I need to free up about 100 a month for my budget to pay off credit cards. WE are pretty straped as is and do not have many extras. I need some hard core money saving ideas please so serious answers only.
215877
okay, I don't really know what you spend, but here are somethings to check:\n\n(1) cable, get rid of it if possible (or get the cheapest deal)\n\n(2) cell phones, get rid of them if possible or ditto.\n\n(3) gasoline.  Try to limit driving, so you could maybe shave off $5 or $10 a week.\n\n(4) get cheaper car insurance, if possible.  If you haven't had an accident in 5 years, you can ask your company right now for a "best driver" rate.\n\n(5) don't leave any appliances (TV, computer) or lights on when you are not using them\n\n(6) If your health insurance is expensive, you could also shop around\n\n(7) And if you got a refund from taxes this year, you could change your withholdings so that you can get more out of each paycheck, instead of waiting until the end of the year.
419100
do not start your adult life by having too many credit cards\n\nThis can lead you to ruin later on.\n\nBe realistics, just get one and work hard.\n\nDo not buy something that you cannot afford, just beacsue you have a credit card
445327
Do you have credit card debt?  Please explain what you mean by debt's into loans (do you mean like payday loans) just to claify, this often means different things to different people? and what are the monthly bills? \n\n First, cut all "luxuries" down to the bone, cable, cellphones, internet, eating out, grande latte's, etc..If you have two cars, can you get by with just one? If so, sell the other. Sell anything that will help to pay off your debt.  Once your out of debt, you can always replace what you sell..but this time paying all in cash.\n\nIf you have credit cards, call the company and explain to them what is going on, emphasize your desire to pay the debt, and see if you can work out a better payment arrangment...most will be willing to...if not, look into a  debt consolidation company.  \n\nI need to know more about your situation before I could give you anymore advice.  Do NOT touch the equity in your home.  Here is  a site that I found helpful...http://www.crown.org/  E-mail me if you want to talk more indepth about your situation..
43925
I provided a link for the free credit report from the government. As for your medical bills. Call the doctors and explain to them your situtation. Some doctors are known to reduce their bill and sometime even write them off. If your bills are with a hospital, call them and try to work off a payment plan. The best way to do this is to sit down and write a budget for the month. Make sure you list your home, food, and utilities first. Next, car and gas payments. Then other bills, like daycare. Make sure you have all the money going towards something. Just be honest with them and tell them you want to do the right thing and pay them. They should be able to work something out with you.
245425
Get rid of all but one card.  Consolidate everything into one.  The credit agencies will give you better marks for having one credit card under control, than 3 cards out of control.\n\nSell the cars and buy something you can afford.\n\nLive beneath your means, not beyond them.  Make a budget and stick with it!
326102
figure out how much money you make in a given period of time (a month, a week, whatever). now, subtract essential things. rent, gas money, electricity bill, etc. \nnow, figure out how much is left. THAT number is how much you've been wasting. lol. so, you need to change it. cut back things that arent necesary. how much do you need to spend to have fun? figure out what's a fair figure to spend on yourself, and set that as a limit. but the majority of your extra cash should go in the bank. and make sure you're paying off the cards as aggressively as you can. dont just pay the minimums, see how much extra you can throw at it.
