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What would you give up to be debt-free?

Posted at 4:41 AM, Jul 26, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-26 07:41:17-04

Looking to get out from under a mountain of credit card debt? You’ve likely come across an inspirational story or 12 while clicking around.

They usually go like this: Penny-pinching Peter rid himself of an enormous amount of debt by cutting out small treats and giving up Netflix. But will abstaining from $12 avocado toast and missing out on the latest season of “Orange Is the New Black” do the trick for you?

Or you read about those who sleep in their cars for a year, shower at the gym and consume only discarded ketchup packets. That might not work for you, either.

Defeating debt is a delicate balance: You need to figure out where you can cut — and how long you can live that way.

We crunched the numbers for some common budget cuts, and some extreme ones, and then tested how long they’d take to offset $15,000, a nice round number close to the average credit card debt in the U.S., according to a NerdWallet study.

Cuts that really make a difference

Starting small can ease you into the habit of budget cuts. But forgoing little luxuries alone often won’t be enough to make a meaningful difference in debt. For instance, brown-bagging your lunch cuts out the average $5 fast food tab every workday. Great start, you’re saving $105 a month — but at that rate it would take you nearly 12 years to save enough to pay off $15,000.

Getting more serious, you could take on a second job, figuring that wiping out debt is worth sacrificing some of your free time. An extra 10 hours of work a week could earn you an additional $314 a month, based on the federal minimum wage. At that rate, you’d be up to $15,000 in four years.

The most extreme measures put you on the fast track to paying off debt — if you’re willing to make the lifestyle sacrifices. Moving in with family or living out of your car are drastic options, but ditching rent on a one-bedroom saves $810 a month on average. That adds up to $15,000 in just a year and a half.

See for yourself

Playing around with different combinations of budget cuts gives you valuable insight: You might be inspired to go big and defeat debt quickly, or you might decide to preserve some little luxuries and accept a longer timeline.

NerdWallet’s debt-free calculator lets you test cuts to your monthly budget and see how long various combinations would take to offset your current debt. Or, pick and choose from this table detailing average savings and timelines:

Action Average monthly savings* Average annual savings* Years to offset $15,000 debt
*See how we got the numbers in the Methodology section.
Give up Pandora $4.99 $59.88 250.5
Give up Spotify $9.99 $119.88 125.1
Give up Netflix $9.99 $119.88 125.1
Drop collision and comprehensive car insurance $43 $516 29.1
Get cheaper phone $45 $540 27.8
Cancel cable TV $50 $600 25
Cancel gym membership $58 $696 21.6
Give up coffees $76.65 $919.86 16.3
Slash entertainment spending $76.83 $921.96 16.3
Skip vacations $97.17 $1,166.04 12.9
Stop eating lunch in restaurants $105 $1,260 11.9
Stop buying new clothes $153.83 $1,845.96 8.1
Halt 401(k) $254.89 $3,058.68 4.9
Get second job $314.17 $3,770.04 4
Rent room on Airbnb $440 $5,280 2.8
Share housing $470.50 $5,646 2.7
Move in with parents or live in car $810 $9,720 1.5
Sell car, use public transit $816.42 $9,797.04 1.5
 

 

Getting a sense of what you can live with clears the way to the next step: picking the right path to paying it off. Strategies such as debt consolidation and targeted payments — the “debt avalanche” and “debt snowball” techniques you can use — may speed up the process or reduce the amount of interest you pay.

And if your repayment timeline is stretching past five years even with major austerity measures, it’s time to look at debt relief options such as debt management plans or bankruptcy. Most people want to pay what they owe, but there comes a time when trying to dig your way out is really just digging yourself deeper.

Sean Pyles is a staff writer and Daniel Tonkovich is a data analyst at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: spyles@nerdwallet.comdtonkovich@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @SeanLoranPyles

METHODOLOGY

Calculator figures the time needed to save enough money to pay off a target amount but does not incorporate interest. Average monthly savings and sources:

Give up Pandora: Pandora Plus, $4.99. Source: Pandora

Give up Spotify: Premium, $9.99. Source: Spotify

Cancel Netflix: Standard plan, $9.99. Source: Netflix

Drop collision and comprehensive car insurance coverage: Blended savings from dropping collision, comprehensive, $43. Source: NerdWallet

Get a cheaper phone: Unlimited plan, $80; Small plan, $35. Source: Verizon (largest carrier)

Cancel cable TV: Cheapest Comcast bundle with at least 10 channels vs. comparable internet-only deal, $89.99 vs. $39.99, Bay Area, first year of service only; monthly savings $50. Source: Comcast

Give up gym membership: Average membership, $58. Source: StatisticBrain.com

Give up coffees: Starbucks grande latte, $3.65 per weekday; monthly savings $76.65. Source: Fastfoodmenuprices.com

Slash entertainment spending: Annual average spending on fees/admissions, $569, entertainment equipment/services, $353; monthly savings $76.83. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Skip vacations: Two trips a year at average expenditure for domestic trips of more than 1 day away from home; monthly savings $97.17. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Stop eating lunch in restaurants: Average fast food meal, $5 per weekday; monthly savings $105. Source: Franchisehelp.com

Stop buying new clothes: Average spending $1,846 a year on clothing, shoes, associated services. Monthly savings $153.83. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Stop 401(k) contributions: Average 6.8% deferral rate, median weekly earnings for full-time workers $865; monthly savings $254.89. Sources: VanguardBureau of Labor Statistics

Pick up a second job: 10 hours a week at $7.25 federal minimum wage, monthly pretax total $314.17. Source: Department of Labor

Rent out a room on Airbnb: Median earnings $440 a month. Source: Priceonomics.com

Live with a friend / get a roommate: Median 2-bedroom rent $941; monthly savings $470.50. Source: Census Bureau, 2015 American Community Survey

Live with parents or sleep in car: Median 1-bedroom rent, $810. Source: Census Bureau, 2015 American Community Survey

Sell car, use public transit: Average savings for car payment, gas, insurance, parking vs. average monthly transit pass (proceeds from car sale not included); monthly savings $816.42. Source: American Public Transportation Association

The article What Would You Give Up to Be Debt-Free? originally appeared on NerdWallet.