Being Proactive About Debt Reduction

Are you pro-active or passive about reducing your personal debt? If you fall into the latter category, here are a couple of suggestions for aggressively taking steps to debt elimination.

1. Pay off any credit cards that you can and cancel these accounts.
If you have any credit cards with small balances, get rid of them and pay off these debts as soon as possible. For example, I had a small Macy's account that was lingering for years. I made the decision last week to get rid of it once and for all and check one more debt off my list. Even though the debt was small in comparison to some of my other debts, it was a mental relief to get one more debt out of the way.

2. Contact your credit card companies and try to negotiate lower interest rates.
In today's dismal economy, you'll be surprised at how many creditors are willing to re-negotiate your credit terms.

3. Start a savings account.
Even if you can only manage $20 bucks a month, taking the proactive step to start saving your money will make you feel better and will get you in the habit of putting money aside every month. And eventually, even small amounts of money begin to accumulate into a sizable savings fund.

4. Figure out what excess expenses you can cut out of you life.
If you buy lunch every day, start taking your lunch a few days out of the week and save this money. If you live close enough to your local grocery or pharmacy, start walking instead of driving and save gas. If you find yourself at home with every light and television on, turn things off and try to reduce your energy bills. If you really start analyzing how you spend money, you'll find countless small ways to save and reduce your debt.

5. Look for coupons and bargains before you shop.
You would be amazed at how many coupon offers there are available at any given time, both online and from traditional brick and mortar retailers. Whenever I shop online, I first go to Google, type in the vendor's name and then "coupon codes" to see if there are any discounts available. I have found amazing coupons for everything from pizza to digital cameras in the past week. There are also numerous discount sites like Retailmenot.com and Couponboutique.com which feature discounts and specials on a daily basis.