Create a monthly spending plan. Use a budget to stay focused on your goals and control impulse spending. List your total monthly income (if your income isn’t consistent, divide the annual average by 12) and subtract taxes and your regular giving amount to see how much income you have to spend each month. Then list your living expenses, such as housing, food, transportation, insurance, debts, entertainment and recreation, clothing, savings, medical, school tuition and child care, investments, and miscellaneous. Be sure to account for spending that varies each month by averaging the annual cost and dividing by 12. When you deduct your living expenses from your spendable income, you’ll see the amount of your monthly deficit or surplus and can begin to figure out how to change your spending habits. Before buying spending money, ask yourself: "Can I do this less expensively?" and "Do I really need this?"

Place mind over money. Understand that much of the battle to become debt-free takes place in your mind, so you need to constantly remind yourself of the goal to achieve financial freedom. Memorize some key Bible verses that address debt (such as Romans 13:8 and Proverbs 22:7) and meditate on them for strength to resist temptation. Pray for God to give you the insight, discipline, and persistence you’ll need to pay off your debts. Remember that nothing you can buy will make you feel as good as being debt-free. Limit your exposure to advertising, and don’t go into stores unless you truly need to buy something. Ask God to cultivate contentment in your heart, and to show you that true riches are found in your relationship with Him. Rather than charging an item or service when you need it but can’t afford it, wait and pray for God to provide what you need, trusting that He will be faithful and creative in answering your prayers.

Understand your credit report and score. Know that the information on your credit report, and the credit score you’re assigned, powerfully affects your financial future and the interest rates you pay. Once a year, order a free copy of your credit report by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com or calling toll-free (877) 322-8228. Study it for errors, and report any errors you discover. You can find out what credit score the three national consumer reporting companies (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian) have assigned you by buying the information from them, or by purchasing all three scores from www.myfico.com. Understand that the most important actions you can take to improve your credit scores are to pay your bills on time and reduce your total debt.

Snowball your debt payments. Realize that the more you pay off your debts, the more momentum you gain, just like a snowball picking up speed as it rolls down a hill. Since you pay interest only on the unpaid principal balance of each loan, the faster you pay down your principal balance, the less you’ll have to pay in interest each month. Pay off your smallest high-interest debt first, then, after it’s paid, apply the money you would have used for its payment toward the next smallest debt, and so on until you eventually pay off all your debts. Accelerate your payments in other ways, too, such as selling items you no longer need and applying the proceeds to your debts, and using any additional income you receive (such as bonuses and tax refunds) to pay your debts down.