3100: Crush Debt with the Unstoppable One-Bite Method by Jackie Beck on Money Advice

[00:00:00] Have you ever noticed how a calm mind can really set the stage for a good night's sleep? That's the idea behind our new podcast, Good Sleep. Greg, our host from Optimal Relationships Daily, is here to help ease you into a peaceful night's rest with some positive affirmations. And these affirmations aren't just comforting. They can help ease anxiety and nurture positive thoughts, setting you up for true good sleep.

[00:00:25] So press play on Good Sleep Tonight, because a good tomorrow starts with a good night's sleep. Just search for Good Sleep in your podcast app, and be sure to pick the one from Optimal Living Daily. It's a Minimalist Monday edition of Optimal Finance Daily. Crush Debt with the Unstoppable One-Bite Method by Jackie Beck of JackieBeck.com.

[00:00:52] Ready to Crush Debt? Learn the Unstoppable One-Bite Method that can help you make it happen. It's surprisingly simple to do, but the why behind it is most important. So first, let's talk about an old proverb that goes like this. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. The proverb relates because like elephants, debt can be huge and overwhelming. It can take up a lot of space, mentally and emotionally.

[00:01:21] That means you can't pretend the elephant's not in the room. And once you do bite into the elephant, you can't stand there staring up at it, feeling overwhelmed by how large it is and depressed about how you've only taken a tiny little bite so far, and there's so much left. No, you've got to stare at that one bite and think, I took a bite out of an elephant. How many people ever do that? Go me.

[00:01:47] You've got to celebrate every little bit of progress, and then do it again, till one day you've polished off the whole thing. Use the One-Bite Method to Crush Debt. The same is true for getting out of debt, especially if you've got a bunch of it or are feeling overwhelmed. Why? Because feeling overwhelmed often equals feeling like giving up or not taking action because you aren't sure what to do.

[00:02:15] If you want to be debt-free, there are only two things you have to do. Stop borrowing money and stick with paying it off. You eat that elephant one bite at a time. You don't give up and you keep taking action. Taking things one little piece at a time can keep you on track. How the One-Bite Method Works The One-Bite Method of getting out of debt works like this. Pick a debt, any debt, and eat away at it until it's gone.

[00:02:45] It doesn't matter which debt you pick, so long as you're sure you will stick with it no matter what. But most people see great success with a debt snowball, starting with the smallest debt first. Once that first debt is paid off, you pick another one, then another. Do the same thing until they're all gone. Focus on the progress you're making and not on how much is left to go. Staying focused on your progress matters.

[00:03:13] The key to the One-Bite Method is absolutely to stay focused on your progress so that you keep going. That's why when I created my Payoff Debt app, one of the very first features I put into it was a progress bar at the top for the debt snowball. It wouldn't say 77% to go. It says 23% paid.

[00:03:36] Because it's all about paying attention to how much progress you've made and then continuing to build on that progress. One bite or percentage at a time. The One-Bite Method in action. How it worked for us. My husband and I paid off over $147,000 in debt. Over $357,000 in debt if you count the duplex I sold almost immediately after buying.

[00:04:03] I never know what to say when people ask how long it took. Technically, that answer is around 10 years. But I hate to give that answer for two main reasons. Firstly, 10 years is a long time. And I don't want to discourage others from becoming debt-free. It'd be sad to never start or finish just because you think it might take too long. And secondly, we were not actively working at paying off our debts for 10 solid years.

[00:04:32] That's just the time period from when we first got serious about paying off a debt to when we sent in the very last payment ever to our mortgage. And boy, did that day feel great. The truth is, we could have done it faster than that. Or we also could have never done it at all if we'd gotten overwhelmed and quit before we started or given up. That's the danger. How using the one-byte method helped crush our debt. We always intended to get out of debt.

[00:05:02] We hated owing that money and getting the credit card statements and never feeling like we were making any progress. Worse, we hated watching our money go to pay someone else and struggling to do something we wanted with it instead, only to have something come up and then go deeper into debt. We wanted out. Back then, we thought of debt as credit cards and debt-free as not paying interest every month to credit card companies.

