Here's a compiled list of suggestions to live debt free and save your money:
- use rewards credit cards for purchases and pay the card balance off immediately
- use natural homemade cleaning products
- save a percentage of your daily cash allowance for future endeavours
- budget and track your spending, learn where you spend excessively and make necessary changes
- buy only things you need, forget about the luxury "want" items
- refill your printer ink cartridges rather than buying new
- car pool to work or take the bus, get rid of your car (may not be possible for rural residents)
- use free long distance services which may have a short ad to listen to prior to call routing
- send e-cards rather than sending paper cards
- collect cans and bottles with refunds and make 1 or 2 trips to refund each year (or as necessary)
There's also a 7 Baby Steps Program to Being Debt Free that was found on Dave Ramsey's site:
Baby Step 1 - Build an emergency fund starting with just $1000. This is for those unexpected events in life that you can’t plan for: the loss of a job, an unexpected pregnancy, a faulty car transmission, and the list goes on and on. It’s not a matter of if these events will happen; it’s simply a matter of when they will happen.
Baby Step 2 - Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball. List your debts, excluding the house, in order. The smallest balance should be your number one priority. Don’t worry about interest rates unless two debts have similar payoffs. If that’s the case, then list the higher interest rate debt first.
Baby Step 3 - Build up 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings. Once you've completed the first two baby steps, you will have built serious momentum. But don’t start throwing all your “extra” money into investments quite yet. It’s time to build your full emergency fund.
Baby Step 4 - Invest 15% of household income into Retirement Savings. When you reach this step, you’ll have no payments—except the house—and a fully funded emergency fund. Now it’s time to get serious about building wealth.
Baby Step 5 - Saving for children's college or university education. By this point, you should have already started Baby Step 4—investing 15% of your income—before saving for college. Whether you are saving for you or your child to go to college, you need to start now.
Baby Step 6 - Pay off your home early. Now it’s time to begin paying down all of your extra money toward the mortgage. You are getting closer to realizing the dream of a life with no house payments.
Baby Step 7 - Build wealth and give! Leave an inheritance for future generations, and bless others now with your excess. It's really the only way to live!
Source
Baby Step 2 - Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball. List your debts, excluding the house, in order. The smallest balance should be your number one priority. Don’t worry about interest rates unless two debts have similar payoffs. If that’s the case, then list the higher interest rate debt first.
Baby Step 3 - Build up 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings. Once you've completed the first two baby steps, you will have built serious momentum. But don’t start throwing all your “extra” money into investments quite yet. It’s time to build your full emergency fund.
Baby Step 4 - Invest 15% of household income into Retirement Savings. When you reach this step, you’ll have no payments—except the house—and a fully funded emergency fund. Now it’s time to get serious about building wealth.
Baby Step 5 - Saving for children's college or university education. By this point, you should have already started Baby Step 4—investing 15% of your income—before saving for college. Whether you are saving for you or your child to go to college, you need to start now.
Baby Step 6 - Pay off your home early. Now it’s time to begin paying down all of your extra money toward the mortgage. You are getting closer to realizing the dream of a life with no house payments.
Baby Step 7 - Build wealth and give! Leave an inheritance for future generations, and bless others now with your excess. It's really the only way to live!
Source
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