Here is a true example of what Scot does: Jason and Michelle had a good life living in a flash inner city apartment, complete with harbour views, which they had bought 3 years prior. They dined out 3-4 times each week and often got up to the wine country for weekends. Overseas holidays were frequent last year enjoying a 21 day safari adventure in the wilds of Africa. Yes, life was good. But it all came crashing down fast. Michelle unexpectedly lost her job. Her severance package disappeared as the weeks went by and they were left with a startling reality. Until her employment situation improved they had to get by on 1/3rd of their income. Where could they start saving money? A quick look at their situation identified a number of variable areas where they could reign in the spending. After assessing their lifestyle spending and discussing the importance of each area, both agreed to trial a changed spending routine . They could potentially save over $600 per month without restricting their lifestyle too much (one can t be expected to go cold turkey after all) Their list of fixed expenses could offer a more defined impact. As Jason & Michelle had equity in their home, and were more concerned with immediate cash flow, I took the following approach: Home Loan ($400,000 @ 6.5%) $2,530 (monthly) Car Loan ($21,000 @ 13.5%) $236 (monthly) Visa Credit Card ($11,500 @ 19%) $182 (monthly) MasterCard Credit Card ($7,000 @ 21.5%) $126 (monthly) Store Card ($3,500 @ 23%) $67 (monthly) Total number of monthly bills = 5 Total amount of debt = $443,000 Total monthly repayment = $3,141 By Consolidating they ended up with: Total number of monthly bills = 1 Total monthly repayment = $2,800 ($341 less than previous) So, with other strategies and little effort Jason & Michelle were able to save over $900 per month. This was enough to get them by until Michelle found another job. The funny thing though they ve continued to change their spending approach. They re now saving over $1,100 each month (still enjoying a life) and have implemented a debt reduction strategy which should see them mortgage free in 14 years (down from 30) and saving them over $505,000 in repayments. | 
