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Yes you read that right, the answer to how to reduce debt is quite simply, don't have a budget. What don't have a budget, OK, I own up, I was just fooling with you to get you to read the first sentence. The truth of the matter is you do need a budget, but not the type of budget you're thinking of, in fact let's not think of it as a budget at all. Why do I say that, well I suspect we're not that different and when I think 'budget' I think boring, I think 'no treats' and I think hard work, you probably do too.

But it doesn't have to be like that, there are ways of managing your debt reduction plan without feeling like your whole life has to come to a halt. But we do need a bit of a reality check before we go any further. I think we need to acknowledge that you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, and you can't hope to reduce debt without breaking a few habits.

Now I asked around when I was writing this article, just to find out what people thought about 'budgets'. Surprise, surprise, the thought of reducing debt was fine with people, though they were skeptical that they could make a significant impact. But the mention of a budget got the same response from everyone. Reduce debt ' yes. Have a budget ' what, get away from me!! Here's a selection of comments ( I left the more salty ones out).

' Forget it.
' I don't need a budget.
' It's too much of a hassle.
' I don't want one.
' I haven't got the time.
' I'm not giving up my favorite things just to save a few bucks.
' Sounds like hard work.
' I'd rather live now and pay later.
' Life's too short.
' I don't want to be the richest guy in the graveyard.

Fair enough. If all of these people were debt free no problem. But I picked them to ask in particular as I knew they were all having issues with credit card debt, car payments etc, etc, you get the idea. They were keen to reduce debt, but how did they think they were going to even get close to reducing debt without some kind of plan.

I needed to come up with a solution to make the whole idea of a debt reducing budget more appealing. So I decided to flip things around and instead of calling our debt reduction plan a 'budget' we called it a 'Spending Plan'. That's better don't you think? Sounds far more positive and far more fun.

Now of course, the overall goal is to spend less and reduce debt. But the point is that you can still spend, just not indiscriminately, or if you must spend indiscriminately then do it with money which you've set aside for that purpose. And the greatest advantage of our 'debt reducing' spending plan is that we don't need to mention the unmentionable ' budget ' again.

Still not convinced that you need your very own 'spending plan' so that you can reduce debt, and in doing so reduce stress and live a life of peace and security. Yes, I'm playing the peace of mind card, I'll use any dirty trick in the book to get you to do something about reducing debt, getting debt under control, not creating any more debt and ultimately killing debt off entirely.

Now you may be thinking that you work hard and deserve all those treats, whatever they might be. And you've got better things to think about than reducing debt, that'll sort itself out over time. WRONG. Only you can sort it out, and I have a different take on what you deserve. What you really deserve is to reduce debt and to live a life where you're in charge of your money, and get to keep as much of it as possible for yourself. Not give it to the credit card companies, the loan companies or the bank in interest, fees and loan repayments.

The interest and fees charged on credit cards, store cards, mortgages, etc, etc, is just like having a tap that pours money straight from your bank account and into the accounts of the card and loan companies. You're their very best employee, you're a blue chip investment and you're putting their kids through college and not your own. Turn that tap off and stop the flow of money out now. Convinced you need a spending plan to reduce debt yet? I hope so because I'm all done. If you are convinced here's a list of expenses to help you get started with reducing debt. Good Luck.