your debt using these 3 debt repayment plans: 

The Debt Avalanche Method:

With this method, you prioritise paying off your debt with the highest interest rate first. This will end up saving you money in the long run. You do this by using all of your extra cash to pay more than the minimum balance each month. Do this until you paid off your first and then tackle the next debt with the highest interest rate. Continue doing this until you pay off all your debt. 

The Debt Snowball Method:

The Debt Snowball Method prioritises paying off your smallest debt first. Pay off your smallest debt and then work towards paying off the next smallest debt. Again, do this until you've finished paying off all your debt. 

If you do not have any extra money to start contributing more than your minimum payments using either or two methods above, you might be over-indebted and need debt counselling. If you are, there is STILL a way out of overwhelming debt. 

Debt counselling (debt review):

Your way out is with debt counselling. Debt counselling is a debt relief programme that is intended to help South Africans who are struggling to pay for all of their debt and have a basic living expenses budget too. It was introduced by The National Credit Act (NCA) and is regulated by The National Credit Regulator (NCR). 

With debt counselling, all your debts are consolidated and instead of paying multiple instalments for your debt each month, you now pay ONE, reduced instalment for ALL of your debt. This can end up saving you about 50% on your debt instalments each month. 

Want to know more about debt counselling? Read this blog post. 

Peace of mind after debt

Paying up your debt will free up your cash so that you can, if you haven't already, start building an emergency fund and implementing a savings plan for saving towards your retirement. Both of which are essential goals for thriving financially. Small steps eventually lead to big wins. Start with tackling your debt and you're already on your way to achieving financial freedom. 

Who is Meerkat?

MyMeerkat FSP is an authorised financial services provider (FSP 50979). Registered Debt Counsellor NCRDC 2613. We've been voted as one of the Top 10 Large Debt Counsellors in the country!