The formula for success in lowering your credit card debt has been attributed to paying off the interest on the cards and getting them eliminated or, at the very least, diminished to a more manageable level. One could simply earn more money. But, in these tough economic times, employment is sometimes difficult to come by, much less finding a job that offers more pay. In light of that, here are 3 ways to save money:

USE COUPONS. While at first view, saving $0.25 on a package of toilet paper (and who doesn’t use toilet paper) may seem trivial and inconsequential. But, if you find enough coupons, you could easily save $1.00 per week. If you charged $1 per week at 22.99% interest (which is the rate that many cards charge), it would cost you $1,044.60 over the period of 20 years. Making minimum payments on a credit card could take you over 20 years to pay off. Use coupons when shopping and take your savings to pay off your credit card debt.

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As prom was approaching, my son asked if he could attend both here at his new high school and an few hours away at his former high school. Guilt plagued me as I weighed this question. We had ripped him from his high school friends at the beginning of his junior year, and it seemed important for him to celebrate with them as well as his new friends. As I mulled this over, my tightwad nature sprang up. As tight as things have been, how could we manage two proms? He had recently found a job, but his first paycheck would not arrive until after these events were over.

He already owned an all-black tuxedo we had purchased during a 50% off sale for his saxophone performances at school. He wanted to wear his tuxedo, but he wanted to dress it up. I agreed with him that we could kick it up a notch with some additions.

His idea was to purchase or rent a white tuxedo coat and have all the other items black including the vest, standard tie, and shirt. We would need to purchase the white tuxedo coat (the most expensive purchase) and a vest and tie set.

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