Strategies to Save Money
These free articles outline strategies to save money that I have used. Some are quick tips others are longer term things you can do to save money, but they all will help you save money!
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Even Google is now turning green. Not with envy, of course, but with energy savings on the mind. I just found out about new little tool they created to help you calculate how much energy you are wasting and how much money you can save by changing your ways.
Here is the tool, if you want to give it a shot.
Doing my part to save energy
I am green myself - I think. I previously wrote a post about ways to conserve energy and save money. I eat a lot of healthy foods(organic). I don’t like chemicals. And apparently my host for this site is “Green.” I guess that just about makes me as green as they come. 
They also created nice list of energy saving tips. Here are a few of my faves from the list…
- Weatherstrip and caulk your windows and doors
- Consider installing a Geothermal Heat Pump to heat and cool your home, save up to 70% on your heating and cooling costs.
- Clean your furnace’s filter monthly
- Cover your hot water heater with an insulation blanket
- Reduce the temperature of your hot water heater to 120F or less (or until using little to no cold water in the bath/shower)
- Install a low flow shower head
- Wash clothes in cold water
- Consider air drying your clothes. saves energy, money and keeps your clothes lasting longer.
- Learn how to set power management on your computer
- Download the Google Desktop Power Management Gadget
- Turn down the brightness on your TV and computer monitor
- Don’t keep your refrigerator and freezer too cold. Set temperature between 36-38 degrees F and freezers at 0-5 degrees.
What about you - do you have any energy saving tips that Google might have missed?
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Driving slower to save gas
If you have read or heard of any gas saving tips at all, I am sure you heard that you save fuel by driving slower. A couple of weeks ago when we left for our vacation, I decide to test it out, just to see what the results really were. I really didn’t really do much in the way of hypermiling other than occasionally hanging behind a big rig when he matched my speed.
I just drove the first 350 miles at 65mph rather than the 75-80mph that would have been more likely on our way to vacation.
Let me also mention that we took this same car, our Honda Fit, on vacation last year and the best we ever got was 35MPG. After we filled up that first tank, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that we got 44MPG on that tank.
That was 25% increase in gas mileage, just from driving slower. In terms of dollars, if you spend $200 a month on gas, you would only be spending $150 each month.
How much longer does driving slower take?
The obvious downside here is that it takes longer. Thankfully my wife has enough patience to put up with all my “experiments” that I drag her into. It was about 700 miles to our destination and I would guess that driving 10+ miles per hour slower (for one tank) added 30-40 minutes. So, depending on your situation, it may or may not be worth the time. But, there is no denying that driving slower will save you money on gas.
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What is the best time to get gas?
I read an interesting article from a local newspaper that said, “… Americans currently spend $2.57 billion more than they should for gasoline and diesel fuel due to gasoline expanding at warmer temperatures.”
That is just unbelievable to me. I have always heard that you should buy gasoline at the coolest time of the day (9pm-6:30am) but I had no idea that so much money was being lost to fuel expansion. The article goes on to say that, “retailers currently measure the gas at 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and consumers are paying a price for gas based on that temperature.”
There is “temperature compensating technology” available, but the big oil companies have successfully argued that it would cost too much to retrofit all of the gas pumps across the U.S. Apparently, here in Missouri, all the gas stations will have to install these compensating tools within 6 years.
What is the best day to get gas?
Since we are on the topic of gas saving, I should mention that some people say the best day to purchase gas is on Tuesday or Wednesday. Typically gas prices are raised over the weekend and fall a bit once they come back into the middle of the week. Personally I have not watched or noticed these trends, so I am not really sure about this. If anyone has noticed this pattern, please share in the comments below.
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You know they say you can’t be all things to everyone. Rubbing Alcohol apparently disagrees. After doing a little investigating, I discovered a bunch of uses for it that I never knew about before. The beautiful thing is that you can get Rubbing Alcohol (isopropyl Alcohol) just about anywhere for less than a buck a bottle. It is for these 8 reasons that Rubbing Alcohol is my hero!!
1. Rubbing Alcohol erases “permanent” markers!
Even though they claim to be “permanent,” Rubbing Alcohol proves them to be liars. When your 5-year old decides to draw the family on your countertop with a Sharpie, your friend Rubbing Alcohol will come to the rescue. Just dab a cotton ball with it and start rubbing, it will come right off!
