6 Ways to Increase Debt Payment (2024)

When budgets are tight, trying to increase debt payments can seem overwhelming. When I first started finding ways to put more money towards debt, I thought there was nowhere else in the budget to cut from, until I started nitpicking the budget apart even further.

Here are 6 things I came up with to help start paying off debt faster. I was able to start implementing them easily, and before I knew it, the debt was being paid off fairly fast! Some of them you may already do, but hopefully, some are fresh ideas that can help you increase your debt payment.

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Use Your Raise

When a raise comes in, I put the money into a separate savings account each week. It’s money I didn’t have initially, so it’s not like I’m going to be missing it either. For me, this is one of the easiest ways to increase my debt payments. However, be sure to learn from my budgeting mistakes and only set aside what you can within reason. That means reviewing your budget frequently to make sure you remain within budget and can reach your debt-free goal.

Round Up on Bills

When I budget bills that vary month to month, like the electric bill, I budget on the high end. I always budget $150 per month for the electric bill because it’s the highest amount since moving here. The only time the bill is close to the budgeted amount is in those dog days of summer when the air conditioner and fans are running nearly all day. Most of the year it’s between $95-$115 per month, leaving an additional $30-$50 to put towards the monthly debt.

Don’t use just the bigger bills either. Some months the internet bill is $0.95 less than what I’ve budgeted. Even though it’s less than a dollar, I keep the money aside for debt. Over the year, that’s $11.40 that I’ve reduced the debt by, and $11.40 I’m not paying later. Every little bit does help.

Use Your Shopping Savings

This is similar to the previous step. Let’s say you budget $150 a week for groceries and household items, but between coupons and store savings you only spend $125. Be sure to put the other $25 towards debt. I personally only use this monthly because the household’s needs and the store sales vary from week to week. Don’t forget to check out how you can start to save money on groceries before you even get to the store!

ATM Fees

Before switching to cash envelopes, I didn’t go to the ATM very much; I preferred to get any cash I would use through the month as cashback during a grocery transaction. But sometimes I couldn’t get the amount I needed due to withdrawal caps at certain stores.

Our credit union doesn’t have physical, brick & mortar with ATM locations either. Instead, they utilize a few banks within their network so that I do not encounter a fee. If I’m not near one of their network ATMs, or I do happen to be charged a service fee, my bank will reimburse the fee at the beginning of the following month. Since the money is already gone, it wasn’t missed in the first place, and I put that money towards our next debt payment.

Interest Deposits

Our credit unionaccounts {savings and checking} earn interest on the month’s average balance. This may not be the fastest way to get debt paid down, but a $0.07 paid now is $0.07 + interest I’m not paying later. I’ll take any small amount to pay towards debt that I can, even if it’s only a few pennies at a time.

Save Change

I can’t be the only one with mounds of change throughout the house, the car, in oddball places. Depositing the change in a bank account and using it to pay off debt gives it a lot more purpose than taking up space in the house. Or car. Or whatever oddball places you happen to have change lying around. Cash them in, deposit them in your account, and use that amount to pay off debt.

How do you put extra money towards debt without breaking your budget? Let me know in the comments below!