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Debt Free Tips

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Are you struggling with personal debt? Do you want to be debt free?

Bills piling up? Do you go paycheck to paycheck or worse? Fall into overdraft? Feel like you are sinking in debt? Want to be debt free but don't know where to start? Let me help with these debt free tips that helped us!

We were once pay check to pay check, both my husband and myself had credit card debt, paying just the minimum balance. Now we are accelerating our mortgage payments, no credit card debt, no loans, and getting to payday isn't that hard anymore. We're even managing to save for retirement and the kid's education fund...I hope my tips can help you!

photo credit: Debt Free For Life Book by David Bach on Amazon.com

Debt Free Living

Get out of Debt

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Spending Log

Write it down

Debt Free Tip #1

Start by keeping a log book of your daily spending. Write down every expenditure...from a stick of gum to a tank of gas. Once you can see where your money is being spent, it will be easier for you to see where you can cut back and budget. Start by looking where and what you spend money on and then find ways to reduce or eliminate these expenses.

Put ANY extra money towards paying down your credit cards, line of credit or any other outstanding loans. (See Tip #7)

photo credit: Monthly Bookkeeping Log - Amazon.com

Lunch Bag

Brown Bag Lunch

Debt Free Tip #2

Time to cut back on non-essentials. Brown bag it! Pack your lunch! Eating out can be expensive (take out food is typically marked up cost x 4) and packing your own lunch will save you money AND it's environmentally friendly and much healthier for you!

Lunch for 1 at McDonalds = approx $5+ dollars ...or you can buy a loaf of bread and a weeks worth of cold cuts for the same price and make your lunch...1 day vs 5 days...and which one do you think has less calories?

photo credit: Lunch Bag Tote - Amazon.com

Debt Free Tips

How to get out of debt

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Entertaining on a Budget

Debt Free Tip #3

Instead of going out to the movies, rent a movie and enjoy a family movie night at home. Also...instead of ordering in pizza, make your pizza at home instead! Dough can be bought pre-made at the grocery store or if you have a bread maker you can make your own dough!

We do this all the time and the kids love making their own pizzas.

* TIP * - Homemade bread also doubles as a great homemade gift...see Tip #4

photo credit: Bread Maker - Amazon.com

Budget friendly family activities

Geo-Caching

If you already own a GPS then this is a great family / individual activity to get you outside (tv free)...it's environmentally friendly (cache in trash out is the motto...ie pick up trash while doing it) and if you have kids it's like a junk toy swap / treasure hunt! My kids love it and so do the adults!

Personal Debt

Do you carry personnal debt? (ie: credit cards / line of credit / loans)

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Handmade Ideas

DIY Gifts and Cards

Book full of Card Ideas...click to view...

Debt Free Tip #4

Give handmade gifts and cards. My kids have been sending handmade cards since before they could even make the cards themselves...Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles...whenever they needed to send a thank you card I would help them make one...a) it's a great craft activity to do with your children and b) family loves getting little handmade items...cards with hand prints or scribbles and smilies.

Average cost of a Hallmark card is $5+ tax and gifts on the low end can cost $20+

photo credit: Handmade Cards - Amazon.com

Handmade Gift Ideas

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Debt Meter

Credit Card Debt...Line of Credit Debt...etc

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Tips for Getting Out of Debt

Becoming Debt Free

Consignment Clothing

Shop online for deals!

Debt Free Tip #5

Shop at consignment shops, thrift stores, discount stores (Salvation Army, Value Village etc) and yard sales. For the first 8-9 years of my kid's life I shopped consignment...they never knew! If you shop consignment in an affluent town you get great deals on label brands! My kids grew up knowing it as "The Treasure Store" and we still shop there occasionally.

Yes, eBay counts as consignment!

Gap Clothes Cheap

search eBays great deals!

Cut your Cable Bill

Free yourself from the boob-tube...it's not that hard!

Debt Free Tip #6

Consider discontinuing or downgrading your cell phones and cable TV plans. Our kids were watching too much television for our liking. We had the basic cable plan and they would still sit like little zombies in front of the boob-tube stuck on the kids channel watching shows they had already seen!
So my husband cut the cable! We still get around 10 channels with our antenna...but there's no kids channel of endless animation cartoons...AND...there is no bill!

As for telephone, we've just switched our plan which was costing us $1000 a year to $130 a year! (and yes, it still includes long distance!)

photo credit: HDTV Antenna - Amazon.com

Credit Card Debt

Debt Free Tip #7

Pay more than the minimum payment due on your credit cards. If you pay only the minimum on a credit card with a $3000 balance, it will cost you $2780 in interest and will take you 8 years to pay the balance off. If you pay an extra $50 a month towards your balance, you will save $1800 in interest and have your debt paid off in three years!

Both my husband and I held about $5,000 each in credit card debt before we married. Once we paid it off we haven't had credit card debt in 15 years! It's very important to us to live within our means. We were a single income family for 11 years, 2 kids, we live in a modest home, we accelerate our mortgage payments and don't carry any more debt than we can afford to pay off at the end of the month. We don't spend, what we don't have.

photo credit: Amazon.com

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Do you have an tips to get out & stay out of debt?

Share your investment / debt free tips with our readers...

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GayleMcLaughlin Jan 26, 2012 @ 6:55 pm | delete

I like Dave Ramsey's tips and did you know there are online bargain shopping sites?

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Srena44 Nov 18, 2011 @ 11:56 pm | delete

great lens

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BeCanDo Oct 1, 2011 @ 1:31 pm | delete

Watch those interest rates on saving and borrowing, but if you've got debt to clear consider the actual amount of money you are paying - clear highest interest rate debts first and then move on to the next debt. If you have savings earning less than you pay out then use the savings to clear the debt.