Starting a Debt Diet: A Review of Oprah’s Debt Reduction Program
The first part is perhaps the most painful. You must stop having debt denial. Find out exactly how much debt you have, and what your debt is costing you. Look at the principal that you owe, the interest rates you are paying, and find out how long it would take to pay off this debt if you were only paying minimum each month. So many people think that they would be overwhelmed or paralyzed if they knew how much debt that have, but you will not become debt free until you are committed to paying it off and knowing how much you have to pay off.
Step two is important, but while some will find it useful, others might find it discouraging. In step two, you track your spending. Your goal is to find extra money to pay down your debt, ideally at least $10 a day. Everyone, no matter how they got into debt, will find tracking their money useful. If you are in debt because of overspending, it should be easy to free up an extra $10 a day. Eliminating fast food, movie tickets, and coffee is important if you are serious about getting out of debt. But if you accumulated debt due to a job loss or an illness, chances are have already eliminated the extras in your life.
Step three and step four are great steps if you are able to find an extra five dollars a day to pay on your credit card and if you have been paying your bills on time. These are simple but important steps that will increase the amount of money you pay a month while decreasing the interest on your cards. These two methods are the surest way to get out of debt quickly. If you haven’t been making regular payments, you will have a harder time negotiating with your creditors. Instead of negotiating with your credit cards like step four recommends, you can call your credit card company and work on a payment plan which can reduce the fees that you have been paying.
The debt diet is aimed at Americans with decent jobs, high credit card debt, and poor spending habits. If that describes you, make a two month commitment to try the debt diet. Spend one month of phase one and then another month of phase two. By the end of the two months, you should be on your way to a debt free life and will want to stick with the program for good. If, however, you are struggling to make ends meet, have already sold several of possessions, and have not been able to pay your bills on time, you might want to find a different debt reduction plan or seek debt counseling.
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