Poking Your Head Above Water
I'm In Debt
- Posted:
12/3/2007
When you've got excessive debt, it often feels like you're just treading water, trying to stay afloat enough that you don't drown. Maybe you've learned how to beat the system a little- and you send out your payments on a rotational basis- so every month a different one is sent out a little late so the others are sent on time... (I may have invented this method of keeping your head above water!)
What you need is a rock or something to stand on... or maybe an inner tube to float on for awhile- to give you a bit of a break.
Getting yourself out of debt is possible, but it takes a lot of discipline. I suggest that people start out by cutting costs a bit, to hopefully make it possible to pay each of your bills on time. Before you say that it's impossible to cut costs any further, just hear me out!
When I took a good, hard look at where my money was going, I was able to save about $125 a month on things I really didn't need. And once I changed my habits, I didn't even miss my coffee-shop coffee (at least, not too much!) Grab a notebook (or staple some sheets of paper together). Use this to keep track of your spending for 2 weeks. Take it every where with you and record every last purchase- I'm talking right down to the 50 cent pack of gum! Do this religiously for two weeks (if you are married, or living with your partner, ask your spouse to do it as well). At the end of two weeks, look over every purchase and bill that you paid. Are their things that can be eliminated?
My coffee shop coffee cost me about $2 a day, two or three days each week. I really liked getting the latte's with whipped cream, and would even take a special trip out to get one (so I was wasting gas on top of the price of the darn coffee!) So let's just say $6 a week on coffee... that's about $24 a month. Are you buying coffee every morning on your way to work? A coffee every day would run you around $10 a week, or $40 a month! It really does add up, and you will get used to making your coffee at home and pouring it in a travel mug, I promise. You'll save a lot of money doing it this way- and you can simply bank that extra cash or apply it to a payment that you're often late on because you're struggling to make ends meet when the bills come due.
Another big money waster for me was take out food. I have really picky kids who rarely eat anything I cook, and it bothers me so much that some nights I refuse to cook and I just get a pizza or some other take out for my husband and I. Well- I took a look at my typical spending habits, and I was spending between $60 and $120 a MONTH on take out- that included my husbands fast food trips while he was at work. I cut way back on fast food and take out- now we only get pizza once a month, and the savings from that now make grocery shopping easier.
The point is- there are ways to cut back on spending. If you can, look into car pooling with work-mates to save on gas, lowering your cell phone usage and downgrading the cellphone plan (or getting a prepaid phone that you can control the costs easily with- do you really need to talk on a cell phone so often?) use coupons when grocery shopping and shop the sales and specials (plan your meals around what's on sale). These are all ways to free up some money each month.
Comments