2. Rubbing Alcohol prevents ring around the collar!
Are you tired of people thinking that you don’t take showers because you have stains on your shirt collar? Well, your friend Rubbing Alcohol wants to help. Just wipe your neck with Rubbing Alcohol each morning before you get dressed. Never again will your shirt collars look like you used them to scrub the floor.
3. Rubbing Alcohol fixes Mosquito Bites!
Have itchy mosquito bites ever made you feel like you are going crazy? Well, Rubbing Alcohol wants you to help you keep your sanity. It actually works better than a lot of the store-bought “remedies.” Just rub it on the bites and it will dry them out bringing quick relief to help you keep your sanity!
4. Rubbing Alcohol gets rid of “Sticky”!
Just this past weekend I picked up a SINGLE pine cone and got sap on my fingers. I washed my hands three separate times. After the third time, the paper towel I was drying them with still stuck to my fingers better than if I had used glue. Rubbing Alcohol has no patience for this type of “stickiness.” I should have used my faithful friend and the problem would have been solved.
Oh, and don’t forget Rubbing Alcohol is great at removing sticky price tags from gifts.
5. Rubbing Alcohol keeps bugs away!
Rubbing Alcohol scares spiders, so rub it around windowsills and entrances to keep them out!
Fruit flies are terrified of Rubbing Alcohol because it kills them almost as well as Raid. Mix 1 cup of Rubbing Alcohol, 1 tsp of vegetable oil, and one quart of water in a spray bottle. Ready. Aim. Fire! 10 points for each one you kill!
6. Rubbing Alcohol makes a cheap ice pack!
Have you ever broken your arm? Well, Rubbing Alcohol probably won’t be able to help - you should go to a doctor.
But, an ice pack could come in handy from time to time. All you have to do is mix one part Rubbing Alcohol with three parts water and place in a strong freezer bag. Place in freezer until needed. It will make a slushy ice mix that stays in the plastic freezer bag making it easy to shape. When needed just remove the bag from the freezer and wrap with a towel. And you thought Rubbing Alcohol was just for lighting things on fire!
7. Rubbing Alcohol is a weed killer!
Did I mention that Rubbing Alcohol hates weeds? Just mix 2 tablespoons of it with a pint of water and fill up a spray bottle. Drench every weed you find! Make sure you hit your targets and no innocent by-standards, because Rubbing Alcohol actually hates most plants.
8. Rubbing Alcohol helps get rid of cold sores!
It is statistically proven that when you have a cold-sore you get kissed fewer times. Rubbing Alcohol does not like news like that. So, next time you get a cold sore, try dabbing on a little Rubbing Alcohol. It will dry it up and shorten the life of the cold sore to get you back to being the Casanova that we know you are!
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Since, I don’t have babies or toddlers, I know nothing about ways to save money on them. But, the beautiful thing is that I know some people who are great at saving money on their babies. Thankfully they are willing to help!
This is a another guest post from Resa at ResaDesign. She is a mom of two and a couple years ago began making some very cool clothing and accessories for babies and toddlers. You can find out more at her site - Resa Design.
1. Avoid splurging on expensive and fancy baby clothes.
Before they reach sizes 2 and 4 kids grow out of their clothes so fast. And with no concern for labels, why are you wasting the cash? If you must, start a savings account for those tween years when the kids ask for items by name! In the mean time a few quality basics for each season will get you through the first two years with ease. Try thinking ahead and buying a few things at the end of each season to put away for next year. This is especially great for coats, hats, swimming suits, and other seasonal items that if too big next year, will fit the following year.
2. Save money by making your own baby food.
At least make SOME of it. Jar food is super expensive when you count the cost per serving. It’s really easy to mash up your own bananas, peas, and cooked carrots. With the help of a food processor or blender you can make just about any fruit of veggie into baby food. (check out this link)
3. Take great care of what you have.
We like to use a product called Zout to beat stains of all the baby and big kid kind. (Easy to find at your local Big Box store.) When away from home, be sure to soak the stained item and throw into a bag until you can get home and get some soap on it. Soaking is also a great time saver for newborns- fill a dishpan with water and a little soap. Just keep filling until laundry time.
4. Pass on special baby laundry soap.
Unless your baby has special issues, I suggest washing his clothes right along with your own. If you want to be more sensitive, check out a fragrance free and dye free soap the whole family can get in on and is less expensive than the ‘baby’ kind. While our kids don’t have any special skin issues, we have washed their clothes with ours since pre-birth and they seem to be surviving just fine.
