Before sharing these recommendations, I suggest that you have a
way of tracking your expenses. This will give you a clear
picture of what you spend daily, weekly and/or monthly and aid
you in reducing expenses where needed.
1) Accept the fact you are in debt and forgive yourself. If you
are in denial, you are more likely to repeat the pattern.
2) Reduce monthly expenditures. For example, once the price of
gas increased, our monthly gas costs went from roughly $200 to
approximately $450- 500.00. In an effort to reduce our gas
costs, I stopped taking miniature trips every day. Also, my
husband would drive my car on the weekends because it costs less
in gas.
3) If you're a person that makes several trips to the grocery
store during the month, reduce the number of trips to once a
month except for fresh vegetables. This will reduce the number
of times you have to put gas in the car. Today, it costs more
just to leave the house to get groceries as well as going to
work.
4) With the increasing utility bill, begin making repairs to
your home now such as getting a programmable thermostat and set
it to a certain temperature so that it will automatically come
on. 5) As an option, temporarily get a second job for
supplemental income. If married, this should be the person that
has the ability to generate the most income. I do not recommend
any Multi-level Marketing opportunities.
6) For a single person in debt - if you are off on weekends,
temporarily get a weekend job and put those funds towards the
bills along with your regular income.
7) If you have a cell phone and a regular phone that both have
long distance, re-evaluate having both phones. It can get
expensive to have both with long distance. Maybe you can remove
the regular phone and just use your cell phone if most people
call you on that number. 8) If you are a stay at home mom, in my
opinion the kids should not be going to daycare. This is an
unnecessary expense.
9) Be sensible about your expenditures when it comes to your
children. For example, a six month old baby does not need name
brand clothing. They need to be clothed. Suggest getting into
'mommy group' where you and your friends can swap clothing based
on gender and age. I have a couple of moms that I swap clothes
with and this saves all of us from having to shop at the store.
10) Grooming expenses for adults: do you really need to get your
nails done every week? Could you put that money towards a bill?
If you are getting your hair done whether it is a weave, perm,
braids or tinting every week - do you need to go to a high end
salon or could you go Great Clips for the same thing? I am not
saying do not pamper yourself; however, as times get tougher
what is the necessity?
11) Maintaining your vehicle is a necessity, but going to a car
wash every week is not. You can wash your car at home.
Re-evaluate how you are spending your money.
12) If you are a person that likes to go out to eat, reduce the
amount of times per month you go out to eat. Begin cooking at
home since you are buying groceries for the month.
13) Entertainment - whether it is going to the movies, bars or
happy hour - these expenses add up. For example going to a
matinee is $7.50 a person (for the two of us is $15.00 before we
even get food, which would cost us another $15.00) do you really
need to see the movie now or could you wait three months and see
it on DVD. Netflix is an option. 14) Add up how much you spend
at a vending machine per week when you are at work if you work
outside the home. Consider taking snacks from home.
15) Health insurance - if you had a job and are using COBRA for
health insurance until you have secured another job, seek an
alternative health insurance to the COBRA payments. I remember
when I first stopped working at the law firm, we utilized COBRA
for almost eighteen months and the price increased two times.
Prior to the second increase, I located a shared insurance plan
and saved us lots of money.
** There has to be some structure during these difficult
economical times. However, these times do not have to be so hard
that you cannot enjoy life.
About the author:
Dr. Taffy Wilkins Wagner is the author of Amazon.com Bestseller
Debt Dilemma. Debt Dilemma is her personal story of how she got
into debt and was able to get out of debt without filing
bankruptcy. If you need help getting your finances in order
email her at taffy@paidoff.net she will help. To purchase Debt
Dilemma go to
http://www.paidoff.net.
