Benjamin Franklin coined the phrase, “A penny saved, is a penny earned.” What was thought wise advice in his time, has become even more provident in todays world where debt seems an epidemic among American consumers. Todays financial experts agree that it can be the small day to day savings that add up to big results as we work to eliminate consumer debt. Here are a few of there tips for cutting out excess spending:

Keep track of all your monthly expenditures, even fifty cents for a snack. Cutting out even the smallest daily purchases, can add up to big annual savings. Financial experts call this the “Latte Factor.”

When you force yourself to think about every purchase, it makes it easier to be strict and frugal in your spending. This also allows you to find wasted money in your budget that could be put toward debt reduction.

Shopping sales can be a great way to save money on the purchases that you would normally make anyway. While everyone likes to find a great deal, just be careful that you are not overspending, or worse, buying things you dont need, simply because they are on sale.

With the hike in gas prices, driving across town to save a few cents on one item is no longer a smart savings solution. Become a one-stop shopper by watching the weekly ads, and trying to get everything you need in one trip.

Many stores offer double or triple coupon savings, and some stores will even price match, allowing you to get the other stores sale price with just one trip to the market.

Plan menus, make a list, and make only one shopping trip each week. This will help eliminate impulse buys and overspending.

Look for month to month savings by lowering your monthly bills. Scale back on your phone plan and cable bill, turn down your thermostat, and cancel any memberships that go unused. Watch for ways to lower each payment–youll be surprised at the extra savings you can find!

Say you are at home with your family, about to sit down to dinner. The phone rings, and you already know who it is on the other end. You don’t want to answer it, and the caller ID confirms your suspicions. It’s a number you don’t recognize, but you know it’s a collection agency again. How annoying.

Don’t you wish the harassment would stop? It’s embarrassing and stressful. Isn’t there anything you can do to make it stop? What are your rights here? Can they really call you at work?

There are actually several things you can do to stop creditors from harassing you. You should act quickly - first time you receive a harassing phone call from a creditor, send the creditor a letter by certified mail to make sure they receive it. This is known as a “Do Not Call” letter. In it, you will ask that they no longer harass you with phone calls and tell them how to properly contact you

Call the company that you owe the debt to as soon as you know you will not be able to make your payment on time. Explain your situation to them and ask if you can make a payment arrangement that is mutually agreeable. This will show the creditor that you are sincere about paying your debts and you want to work something out.

Keep a notebook next to your phone and log every time a creditor calls. Mark the date and time of the call, the debt in question, the callers name and the creditor they represent. If it is legal in your state, record your conversations with the creditor. If you don’t record the call, tell them you are. This may “scare” them into changing their personality and may stop future calls.

You do have some protection under federal law. A creditor can’t call you after 9 pm or before 8 am. After you send them a “Do Not Call” letter, they may only call you once more after that to acknowledge that they will cease calling you. Most importantly, they cannot, by law, call you at work, period

Creditors also may not threaten or harass your children, threaten to take action which is beyond the few actions which are legally available to them (more on this in a minute), or talk to anybody not involved with the debt about the matter. They cannot put you in prison (or threaten to) and cannot confiscate property or garnish wages, unless said property was put up as collateral for a loan.

What creditors CAN do are these three things: They can refuse your business in the future, they can sue you for what you owe (though this is unlikely as will almost certainly cost more than you owe to sue you) or they can report your non-payment to a credit reporting bureau

You don’t have to let them harass and bully you. You have rights by federal and state laws. You can stop the harassment if you are being harassed by a creditor. Don’t let them treat you like a criminal or as someone unworthy of respect just because of a debt which you want to pay.

You say you know where your money goes and you don’t need it all written down to keep up with it? I issue you this challenge. Keep track of every penny you spend for one month and I do mean every penny.

You will be shocked at what the itty-bitty expenses add up to. Take the total you spent on just one unnecessary item for the month, multiply it by 12 for months in a year and multiply the result by 5 to represent 5 years.

That is how much you could have saved AND drawn interest on in just five years. That, my friend, is the very reason all of us need a budget.

If we can get control of the small expenses that really don’t matter to the overall scheme of our lives, we can enjoy financial success.

The little things really do count. Cutting what you spend on lunch from five dollars a day to three dollars a day on every work day in a five day work week saves $10 a week $40 a month $480 a year $2400 in five years.plus interest.

See what I mean it really IS the little things and you still eat lunch everyday AND that was only one place to save money in your daily living without doing without one thing you really need. There are a lot of places to cut expenses if you look for them.

Set some specific long term and short term goals. There are no wrong answers here. If it’s important to you, then it’s important period.

If you want to be able to make a down payment on a house, start a college fund for your kids, buy a sports car, take a vacation to Aruba anything then that is your goal and your reason to get a handle on your financial situation now.