Distract Yourself from Debt: Break Old Habits that Hold You Back

You want to be out of debt. That’s why you’re here, and why you’re working away at your debt snowball.

But let’s face it, getting out of debt takes time — especially if you’re facing a bunch of debt or don’t have a lot of wiggle room in your budget. In a world where we complain about a web page taking 5 seconds to load, being patient can be hard.

So how do you avoid the temptation of buying things on credit?

Get your why down, and then distract yourself from debt.

Why distraction helps

Distracting yourself from debt can help you break old habits.

(You know, like the habit where you want or need something and buy it on credit, telling yourself you’ll be able to pay it off with your next paycheck.)

It can help you change your way of thinking about money and debt. (Changing your point of view from “debt is normal” to “debt is dangerous”.)

Get those things licked, and you’ll really be on your way.

How to do it

There are two main ways to distract yourself from debt. First, you can ask yourself a question that will get you thinking if you find yourself with the urge to buy something you haven’t planned for. (Like an extra meal out, or whatever. You know what your weakness is.) This is useful when you do have the money, but had planned on sending it to your debt snowball.

That question is this: What do you want MORE?

Picture it like a scale. Do you want to live the kind of life where you’re not stressed out by debt? A life where your money stays yours? Or do you want the doohickey? What’s more important to you over the long term?

Figure out what you want more.

I asked myself that all the time when we were paying off our house. There were a few times when I chose the item over getting our house paid off quicker. But the vast majority of the time just asking myself that question was enough to get me refocused on my biggest priority. And now I don’t have to ask that any longer, because we got the house paid off. Totally worth it.

Another good way to distract yourself from debt is to delay the purchase.

Delaying the purchase works like this

Let’s say you’re out buying something that IS a planned purchase (aka something you already have the money for.) While you’re out and about, you see this must-have item. Maybe it’s a great deal, maybe it’s awesome, maybe it even feels necessary. But you don’t have the money for the extra thing.

So instead of using debt to buy it, promise yourself that you’ll put it in the budget and buy it later if you still want it then. Give yourself a mental time frame to revisit the idea. (Say, in a month.) In other words, delay, delay, delay. Chances are you’ll forget all about it.

If you do still want it later, add it to your budget and save up for it. If it’s a big ticket item, put it on your “this is something awesome I’m going to buy when I’m out of debt and can pay cash” list, like my husband and I did for my trip to Antarctica and his car.

Distracting yourself from debt can help avoid the temptation of buying things on credit. Stay focused on your primary goal of becoming debt free instead.