Home is where the debt is.
Debt reduction is about spending less money so you can pay off your current debts while not accumulating more debt. Car payments, Christmas shopping, and credit cards enable the amassing of debt rather quickly. When bills are coming every day and you don't know where to turn or how to save any more money, look at your own home.
Everyday, you leave a light on. You turn on the air conditioning or you turn on the heater. You take a bath. Daily living requires spending of your money, whether you realize it or not. Daily living is the first place you can start reducing your debt.
Cutting up credit cards is an easy decision. Limiting yourself to a budget is an easy decision. What about fixing a drippy faucet or turning the heater down a few degrees? These actions don't seem like they could save you much money. In fact, you could be saving a lot by doing just 7 to 10 things around the home.
No one likes being in debt, yet most people are in debt. The hardest part of getting out of debt is deciding on getting out of debt. You have two choices, may more money or reduce your daily spending. What can you do in your daily living that could reduce your debt?
There are 10 easy steps that you can follow that will decrease your daily expenses and move you towards debt free living.
1. Cancel television services or reduce the television subscription with a smaller channel package. Reducing the package can easily trim your cable television bills by $20 a month. Dish subscribers could save a lot more. The best way for reducing costs is by dropping the pay channels such as HBO and Showtime.
2. Use energy-saver light bulbs. These are more expensive than regular light bulbs but last years longer - enough to pay for themselves over regular bulbs several times over.
3. Recycle paper items like envelopes and one-sided paper for use as shopping lists or scratch pads. Paper is getting more and more expensive. Debt can be reduced when recycled items are being used.
4. Use rechargeable batteries. Current portable electronics are burning through batteries at a rapid pace. You've probably got battery operated alarm clocks, caller-id boxes, wall clocks, and other items that could benefit as well. By using rechargeables, the environment wins and so does the savings account.
5. Reduce the recommended quantity of cleaning products. It's a matter of trial and error. Start by reducing amounts in half. This works with shampoo, shower gel, dishwasher detergent, etc. You could save from $20 to $100 per month with this method.
6. Don't leave electrical products on standby. A plugged-in toaster still gets a little bit of electricity. Every bit of savings helps. A fire department official said toasters cause quite a few fires each year. Save money and your house!
7. Don't have the heat on and the windows open. This is easy to do during the months where the temp's jump up and down.
8. Take a shower instead of a bath. You'll cut down on your water bill. Quick showers save time as well. Also, set your hot water tank at 60 degrees.
9. Turn your central heating thermostat down by one degree. Every little bit helps...and it makes a big difference in your monthly heating bills.
10. Turn off lights if you are not in the room. Many new homes have ceiling fans with light clusters. Therefore, you could be burning four light bulbs at once in an empty room.
These 10 steps can decrease your daily spending which provides more money for paying towards other debts such as credit card debt.
Get out of debt - you can do it! Start with these 10 easy steps. Review your finances in a month and you'll see the difference.
If you don't know how to attack your debt problem or don't understand the in's and out's of debt reduction, the internet provides a variety of great resources. Take the time to understand the facets of debt reduction and you'll be better off.
Chris Huff runs http://www.debt-reduction-solution.com providing information on debt reduction and how you can kill off deadly credit card debt. You can sign up for the 5 Step Debt Reduction Strategy or read the daily debt blog. For more information, please visit the website. Chris also runs http://www.squidoo.com/debtfree which provides debt reduction resources.
