Newish GRS reader Jennifer is beginning her financial journey, and she shared her strategy so far.

So here I am, mid-30s, buried in an obscene amount of credit card debt, and very little to show for it other than my piles and piles of STUFF. Man, I love me some stuff.

I’ve lived in denial for years… “Yes, I have a lot of credit card debt, but so long as I can pay my bills each month, I’m doing OK. I’ll just worry about paying off the debt later… when I’m making more money.”

Well, later is here, and I’ve finally faced the fact that my debt shackles are the only things keeping me from living the life I want… one where I can afford to take time off work to travel (without going further into debt), or perhaps taking a lower-paying job in a field that I’m truly passionate about, or opening that little cheese shop of my dreams. It’s time to get SERIOUS.

So I’ve done the usual things — consolidated my debt between one interest-free credit card and one low-interest loan, both with aggressive payoff schedules, and automatic payments coming out of my account each month — yadda yadda yadda. I hope to be out of debt in two years.

Now comes the hard part (the fun part?): the lifestyle changes. Like I said, I’ve got a lot of stuff. (I’m not talking “hoarder” levels of stuff, just more stuff than any one person reasonably needs to live a satisfying life). Here’s the thing about having a lot of stuff: you have to find places to put it. And as your collection of stuff grows, that gets harder and harder. And then stuff gets buried in closets and drawers – wherever you can find space. And then it’s out of sight, out of mind. So you forget you have it (or can’t find it), so you buy more stuff! It’s a vicious cycle.

Step 1 – Time to downsize.

I set a goal of reducing my stuff by a third. Now, I didn’t put all my stuff on a scale, so I can’t say for sure that I’ve actually accomplished this, but I did fill my living room with massive piles of stuff that all went the way of Goodwill, consignment, Craigslist, Freecycle, recycling, and trash. The clutter is gone, things are organized, and I can finally see what I’ve really got. (How did I end up with five nail clippers?)

Step 2 – Use the stuff I’ve got!

This is a fantastically easy way to cut back on spending. The downsizing effort led to a lot of “I totally forgot I had this! I can definitely make use of one of these!” type discoveries. I found a 2-quart pitcher buried in a box that probably hasn’t been unpacked in at least three moves. So now, instead of buying juice at $3.29 a pop, I buy a zero-calorie powdered lemonade mix for $2.39 and mix it up at home – 10-plus quarts for less than the price of one. I love collecting cloth napkins of all different prints and colors when I find them on sale… but then I never use them! That’s about to change. The last package of paper napkins I purchased is about to run out, and when it does, I’m switching to cloth napkins. (Added bonus – less waste!)

Step 3 – Consume the consumables.

This could really be a subset of Step 2, but in my case, it deserves to be called out in its own step. Seems like a no-brainer, but I’ve realized that I need to make a conscious effort in this area.

• Food.

I love buying food. In fact, grocery visits make up the bulk of my compulsive spending. I buy neat ingredients that I think might be fun to use, and then they languish on the shelf… or worse, they go bad before I get around to eating them and they get tossed. I’ve pulled everything out of the dark corners of my pantry and cabinets and set it all on the counter – and it’s going to stay there until it gets consumed. No buying anything outside of the meat-cheese-veggie basics until I get through what I’ve already got.

• Beauty products.

I’ve probably got six bottles of half-used lotions, and I’m not buying another bottle until they are all gone. I’ve got at least a dozen different hair products that I’ve used once or twice, and more make-up than I’ll ever get around to using… and here’s the kicker – I almost never wear makeup or put product in my hair! Which brings me to Step 4…

Step 4 – Be mindful of what I actually use.

Yes, my hair is often flat and listless, so when I come across some magical new product that’s going to fill my hair with body and bounce, I just have to have it. But then I try it out a few times, give up, and it sits on the shelf collecting dust. I don’t need to spend any more money on hair products. Sure that new lotion smells pretty, or promises to leave my skin looking young and fresh, but I know that I have one lotion that I love, and it’s really all I need. So now, when I’m in the store, considering buying some shiny new object of desire, I ask myself, “Do I need this? No. Will I wear/use/eat this? Probably not. Can I live without it? Most definitely.”