[00:05:28] So we felt successful when we paid off our last bit of credit card debt. We felt like we were debt-free. Even though we technically weren't, that's still a great thing. We had our first taste of the thing I wanted most, freedom. Focusing in like that helped and then gradually got us thinking about the next step. So I paid off my student loan and felt great again. Rinse and repeat with breaks in between to beef up retirement and have fun until we got to something

[00:05:56] that wasn't originally even on our radar. Paying off the house with the one-byte method. When my husband and I were paying off our house, the very last bit of our debt, it felt overwhelming. Like a big old elephant staring us in the face. My husband asked me how were we going to do it. I told him I had no idea, but we would just start with $35 extra and one day it would happen. I really believed that. And it did.

[00:06:25] Not because of some woo-woo thing or because we magically came into a ton of money, but because I knew that you don't have to see exactly how things will happen in order to make them happen. You just have to start and then keep going, one bite at a time until you're done. Or to quote Thomas Fuller, an invincible determination can accomplish almost anything, end quote, including crushing debt. Make it happen.

[00:06:57] You just listened to the post titled Crush Debt with the Unstoppable One-Bite Method by Jackie Beck of JackieBeck.com. And now a word from our sponsors at Betterment. When investing your money starts to feel like a second job, Betterment steps in with a little work-life balance. They're an automated investing and savings app, which means they do the work. While they build and manage your portfolio, you build and manage your weekend plans.

[00:07:25] While they make it easy to invest for what matters, you just get to enjoy what matters. Their automated tools simplify the complex and put your money to work, optimizing day after day and again and again. So go ahead, take your time to rest and recharge. Because while your money doesn't need a work-life balance, you do. Make your money hustle with Betterment. Get started at Betterment.com.

[00:07:52] That's B-E-T-T-E-R-M-E-N-T dot com. Investing involves risk. Performance not guaranteed. When I started my conference, it felt like diving into the deep end. Each day brought new challenges. Design, sales, marketing. And I was drowning in decisions. Finding the right tools became my lifeline. For millions of entrepreneurs, that essential tool is Shopify.

[00:08:21] Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide and handles 10% of all e-commerce in the U.S. Launch confidently using hundreds of templates that create a beautiful online store matching your brand. Create content effortlessly with Shopify's AI tools that write compelling descriptions, craft headlines, and enhance photography. And market like a pro without a team. Plus, Shopify's experience covers everything. Inventory, shipping, returns, and beyond.

[00:08:50] If you're ready to sell, you're ready for Shopify. Turn your big business idea into... With Shopify on your side. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com slash OFD. Go to Shopify.com slash OFD. Shopify.com slash OFD. I'm all for taking action.

[00:09:17] And I do think there can be value in just picking any debt and focusing on it until it's gone. But I think what helped me the most when I was getting out of 30 grand of debt in 11 months was looking at all of my debt collectively and coming up with an efficient plan to tackle it. Now, the snowball method of paying off debt is recommended here. And that's so you can get some early wins that will keep you motivated.

[00:09:42] This method has you tackle your smallest debts first without any consideration of interest rates. The fastest way to pay off debt is to start with the one with the highest interest rate, also known as the avalanche method. I actually used a debt reduction calculator that showed me how long each method would take to pay off all of my debt after I entered in all of my open lines of credit, interest rates, and minimum payment amounts.

[00:10:11] The avalanche method took significantly less time, so it made it an easy choice after seeing the two methods side by side. But regardless of which method or tools you use to tackle your debt, the main thing I got out of this article is that you just need to start. Getting out of debt was hands down the best part of my personal finance journey. It's just an amazing feeling to finally be free. And that's a wrap for another Monday show.

[00:10:40] Have a great rest of your day and start to your week. And I'll be back tomorrow as usual, where your optimal life awaits. And I'll be back tomorrow as usual, where your optimal life awaits.