Debt $ense

My boss has a saying about big tasks: Eat the elephant one bite at a time. In other words, break big tasks down into little ones. It sounds a little goofy, but I’ve found it works.
It’s a good way to handle saving for big items. Just put a little money aside each week and you’ll be able to pay cash, not add to your plastic. Now that I’m running again, I know I’ll need to replace my shoes in a few months, so I took $10 from this week’s paycheck and put it in an envelope. If I do that each paycheck, I’ll be able to save about half the money from my weekly budget and only need to take half from my “pinch-point” savings account. (That’s the one that handles irregular expenses like car insurance.)
It’s also a good way to think about paying down debt. If I think “I have to pay $8,500 to my credit card company,” it seems overwhelming. But when I break it down and say “I’ll pay $137 each week,” it suddenly becomes much less so. It also makes me more vigilant in searching for places I can take another “bite” out of the debt because I know smaller amounts will make a difference. $4 here and $10 there has gotten me $77 in the last week for an extra payment. An extra morsel like that each month will make for a nice debt-free dessert this time next year.