My new goal is to reduce the amount of debt that I currently. Let's face it folks, it ain't pretty. Some of it was necessary expenses but most of it was not. I am quite embarrassed by the amount of debt that I currently have so it is time to take some serious action.
Here are some of things that I am currently doing:
1) Selling off things (my Coach collection) on Ebay
2) Selling off things on Craigslist
3) Stopping all unnecessary shopping
I'm going to start tracking all of my expenses by keeping a spending journal. Whenever I have extra money I am going to make extra payments on the old credit cards. I'm also doing a major overhaul of the household expenditures to see where I can trim the budget. I'm already a coupon clipper so that helps but I need to be much more vigilant about it.
I'm also looking for tips and tricks. How have you reduced your debt? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked? I'm going to share tips and tricks along the way and I will regularly post what is working and what is not. I hope you will join me on my journey. Maybe writing these things out for others to read will help keep me accountable.
My first tip: All You Magazine Have you heard about this magazine? I had not heard about it until recently. Apparently you can only purchase it at Walmart or subscribe via their website. I haven't received an issue yet but apparently this magazine is packed with coupons and tips. So far I am digging the website. I found a deal on a 2 year subscription for $16.00, check out Deal Seeking Mom for more info. (offer expires 7/31/09 so hurry).
So that is it for today. Check back again for more updates, tips and whatever else I can think of related to reducing debt.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
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10 comments:
Hey Kristie,
I've found myself in that spot before. I get really frugal and refuse to spend money frivously - even on eating out - until it's paid down or off - whatever the goal.
That means cutting out things like cable, eating out, any extra optional services. You could cut home or cell lines if you still have both...
The cheap chick always has great ideas. One I've heard over and over again is to have 2-3 meat-less dinners each week (like pasta) in order to save money. Hell, just have cereal and that will really save it. :)
Good luck - we are all here to support you!
I think eating out is always a huge spending pit for us.
Did Marketing Mama say turn off the cable? oh nooooooo.
Oh yeah. We rarely eat meat, usually eating pasta, beans, cereal, etc. We still have dial-up, and rarely go anywhere on vacation. (I DO NOT count going up to the Range to visit my in-laws.) We vigilantly monitor sales and coupons, and I have a pay-as-you-go cell phone (for safety's sake. We never go out to movies, either, and have drastically cut down on going out to eat.
Good luck! I admire you for digging in there and being proactive!
Hi Kristie -
I've been there! Have you seen Mint.com? It's a great website that I use to keep track of all our accounts (bank accounts, mortgage/car loans, student loans, retirement accounts, and credit cards if you have them - we don't any more). It keeps track of your spending and you can analyze spending in each category and see where you're spending, over budget, etc. I LOVE it. It has really helped us tighten up areas of spending and see where we are for the month.
Good luck! There are so many great ways to save money and I'm always on the lookout for more. We don't eat out very often and I bring my lunch to work - that alone saves big bucks! Can't wait to hear more of your tips - I love hearing about this stuff.
Magazines! We were trying to scrimp and save every dollar when we bought our house. I stopped buying magazines and saved a bit (of course you have to have a magazine habit to make a dent here!). I haven't actually bought them since, and I don't miss them.
I also did away with my gym membership (I am now doing the C25K running plan and exercising at home). We eat out less often. We freeze meals and I take my lunch every single day, unless I have a real reason to eat out (like today, a friend has invited me to lunch b/c she's struggling with a few things, so that's important).
We eat out for dinner but we have a coupon book we use. We try to eat out once a week and pick a place with a buy one/get one free. Try to avoid the entree (which in Australia means Appetiser, not the main meal!) and so on.
I think that's about it in terms of the tips. Do you have a written budget? for us, a budget (spend $50 on eating out) doesn't work, but we have a daily record of our account balance and all direct debits and income (mortgages, car loan etc vs. income) and that way we can see exactly how much money we have before spending on frivilous stuff. It really helps to maintain the motivation!
Thanks for all the tips everyone! I really want to get rid of my landline but I need to have it because I have a machine that reads my cardiac defibrilator and sends readings to the clinic. It has to be hooked up through a landline otherwise the home phone would be gone.
We rarely eat out anymore and I take my lunch to work everyday so that helps a lot!
I like the meatless meals idea. Going to start doing that!
Liz, I have heard of Mint but had forgotten about it until you just mentioned it. Going to check that out again.
LesbianBride, I do have a magazine habit and most of them are going by the wayside. I've heard good things about the C25K program, also going to look into that. The written budget has been the hard thing for me. I don't have one but I working on one. For me, getting started is the hardest part.
Can I just say how much I love the fact that I have 2 comments from Australia! Not only that but I have actually met LesbianBride when I was in Australia 4 long years ago. Ok, back to your regularly scheduled programming.
haha, you're cute! You have a bizaare obsession with Australia ;-) Just remember... if you pay off enough debt and save enough money, you can come back!!
Good tips here...
I do have an obssession with Australia. I can't help it, I loved it there.
Chel, I am coming back someday. I don't know when but I am coming.
Just another plug for Mint - it makes creating & sticking to a budget SO much easier. I was lousy at writing a budget out too, but this makes it almost fun... :)
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