THESINGLEFRUGALTON

On Wednesday, I shared some ideas on how to reduce your debt and begin to live within your means. Today, I will share some more ideas on how to journey towards the first goal of living within your means.

• Go through your home and look for anything that you can sell. Use Ebay, Craigslist, or even hold a garage sale.
• Put any credit cards in an envelope. On the outside of the envelope write a list of what your dreams are for when you are out of debt. Add pictures from magazines that represent your dream goals. Put the envelope in a very hard to reach and out of the way place.
• Can you find ways of bringing in more money? Would you be willing to give up some of your personal or free time for 6 - 9 months if it meant reducing your debt faster?
• Connect with your neighbors. See if you can find people willing to barter. Maybe you have a nice lawnmower, and your neighbor has a ladder that will reach your roof and is good at fixing shingles. Perhaps a neighbor has children in a similar age range as yours and would be willing to babysit once in awhile in exchange for you doing the same.
• Keep a small amount of money out each month for spending on anything you want to- i.e. fun money. It is important that you give yourself a little something so you don’t feel deprived. This way you’ll be less likely to not stay the course- i.e. get out of debt.
• Make your goal public. Let other people know that you are cutting back and working towards reducing, and eventually eliminating, your debt. Let them know not to expect expensive gifts, etc., if they were accustomed to that from you.
• Post a visual reminder in a prominent place, such as the fridge. Perhaps use a picture of a theromoter coloring in portions of it every time you make a payment above the minimum.
• Although you may be sorely tempted to throw every extra dollar you come across at your debt, don’t do it. Determine a portion of each extra dollar that will go to your emergency fund. That fund is there so when you have an Ooops! I hadn’t planned on that happening, you will not need to turn to your credit cards first, if at all.
• If you come to the point where you feel you have no other choice but to use your credit card, read through your dream goals list, ponder the pictures you chose, ask yourself if there is any way at all to hold off on the purchase or any thing you can sell to raise the cash. If the answer is still that you need to use it, then use. But, put it back in the envelope, and back in the difficult to reach place right away.

Next week I will be exploring one more element necessary to anyone who is trying to live within their means, or even to live below their means. A budget.

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