Get Out of Debt

My family recently went down to one income. Our debt however would sit a lot better in a three or maybe four income household. The following are simple solutions to get a quick grasp on your finances by spending less using the saved money to pay down those credit cards.

I recommend following these three steps for the next six months. Any and all money that you save apply towards your credit card debt. You will be surprised at how it goes down once you get a little more frugal. Who knows maybe you will permanently implement these ideas?

Freeze That Card

I am serious. Take your credit card and put it in a plastic ziploc bag. Now fill that bag with water and plop it in the freezer. A lot of people might laugh, but if you think about it why bother fighting to get out of debt if you just keep spending with your credit card?

Cash Is King

Now is the time to switch to cash. Do it for six months and see how you fair. I promise those six dollar lattes don't taste quite as yummy when you are counting out your pennies to buy them every day.

Cash takes some getting used to. You will have to set a weekly budget. Say take out $40 at the beginning of the week and that is it. You have $40 to spend on coffee, lunch, and any entertainment. You will definitely appreciate the value of money when you do this. Just think about all of the money that you spend on little things you charge to your debit card. You really don't think about most of those purchases, but if you were using cash, you would know what you are spending your money on.

Reduce Spending Temptations

For the next few months you need to reduce your temptations. The next six months of your life are all about spending less. You have already put your credit card in the freezer and decided to use cash, so now you need to make sure you stick with this by reducing your temptations.

It is pretty easy to do, in theory. You just need to avoid everywhere you are tempted to spend money.

Next time a friend wants to meet you out for a cup of coffee, invite them over for some tea instead. That way you will avoid spending $7 on a mocha and scone.

Say a group of your friends like to go walking in the mall. If you can do this without being tempted to spend, by all means go ahead. If you think that you might want to cap off the walk with a purchase at Macy's, then recommend going to your local metro-parks to go for a walk.

Is the Internet your weapon of choice when it comes to spending your hard earned cash? I know it is mine. You will have to put yourself on hiatus from visiting jcrew.com. It is going to be a challenge, but you can do it.

Do you love a good catalog. Next time Victoria's Secret creeps into your mail box don't even take her in the house. She will be just fine going to the recycle bin, and i promise when your spending freeze is lifted another issue will find it's way to your home.

Try these things for six months and see where they take you. Hopefully you will see that a few simple changes and sacrifices can chop away at that credit card debt. Don't think though that once the six months are up you can go ahead and spend like there is no tomorrow. Rather you will want to reevaluate your financial situation and see where you are. Do things look any better? Are they still just as bad. analyze the situation and continue on if you need to.

Happy Budgeting!