How To Save Big Money and Pay Off Your Debt

Do you want to save large amounts of money every month? Money you could use to pay off debt, go on vacation, or to save for retirement? If you are like most people your answer is probably a resounding YES! Who wouldn't want to save money? But maybe that is not the right question. Maybe a better question is, are you willing to do what it takes to save large amounts of money?

If you search google for "How To Save Money" you will come up with 211 million results. And for the most part they are all going to tell you pretty much the same thing. I call them latte factor suggestions.

Let me explain what I mean. A few years back, David Bach wrote a book called The Automatic Millionaire, and in it he described the latte factor. In his book he points out that by just cutting out your daily latte, around $4 per day, you could save over $1,400 per year. Add to your savings by bringing your lunch to work instead of eating out, and you could be saving $10 a day, or over $3,000 per year.

His point was that those little expenses add up, and they certainly do. If you are trying to save money or pay down debt it makes a lot of sense to stop buying expensive coffee and eating out. But what if you have done all that? What if you want to do something dramatic and make huge changes so you can pay off all your credit card debt in one year, your mortgage in three? It can be done, if you are willing to make the sacrifices. I know people who have, and I am going to tell you how they did it.

First let's look at some easy ways to save money. They might not save you big chunks of money, but all the little things do add up and can make a signigicant dent in your budget. I've already talked about switiching out your coffee store latte for some home brew, here are some other suggestions.

#1. Stop paying for books and magazines. You can get all you want for free, just let people know you will take them. In fact, you might find you have so many that you can sell them. People give me their books and magazines that they are done reading. The magazines I read and donate to the library. When I am done with the books I take them to the second hand bookstore, where they will give me a store credit for most of them, and cash for some of the better books. If I feel the need to read a current best seller, I get it from the library.

#2. If you have a cell phone, drop the long distance service on your home phone, or just drop your home phone. I don't get cable where I live so I need a phone line for my internet access. But I dropped my phone service to the basic plan and saved over $25 per month.

#3, If you have high speed interent, drop your cable service. You can now watch all the major network shows, online for free. Many of them are in HD, and all of them have fewer commercials than if you were watching over cable or satellite. The best part is, you watch when you want. I just spent the past few months getting caught up with Lost, by watching one show a day. Now I watch Survivor and The Amazing Race on my schedule, not the networks. Money saved $50 or more per month.

After you have been doing some of the easy money saving for awhile, you start looking around for even bigger ways to save.

#1. Raise your insurance deductables. Insurance was never meant to pay for every little expense. If you have minor damage to your car or your house, you should just pay for it out of your savings account. By expecting your insurance to pay for everything, you just end up with higher premiums that will cost you more money in the long run.

#2. Do your own car repairs. Buy a service manual for your make and model of car and do your own repairs. Most of the cost of auto repairs is labor and you will save hundreds of dollars every time you do your own repair. If you are good at following directions most repairs are not difficult. You can rent any specialty tools that you need.

#3. Get healthy without spending money. Drop your gym membership, and eat less food. Instead of spending your money on expensive supplements, buy the store brand multi-vitamin, and get your nutrition from real, high quality food. Don't even think about buying junk food, pre-prepared food, or eating out. You don't need a gym membership or special equipment to exercise. You can walk or run for your cardio. You can use household items, or even your own body weight for weight training.

I know these techniques are not for everyone, but when saving money and getting out of debt becomes your number one priority, these ideas will get you there fast.

#1. Sell your car(s). You don't absolutly need an automobile. You can get where you need to go using your feet, a bike, or public transportation. If you live far out of town, then go straight to step 2.

#2. Downsize your housing, and move to where you can take full advantage of public transportation and walking as you main means of transportation. When did it become necessary for a family of 4 to live in 3,000 square feet of McMansion 20 miles from the nearest grocery store? Unless you are earning your living as a farmer, it makes more sense to live in town. Then if you are single, find a room to rent. If you have a family, rent a small apartment. Not only will your rent or house payment go down, you will also save money on utilities by living in a smaller place. If you are not ready to downsize your home, then consider renting out a room.

#3. Still not saving enough? Find a job that provides housing and the time to pursue other income. Some of these jobs include aparment manager, motel night manager, or caretaker.

 Using all of these suggestions could save you thousands of dollars each month.  If you use those dollars to pay off your debt you will save even more in interest payments.  The good news is, it doesn't have to be forever.  Just a few years of being an extreme saver will be enough to get you out of debt and into living a cash basis lifestyle.  If you keep up with your extreme savings you may even be able to save up enough to buy a house for cash.  Don't laugh, I know someone who did!