8 Bizarre Ways to Pay Off Debt That None of Us Were Ever Taught

You’re ready to be out of debt. Sounds like the understatement of the century, right? You can’t wait to be debt-free. But you feel like you’ve tried everything. And everywhere you turn, your debt is still there — impacting just about every area of your life.

But we’ve got a bunch of strategies you probably didn’t realize you could use to help you pay it off.

1. Ask This Website to Help You Pay Off Your Credit Card Bill

No, like… the whole bill. All of it.

Every month, you make payments toward your credit card debt. But you never seem to make a dent. It’s because of those sky-high interest rates — as much as 24% interest. It can feel impossible to get ahead.

But MoneyLion could help you find offers to cut your interest rate by 70% as soon as tomorrow.

Here’s how it works: MoneyLion can match you with new loan offers at a lower interest rate — as low as 5.20% APR*. That’s 70%* lower than the average credit card interest rate. And it’s the key to finally getting ahead.

You can use this new loan to pay off all your existing credit card debt, then you’ll be left with one (cheaper) monthly payment that will help you get out of debt faster.

If you have a credit score of at least 620, you could get up to $100,000. With no collateral. And terms go up to 144 months.

Worried you won’t qualify? Take two minutes to check online and see if you could cut your credit card interest rate by 70%.

*Based on creditworthiness. Average credit card interest rate is 24.72% as of 8/14/23, according to Forbes Advisor’s weekly credit card rates report.

2. This Website Will Tell You What Bills To Pay Off First

One of the toughest parts about paying down your debts is simply knowing where to begin.

Which of your credit cards are carrying a balance? Is your name attached to any unpaid loans? Are you behind on medical or utility bills you didn’t know about?

That’s where a free website like Credit Sesame can help. It takes about 90 seconds to sign up and access your free credit score. From there, Credit Sesame will outline your debt — exactly what you owe and to whom — and offer personalized recommendations. It’ll even break down the interest rates and minimum monthly payments attached to your bills.

Armed with this intel, you’ll be able to more easily devise your payoff plan. Do you want to use the debt avalanche method, where you’ll pay off your highest interest rates first? Or maybe you prefer the debt snowball method, where you start with the smallest balances first.

You can continue to use Credit Sesame to keep track of your progress and hold yourself accountable. And, hey, it might be kind of fun watching your credit score react to all your hard work!

It takes just 90 seconds to get started with Credit Sesame.

3. Cancel Your Car Insurance

When was the last time you compared car insurance rates? Chances are you’re seriously overpaying with your current policy.

If it’s been more than six months since your last car insurance quote, you should look again.

And if you look through a digital marketplace called SmartFinancial, you could be getting rates as low as $22 a month — and saving yourself more than $700 a year.

It takes one minute to get quotes from multiple insurers, so you can see all the best rates side-by-side. Yep — in just one minute you could save yourself $715 this year. That’s some major cash back in your pocket.

So if you haven’t checked car insurance rates in a while, see how much you can save with a new policy.

4. Get Paid $225/Month While Watching Movie Previews

If we told you that you could get paid while watching videos on your computer, you’d probably laugh.

It’s too good to be true, right?

But we’re serious. By signing up for a free account with InboxDollars, you could add up to $225 a month to your pocket. They’ll send you short surveys every day, which you can fill out while you watch someone bake brownies or catch up on the latest Kardashian drama.

No, InboxDollars won’t replace your full-time job, but it’s something easy you can do while you’re already on the couch tonight, wasting time on your phone.

Unlike other sites, InboxDollars pays you in cash — no points or gift cards. It’s already paid its users more than $56 million.

Signing up takes about one minute, and you’ll immediately receive a $5 bonus to get you started.

5. Let This App Find an Extra $1,000 to Put Toward Your Debt

If you have credit card debt, chances are you think about it a lot. It’s overwhelming and anxiety-inducing, and you start feeling like you’ll never escape.

But what if you could just stop thinking about it, and it’d magically disappear?

Well, it’s not exactly magic, but an app called Digit wants to help you become debt-free.

Here’s how it works: Digit uses a smart formula to look at your monthly spending and income. From there, it’ll find extra money in your budget and funnel it into your Digit account. This typically happens every few days, and amounts will vary.

Digit will use the extra money it’s shuffled away to make additional payments. Once a month, Digit automatically transfers the money it’s saved to help pay off your credit card.

You’ll be able to pay off your credit cards that much faster. Plus, you’ll feel relieved knowing Digit has your back.

Want to finally stop obsessing over your debt and just let Digit handle it for you? It takes minutes to download Digit and get started. Your first month is free, then you’ll pay $5 a month after. Totally worth easing some anxiety.

6. Earn up to $64/Hour as a Part-Time Bookkeeper

Have you always dreamed of starting your own business? One where you could work from home and set your own flexible hours? This could be your perfect opportunity to put more money toward your debt.

Not sure where to start? Look into bookkeeping. It’s the No. 1 most profitable business, according to an article in Inc. And you can earn up to $64 an hour.

You don’t have to be an accountant or good at calculus to be successful at bookkeeping, either. As long as you’re motivated, a company called Bookkeeper Launch will teach you everything you need to know. It’s one of the leading training courses in the field, and it’ll even give you the first three classes for free.

It’s helped thousands of people launch their own mini-businesses, including Daniel Honan, a military veteran in his early 30s. He never considered starting his own company, but he signed up for Bookkeeper Launch, and now he’s making around $50,000 a year keeping track of business expenses for his clients.

It only took him three months to get started, taking one class a week. Oh, and he makes his own schedule and is able to spend more time with his wife than ever.

If you’re just a little curious, you just have to submit your email address here to take the first free classes.

7. Try Starving and Stacking

Don’t worry. You can still eat. The starve and stack budgeting method is geared toward couples, especially newlyweds. Couples combine their finances and live exclusively off one income for 18 to 24 months.

Use the additional income to invest, establish a rainy day fund and pay off debt. That’s what Penny Hoarder Jen Smith did. She and her husband practiced the starve and stack method for two years and were able to pay off $78,000 in debt.

8. Pay off Debt by Taking Pictures of Your Crumpled Receipts

Here’s an unusual way to make some progress on your debt: Download the free app Fetch Rewards and get paid for taking pictures of your receipts.

Fetch partners with tons of brands to give you points for every grocery receipt (from any store!) you share. All you have to do is snap a photo of your receipt through the app, then Fetch does the rest for you. No scanning barcodes or searching for offers.

Plus, when you download the app, use code PENNY to earn an extra 2,000 points after you scan your first receipt. How easy is that?