5. Share or buy ‘gently used’ baby clothing and items
Many baby and toddler items are only used for a short time. (i.e. Swings, bathtubs, tub rings, jump toys, saucer, bouncy seat, etc.) This ensures that a borrowed swing or play mat has only been used for a few months (per child). It also means your child is only going to use it for a few months too so why spend $100+?
6. Breast feed.
When possible, this will save you gallons of money on gallons of formula and all the bottles that go with that.
7. Save money on toys by starting a toy diet early.
Too many toys are overwhelming for kids and parents. Stick to some quality basics (think quite, battery free). Think outside of the box, or of the box itself, when you need some new distractions. Other great box like toys- tubes, spoons, bowls, milk jugs, water bottles filled* with household items that make different noises. *be sure to glue or tape the lids on to prevent choking.
8. Save by taking advantage of free books, DVDs and CDs.
I’m all for a mini home library of the classics, but how many books or DVDs do we really need? Check out your local library for the best assortment of kids books, movies, cds, etc. You’ll have more variety than you could ever get at home. (Hint- I keep a list of books I see in magazines or online in our library book bag so I always have a place to start.)
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A reader recently asked me if I knew of any good and free budgeting spreadsheets. Personally, I love Excel and get a kick out of building spreadsheets, but I know not everyone is as interested in that as I am .
Each one of the sheets below are free and are designed to be used with Excel, but will more than likely work if you use OpenOffice (basically a free version of Microsoft Office). Some may also work with Google Docs, but I have had bad luck with some of my imports into Google Docs.
Each of the budgeting sheets below have their own strengths and weaknesses, so give try them out, see what works, and make tweaks and changes if necessary. If you have a spreadsheet that you have built or have found (that is free to distribute) please provide a link to it in the comments below.
Since we are talking about free spreadsheets, I will tell you about two I built and use. They aren’t necessarily for budgeting, but they help keep our finances organized.
- FLOP (Financial Life on One Page) - Basically my balance sheet to calculate my Net Worth, keeps track of account numbers, and other information about all my financial accounts.
- Bill Payment Schedule - I pay my bills twice a month. I use this sheet to make sure everything balances and gets paid at the right time.
If you are just getting started budgeting, I suggest reading this article first: How to make a budget. Once you are finished, come back to this article and you can download one of these sheets.
Household budgeting Spreadsheets
Here are all the personal budgeting templates listed in no particular order.
Personal budgeting spreadsheet
A good and simple budget spreadsheet. The user has to enter each purchase and details in order to get full and accurate tracking of expenses.
Household budget template
Allows you to put in each item you purchase and the item’s category. It will then add up and compare the total amount spent with the amount budgeted.
Personal Budget monthly spreadsheet
This one is good if you are trying to add up income and expenses and find the difference between the two.
Family Budget planner
This one allows you to look at the whole year’s expenses and income with each month being a column in the sheet.
Wedding Budget Template
This sheet provides suggestions on how much you should spend on each item in the wedding. It also will help you think of expenses you might not have thought of.
GLBL Budget Spreadsheet
Simple it is different than most because it works by pay period, rather than by month.
Debt Reduction spreadsheet
This is a really cool spreadsheet that helps you decide the best method for paying down your debts. It allows you to create a debt reduction schedule based on the debt-snowball method. The first page is a basic calculator for you to enter your information, choose your total monthly payment, and see a summary of the results based your debt reduction strategy. The second page is a printable payment schedule to help you keep track of your progress.
Personal Budget Worksheet
A famous old Microsoft budgeting template. It is very simple, but has proven to be helpful with the 2,000,000+ downloads. I like this one because all it does is provides a sheet to add up your expenses and your income showing the difference
Detailed personal budgeting Excel sheet
Very thorough, walks you through everything step-by-step, but just a little bit more that I am looking for. It is a really cool spreadsheet and will probably be very helpful to some people.
Thoughts about household budgeting
If you are just getting started budgeting I suggest reading two articles I wrote - How to make a budget and why budgeting is like baking cookies. From personal experience, I can assure you that you won’t get it right the first month. It’s okay, just keep making adjustments and it will get better and easier each month. Budgeting of some sort is critical if you want to master your finances or get out of debt.
If you are just starting, I wish you all the best and let us know about what you learn in the comments!