This effort is definitely a work in progress. I’m only about a month in on seriously adopting these lifestyle changes, but so far it’s been a pretty fun challenge! I’m definitely not missing anything, and it’s exciting when I come up with a new small change I can easily make that will save me money in the long run. I look forward to adding more steps.

So, Readers, what are your steps for simple lifestyle changes that save you money?

GRS is committed to helping our readers save and achieve your financial goals.Savings interest rates may be low, but that’s all the more reason to shop for the best rate.Find the highest savings interest rate from Ally Bank, Capital One 360, Everbank, and more.

This is a guest post from Joe Saul-Sehy. Joe is the co-host of the relaxed financial podcast Stacking Benjamins, available on iTunes and Stitcher. His Stacking Benjamins blog, where he shares stories and tips about the struggle to earn, save and spend with a plan, debuted on June 11th.

Do you lack the discipline to save? So do I, but discipline is nearly irrelevant.

When I was a financial adviser, I enjoyed sitting across from people and peeking into their financial closet. It felt like I was looking at people’s darkest secrets: how much money they had, what they earned, how they invested.

I’ll let you in on two secrets:

1) Nearly everyone is messing up some of their financial life, and they know it.

2) Even wealthy investors struggle with some basic concepts.

And here’s a bonus third secret:

3) People usually hired me because they didn’t think they had the “discipline” to save on their own.

The funny part of this story: it doesn’t take discipline to save.

Maybe you can make a case for “discipline,” but I can’t. You certainly need energy and motivation to decide it’s time to begin securing your financial footing. You might need patience to study what methods of saving are available. Discipline? Overrated.

Contrary to what you may have been told, a wealthy person’s secret weapon isn’t discipline; it’s systems.

My wealthiest clients who built fortunes without the benefit of an inheritance were systematic investors. They generally made money doing something other than investing and were passionate about that other task. Whether it was entrepreneurship, engineering, being a physician (though generally my physician clients weren’t rich; they only appeared to be rich), each spent far more time earning money than shepherding it and were great savers because they’d created alerts, spreadsheets and applications to quickly help them manage their financial lives.

One client couple, Don and Karen, came in to meet with me because, according to Karen, “We can’t save.”

I pointed to their financial statement. “You have $450,000 in your 401(k) plan and you’re 35 years old! Of course you can save!”

“No,” Karen retorted. “We can save in a 401(k), but if you put money in our hands or our checking account, it vanishes.”

I’m sure they thought I was a genius when I uttered the next phrase: “Well, why don’t we organize your outside savings to act like your 401(k)?”

I’m a flippin’ rocket scientist.

I joke, but you may have similar problems. If so, ask: where have I built good systems and how can I parlay that skill into other areas of my financial existence?

Here are some some simple systems to get you rolling:

What tools should I use to get out of debt?

Debt management isn’t about finding a magic tool, it’s about the system. So the answer is whatever tool you’ll actually use is the one that’s the key to success. You don’t lose weight by skipping from diet to diet, and you won’t save a dime going from tool to tool. Find one. Stick with it.

If you like apps, I like fun sites like Payoff or Ready For Zero. If you don’t want something electronic, try Dave Ramsey’s debt snowball. If the idea of the debt snowball’s sub-optimal interest pay down drives you crazy, pay the top interest rate first.

I love fights about “which one is best.” Working with over 150 families, I’ll tell you which is best: the one that you’re going to actually use.

System: Find a tool to pay down debt, and use it religiously.

What is best for my budget?

Spreadsheets are great for a nerd like me, but my spouse, Cheryl, falls asleep. We use Mint to budget because it’s easy to use at our weekly meeting and alerts us to problems we might have missed along the way.

