Look at each expense on the list and ask yourself is it a luxury or a necessity?
Can you go without cable for a month or two in order to pay off a high interest credit card? It is so important to your financial future to get rid of high interest debt and live within your means. You and your family will be better off. This doesn’t mean you can’t splurge a little and have some fun but do it in moderation.
Stop Eating out
This is very difficult for some families to accomplish so don’t go cold turkey, instead set limits. Eating out once a week instead of 3 or more times can really save money. Growing up we ate peanut butter n’ Jelly, ham and grilled cheese sandwiches and we turned out just fine. McDonald’s was a luxury not a necessity. Can you take your lunch to work instead of eating out?
Learn to Bargain Shop
This includes everything from car insurance, groceries, Internet providers, cable and clothing. Look for the best deals and don’t pay with credit! Whenever possible buy used instead of new. You can find some real bargains at garage sales and second hand clothing shops.
Cut up credit cards
Especially store credit cards as they carry the highest interest rates. All you really need if any is one credit card for emergency use and it should have a low credit limit. The credit limit should not be higher than you can pay off in 3 months. Most checking accounts offer a free Visa check card you can use to book hotels and things so having more than one credit card is not necessary. If you are seriously delinquent on your credit cards contact the company and see if you can get a settlement offer to pay off a portion of the balance and have the account settled in full, many companies will do this! Once you do pay off the debt don’t fall back into the hole by getting more credits cards.
Cut back on utilities
No you don’t have to go out and chop firewood but there are things you can do to save on your utility bills every month. While we would all love to be able to install brand new energy efficient appliances not everyone can afford to so the rest of us must cut back in other ways.
· Turn off lights every time you leave a room and teach your family to do the same. My mother did this all the time and sometimes we were still in the room, oops! I now find myself doing the same thing to my kids; it is a great energy saving habit to get into.
· Leave your thermostat at a set temperature and don’t touch it.
· Wash your clothes in cold water, it works just the same and they even make detergents just for this purpose.
· Make sure your dishwasher is fully loaded before turning it on; partial loads use just as much energy.
By going without luxuries for a few months you will be surprised at how much money you can save. Also by paying off high interest debt first you will be saving yourself a lot of money down the road. With this extra money you can finally enjoy: Guilt Free Purchases
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