28124
$310 per month income Vs. $380 expenses per month? which country are you from? what job are you in? what kind of loans are you owe? credit card, car and house loan? \nI think things you should do are:\n\n1.cut your loan, see if you can cut any loan by selling it off (like car installment)so that you need not to pay it every month.\n\n2. then look for lower interest rate loan to pay off your higher interest loan. such as personal loan to pay off credit loan which is much higher than other loan.\n\n3.  Refinance your montage so that you can pay lesser each month.\n\n4.  look for a way to increase your income, such as part time or small business.\n\n5.  Increase your financial intelligent by reading some financial book. one of my favorite is 'Rich Dad Poor dad' by Robert Kiyosaki\n\nGood luck
12219
Why ?  Do you not have cash ?  Do you want to have debt ?\n\nStop using your credit cards.\n\n \n\n“People change their lives only when they say, ‘I’ve had it!’” – Les Brown\n\n \n\nThink you can’t exist in the 21st century without credit?  Do you have at least one credit card?  Did you sign up just for the bonus miles or cash back?  Sounds like it’s time for you to perform a plasectomy.  (That’s what Dave calls cutting up your credit card.)  You’ve heard all the lies, now here are a few facts about credit.\n\n \n\nMyth: No on can live without credit cards.\n\nFact: Actually, 24% of American households are getting by just fine without any type of credit according to a Federal Reserve survey of consumer finances.  Try using your debit card or cash instead.  If millions of Americans can live without credit, so can you!\n\n \n\nMyth: Credit cards help me get airline miles, cash back and other discounts.\n\nFact: Yeah, credit cards also help you get into debt.  Consumer Reports say that only 25% of airline miles are ever redeemed – and credit card companies know it.  Earning a few airline miles is not worth thousands of dollars in debt.  \n\n \n\nMyth: I can just pay off the balance at the end of every month.\n\nFact: You’ll be in the minority.  According to CardWeb.com, only 40% of credit card users pay off their balance when they receive the bill.  Plus, overspending is inevitable when you use a credit card.  It’s just easier to swipe a piece of plastic than it is to flash the cash.\n\n \n\nMyth: “Ninety days same as cash” is the smart way to buy.\n\nFact: “Ninety days same as cash” is a scam.  Retailers know that most consumers won’t pay their balance in 90 days, which means you get stuck with outrageous interest rates and back charges to boot.\n\n \n\nMyth: I’m required to have a credit card to buy a house.\n\nFact: Several quality mortgage companies provide underwriting which allows you to purchase a home without a credit card.  If your mortgage lender requires a credit card for your home loan, run – don’t walk – to a lender who will actually help you achieve freedom from credit.
244598
Well, to be honest with you your best bet would be to put the money in the bank that you plan on paying the credit cards off with. Each month you can pay over the monthly limit, but make sure you make your payments on time. By just paying off your debt it's not going to really help your credit score. They want to see someone who has really established themselves and has a good reputation. You might be able to get a loan anyway, but I will advise it might not be the best nor the cheapest interest rate. These are definite things to keep in mind.\nIf you do these things it will help your credit score, and you will be building a good reputation for your credit. This will also cause your credit score to go up. Once you have established good credit again, you will be able to get the loan you want and deserve. Hey we all fall into some bad times. So you aren't a bad person!! Just get back up on your feet, and move on. Life throws us curves and sometimes we have to duck, sometimes we have to tread through! \nMy suggestion to you would be to go to the websites I have pasted below. It explains what is a credit score, how do I get my credit score up. \nGood Luck, I hope this helps!
594788
First, when I compare my expenditures to those of my friends, the obvious savings is the fact I do not own a vehicle.  Even with monthly bus passes and the occasional taxi, I spend hundreds less monthly.  Second, I look over my budget almost weekly to see how things might work better.  Once, I worked in a set amount of retirement/savings into my budget so it became a "necessity" like any other bill.  Suddenly, my cable and cell phone stood out as nice-to-haves, not need-to-haves, so I cut them out entirely.  Third, though I'm always on top of my bills, I started using auto-pay functions to ensure I would never get behind.  Fourth, I started eating in and brown-bagging far more, which decimated the amount I was spending eating out.  My next step is to have my bank automatically send money monthly to my investor, like a bill, so it gets done despite how busy I get.
