You’ve probably heard the phrase “necessity is the mother of invention” before, but have you ever experienced it?

There’s something about actually needing to come up with a solution to a problem that can really result in some inspired solutions.

If you can get yourself into that creative mindset, you can save yourself a bundle or avoid debt.

It starts with changing your thought process

In the past, when faced with an “emergency” — or more accurately, when faced with anything that required money I didn’t have — the solution that would automatically pop into my head would be to borrow money.

In fact, I’d spend most of my time trying to figure out where or how to borrow money instead of trying to come up with alternatives to borrowing money. (Like, you know, having an emergency fund and additional savings.)

It never even crossed my mind that I had other options. But eventually I got sick of constantly owing money, and started to branch out.

Alternatives

There are plenty of alternatives to debt. Often, it’s just a matter of putting in a little effort and taking advantage of them. (Here are 5 things to do instead of borrowing money.)

Now, it’s not always possible to come up with creative no or low-cost solutions to a money-related problem. Sometimes the solution is just to say no, which is always an option (so long as you’re not talking about literal life or death.)

But spending some time brainstorming can result in good alternatives, especially if you take “throw money at the problem” off the table. Figuring that out changed my life.

What has your experience been like with this?