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This post is a reprint of a post I recently wrote for FrugalDad.com with a few minor changes. 
It’s about time to take your wife out on a date!
Alright, I can’t guarantee that she will “love” all of them, I mean what kind of guy would I be if I completely understood women? But, I am sure that she will at least love some of them, depending on the type of lady you have.
By “date” I am referring to anything you can do alone for a couple hours with your wife/girlfriend. If you have kids, you might just have to bite the bullet and pay a sitter for a couple of hours, but at least the date itself can be free!
I have found that creativity is often the source of the most fun and it doesn’t cost a thing! On the other hand you can often spend a lot of money doing the same-old-thing and not have any fun. These are a few ideas that have worked for us.
1. Have a photo shoot | FREE
Grab your digital camera and start driving around town together and stop at scenic locations and start taking pictures of each other. Be goofy. Be creative - think like an artist, don’t just take the same old fake smile centered pictures. Get out of the box and take some weird pictures! Take 100-200 pictures and go home, download Picasa, pick your favorites and stretch your creative muscles even more by adding various effects to each picture.
2. Have a movie marathon | FREE - $5.00
Of course the library is great for books, but most libraries now have an extensive selection of DVD’s as well. Go pick out a few of your old favorites then swing by the grocery store and pick up your favorite snacks. Turn off the lights, grab a blanket and cozy up for a night in the great indoors.
3. Go house shopping | FREE
Even if you aren’t in the market for a new house, just go browse anyway. There is just something fun about the home-browsing process. Pick a developing area and check out a few of the display homes. Make a list together of the things you like and don’t. This is also a great way to get some design ideas and to find layouts that you may want in the future.
4. Go play a sport together | FREE
Play basketball, tennis, soccer, catch, ride bikes together, rollerblade, or anything else. It is fun, you get to breathe some fresh air, and most of them are great exercise as well. How is that for multi-tasking?
5. Plan a vacation | FREE
As I write this I am counting the days to my next vacation. You could almost argue that the anticipation up to a vacation provides as much enjoyment as the vacation itself. So why not start planning one? Even if it will be two years away, it is still something to look forward to and will get here sooner than you know it. There are a million vacation related sites to get your brain churning and help you get ideas. Once you figure out where and when, start budgeting for it!
6. Dinner and dancing at home | FREE - $30.00
Make a playlist of your favorite slow songs and let them start playing. You can then cook your favorite meal together, put out some candles, the fine china, and have a relaxing and romantic dinner together. Once dinner is over, leave the dishes until the next day! Slow dance and think about each other like you did when you were dating.
7. Go on a picnic | FREE - $20.00
I can still remember the first picnic I went on with my wife (girlfriend at the time) and it was so fun. I made us her favorite type of sandwich, got her favorite chips and drinks, packed a basket up with food and blanket and we headed to our favorite park. We found a great secluded location right next to a stream that ran through it and threw our blanket down. We ate, relaxed, and talked for a while. We then wandered around the park and I played her a couple songs on my guitar. Guys you may laugh, but girls love it!
8. Play a game together | FREE
Find an old board game in the closet. Scrabble, Checkers, Chess, Yahtzee, Monopoly, or anything else you both enjoy. If you don’t have the boards themselves you can play online. Scrabble, Checkers, Chess, Yahtzee, and Monopoly.
9. Go camping | FREE - $50.00
One of the reasons I love camping is because all the distractions are (or should be) left behind. You can sit under the stars next to warm campfire and just talk to each other for hours. It is just a great cheap way to break out of the monotony of the daily grind. If you don’t have a tent you can get one for as cheap as $25 at Walmart. Sleeping bags can be as cheap as $10. Pack a cooler and hit the road.
10. Go for a moonlight walk | FREE
If you have a beach near you, I am a little bit jealous, and you should go there - often! If you are an inlander like the rest of us, you just need to find another place. But even a subdivision sidewalk will do. There is something very romantic about walking around at night, especially under the moonlight. Tell your spouse all the things you love about them and walk slowly.
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I will admit it. I am a mild Ebay junkie. I just always find great deals on Ebay! It is almost always the cheapest place I can buy whatever item I am looking for - even for new stuff! But as good as it is, there is something about Ebay that I had to learn the hard way…
Don’t get sucked into the Ebay trap!
