Pinching pennies  

The first step? Adopting a hardcore austerity mindset about eliminating ALL non-essential spending so every penny goes towards debt. That could mean: 

• Temporarily living with family/friends to avoid rent/utility bills 

• Paring grocery bills to the absolute bare necessities  

• Cutting cable, gym memberships, Netflix, etc 

• Avoiding restaurants, bars, and other entertainment spending 

• No shopping for new clothes, gadgets, etc 

New income streams 

The second step is to ruthlessly find ways to free up new income streams devoted solely to debt repayment. That could include: 

• Side gigs: Look into sharing economy gigs like ride sharing, food/grocery delivery, or e-commerce services that let you start earning ASAP with minimal start-up costs. 

• Sell everything unused: Go through all your possessions and sell anything you don’t truly need online or through garage/yard sales to generate quick cash injections. One person’s unused junk is another’s sought-after treasure. 

• Leverage marketable skills: Get creative about freelancing skills like web design, freelance writing, data entry work, or other gig economy services you can render remotely or locally for pay. 

• Find new income sources: Look into ways to supplement like donating plasma, participating in research studies, or even the old standbys like collecting cans/bottles or gig work. 

• Get a second job: While taxing, temporarily getting a second job or picking up extra shifts anywhere possible will dramatically accelerate paying down debts through pure hustle. 

Try the debt snowball method 

Even if the money is trickling in, establish a solid system like the debt snowball for deploying every penny towards balances: 

• Start with smallest debt, make minimum payments on others. 

• Roll additional income into paying Down #1 aggressively. 

• Once #1 is slayed, roll that full payment into #2 debt balance. 

• Rinse and repeat, watching the snowball accumulate force. 

Boost your morale/motivation 

The other secret to paying off debt with little to no income is to leverage emotional anchors to keep you psychologically invested when hopelessness sets in. For example: 

• Trade eating/going out for hiking or free hobbies as rewards. 

• Get friends/family to keep you accountable and encouraged. 

• Keep a debt countdown log to visualize your progress. 

Climbing out of debt when broke demands ruthless lifestyle changes and financial sacrifice. It feels like a never-ending slog of austerity measures. But by combining a steady flow of new income sources – no matter how small – with a debt repayment system and accountability, you’ll start witnessing tangible progress that continues accelerating over time. Stay the minimalist course when broke, and you can claw your way out from under even the heaviest debt load through steadfast determination.