How great is your resolve on Monday? It seems that every Monday, I am fired up to meet and exceed my goals. Goals at work; goals around the house; goals in diet/fitness; and yes, goals related to my debt (currently 20k of consumer debt).

Today is Monday and my drive is strong. In what way? As mentioned in my earlier post, I am going to try and explore creative ways to get out of debt, one buck at a time!

I am going to try and implement new habits each week that will culminate in saving opportunities, money generation opportunities, and spending my money in a way where it will make it's way back to me (hence a Boomerang). This idea of new habits each week could also be termed...Habit Stacking! I've read many posts from others in the SA community that seem to be working on similar steps. This can be quite effective.

Goal for this week: Eat Every Dinner at Home.

This may not seem like a big deal to some people, but for my family it is. I did not realize how much money we were spending on "eating out" until I sat down and really looked at where our money was actually going.

What helped me with this? I used a free online program that helps me track my spending. By looking at my spending in the form of a pie chart, it really opened my eyes to where our money was going.

Example: Last month we spent more money on FOOD than our living expenses, including house payment, insurance, utilities and gas for both cars. This is ridiculous for two people...yup, two people. This requires a change.

Imagine this scene: Eyes looking at pie chart and then over to debt total; back to pie chart; back to debt total; and so forth. By cutting back on something as simple as eating out, several hundred dollars could be applied to our consumer debt. Hence, that is this weeks goal.

Take Action Today!

(1) Review what you spent last month. Yes, every transaction.

(2) Identify what items could have been avoided or removed

(3) Identify where those funds could have been applied to assist with your current debt.

(4) Set a goal to make application of step 3 above

I look forward to hearing your experiences and comments. What changes have you had to make in order to eliminate your debt? What habit could you put in place today to make tomorrow better?

Resource used: Mint.com