Instructions

• 1). Create a budget and stick to it. Write down your monthly income and expenses, and determine to live within your means. Cut out unnecessary expenditures and apply the money saved toward your debt.
  
  
• 2). Use any extra money such as a cash gift, refund or bonus to pay your debt. While it is tempting to spend unexpected money on extras, exercise willpower and pay down your debt instead.
  
  
• 3). Follow what Dave Ramsey and other financial experts refer to as the "snowball plan." For this plan to work, target your smallest bill and make payments until it is paid off. Next, apply the money that you were paying toward the smallest bill to your next smallest bill, and so on until each credit card, student loan or car loan is paid off.
  
  
• 4). Find extra ways to make money. Get a second job or look for creative ways to bring in extra income. Offer to do odd jobs for family members or neighbors. Rent out an extra room in your house or hold a garage sale. Apply this newfound money toward your debt.
  
  
• 5). Sell your unused valuables. Items that you don't use such as musical instruments or jewelry can be sold on eBay or Craigslist and at pawn shops or through the paper's classified ads. Pay any money you make toward your debt immediately so you won't be tempted to spend it on anything else.
  
  
• 6). Educate yourself on debt management. Attending classes or workshops on debt prevention and strategies for getting out of debt will help equip you to become a better steward of your hard-earned financial resources.