| |
15 Ways Average Person Can Overcome Increasing And Overwhelming Debt
Before sharing these recommendations, I suggest that you have away of tracking your expenses. This will give you a clearpicture of what you spend daily, weekly and/or monthly and aidyou in reducing expenses where needed.
1) Accept the fact you are in debt and forgive yourself. If youare in denial, you are more likely to repeat the pattern.
2) Reduce monthly expenditures. For example, once the price ofgas increased, our monthly gas costs went from roughly $200 toapproximately $450- 500.00. In an effort to reduce our gascosts, I stopped taking miniature trips every day. Also, myhusband would drive my car on the weekends because it costs lessin gas.
3) If you're a person that makes several trips to the grocerystore during the month, reduce the number of trips to once amonth except for fresh vegetables. This will reduce the numberof times you have to put gas in the car. Today, it costs morejust to leave the house to get groceries as well as going towork.
4) With the increasing utility bill, begin making repairs toyour home now such as getting a programmable thermostat and setit to a certain temperature so that it will automatically comeon. 5) As an option, temporarily get a second job forsupplemental income. If married, this should be the person thathas the ability to generate the most income. I do not recommendany 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 thebills along with your regular income.
7) If you have a cell phone and a regular phone that both havelong distance, re-evaluate having both phones. It can getexpensive to have both with long distance. Maybe you can removethe regular phone and just use your cell phone if most peoplecall you on that number. 8) If you are a stay at home mom, in myopinion the kids should not be going to daycare. This is anunnecessary expense.
9) Be sensible about your expenditures when it comes to yourchildren. For example, a six month old baby does not need namebrand clothing. They need to be clothed. Suggest getting into'mommy group' where you and your friends can swap clothing basedon gender and age. I have a couple of moms that I
swap clotheswith and this saves all of us from having to shop at the store.
10) Grooming expenses for adults: do you really need to get yournails 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 endsalon or could you go Great Clips for the same thing? I am notsaying do not pamper yourself; however, as times get tougherwhat is the necessity?
11) Maintaining your vehicle is a necessity, but going to a carwash 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 theamount of times per month you go out to eat. Begin cooking athome since you are buying groceries for the month.
13) Entertainment - whether it is going to the movies, bars orhappy hour - these expenses add up. For example going to amatinee is $7.50 a person (for the two of us is $15.00 before weeven get food, which would cost us another $15.00) do you reallyneed to see the movie now or could you wait three months and seeit on DVD. Netflix is an option. 14) Add up how much you spendat a vending machine per week when you are at work if you workoutside the home. Consider taking snacks from home.
15) Health insurance - if you had a job and are using COBRA forhealth insurance until you have secured another job, seek analternative health insurance to the COBRA payments. I rememberwhen I first stopped working at the law firm, we utilized COBRAfor almost eighteen months and the price increased two times.Prior to the second increase, I located a shared insurance planand saved us lots of money.
** There has to be some structure during these difficulteconomical times. However, these times do not have to be so hardthat you cannot enjoy life.
About the author:
Dr. Taffy Wilkins Wagner is the author of Amazon.com BestsellerDebt Dilemma. Debt Dilemma is her personal story of how she gotinto debt and was able to get out of debt without filingbankruptcy. If you need help getting your finances in orderemail her at taffy@paidoff.net she will help. To purchase DebtDilemma go to http://www.paidoff.net.
|
