Living on a single income
By Diana Cawfield • Bankrate.com

Think like a student
You've probably heard the expression that life is a trade-off. Well, that philosophy can also be applied to money management.

Tom Hamza, president of the Investor Education Fund, offers the same advice to cash-challenged households that he offers to students trying to make ends meet.

When you write down your total spending every month, only then do you start to see where your priorities lie. "Because every one of us, even the most frugal, is spending money somewhere that is in some way unnecessary," he says.

Seeing that eye-opening information on paper allows you to start making trade-offs. For example, says Hamza, the $80 you spend on coffee in a month may be better off going into savings.

If the caffeine is worth it to you, look at cutting back on your 300-channel cable bill, unread subscriptions or fast food expenses, for example.

"Those $2 to $3 expenditures, that's when you really get caught. It's when you're not consciously putting money in a planned direction that things slip away," says Hamza.

Managing debt on one income
In a perfect world, no debt is the best debt, so how do you manage if two incomes become one?

The same strategy for managing student debt, which currently averages about $20,000, can be used for a one-income household, says Hamza.

Say you have a $20,000 debt and an eight-year plan to pay it off. That means putting aside about $200 a month over that time frame. It's that steady approach to debt repayment that is critical, says Hamza. "You don't want to think about it, you want the payments to be automatic."

Campbell agrees that deciding on how much you can put toward that debt is the first step.

It's equally important to talk to your financial institution to see if you can consolidate your loans or get a line of credit to reduce your interest payments. If that isn't an option, work toward paying off your high-interest retail credit cards.

"Sometimes managing money and debt can be overwhelming because we have not been taught this," says Campbell. "There are not-for-profit credit counselling services in every community, so if you find you cannot do it on your own, then get some help."

Diana Cawfield is an award-winning freelance writer, specializing in finance, health sciences and corporate communications.