Debt Management - Get Out of Debt by Tracking Your Spending

We have always been told that we should watch where our money goes. When it comes to doing so, we often focus on the big bills. These might be a rent or a mortgage payment, car loan or car insurance payments, utility bills, grocery bills and so forth. Of course you want to keep an eye on these bills, but what about all those little purchases?

These little purchase can be anything from a scratch-off lottery ticket, a pack of gum, a coffee on the trip into work, a bag of chips we don't really need, dinner out when we have a fridge full of food at home, and so forth. Tracking your spending (even these little purchases) won't take that long but the results may amaze you. You might see just how this simple task can lead you on a quicker path to debt relief.

Now, it is easy to track those big bills. After all, there is no way that we can forget about them because we have a payment book or get a bill each month in the mail. For these large purchases, just pile up your latest bills to determine their amount.

It is a little bit harder to track the little purchases (more because it requires some actual effort). What you should do is buy one of those pocket sized notebooks from the dollar store. Carry that and a pen around with you for one week. You can place these items in your purse or in your car. Each time you spend even.50 cents on a candy bar, write it down. Do this for one whole week. How exactly will this help you achieve your goal of seeking debt relief? I am going to get to that part in just a minute.

At the end of the week, hopefully just a page of your mini pocket notebook will be filled with purchases. Unfortunately, you might have a few pages worth. What you want to do is sit down and look at this and then total up their costs. You might be surprised to see that you were spending as much as $100 a week on "unnecessary" purchases. These are things you don't need and when you are in debt, they should be eliminated from your spending.

There are many benefits to tracking your spending with a mini notebook that costs no more than $1. We often don't give these little unnecessary purchases much thought, but you will when you total up their costs or when you see it in print. You might even have one of those "wow, this is why I am in debt moments."

Finally, the key is to start eliminating unnecessary purchases and put any money saved towards seeking debt relief. Speaking of which, you can cut a check right to the credit card companies or you can enroll yourself in a debt relief program that can settle your debt for less or get you a consolidated loan.

If you are over $10,000 in unsecured debt you really should consider getting a debt settlement. Creditors of unsecured debt are fearful of collecting and they also have stimulus money to make debt settlements financially feasible for them. Once the economy turns around it will be too late to eliminate your debt. Check out the link below to locate legitimate debt relief companies in your area: