When you have money woes, and you’re dealing with debts, it can be completely debilitating. It’s so easy for the stress of it all to get on top of you, and for you to feel like you’ve slipped down a hole, you can’t pull yourself out of. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way, there are many smart, practical things you can do to pull yourself out of debt and come out the other side. Here are just a few of them:

Get Acorns

No, I’m, not telling you that planting an acorn will somehow enable you to wipe out your debts and live a financially solvent life – I’m, telling you to get this app. Acorns is a fantastic app, which rounds up all of the purchases you make to the nearest dollar then invests those dollars in low-risk stocks. You don’t miss the money, nor do you end up spending it on frivolous purchases because it’s just change, and if you’re lucky you make a profit which helps you to get back on your feet, financially speaking. It’s great!

Get a Promotion

Okay, so getting a promotion isn’t as simple as wishing for one and it falling on your lap. But if you’ve been working for a company successfully for many years, asking for a raise might not be a bad idea. If you look at this article, you will see that the stats aren’t at all bad. If getting a raise would require a higher level of education, though, looking for an affordable program like an online RN to BSN program or an accountancy degree online might seem like it would make your problems worse. However, should it significantly boost your income, then the exact opposite might be true.

Use the Snowball Method

Many experts will tell you to use the debt ladder method to clear your debts and technically it is the least expensive way to do so, but the snowball method whereby you pay the minimum balances of all of your debts then funnel whatever’s left over to pay off your smallest debt, rinse, repeat, often works better because you see the results quicker and it spurs you on to keep going.

Keep it to Cash

Try living on just cash for one month, and I bet you will save money that you can use to pay off your debts or save for your future. Why/ Quite simply because it’s so easy to pay with plastic and not think of it as real money that most people who pay with cards overspend regularly.

List the Stuff You Want

Instead of buying that cell phone that you simply must have or that bag that’s just caught your eye and you really can’t resist, write it down on a list. Check that list every 30 days and if you still want to buy that thing do so, but most of the time, you’ll find that you don’t want it at all. The thing is, a great many of us are impulse buyers and if we can learn to control our impulses via this method, getting out of debt will be much easier.

What are your top tips for staying money-smart?