Getting out of debt takes courage, strategy and a strong willed person to know when enough is enough. No one enjoys the insurmountable bills and constant harassment of debt collectors and soon find that debt cures will take more than wishing and hoping for a better tomorrow.

Many of us look at that hill of bills and cannot see a new beginning but getting out of debt isn’t impossible if you sort through the mess and develop a plan of attack. You need solutions to the way you spend money and ways to cut expenses. Here is a simple route to formalizing your plan;

1. Create a budget of all Income and Expenses. Include everything from Utilities to travel expenses to dry cleaners and food. Once you develop this budget you’ll have a better view of getting out of debt and what things to eliminate.

2. Start with your utilities. We’ve all experienced increases in our energy bills but you can overcome so of those fees and bring that bill down. To cut your energy costs go around all your rooms and begin unplugging things you never or rarely use. Do you have more than one computer? Turn off the one you rarely use. Your cell phone charger – unplug until you need to use it. Do you use your toaster on a daily basis? Unplug it. In fact, unplug any appliance that just sits there without any use.

3. More than one television? Unplug the ones you don’t look at more often.

4. How much do you spend for daily lunches? Most of us will spend $5-6 per day. Bring your lunch to work for 1 week and see how much you save. Put that money away and put towards a bill.

5. Start using coupons. Look through the newspaper or online. Many grocery chains and promotional websites offer coupons. The coupons will add up when you go to the grocery store.

6. If you’re using a dry cleaner, stop using so often. They sell special dryer sheets that you can use for your clothing to defray some of these costs. This will certainly shave off a few dollars by months end.

7. Cut most of your entertainment expenses. This can be difficult to do but instead of attending the movies on the weekend, get a book. And if you have cable at home, that’s all the more reasons not to go to the movies. Stay at home and turn to a channel you never watch. This is a great time to learn something new. I never thought of looking at most of the channels my cable company offers but you can learn new things you never thought you’d be interested in.

These are simple strategies to defray many of your monthly costs. If you take some time to review your budget you’ll find that you can eliminate many of your usual costs that are unnecessary.

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