A lot of Ebayers get lured into the auction process and the excitement of trying to win causes them to bid more than they wanted to originally. They tell themselves,”oh, but if I can just bid one more dollar, I can probably win it. It’s only a dollar…” This cycle continues as they fight it out in a bidding war against QTprincess32 and fight to the death trying to “win” a book for $10 that they could have bought at Amazon for $8. I, of course, have never succumbed to the Ebay temptation .
Well, I am finally learning a few ways to buy on Ebay and still get a great deal. These are the five steps I usually take when I make a purchase on Ebay.
1. Check past ebay selling prices
The reason you do this is to see how low it has sold for in the past. Depending on how soon you need the item, you should be able to get close to this price if you can wait long enough.
1. Do a search for the item you are looking to buy, but hit the Advanced Search button
2. Then on the next page, make sure you check the box that says, “show completed listings only.”
3. Now it will show you the completed listings for the item you are looking to purchase. You can use this info to gauge how much you will probably have to pay for your item. I typically take this info and compare it to Ebates and the Amazon price without shipping.
2. Decide on your max price
It is important to decide how much you are willing to spend, because otherwise you risk falling into the trap I mentioned above! Figure out how long you are willing to wait and decide on your max price accordingly. If you are trying to get the lowest price possible it will probably take longer to win an auction at that price.
3. Think of alternative search phrases
I recommend going to the Ebay homepage and using the categories to find your item. But you should also search for the item with a few different search phrases. A “dress shirt” could have just been listed under “button up shirt” finding these unique phrases that others might not be searching for is very helpful in getting a bargain on Ebay.
4. Use sniper software
Ebay sniping is basically just using software or a service to put a bid in for you in at the last possible second. There is research to suggest that by sniping you can get an item for a lower price. The other thing I love about it is that i don’t have to be around to watch the end of the auction. I just pop in my max price and they put the bid in for me 1 second before it expires.
There are a bunch of sniping tools available and a bunch of them want to charge for their services as well. I have been using Gixen.com, which is free, and I have had good luck with it so far.
5. Use Paypal
Paypal is the preferred method for most Ebayers because it is the quickest and easiest way to exchange money. It is also great when buying stuff on Ebay because they offer some protections to the buyer that wouldn’t be available if using a check or money order. You can also use your credit card with Paypal and your credit card number will not be exposed to the seller.
Do you have any Ebay buying tips you have discovered?
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Why do you need natural toothpaste?
Commercial toothpaste contains flouride
There is a lot of debate about Flouride and whether it does or doesn’t have negative effects on our bodies. It is a key ingredient in most tubes of toothpaste that you find in the grocery store today. It also gets added to the local water supplies in most parts of the U.S. I don’t want to start a big debate about whether it is good that it is put into our water supply or not, but just know that even the supporters of floride use agree that too much can lead to Fluorosis.
Personally, I try to avoid flouride and if you do you are well aware that there are few options in the grocery store. Even a lot of the natural and organic toothpastes seem to contain flouride.
Other artificial ingredients
But, regardless of where you stand on the flouride issue, there are many other artificial ingredients contained in commercial toothpaste, like sweeteners (usually saccharin), emulsifiers, preservatives, and artificial flavors. While they may not be as bad as drinking bleach, they aren’t benefiting your body.
Make your own toothpaste
I decided to do some digging and see what it actually takes to make your own toothpaste. It turns out it only requires a few natural and easy to find ingredients. I don’t have kids yet, but this seems like one of those projects that may be good to get your kids involved with. I know I never wanted to brush my teeth when I was 5, but this might have made it more fun!
Ingredients needed to make natural toothpaste
- Baking soda (works as a natural cleansing agent and it polishes and whitens your teeth as well!)
- Table salt
- Hydrogen Peroxide (naturally disinfects your mouth)
- Stevia (optional as sweetener)
- Peppermint oil (optional)
Both 4 and 5 can be found at a health food store
Steps to make your toothpaste
- Pour 1/2 cup baking soda into a mixing bowl
- Add a dash of salt
- Add 1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide
- Add 1 drop of peppermint oil
- Add a dash of stevia (more if you want it sweeter)
- Mix it all up until it becomes paste like. You may have to add more hydrogen peroxide to get the right consistency.
A few notes about the homemade toothpaste
- You can store it in a plastic container to keep it from drying out.
- If you’re not into the peppermint flavor, you could try ground cinnamon or vanilla extract.
Another quick and easy option is to get Peppermint extract (1/4 tsp.) from the Spice section of the grocery store and mix it with 1 tbsp. of baking soda. Add a dash of salt, mix it up, and you are good to go.
