4 Money Secrets to Paying off Debt and Building Wealth

Stop worrying about money — it’s bad for you.

Studies show that financial stress can aggravate all kinds of health issues, like migraines, insomnia, heart disease and weight gain — not to mention our old pals anxiety and depression!

Money worries can rip apart relationships and ruin your peace of mind. If you want to stop worrying, what you need to do is take action. That’s right, TAKE. ACTION. And we’ve got an action plan for you.

You’ll feel better once you take these four simple, strategic steps. They’ll give you a real financial edge, and you’ll be on your way to paying off your debts and building your wealth for real.

1. Stop Paying Your Credit Card Company

A big part of this is forming new habits and thinking of new ways to do things.

For instance: Credit card debt is the most expensive kind of debt, and your credit card company is just getting rich by ripping you off with high interest rates. But a website called Fiona can help you fight back.

If you owe your credit card companies $250,000 or less, Fiona will match you with a low-interest loan you can use to pay off every single one of your balances.

The benefit? You’ll be left with one bill to pay each month. And because personal loans have lower interest rates (Fiona rates start at 2.49% APR), you’ll get out of debt that much faster. Plus: No credit card payment this month.

It takes two minutes to see if you qualify for up to $250,000 online. You do need to give Fiona a real phone number in order to qualify, but don’t worry — they won’t spam you with phone calls.

2. Stop Overpaying for Stuff Online

Wouldn’t it be nice if you got an alert any time you’re shopping on Amazon or Walmart.com and you’re about to get ripped off?

That’s exactly what this free service does.

Just add it to your browser for free, and before you check out, it’ll check other websites, including Walmart, eBay and others to see if your item is available for cheaper. Plus, you can get coupon codes, set up price-drop alerts and even see the item’s price history.

Let’s say you’re shopping for a new pair of shoes, and you assume you’ve found the best price. Here’s when you’ll get a pop up letting you know if that exact pair of shoes is available elsewhere for cheaper.

In the last year, this has saved people $160 million. You can get started in just a few clicks to see if you’re overpaying online.

3. Cancel Your Car Insurance

Here’s the thing: your current car insurance company is probably overcharging you. But don’t waste your time hopping around to different insurance companies looking for a better deal.

Use a website called EverQuote to see all your options at once.

EverQuote is the largest online marketplace for insurance in the US, so you’ll get the top options from more than 175 different carriers handed right to you.

Take a couple of minutes to answer some questions about yourself and your driving record. With this information, EverQuote will be able to give you the top recommendations for car insurance. In just a few minutes, you could save up to $610 a year.

4. Leave Your Family up to $1M

Oh, to be a millionaire. Look, not all of us have the money to set up trust funds for our loved ones. But you could still give them $1 million (or more) with term life insurance.

You’re probably thinking: I don’t have the time or money for that. But you can get free quotes from a company called Policygenius in just a few minutes to help you find the right coverage for your needs.

Some policies start at less than $20 per month.* The peace of mind of knowing your family is taken care of is priceless.

Policygenius offers life insurance policies that don’t require the usual medical exam, so you don’t even have to get up from the couch. Click here to get a free quote from Policygenius.

*For a $500K policy, subject to eligibility.

Mike Brassfield (mike@thepennyhoarder.com) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. He tries not to worry too much about money — aside from writing about it, of course.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.