I can't make a change until I know where my money is going so to start over I am making a list of all of my bills and my income. I will begin by making sure that my bills are paid on time. I have a lot of wasteful spending so I am going to start documenting everything that I spend, EVERYTHING!! Things like the diet coke that I drink a lot of daily and the fast food that I buy frequently are going to be replaced with things that are inexpensive and healthy ( water and leftovers) I am also going to a budget seminar in hopes that they can help me learn more about couponing. I can save a lot of money by using coupons on groceries that I buy just by putting a little bit more time into clipping coupons. 2012 is the year that I am going to come out ahead, all because of a few little steps."

I will become more financially stable by living within my means. In this society, most consumers try to keep up with the Joneses instead of buying what their income can afford. This "keeping up with the Joneses" has caused me to spiral into a whirlwind of debt that I have not been able to get out of. Payday lender after payday lender ( five in total ) have drained me dry in fees. What has happened is instead of enriching my life, more of a strain has been put on my livelihood because i am just robbing peter to pay paul. I intend on using my entire tax refund to put this mess behind me, putting any remainder in a savings account that i will add on to each pay period. I will strive to have at least 3 months salary in my account at all times, so that I will no longer need a payday loan to make it."

Personally, I am a major deal hunter and like most people I love to save money. When I look for deals I look for things that I need or want anyway. I don't just get something because it is a good deal. I will buy whatever it is that I need whether it is on sale or not because it is something that I need. Here is where my plan comes into effect. Rather than put a few extra bucks in my pocket now that I would most likely waste on a candy bar, I will try to commit to put whatever money I save from a sale or a great deal that I got into a savings account.

Now putting 55 cents that I saved on a gallon of milk into a savings account may not sound like a lot but it adds up and it does so quickly. I am a member of various savings clubs, I know how to get free and reduced movie tickets, discounts on gas, coupons for free milkshakes and I save money in many other places. If I make a commitment and stick to it, a typical months addition to my savings account from deals I take advantage of could look like this:

2 free advanced screening movie tickets - $26
Grocery savings from coupons and store deals - $43
Fuel savings from grocery rewards card ($.30/ga) - $4.50
Free small milkshake coupon - $2
2 reduced price movie tickets ($5/each from entertainment club, up to six tickets per month at this price) - $16

This is just a few things from my list to give an example of the possible addition to my savings account. With just what I have listed, that is $91.50 that I would be adding to my savings account. This would be in addition to whatever I already add.

Now if you look at my list, you may see somethings that you do not consider necessities and for yourself you may be correct. I am a person who does not believe my life should only be about working and paying bills. I love movies so I go fairly often. It is my guilty pleasure so I would go deal or no deal. You need to eat and you need gas,if you have a car, so you will get these things deal or no deal, right?

I looked at my spending and realized that the money I was saving from the deals I found was being wasted just because I had the extra change. I would walk pass a vending machine, not hungry at all, and think "I have that dollar I saved earlier... what should I get from the machine." If I have a plan for the dollar, I am less likely to spend it and I can put it to something productive."

Coupons, Coupons and more coupons. My husband and I have 4 growing hungry boys and couponing has saved us so much. Also looking for other deals such as purchasing clothes/shoes, school bags and so much more at goodwills/salvation army etc., has saved us so much money, you never know what you are going to find.
My husband has been out of work for over 4 months, after being at his job for over 17 yrs, this has been a very hard time for us, especially at christmas. During this time we are learned to save much better as well as spend much less and look for deals first. Of course when something goes wrong, everything does. We have 2 vehicles, 2001 durango and 2000 s10 we have had for almost 10 years, and our durango decided to break down on us, without the funds to get it fixed for now we have been squeezing, litterally squeezing into our little s10 with all 6 of us, not too comfy!! But we have made do with what we have.
Also our main tv has decided to stop working, just decided to shut off and not turn back on, why not lol so we took one of our other tv's which is only 22" wasnt too easy to watch, but without the money for a new one, not much choice. We have kept our eyes open for a Super Great Deal at one of the discount stores, with no luck. For now, im not one for these places but we did stop by our local rent a center and they have a special going on right now you pay taxes and no payments till feb 4. Great, so we picked out a 40" tv, which our other one was only a 32" figured might as well get a good one, but with no plans on keeping it, we will pay a payment or 2, then at tax time, hope to get a cheap one at that time, if not, our 22" will do until we can afford to get one.
We have stopped going out to eat, making pizza at home, which is actually better than the pizza places anyway, our boys love making them the way they want
Making sure our lights are only on when necessary, you leave a rm, that light goes out.
Keeping out heat down to 66 degrees, is just fine in our home, just keep your socks on and you are comfy cozy
using a Wonderful toaster oven my fil got for us at Christmas, it saves so much on our electric bill, not heating up our OLD oven, it cooks and bakes everything.
Constantly looking for deals online, getting Freebies all the time, whether it be from facebook, or one of the Great progams I belong to where i get free goodies, try them out, and tell everyone about it.
I also have a job where i work from home, that has saves us so much, not only has it helped us since my hubby has been out of work, but the savings on gas, lunches, work clothes and so much more, and I also have been available to get my hubby to his doctors apointments so i can be there with him as well as his physical therapy sessions.
We have been looking into purchasing a couple of new vehicles this past year, but we are so thankful we didnt make that decision final and get new vehicles, with us at this point of my husband not working, and recieving just a few hundred dollars at wk, temporarilly at this point, we wouldnt beable to afford them.

To simplify, I will be using more coupons, shopping at more discount/goodwill types of stores, look for deals online before making purchases, continue with my work from home job, continue with my participation with the Great companies that send me free goodies to pass on the information for, eat our VERY rarely, keep our utility bills to a minimum by keeping lights off, lowering the heat, having only the min on cable and internet and phones.
I am excited about this NEW year, and I know there will be a diagnosis for my husband, that is the worst part.
We will continue to do what we can to save for a better life as we can see what can happen when a tragedy happens and you use your savings up so quickly, but the bills will not stop for you.
Good luck to all of you for the New Year "

Bud Brewster in 2012 I, plan on cutting down on spending for things i need rather than things I,don't need,the real secret to staying out of debt is don't create it in the first place,but this is me but people can do whatever thy want with their money,because it is their money.so that's my answer,hope it helps someone."

I will save more money out of my paychecks. I will eat out less often. I have also increased my 401K contributions. all overtime money goes to my savings accoutn. I have a direct withdrawal from my checking to my savings. when I have extra money at the end of a pay period I put more in my savings."

I am not using credit cards unless I can pay the monthly balance in full. I am using a Perkstreet bank account that pays 1%-2% cash back on purchases. I am making extra priciple payments on my autoloan and then will be applying that normal payment to other debts and payoff all my debts. Then will contine to focus on building an emergency fund."

I will write every transaction into my check book and follow my monthly budget to a tee. I will also discuss finance with my husband and go over the bills with him at the beginning of each month. Also, when I do go shopping I will follow the list that my husband and I have made and if there is something that I want I will ask myself if it is worth me going into financial debt or not."

I have a few things I am going to do. First of all stop smoking! My husband and I have both smoked for over 20 years and at 1 pack a day each, we pay $11 a day to kill ourselves. So we both stopped on the 1st on January.
I am also going to stop using payday loans. If i cant afford it I dont need it. Unfortunatly I am still working my way out from under a few of theses now."