I desperately need to be more thrifty - but I just don't know how. Where can we cut back? We have a lot of debt that really needs to be paid off, and I just don't know how to get started.

We do have cell phones, and are under contract - I needed mine when I was doing my paper route, and dh needed his for his last job. Now - we are just stuck in the contract.

Other than that - we just don't have a lot of frills. We don't have cable - only rent movies very occasionally. We don't call long distance, and if we do, we use our cell phones for free. All of our light bulbs have been switched to the flourescent - I hang my clothes out when weather permits. (our house is too small to do it indoors)

What can I do? How can I really tackle our debt?

Hi Melody! :waving:

The mamas on this board are GREAT for suggestions of ways to save money. Check out some of the "brainstorm" threads I started - there's one on electric, one on gas, and I forget what all else. :D

We're in the same boat, kind of. A lot of the mamas here are.

The first thing I did was to sit down with the checkbook and bills and REALLY figure out where our money was going, and how much our expenses run each money. Then I started cutting where ever we could.

We switched to a flat rate long distance plan, changed plans on our cell phones to one with a lower minutes and lower monthly fee (be careful, some companies charge you to switch).

Oh, there's another post with all sorts of ideas on what you might be able to cut out - cable, magazine subscriptions, etc.

There's a site that offers free budget thingy - they send it to you every week for a few weeks and it was helpful to me, but I'm totally drawing a blank at the moment. When I think of it, I'll post it. :)

Welcome!