Richard Eppstein from the Toledo Better Business Bureau wrote this article, which was published in Sunday’s print and e-editions of The Monroe Evening News:

Has debt become a quagmire in your life, bogging down your standard of living?

Difficult economic times often can magnify a household’s debt burdens, especially if a wage-earner loses his or her job.

Here are some tips from the Better Business  Bureau to try to manage your debt:

• Set up a household budget to guide your spending patterns. The budget should detail your monthly income, as well as your monthly expenses. To begin, compile a list of all sources of income (paychecks, alimony or child support, interest and dividends) for your family.
• Next, compile a list of the bills you pay each month (mortgage or rent, car loan, credit cards and revolving lines of credit, utilities, insurance, cable TV, etc.) and your family’s expenditures for food, child care, clothing, transportation, cell phones and other items.
• If the bottom-line totals for expenses exceed your income, you’ll have to either boost your income and/or cut expenses in order to bring the totals in line. Cut discretionary, optional spending, such as restaurants, entertainment and vacation/travel.
• Don’t go deeper into debt. Make a concerted effort to refrain from accumulating any more debt in the coming months. Pay cash or use a debit card. If you must charge something in an emergency, use the card with the lowest interest rate.
• Use strategies to free up more money. Adopt the mindset that you will save a bit of money each day.
• The possibilities are endless: forgo the daily coffee; take public transportation; use money-saving coupons; eat more home-cooked meals; seek out lower-priced car insurance; cancel your cable TV; or switch your cell phone provider. Challenge family members to come up with other ways to save money.
• Prioritize debt repayments. Not all of your debt obligations carry equal weight. Start with the most expensive revolving types of credit.
• Pay off high-interest rate balances first. Consider transferring balances to the lowest-rate card. If you are able to transfer balances from the higher interest accounts, close those accounts once the transfer takes effect.

If you want to check out reputations of companies or file a complaint, contact the BBB of Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan by visiting www.toledobbb.org or calling (800) 743-4222.