There are a lot of things I’m willing to do to get out of debt.
From setting aggressive repayment targets, to choosing to rent instead of buy, to trying my hand at a shopping ban, I’m open to trying different things to achieve my goal of reaching debt-free status.
But by the same token, there are things I’m not willing to do to get out of debt.
And some of those things might be a little controversial.
Things I won’t do to get out of debt faster
In truth, there are likely many things I’m not willing to do to get out of debt. But when I think about it, these are the four big ones that come to mind.
Take a second job
The biggest — and probably most controversial — thing on this list: taking on a second job is not something I’m willing to do to get out of debt.
This has nothing to do with anything other than a decision I made a long time ago to prioritize rest. I’m extremely Type A, which means, among other things, I’m not very good at slowing down when it comes to work. I throw myself into whatever I’m doing, often at the expense of things including my health and wellbeing.
A second job would help us get out of debt faster. There are a lot of people who work their full-time job and have a second job on the side. If that’s you — that’s awesome! Keep it up!
But for me, at this time in my life, I know adding another job into the mix would not be a healthy choice.
Will I always feel this way? Honestly, I don’t know. It’s entirely possible my perspective on this will change in time — and I’m open to that. But for the time being, one full-time job is enough for me, even if it means our progress with our debt is a little slower as a result.
Stop taking vacations
While a second job would run me down physically, not being able to go on vacation would hurt mentally.
That being said, when I say “going on vacation”, I’m not talking about anything too extravagant. Typically, what this entails is my once a year trip to Ontario to visit my best friend. These trips are generally pretty frugal — I sleep on an air mattress in her living room and we try to eat in as much as we can. The big costs are typically the flights and any activities we get up to while I’m there.
We have also taken a few smaller vacations, sticking mostly to Atlantic Canada.
We could get out of debt faster if we did not travel, but that sounds miserable to me.
Eat poorly
We’ve all heard the jokes about living on KD or rice and beans or whatever. And I have eaten my fair share of rice and beans on the debt-free journey — mostly because I really like rice and beans!
But I also like fruit and vegetables. And several other items included in the Canada Food Guide.
And sometimes, that means spending money.
I try to shop for good deals and I make use of cash-back apps like Checkout 51 and Caddle whenever I can.
But at the end of the day, eating well is a priority for me — and it’s way more important to me than getting out of debt fast.
Reduce our emergency fund
I’ve said it before and I will say it a thousand more times: I do not believe $1K is not enough for an emergency fund for most people.
One of the first things we did when we started our debt-free journey is beef up our emergency fund to $5K. It has not always stayed there, but it has never been lower than $3K and the goal is always to keep it at $5K.
Do I think everyone needs to have a $5K emergency fund? Not necessarily. I am sure there are people out there who can make that $1K fund work while they’re in debt. For us, $5K is a pretty solid amount to have set aside just in case, but that number is going to different depending on your circ*mstances.
Could we get out of debt faster if we used this money toward debt? Absolutely. But having a mid-size emergency fund has helped us more than it has ever hurt us.
Final Thoughts
Getting out of debt is a priority for us. But as I have said before, it’s not our only priority.
I firmly believe if we continue to work away at it, we will get there — even if it takes a little longer than we might like. As long as we’re making progress, I figure we’re doing OK.
What are you not willing to do to get out of debt?