The weekly meeting might be one of my favorites. By holding a set weekly agenda, we’re able to stay on top of our financial picture together. In most couples I counseled who struggled, one partner generally had a finger on their financial pulse while the other was in a fantasy land. By holding weekly budget meetings, you’ll clear up your budget problem in a hurry, even if you don’t track expenses.

Systems: Weekly budget meeting. Mint. Spreadsheet. Notepad.

How about getting money saved?

If you have direct deposit, use to to funnel money into your savings account instead of your checking account. Transfer money into your checking account to spend. Most people suffer from “I can’t save” syndrome because they want extra money in their checking account “just in case.” I’ve found that you can use psychology to your advantage here. By directly saving money and then transferring it to spend, you’re more likely to leave your cash alone.

What about setting up and monitoring investments?

You aren’t alone if you’re a poor investor. Many people admitted to me that they struggled with this. Worse, they were often intimidated by advisory terminology and CNBC jargon.

It’s OK to admit that you’re not going to be Warren Buffett with your investments. It’s OK to say, “I’m not going to be great at this,” but at least use tools to become competent. Luckily for you, this thing called the Internet exists, and by using it, you can find some well-proven tools to help. Morningstar is a wonderful resource to quickly browse through 401(k) options and avoid pitfalls. Jemstep charges starting investors zippo to correctly diversify your investments (they do charge for larger accounts, though), and companies like Betterment will do it all for you in a proven, safe manner. There’s no excuse to stink at investing, even if you want nothing to do with it and don’t want to find the perfect financial adviser.

How do I make it work better?

Many people brought boxes full of paper into my office. Worse, some would show me as many as 40 different screenshots of their many online investment houses.

When you take a trip, do you drive one car or four? How easy is it to follow investments when you have to pull up five different screens to see what you own? Find a centralized place to review all of your investments together. Cut the time it takes to review your portfolio. Fewer windshields mean more time concentrating on your destination and less flipping between screens.

By setting up great systems you can laugh off your lack of discipline. Alerts, apps and meetings can rule the day. The only discipline you need? That would be the discipline to follow your system, and if you can’t do that, well, maybe you are destined for failure.

GRS is committed to helping our readers save and achieve your financial goals.Savings interest rates may be low, but that’s all the more reason to shop for the best rate.Find the highest savings interest rate from Ally Bank, Capital One 360, Everbank, and more.

This is a post from staff writer Robert Brokamp of The Motley Fool. Robert is a Certified Financial Planner and the adviser for The Motley Fool’s Rule Your Retirement service.

This year, it happened — something many have been predicting for years: Taxes went up. And most likely, the hikes will just keep coming. There’s no other way to pay off the country’s debt and fund the ballooning entitlements due the baby boomers as they retire. The increases may not affect everyone, and those who earn more will pay more, but someone’s gotta pay.

One way to hedge against higher tax rates is to contribute to a Roth retirement account. Your contributions aren’t tax-deductible, but the withdrawals are tax-free once you turn 59 ½ and you’ve had a Roth account for at least five years. Who wouldn’t want tax-free money if tax rates are just going higher?

Well, as attractive as the Roth can be, it’s not always the best choice for everyone. You see, a contribution to a Roth means you are forgoing a contribution to a traditional retirement account, which might give you a tax-deduction today in exchange for paying taxes in retirement. So the choice is: Should you pay taxes today or in retirement?

Here’s the rule of thumb: If you’re in a higher tax bracket today than you will be in retirement, stick with the traditional account. However, if you expect to be paying a higher tax rate in your golden years, go with the Roth. The same math applies when considering a “conversion,” which is turning a traditional account into a Roth. The amount in the traditional IRA that comes from deductible contributions or investment growth is taxed as ordinary income in the year of the conversion, but then it grows tax-free.

