When you create a website based on bettering yourself financially, you tend to get a lot of people asking you for financial advice. Go figure! The most common question people ask me though is how they can free up money every month to send to their credit card debt. Through these conversations I have come to the realization that many Americans today have completely forgotten what it means to prioritize. They tell me they’re sending every extra dollar to their debt but it just doesn’t seem to be enough. They say they’re getting frustrated because they don’t feel like they’re making any progress. So I say to them, “Are you really sending every extra dollar to your debt?”

Now I’m not suggesting that anyone shut off their cell phone, internet, and cable service just to spend every Friday and Saturday night at home reading The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (a shameless plug, I know). I am however; suggesting that you re-evaluate your priorities and determine what are truly mandatory expenses versus not so mandatory expenses. I’ll use my sister as an example. The following items are the things my sister cut from her monthly spending plan in order to free up extra money to send to debt…

• Eating out: $40/week, $173/month, $2,080/year

• Starbucks: $8/week, $35/month, $416/year

• Smoking: $10/week, $43/month, $520/year

• Turning off her land line and using a cell phone: $40/month, $480/year

• Reducing her cell phone plan: $20/month, $240/year

• Reducing her cable plan: $36/month, $432/year

• Shopping for cheaper auto insurance: $40/month, $480/year

Total Money Saved Annually: $4,648!

Some of these ideas might work for you, and some of them may not. The point though, is to get you thinking about ways you can save money every month. If you’re already doing this, I’d love to hear what’s been working for you…

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