 TITLE: How to Pay Off Debt in a Year CONTENT: Earn Extra Income and Cut Down on Spending\n------------------------------------------\nOne of the quickest ways to pay off debt is to bump up your income. Here are four ways to earn extra income to help put yourself on a faster track toward eliminating debt.\n1.  Hunt for a temporary job. You may be able to snag a side hustle as a tutor, data entry specialist, graphic designer, rideshare driver, delivery driver, housecleaner or handyman.\n2.  Take on freelance work. If you have a talent for writing, social media, programming or marketing, to name a few examples, think about taking on part-time freelance clients. The nice thing about freelance gigs is that you typically can work from home.\n3.  Become a sales whiz. Do you have unused clothes or electronics around the house? You can convert those items into cash through online platforms like Craigslist, eBay and Poshmark.\n4.  Rent out a room. If you've got a room to spare, you can turn it into a moneymaker by renting it out on a platform like Airbnb. Research published in March 2020 by online lender Earnest indicates an Airbnb host makes an average of $924 a month.\nYou might also cut spending and put that money toward paying your bills. Here are six strategies for doing this:\n1.  Kick the eating-out or ordering-in habit. Restaurant meals frequently cost more than meals you fix at home.\n2.  Stick to a shopping list. Building a grocery shopping list around a weekly meal plan, and being disciplined about following the list, can yield savings as it will prevent you from buying more than you actually need (or making those empty stomach impulse purchases).\n3.  Go generic. Buy generic or store-brand products, which tend to cost less than their brand-name counterparts and are oftentimes just as high quality.\n4.  Shop around for insurance. Obtaining at least three quotes for auto, homeowners or renters insurance coverage lets you compare prices and potentially save money on premiums.\n5.  Pare down your entertainment options. If you pay for cable TV along with streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, consider slimming down your monthly expenses by dumping cable TV and staying with streaming services, or vice versa.\n6.  Cancel subscriptions. Do you have a gym membership but haven't worked out there for months? Can you live without some of the paid app subscriptions that you've accumulated? Comb through your subscriptions and memberships, and see which ones you won't miss by axing them. END