That’s all handy-dandy, but there’s one problem: While it’s a safe bet taxes will go up, it’s difficult to predict what that will mean for any given individual. Still, here are some considerations:

• For many reasons, such as a drop in income, most people pay fewer taxes in retirement than they did while they were working. Plus, it’s likely that senior citizens, as a group, will bear the smallest brunt of future tax hikes.
• Make sure to factor in the difference in tax rates between the state where you currently live and the state to which you’ll retire, if you plan to move.
• A traditional vs. Roth calculation assumes that any tax savings from contributing to the traditional account is invested and saved for retirement. If you’ll instead spend those tax savings, then the Roth looks much more attractive.

As an example, consider the situation of a Motley Fool reader, who posted his Roth conundrum on one of our discussion boards. He’s in the 33 percent federal tax bracket, and pays a 9 percent state income tax to boot. It’s possible he’ll move to Texas after he retires, which is among the seven states that don’t have an income tax. (The others include Florida and Nevada, also popular retirement destinations.) So if he were to contribute $10,000 to a Roth rather than a traditional account, he’d be giving up on a $4,200 tax deduction, factoring in both federal and state taxes. He’s better off sticking with the traditional account, especially factoring in the possible move to Texas.

Sneaking in through the backdoor

The fellow can contribute to a Roth 401(k) because his employer offers the option. Otherwise, he’d be out of luck since his income makes him ineligible for a Roth IRA. Once you earn a modified adjusted gross income (AGI) of $112,000 if you’re single or $178,000 if you’re married, your ability to contribute gradually phases out.

However, all is not lost for those who don’t have a Roth account at work, are ineligible for a Roth IRA, or have already maxed out their 401(k)s. It gets complicated, so stick with us.

First off, not all contributions to a traditional IRA are deductible. If you have a plan at work and are single with an AGI of $59,000 or are married and have an AGI of $95,000, your ability to deduct the contributions gets phased out. If you’re above those income limits, you can make a nondeductible contribution to a traditional IRA. As the name implies, you can’t deduct the contribution, but the investments still grow tax-deferred.

Now, here’s where the Roth comes in. If you don’t have any pretax money in traditional IRAs, including SEPs, SIMPLEs, and rollovers from prior employers’ plans, you can immediately convert that traditional IRA to Roth. (And by “you,” we mean that you can ignore what your spouse has.) Here’s the real bonus: Because you couldn’t deduct the contribution and because the account didn’t have an opportunity to grow, you won’t owe any taxes on the conversion. This little trick has become known as the “backdoor Roth.”

It gets complicated if you have pretax money in a traditional IRA, since the amount is prorated across all the accounts for tax purposes. For example, if you have $50,000 in pretax IRAs, and then you make a nondeductible contribution of $5,000 to a traditional IRA and immediately convert that account to a Roth, only 10 percent ($50,000 divided by $5,000) will be tax-free. However, there’s one possible way around this. You can transfer those pretax assets to your existing 401(k), if your employer allows it. The downside: 401(k)s have limited and often pricier investments, and most don’t allow individual stocks and bonds.

Finally, based solely on the math, younger people in the 15 percent or lower tax bracket who expect to build up a large portfolio over their careers should choose the Roth.

Other benefits of the Roth

That’s the math. But there are other perks to the Roth that might tip the scales in its favor if the math is fuzzy.

• Contributions to a Roth IRA – not earnings – can be withdrawn tax- and penalty-free before age 59 1/2. This has its downsides, since it makes it more tempting to spend money that should be left for retirement. But there are some proponents of using the Roth IRA as a college savings account, and even an emergency fund.
• Unlike the traditional IRA and 401(k), the Roth IRA does not have required minimum distributions (RMDs) at age 70 ½. The Roth 401(k) does, but you can transfer the money to a Roth IRA after you retire to get around RMDs.
• Anyone who inherits a traditional IRA will have to pay ordinary income taxes on the distributions. However, the Roth account will still maintain its tax-free status. And nothing says “I love you” like giving someone tax-free retirement savings. (However, all retirement accounts are included in the calculation of whether estate taxes are due.)

