Excellent Series of Articles

Step One Towards Getting Out of Debt

But before you begin, give yourself a break. No matter what your current financial situation is, it can be improved. While you can (and should) learn from the past, beating yourself up over mistakes you may have made in it won’t get you anywhere. Once you’re ready to begin getting out of debt, start by finding out where you are. (You can’t get to where you’re going if you don’t know where you’re starting from.)

Step Two Towards Getting Out of Debt

Start by recording every single thing you buy, no matter how small. (Even a 1 cent gumball counts.) This may seem extreme, but chances are you’ll be surprised at how much of your money is spent on the little things — and the only way to find out for sure is to track every single expense.

Step Three Towards Getting Out of Debt

After completing steps one and two toward getting out of debt, the third step is to set up a spending & savings plan. Since you should already know your current income and expenditures, this step involves listing them out in an orderly manner.

Step Four Towards Getting Out of Debt

Step four toward getting out of debt involves looking for ways to reduce spending (so that you can pay down debt with the savings). If you have completed steps one, two, and three, you’ll have an accurate picture of what you’ve really been spending your money on and will know what your fixed expenses are.

Step Five Towards Getting Out of Debt

Step five toward getting out of debt addresses ways to use ‘found’ money to pay down debt. If you have completed steps one, two, three, and four, you’ll have an accurate picture of what you’ve really been spending your money on, will know what your fixed expenses are, and will have found ways to reduce your spending.