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This is the first in a series regarding RL personal finances.
(Disclaimer: We're not responsible for risks inherent in financial decisions.)

Have you ever had to choose between two basic needs (groceries vs rent, for example) because you could only afford one or the other, but not both at the same time? Is your job an acronym for Just-Over-Broke - where you have too much month at the end of the money, or sometimes enough to survive but not enough to find a better paying job? If this sounds like you, you're experiencing economic enslavement.The last time I checked (at least in the US), slavery is against the law. This is why terms like "financial freedom" and "financial independence" are so powerful - they're the opposite of enslavement or oppression.

If you can do basic math (1 and 1 are 2), you can free yourself from economic enslavement!

Contrary to many (esp mainstream media), escaping economic enslavement doesn't require a massive money hose - I did it with less than $1000 net monthly income, in spite of a maxed-out credit card ($3000 @ 24%APR) and a car payment! It took a few years, but I did it.

Many buzz words in use are variations of the same goal: be(com)ing debt-free. Some techniques and information are out of date, even though they're still being published as relevant.

One should only ever speak to methods they've actually used - direct experience is far more valuable than theories - esp. word-of-mouth theories.

"Budget" is not a dirty or shameful word. It's smart nutrition for your wallet and should be a point of pride, as you're doing something good for yourself. Yes, it can be boring at first, but so is stressing over where/when the next meal is. Taking control of your personal finances is empowering, and that can be one helluva rush when you get that a-ha moment!

The first technique I used that actually worked was "snowballing".
"Snowballing" is a compounding technique that works in your favour.
Create a ledger/schedule - it doesn't matter whether you use a spreadsheet (Excel, LibreOffice Calc, etc), notebook paper, or graph paper.
1. List each of your debts in a row across the top.
2. Just below each, note the current balance of that debt.
3. Arrange the debt columns to put the lowest balance to the left, ascending through the highest balance to the right.
4. On the left column, note the payment date and the minimum payment amount.
5. As each debt pays in full, roll that payment to the next debt. This is the snowball.
6. Do the math for each entry until all debts are paid (on paper). This creates your projection or map so you can see a prospective debt-free date.

The link below is a good example of how this should look, and how it works.

https://i2.wp.com/laurengreutman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Debt-Snowball-example.png

This it the end of part 1 in this series.
In part 2, we'll look at restructuring your cash-flow in a way that will benefit YOU.