How to Curb your Spending

| Posted: 12-02-2008 | Comments: 0 | Views: 3 | Rating: (50)

(?)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says, "If you or someone you know is in financial hot water, consider these options: realistic budgeting, credit counseling from a reputable organization, debt consolidation [debt negotiation], or bankruptcy. How do you know which will work best for you? It depends on your level of debt, your level of discipline, and your prospects for the future."

The purpose of this article is to deal with a realistic budget and offer ideas for curbing your expenses and spending. However, I would encourage you to also look at the other options suggested by FTC. The National Association of Certified Counselors and its Institute of Financial Counseling also endorse these same suggestions.

A Solid Spending Plan
Any hope of curbing your spending must begin with a realistic budget or spending plan. If you don’t know where you are going or where you have been, how can you possibly continue any journey? Therefore mapping out how your money is spent and will b spent is a key ingredient.

Begin by going to your last 12 months of check registers and categorizing all entries.

Insure you have ALL your expenditures. If you always carry spare money in your wallet or purse, you need to record every dollar spent for a few weeks. I have yet to see someone do this exercise without a significant impact on his or her spending plan. This may be the most important step to getting to the facts.
All non-cash purchases should be easier to track through checkbook registers or credit/debit receipts but be sure to use proper annotation. Just writing "miscellaneous" or "versa teller $20" does little to gain facts.
3. List your fixed expenses: Rent/mortgage, Utilities, Child care, Transportation, Insurance, Loan repayments, Allowances, Alimony or other legal issues, Savings, Other.

4. List your variable expenses: Food, Entertainment, Grooming, Babysitting, etc.

5. Estimate your periodic expenses? List last years car repair, trips, medical, taxes, maintenance, gifts, etc. Now determine if this estimate is what you can expect in the future. Divide each item by 12 to have a monthly figure.

Once you are certain you have all annotations including non recurring expenses, start to adjust how much you will spend in each area to fit your particular needs. If you do not have enough to cover it all, you must either reduce expenses or find ways to increase income... it is that simple. The tough part is doing it.

Cutting Costs
Here are a number of ideas to curb your spending.

1. There are so many resources on the Internet and in magazines for cost cutting tips, that it is impossible not to find an untold number that fit your needs. On the Internet, use your favorite search engine and enter words such as “frugal”, “frugality”, “saving money” or similar key words. You will be amazed at the resources available. There are always different ways to do the exact same thing and save money at the exact same time. You simply have to locate and implement them.

2. Call each of your creditors and ask for a reduction in interest rate. Do not tell them your life history, but do offer a concise statement as to why it would be in their best interest to do so.

3. Regardless of what type of debt (mortgage, car, credit card, etc.) view your monthly statement and look specifically at how much of your payment is going to interest and how much to principle. This is a real eye opening experiences and motivates the individual to get that debt under control.

4. Make it a habit to throw away credit offers before even opening the envelope. Take existing credit cards and hide them or better yet, destroy them.

5. Determine what are the “needs” in your life and separate these needs from “wants”. Suspend ALL “wants” until debt is at least under control.

6. Get assistance from such groups as Debtors Anonymous. If there is a gambling or drinking problem, seek help from support groups.

Readers will probably be interested to know Mike, the author of this article, also offers a free debt elimination mini-course via e-mail. You can enroll at Debt Free In 7.5 Years.

Rate this Article:

Current: 0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s).

Article Tags: Personal Finance, Expenses, Spending Less, Learning How To Conserve Money

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/how-to-curb-your-spending-331267.html

Print article

Send to friend

Publish this Article

Author feedback

About the Author:

Mike has been an Internet Guide/Writer in the field of Credit/Debt Management for over 10 years. His site was awarded Best Of Net by Forbes Publication from 2000 to 2005 with site visitation doubling to over 500,000 average views per month in the last year.
He has also offered debt elimination seminars to businesses and community colleges for the last 9 years, and has written for several publications, and has been interviewed on the radio a number of times.http://learncreditmanagement.com/ " />http://learncreditmanagement.com/

Submitting articles has become one of the most popular means of generating quality backlinks and targeted traffic to your website. Join us today - It's Free!

Article Comments

Add new Comment

Ways to Get your Finances Under Control
By: Kenneth Kelly | 27/02/2007 | Finance
Free Finance articles for use on your Finance related website. Find articles of the subject of Finance

Establishing a Budget is the Right Thing to Do
By: Kenneth Kelly | 23/04/2007 | Finance
Free Finance articles for use on your Finance related website. Find articles of the subject of Finance

Credit Repair: the Final Word
By: Jim Kemish | 08/03/2007 | Credit

Can Coupons Save You Money?
By: Dave Zegers | 22/03/2007 | Finance
Free Finance articles for use on your Finance related website. Find articles of the subject of Finance

Valuable Tips to Save Tax
By: Adamheist | 10/04/2007 | Finance
Free Finance articles for use on your Finance related website. Find articles of the subject of Finance

Protect yourself From Identity Theft!
By: Christie Pinheiro | 24/04/2007 | Finance
Free Finance articles for use on your Finance related website. Find articles of the subject of Finance

Teaching your Kids About Money – 5 Simple Tips
By: Cornie Herring | 09/05/2007 | Parenting

How to Afford your Dream Vacation Home
By: Kristin Dorsett | 22/05/2007 | Real Estate

Got a Question? Ask.