In trying this out, I thought I added a dash of salt, apparently I added way too much because it tasted like the Gulf of Mexico. Next time, I am going to lay off the salt. Brushing with it felt nice and left my teeth feeling so fresh and so clean, clean! I think I am going to try it with cinnamon next time to see what that tastes like.
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Ok, if you have made it this far in the series, you are doing great. But this one is where the rubber meets the road. This is where we see how bad you want to be out of debt.
The sacrifice is only temporary!
The most important thing to remember as you are reading this is that it is ONLY TEMPORARY. By making a sacrifice you are not condemning yourself to that for the rest of your life. You just need to make up for all the overspending that has taken place in the past
If you have done some of the things mentioned in the last few articles, you are on a better financial footing than you were. But, if you expenses are still greater than your income, then we are going to have to take a few more steps.
Sacrifice your stuff and sell it!
Like we mentioned before, your balance sheet is the true indication of whether or not you are progressing financially. But, if your expenses are greater than your income, it is highly unlikely that you are increasing your net worth. So, in order to move forward you either have to cut expenses or increase income.
So far we have mostly been focusing on the less painful ways of cutting expenses in order to increase our net worth. Depending on how deep in debt you are, you may need to take drastic measures to get yourself back on solid ground.
What do you have that you owe money on?
Take out a piece of paper and write them down. Do you have loans on your house, car, boat, living room set, or anything else? The goal is to minimize our expenses, so what better way than getting rid of some of the stuff we owe on? Don’t worry, you will be able to get it again later, but now your goal is to break free from the bondage of debt!
Remember when I said you have to open your mind to things that you might not have wanted to do. This is probably one of them.
Cars are terrible investments!
We pay a lot of money for them and they basically only go down in value until they to car heaven. In my opinion cars get people into financial trouble more than anything else. Most people don’t spend tens of thousands of dollars on something that knowingly goes down in value.
The way to defeat this of course is to drive older cars (older cars have already suffered much of the depreciation and therefore lose a whole lot less in value each year).
What is good about this is that if you have a car that you paid $25,000 for and it is now worth $17,000 you can sell it, take the $17,000 and use $6,000 to buy an old car and use the remaining $11,000 to pay down your debt. Just think about this for a second. You can knock out $11,000 of debt just by making one sacrifice: driving an older car.
Now I know not everyone is in that situation, but the principle still applies. So, if you have a boat that you owe thousands on still, or a couple cars, it doesn’t really matter. If you are making payments on it, you should consider getting rid of it.
And come to think of it, if you do own it and it is still worth a decent amount, you can sell that too!
But if I get an older car, it will be expensive to maintain.
Not necessarily. Go to Consumer Reports and give them $5.95 for one month of access to their website. They have, hands down, the best and most useful information for buying a used car. The rate just about every car in the book for all kinds of criteria. Not the least of which is reliability.
What you will find is that Honda and Toyota (on average) make the most reliable cars. If you were looking for the single best old car that is reliable, I would say it would probably be a Civic. But, do your own homework at Consumer Reports.
Sacrifice your time and get to work! Again.
Yep, if everything up to this point isn’t getting you into the black, then you may need to think about getting a second job. The good news is that second jobs aren’t what they used to be. I remember when I was younger I would put in a hard day’s work at the grocery store and then make my way to the restaurant for the completion of about 12-16 hours on my feet.
Needless to say those days were very tiring, but it doesn’t have to been that way. There are many work-from-home opportunities that you could get involved in as you work to knock out the debt.
Work Overtime
Ask your boss if he/she has anything extra you can work on to pick up some extra hours. This will likely be the best paying additional income you could find.
Sell on Ebay
This is probably the most popular method these days for people looking to supplement their income. The greatest part about it is that you can start with stuff laying around your house. If you have not sold on Ebay before, I highly recommend it as a way to generate some extra income. For more info you can read an article I wrote for beginners called 7 Steps to selling on Ebay.
Freelance Work
Do you have a skill that you could make some money on the side with? If so you can post an ad in Craigslist for free. You can check out elance.com or one of the millions of Freelance job sites out there. Google “Freelance work” to get a small sampling of what is available.
Next, we will take a look at the steps to pay off those remaining bills and balances with the Debt Snowball.
Click to go to the beginning of the Getting out of debt series.
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