You Can Be Successful at Debt Consolidation - Just Give It a Try (cont.)
Contributed by Stephanie Litaker
Rather than playing the borrowing game, you may want to consider another more practical option to for debt consolidation. If you need to reduce your debt, the best way to do that is to reduce your spending so you have additional available funds to dedicate to your credit card debt. If you don't know how to do this, then think about it this way. Rather than going out to dinner with your family and friends three times a week, stay home and cook dinner.
Cook enough the first time and you'll have leftovers for at least one more meal. Also, if you're bored on a Friday night, instead of spending $20 on a movie and popcorn, rent a movie and snuggle up with a bag of microwave popcorn. You'll save yourself about $15 that way. These ways of saving money aren't just about debt consolidation, you can do this any time you feel like you're pennies are being stretched a little further than you'd like them to be.
What not to do when you're on a debt consolidation plan
An object in motion stays in motion...and that's true of your debt consolidation plan too, as long as you let it be. When you are trying to get out of debt, or you are trying to consolidate your debt, the worst possible thing you could do is to get further in debt. Keep those credit cards out of sight and never even consider getting a new card. Rather than counting on credit to buy the things you want, count on the cash in your pocket to buy them. So if you don't have the cash, you don't get the stuff.