Ask the community a question about this article:

Q&A Powered by:

Latest Personal Finance Articles

Quitting Bad Habits, Starting Money-saving Ones
By: David J Stack | 10/10/2008
I used to have a lot of bad habits, and then I looked at my wallet. The amount of money that I had been spending on vices and compulsive purchases astounded me, and it was enough to convince me to kick bad habits and start money-saving ones. Now I’m a new man: a non-smoker, a frugal consumer, and a shopper who cannot not research for online deals and discounts.

Will You Still Love Me if I Began to Use Coupons?
By: David J Stack | 10/10/2008
Will you still love me if I began to use coupons? I know that previously I had been an extravagant, carefree, spendthrift shopper, an obscenely generous husband, one who gave you the world even if it wasn’t Valentine’s Day. Or even if it wasn’t our anniversary. But today’s times are hard, and the economy is experiencing a scary decline. We’ve officially hit a recession, or so the news on TV say.

Getting the Right Airline Miles Credit Card
By: Iain Stubley | 10/10/2008
It takes some research and planning to get the right credit card that can offer the best airline miles credit cards benefits. This article details some of the things to consider when on the lookout for airline credit cards.

Five Simple Ways to Spend Less
By: Ki Gray | 10/10/2008
Cutting your spending isn't as complicated as it seems. Making smart choices day-to-day can help you save big bucks over time.

Lowering Necessary Expenses to Improve Your Lifestyle
By: Ki Gray | 10/10/2008
By lowering necessary expenses like rent, electricity bills and food spending can help you maximize your budget and ultimately live a better, more sustainable lifestyle.

Is Your Health Suffering Because of Your Debt?
By: Ricardo Reeves | 09/10/2008
In the current economic climate, it is easy to let ourselves be overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness. It is important to remember that no matter how stressed-out you may feel, nothing is more important than your health.

How to Protect yourself From the Bailout….er, Rescue Plan
By: Nancy Nuce | 09/10/2008
What you can do to survive the fallout from the current economic crisis

How Filling Out Paid Surveys Can Make You $300 a Month
By: Cache Spencer | 09/10/2008
One great way to earn extra spending cash is by taking online paid surveys. It won't make you rich but it will help to pay those bills.

More from Michael Killian

The Other Face of Payday Loans
By: Michael Killian | 12/02/2008 | Personal Finance
Some time ago I wrote a rather blistering article about Payday Loans which you are welcome to read. But because of its tone, I decided to take a second look at this multi-billion dollar industry in order to learn and to offer you, the reader and consumer, any positive aspects of payday loans.

5 Steps to Change Any Habit
By: Michael Killian | 12/02/2008 | Personal Finance
If you want to change any habit, change the actions that produce the habit. Within this article you will learn the most powerful 5 step system I have ever seen to change any habit plus 2 key bonuses that add rocket power to your efforts.

Foreclosure, Eviction, and Repossession
By: Michael Killian | 12/02/2008 | Personal Finance
Want to discuss a nightmare? Foreclosure, eviction, or repossession may be at the top of the list. What is involved in foreclosure, eviction, or repossession? How long does the process take? Does a consumer have recourse?

Gift Cards – Buyers Beware
By: Michael Killian | 12/02/2008 | Personal Finance
You can barely walk thru a grocery store or many other outlets without seeing racks and racks of gift cards. Are they safe and are they as convenient as promoters would have you think they are?

Secured Credit Cards – the Good and the Bad
By: Michael Killian | 12/02/2008 | Credit
If you are unable to get a normal credit card because of poor credit, all hope is not lost. A secured credit card is different in that it utilizes funds a consumer has placed in a savings account. The secured card is protected by the savings account. Therefore the consumer is “borrowing” from his or her own account. In this way the consumer can re-establish their credit repayment history thereby exhibiting improved credit worthiness.

Bankruptcy – is it the Last Option Only?
By: Michael Killian | 12/02/2008 | Personal Finance
Bankruptcy is available when all other debt payment measures have failed and the unpaid debt is simply beyond the means of the consumer to repay. It is essential, then, to understand debt options prior to bankruptcy and to determine which debt repayment method is the least detrimental. Additionally it is the law of the land that you know your debt repayment options prior to bankruptcy.

More Money Common Sense
By: Michael Killian | 12/02/2008 | Personal Finance
The way to more spendable money is not complicated. You either decrease expense or you increase income. Decreasing expense is the subject of numerous other articles at this site. Increasing money and doing it through a common sense approach is the current subject.

Statue of Limitations (sol)
By: Michael Killian | 12/02/2008 | Personal Finance
You hear a great deal about Statute of Limitations but what exactly is it and how does it apply to you? In essence, the Statute of Limitations (as far as debt is concerned) is the amount of time a creditor has to sue you. Each state has its own time frame for a Statute of Limitation.

Article Categories

Article Marketing

Article Notepad

Stop Duplicate Content

Term Papers

Need Help?

Sign up for our email newsletter

Receive updates, enter your email below

Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy | User published content is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Copyright © 2005-2008 Free Articles by ArticlesBase.com, All rights reserved. (0.17, 17)

How to Curb your Spending

Article Comments

Related Articles

Got a Question? Ask.

Latest Personal Finance Articles

More from Michael Killian

Need Help?

Site Links

Webmasters

Business Info

Sign up for our email newsletter