49198
I am also a 27 year old female, and I've learned some harsh lessons about financial realities.  I'll share with you what worked for me.\n\nI have a binder full of lined paper.  On the first page of the binder I have a budget.  You may ask yourself, how does one create a budget?  \n\nThe way I did it was to first list the things I have a fixed amount I need to spend per month: Rent, Car payments, Magazine subscriptions, Car insurance.  Then I figured out how much I would need PER PAYCHECK to save for this (don't say per month - if you do this, you're setting yourself up for failure).  I need $400 per paycheck for rent, $200 for car, $50 for insurance, $5 for registration, etc.  ANYTHING you spend money on goes down on paper.\n\nNext, I put down the things I need, but that aren't fixed.  For instance, groceries, gas, car repair, health (SO very important to have a large reserve, as I recently found out).  I guess how much I'm going to spend on this per month.  Don't forget, that a budget is ALWAYS evolving.  You get raises, bonuses, and (hopefully not) pay cuts all the time, so be prepared.\n\nFinally, you need to have some money to yourself.  I seperated these into clothes, gifts, massage, and books for myself, but you can always change that around.  Put a fixed amount per check into these funds.\n\nHere's the most important part: RECORD what you're spending on the other sheets of paper.  If you buy a pair of shoes, that goes in the clothes budget.  If you buy a gallon of milk, that goes in the groceries budget.  I guarantee you'll be shocked by some of the purchases you make. (I was spending $500 on groceries for two people in a month - that's absurd.  I now REALLY watch what a shop for, and I make sure I'm not throwing things away because they got old - I use everything!)\n\nOk, now we're ready to set aside some money to save!  Generally people say to save 10% of your gross income.  With the above method, the car repair and health funds are sort of "oh no" accounts that you're not going to be touching unless you have a situation, so I count that as part of the 10%.  Aside from this, calculate 10% of your net income ($800 = $80) and have it direct deposited into a different account.  This should not be accessable by check OR atm card!!!!  Once you have about $2,000, you should be able to move it into a money market (some people call money markets "High Yield Savings Accounts") without having to pay any fees.  You'll earn about 2%-4%, depending on the rates at the time.\n\nDon't forget that you'll want to fund some sort of retirement account out of this!  Make sure you try to set asside the maximum possible into retirement accounts so you don't regret your misspent youth.  I'll let you know that I've done calucualtions that say I need 2 million (caluculating for inflation) dollars to retire at age 65.  Yes, that is $2,000,000.  I urge you to look for a program called "Smart Women Finish Rich" in your area.  You'll learn TONS from it, and hopefully be inspired to start saving money.
164000
One way I learned to make a budget was to save every receipt from everything I bought for one month, right down to fast food and gas. You may be suprised at what you spend money on. A little here and a little there adds up fast. Do that for a month and you can better write a budget for yourself.
575266
It will depend on the credit card.  I would definately ask before making this move.  I had a credit balance on one of my credit cards but it still only showed that my available credit was equal to my credit limit.  I would go to the bank and get a prepaid visa card for the purpose of paying the amount.  Then you don't have to worry about having the $2500 tied up for a month and possibly not being able to use it.
9986
Start with your local consumer credit counseling agency.  They frequently operate on a sliding scale for a fee and they are effective at STOPPING late fees and interest charges to get your balances paid down and paid off.  That's part one.  Part two is to find a part-time job (even if you're working full-time) of at least 2 hours a day.  Use that money to pay off your bills even faster.  Most everyone has 2 hours a day that they weren't doing anything with anyway.  When you are debt free, continue with your full-time and part-time job.  All money earned from your part time job goes into savings.  All money not used for living earned from your full-time job goes into savings.  Research ways to grow your money and go from there. \nADDENDUM:  I went with a consumer credit counseling service and they RESTORED my credit, PAID OFF my balances quickly and spared me the hassle.  Nice job of bookeeping for 25.00 mo. Only 2 years later, we bought a house, brand new, no money down, just completed 3 bed, 2 bath, 3 car garage with no trouble whatsoever.  The mortgage company DID NOT see us going to a consumer credit counseling service as bad but rather as quite pro-active in arresting an out of control system of money management.  So....I realize the people answering after me think this a bad deal but...um..wow, really worked for me and I don't know what else to say other than maybe the experience is an individual one?  I just can't believe that I'm the only one who ever benefitted from the experience.
399211
If you can live without a credit card I would do so. You would end up paying extremely high interest rates and your terms of agreement would be ridiculous. It is always better to live debt free. It's easy to say "I will only use it in emergencies" but then those always seem to start popping up. I know, been  there done that. Didn't have to file for bankruptcy. But it still wasn't fun. Cash is king. Or I use my plastic card hooked into my bank account. It's either used as debit or a credit card and that way I don't abuse the card.
329779
Just have moderation in everything you do. Don't eat out, forgo movies and other entertainment you have to pay for, have a yard sale of your unwanted things, I knew a lady once who made $500 on a yard sale.  You'll have to get creative to save money on entertainment, but many communites have free concerts, or you can go for a walk in the part.  If it's possible, you and your partner can get a second, part-time job.  Or go to a temp agency and take some extra jobs that way.  Good Luck. \n\nP.S.- I know you want a house, just don't get in over your head and start of your new life back in debt.
472758
why don't you share an apartment in the beginning[share the costs]get a job first!!!a credit card can get you into debt!!you have to pay monthly payments and a credit card only gives you so much money!!