There are a couple of recurring themes in debt-related horror stories. The general undercurrent is that of a lack of awareness (about what debt is), discipline (in terms of living within – let alone beneath – one’s means), and self-control (in the sense of indulging your desires – or elevating wants to the level of needs).

It has been well said that, in our culture, there is a palpable pressure to buy things you don’t really need, with money you don’t really have (hint: credit), to impress people you don’t really care about anyway.

And who benefits?

Credit-card companies, for one. (For more on that theme, see my debt-relief-themed book-and-film list, HERE.) Mortgage companies. Pay-day loansharks. In a word… lenders benefit.

How do you get out from under their thumbs – not to mention the crushing mountain of bills and past-due letters?

Here are a few suggestions.

(1) Budget

I know. It’s not fun.

Then again, being in debt isn’t exactly a picnic, either.

Peter Drucker, the late 20th-century business strategist and educator, once opined that “If you can’t measure something, you can’t improve it.”

An oft heard corollary is that “You improve what you measure.”

The upshot is that tracking how your money comes and goes is really non-negotiable if you are serious about getting out of debt.

You can do it yourself with an Excel spreadsheet, if that’s your thing – or with paper and a pencil, if it’s not.

There’s also a website that can do all the heavy lifting for you.

For more on that, check out Mint.com.

(2) Arrange for Payment of ‘M.U.G.’ Expenses

There are some bedrock expenses that are just a part of life.

Many authors speak of these as your “M.U.G. expenses”:

Mortgage (or rent) payment – that is, living-arrangement costs; shelter

Utilities – all the necessities of modern life (electricity, gas, sewer, trash collection, water; possibly also cable, cellular, telephone, etc. …more on which in a moment)

Groceries – food (period)

You need to have food and shelter. You have to get it somewhere.

Now, there can be a conversation about where you live and what you eat.

For instance, if you’re living in a mansion and looking for loose change in between sofa cushions at the end of the month, maybe it’s time to downsize. Or if you eat out every day, even as your credit card is inching closer and closer to being maxed out, then maybe it’s worth spending more time on meal preparation in your own kitchen.

There can also be a conversation about what utilities actually constitute “necessities.”

For some people, internet service is a luxury. For example, if you’re internet service supports your habit of binge-watching NetFlix shows, then maybe it would be worth you giving it up for a few months, while you tried to get back on your feet.

On the other hand, if your internet service is to give you the ability to take online classes or work from home, then it could be a necessity.

That gym membership? Maybe it’s a luxury. if you make your living staying fit, however, maybe it isn’t.

I can’t complete the “necessity analysis” for you. But, I would encourage you to be honest with yourself. Don’t succumb to the temptation to call something a “necessity” just because you really, really want to keep it.

It comes down to what you want more: financial freedom or some good or service. It’s up to you!

(3) Prune Unneeded Expenses

Once you’ve identified unnecessary expenses, the next step is to get rid of them.

This is easier said than done. I get it.

But, when your income is less than your expenses, there are really only three ways to improve your situation.

Way #1: Cut expenses.

Way #2: Increase income.

Way #3: Cut expenses AND increase income.

As much as we might love to do it, it’s not like you can just choose #2, wave a wand, and solve your troubles.

So, for many people, option #1 is the obvious go-to solution. At least… to start with.

Do you go to Starbucks for morning coffee runs? Or do you brew your own at home – or drink coffee at the office?

I don’t want to repeat the point about budgeting. But you need to realize that those dollars add up.

$5 per day, five days a week for, let’s say, 50 weeks out of the year comes to $1,250 for 250 cups of coffee.

A 25 oz. container of coffee from the grocery store might run you between $10 and $25 bucks. And, if the labels are to be believed, those containers can usually support between 200-250 8-oz. cups of coffee – each. Not factoring in your cost of water and electricity to run the coffee pot. And if you don’t have a coffee maker, you can buy one for between $25-$50. Even if you had to buy a couple of cans of coffee and a coffee pot, you’d still likely save more than a $1,000 over the course of the year just brewing your own coffee at home compared to what you’d spend buying just one cup every day.

I can’t tell you how to spend your money or your time. I certainly can’t tell you what to value.

But, if you’re trying to get your head above water, financially, there are usually some expenses – like the coffee – that can be pruned, resulting in a sometimes-considerable saving.

(4) Don’t Make Unnecessary Purchases

This is obviously related to the previous point. But, I think it is possibly a bit different.

If you have NetFlix or Amazon Prime subscriptions, then, in a sense, you have committed to an expense. If you decide that you and your family would be better off without that expense, then you might prune it – per suggestion #3.

But, if you are considering buy a dog, or a new car, or if you are mulling over the possibility of starting a NetFlix subscription, then I would think of this as falling more under the category of #4.

I’ll just use the examples of the car and the dog.

To buy a car doesn’t just commit you to the purchase price, of course. You’ll pay sales tax. You’ll have to get the vehicle tagged and registered. You’ll need insurance. There will be gasoline. And there may be maintenance costs, depending on the age of the vehicle, your warranty, and so on.

Now… don’t get me wrong. Having SOME vehicle or other is – practically  speaking – a necessity for most families. How will you get to work or school without one?

I get that.

But sometimes the issue is getting a NEW car, when the old one still works.

I would think long and hard about taking on that new liability.

Or think about the dog. Lovable companion? Yes!

Expensive? Yes!

There will be food, health costs, shots, and so on.

According to Google, the average yearly cost of owning a dog is around $1,270 bucks.

The moral is: be wise about what you commit yourself to.

(5) Increase income

Maybe you’ve already cut expenses down to the bone.

You never eat out. You brew coffee at home. (And it’s a modest dwelling.) You don’t own a dog.

Your pantry is stocked with Ramen Noodles and your beverage of choice is tap water.

You rent DVDs from the library (driving there in a 10-year old vehicle that is paid off), and you don’t pay for NetFlix or Hulu.

And yet… you’re still past due on your electric bill.

What to do?

There are no easy answers.

Or… let me rephrase that. There perhaps ARE easy answers. I can say: “Increase your income.”

But there’s no easy way to implement that answer. “Okay. How??”

One possibility is to try to get a higher paying job.

Maybe you consider going back to school – or learning a higher-paying trade.

And that can be great. But it’s a solution for tomorrow – or the day after that.

That doesn’t help you now.

You might just post your resume on Linked In. Or take a few minutes every day to peruse ads on Indeed.com.

Who knows? Maybe you could a better-paying position without having to do anything other than look – and interview! – for one.

Apart from that low-hanging fruit, you could try to start a side job or a side “hustle.”

There are numerous websites that give lists of ideas.

Check out the following video, for examples.

But a few quick tips might be:

• Babysitting, house sitting, pet sitting.
• Do chores or odd jobs for people.
• Drive for Uber or Lyft.
• Try “flipping” items on Craigslist or Ebay.
• Sell some of your belongings.
• Donate blood plasma.

(6) Have a Savings/Investment Plan

You worked hard to bring in – or keep – more money. What comes now?

Know where your saved money is going. Plan it out.

Okay, picture this.

You managed to get a few more dollars “cash flowing.”

Maybe you slashed expenses. Maybe you have been working weekends starting a photography business.

Getting that extra cash flow is meaningless if you just fritter it away.

You have to have a plan for where to put every dollar that you save.

So, let’s say that you went from buying Starbucks every day to brewing coffee at home. And let’s say that you anticipate saving a little over a $1,000 because of it.

Are you just going to let that extra money sit in your checking account so that it gets autodrafted for bill 1, or so that you are tempted to go to the movie theater every weekend?

If you are intent on getting into a better financial situation, then your answer should probably be: No.

You need to have a pretty good idea of where each of those saved dollars is supposed to end up.

For example, $1,000 per year comes to around $20 a week, over 50-52 weeks.

That could be a deposit into an emergency fund. It could constitute your contribution to a Roth IRA. You could start an account with a brokerage firm. It could be an investment into a side business.

You get the idea.

Don’t just free the money up. Free the money up *to be used to improve your situation*.

(7) Don’t Neglect Your Credit

It’s bad to carry high balances on your credit cards.

Duh. Right? Nothing new, there.

But, closing your accounts isn’t necessarily the best answer either.

Remember the d-word from earlier?

DISCIPLINE.

I can’t really say it differently than this. There’s no way to use credit effectively without discipline.

See HERE for my quick summary of the good and bad ways to use credit cards. And click HERE for some tips for getting (and staying!) out of debt.