Reduce General Spending

If your monthly expenses are greater than your income, it is definitely time to reduce your spending and stop accumulating credit. DebtBusters offers the following tips on how to spend less and cut costs: Pay Less on Transport Transport is generally the second biggest monthly expense. With fuel prices rapidly increasing, look for alternative transport. Suggestions for alternative transport:

• Use public transport. As South Africans, crime is a primary issue; however there are safe transportation methods. Trains and other forms of public transport are safest at peak times.
• Walk rather than drive to places within close proximity
• Find a reliable and affordable mechanic for car repairs
• Ask your older children to contribute towards petrol

How Expensive Are Your Vices? Smoking and drinking are unnecessary expenses. If you sit down and work out what you spend on smoking for a month, you would be horrified. To demonstrate our point we'll do it for you: the average smoker buys a pack every two days at an average R24 (this figure keeps going up), that is a total of R4368 per year on cigarettes, and that's 10 cigarettes a day, if you smoke more expect to double and triple that figure. The same applies to alcohol. Drinking regularly is highly expensive. Try changing to a cheaper brand, cutting down or preferably stopping all together. Fun Stuff for Less Always remember that reducing your budget doesn't mean that your family can't have fun together and eliminate enjoyment form your lives. Take time to find alternative more cost effective ways to have fun. Dressing for Less With a little creativity, planning and time to shop around, you can reduce costs. Reducing Your Phone Costs With the amount of cell phone and telephone packages and deals available today, cutting down on expenses has become much easier. Saving on Prescription Drugs If the cost of prescription drugs is taking a big bite out of your budget, there is no need to stop taking the medication you need.