RSS
Home
Break the chain...painless ways to save money
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
If you are stuck in the endless circle with high debt and/or little ability to pay it all off in less than a year or so, you may need to get creative and do some analysis on your situation. Considering the credit crunch, interest rate changes, and the overall economic environment, a new look at how to do things is in order.
What can you do for yourself? There is a lot of advice online regarding different strategies on how to get out of debt. Some include getting a second job, living like a pauper for months or years until the debts are paid off, debt consolidation or settlement, and of course bankruptcy.
Before you get into all that, there are some simple strategies you can consider first before going outside for help. First, analyze your financial situation. You need to add up all your bills starting with necessities, then debt (minimum payments), and finally extras such as extra cable channels, cellphone, meals out, etc. Subtract your total from your total monthly income to see what you have left to work with. If this number is relatively low and/or you do not have a decent savings account (6 months or more of living expenses), you need a new plan.
Cut the fat – but not totally. Living like a pauper with no extras and no reward out of your check is probably going to be very discouraging in itself. If you rent or go to the movies, check out the library. You can borrow movies for free and the late fees if you forget to return them will be much less than any video store. Do you really have to have premium cable channels? Nope. Hulu has a great selection of TV shows the next day for free. You can watch them from your computer if you have that and a decent
Do you have a cellphone and home phone? Why both? It is worth contacting your carrier to see if upgrading your plan to more minutes (if needed) would be a better deal than keeping the home phone? If your cellular contract is ending soon, look at statements from the past year and find your average minutes. Maybe you can get a lower plan this time. As well, Cricket may also be an option with unlimited talk and text for a comparatively low price. You will pay more for a phone if you need one at first, but over time, most find they get a better deal. Coverage is not as good as the big guys, but if you are not a big traveler, it could be a viable option.
Eating out is obvious, but reality intervenes with busy kids and just flat out being tired. If you want to have dinner out, limit this of course, but if you are able to give up lunch out or save money in other ways to pay for pizza night once every week or two, that is not over the top.
See what you can save in the little ways:
Try some off-brand foods, household cleaners, personal care items, etc. (These savings could actually pay for pizza night.) You can get some serious savings at the local Family Dollar on cleaning supplies, personal care, and other household staples.
If you have growing kids, trade off clothes with other friends or relatives. Some have even agreed to borrow clothes and return those still in good condition at the end of the school year/season in order to help everyone save.
Need a household appliance? Want some books? For Free? Go to Freecycle. People post items they no longer need, and you can also post items you are looking for. The only requirement is that the receiver has to pick up the items. (This is great way to also help your fellow community members and get some cleaning out done all at once.)
Compare gas prices at GeorgiaGasPrices.com. The local gas prices are listed for your perusal, and saving a couple pennies per gallon can really add up.
Overall, it makes sense to try to get the best deal possible no matter your personal situation. Once you lower your expenses, you have a little more breathing room, can pay more toward your debt, and build some savings, you may be able to relax. If further steps are going to be needed to assist in your situation, see the next article on outside sources to help with debt management issues and financial health.
Related Article: Variable rate now what
Related Articles:
Comments
