Step Two to Reducing Your Debt - Cut Your Spending

The second step in reducing your debt is cut down on the amount of money you spend.

Take another look at the list of monthly bills you wrote down.

What can you cut out?

When my husband and I sat down and took a good, hard look at our bills we were able to cut some things out.

Pest Control $75
Lawn Service $52
Netflix $21
Total= $148 a month savings

Then we looked at what we could reduce. I called our cable internet and TV provider and got a discount. Other options include calling your car insurance provider to see what options are available for lowering your rates, such as raising your deductible.

Cable/TV $10
Monthly phone bill (switched providers)$10
Total= $20 a month savings

Just by dropping some services and making a few phone calls we were able to save $168 a month.

Next, look at the things you have to pay; such as food, electric/gas, water, and gas. How can you conserve in those areas? Shopping at places like SuperTarget for food, making a mealplan, using coupons and shopping sales are all ways to reduce your monthly food bill. Bring your lunch to work and eating out less is another way. Turn off lights when not in use.

There are some great tips on Sharing My Two Cents on how to use coupons and rebates and other ways to cut down the amount you spend on groceries, cleaning supplies and health and beauty items.