LGBTQ+ Americans Are More Likely to Owe Money on Personal Loans. Here's How to Pay Yours Off Sooner

The nice thing about personal loans is that they allow you to borrow money for any purpose. You can use a personal loan to do anything from fix up your car to repair your home to cover sudden medical bills. And they also tend to charge a lot less interest than credit cards.

Not only that, but the interest rate you lock in on a personal loan is fixed, which means your payments for that loan are predictable. With a credit card balance, your interest rate can change while you're in the process of paying off your debt, making it harder to do so.

Still, owing money in any shape or form can be stressful. And so if you owe money on a personal loan, you may be eager to pay off your balance as soon as you can.

A Motley Fool survey reveals that people who identify as LGBTQ+ are more likely to owe money on a personal loan than members of the general population. So if you're in that boat, and your loan balance is contributing to your financial stress, here are some steps you can take to shed your debt in short order.

1. Prioritize your non-essential spending

If you were to cut out every single non-essential expense in your budget, it would probably go a long way toward helping you pay off your personal loan. But let's face it -- that's no way to live. You can't deny yourself every luxury that makes you happy. So instead of doing that, prioritize your non-essential expenses.

Figure out which luxuries are most important to you and continue to spend on those. At the same time, cut back on the non-essentials you can more easily do without. That way, you can free up some cash to pay off your loan.

2. Give your income a boost

If you don't earn a very high wage, you may only be able to free up so much cash each month for debt payoff purposes. That's where a side hustle could come in handy.

If you're willing to put in the time and work a second job, you can boost your income and use your extra cash to pay off your loan balance. And you may even find that you enjoy your side hustle enough to keep at it once your personal loan is gone for good. That could, in turn, help you avoid having to turn to a loan again in the future.

Owing money on a personal loan might be causing you stress. And even if it's not making you lose sleep, it's still monopolizing some of your income month after month. So either way, it's in your best interest to get rid of that debt as soon as you can.

By spending your money more judiciously and boosting your income with a second job, you may find that your personal loan balance is whittled down to $0 before you know it. And that's something to feel good about either way.