The bottom line

We know the direction of tax rates (i.e., up), but we don’t know the magnitude and the targets. They’re decided by Congress, and who knows what those folks will do? Of course, they didn’t put themselves in office, which means the decision ultimately lies with the voters — and they can be even crazier. Some people argue that we can’t even assume that distributions from a Roth will remain tax-free. But just as diversification is important in your portfolio, tax diversification can also make sense. For many retiree wannabes, one way to hedge against future significant tax increases is to have at least some assets in a Roth account.

This post is from staff writer April Dykman.

I tried for years to be a coupon clipper.

Every now and then, I’d decide I was going to save as much money as possible on my groceries, or at least on stuff like toothbrushes and razor blades. I’d gather all the coupon circulars that normally went straight in the garbage, and I’d review the ads and clip the coupons that spoke to me. Sometimes, I’d even organize them into categories or put them in a special envelope marked — wait for it — “coupons.” Feeling super responsible, I put the envelope in my purse, where I was sure to see it next time I went to the store.

I’m pretty sure I never redeemed a single one. Months after the last one had expired, I’d find my coupon envelope at the bottom of my purse, along with some long-forgotten receipts and a stray Altoid.

“Hmm, coupons,” I’d think, as I popped the Altoid in my mouth. “I really should try to do this coupon thing and save money on groceries.”

I marvel at people who can clip 800 coupons and magically make money on their grocery bills. I read those stories and get psyched about the possibilities. “If they can do it, so can I!”

Only I won’t. Let’s just be honest.

Shopping online

I may be the world’s worst coupon clipper, but there’s one thing I can do pretty well: find awesome deals online.

I always look for coupon codes, which make a commission from the merchants and also make money via advertising. It takes maybe two minutes and can yield savings like 10 percent off or free shipping, so it seems worthwhile to me. And sometimes the savings are pretty considerable.

For instance, as regular readers know, I just bought a house. And with a new house comes a lot of expenses. One major expense was a new refrigerator, since our house didn’t come with one. I scoured the web for the fridge that would be just right and found one I liked at Sears. I checked it out online, then dropped by the store to see it in person. Satisfied that it was the one, I purchased it online and had it shipped to the store for pickup, which saved on shipping costs. (They didn’t have the color I wanted in the store anyway, so there was no way around having to order it.) I also found a coupon code to get 8 percent off, which is considerable when the purchase is that large. In addition, I used the site eBates, which was offering a quarterly rebate from Sears.

All in all, I saved close to $300. I felt a little vindicated for my past coupon performance.

Popular coupon sites

I have my favorite methods for maximizing savings online. Usually that means Googling a retailer plus the word “coupon”, then using eBates. But I was curious about which sites were the most popular, so I Googled “most popular coupon sites” (natch) and found a list of the most popular sites as ranked by eBizMBA, which uses average of Alexa Global Traffic Rank and U.S. Traffic Rank from Compete and Quantcast. Here are the top five:

1. Groupon. Most people know all about Groupon. If they haven’t used it, they at least are aware that it features a daily deal on the best stuff to do, see, eat and buy in your city. Launched in November 2008, the deals are only up for grabs for a specified period of time or until a certain number are sold.

Estimated unique monthly visitors: 14,500,000

Example deal: Two hours of kayak, stand-up paddleboard or canoe rental for two for $29

My take: I have a love-hate thing with Groupon. I bought a coupon for a gourmet restaurant once, and it was a fantastic deal. That said, I already knew I loved the restaurant. More often, the deals seem to be for things like massages, which my friend Kacey bought for a while, until she’d had one disappointing massage too many.

2. LivingSocial. Similar to Groupon, LivingSocial offers deals on things like local events and experiences, gourmet dinners and more.

Estimated unique monthly visitors: 13,900,000

Example deal: 18 holes of golf, cart rental, bucket of balls and lunch for two for $49

My take: I used to check out LivingSocial deals, but never bought one. I unsubscribed because subscribing to Groupon and to LivingSocial was too much for my inbox.

3. RetailMeNot. A “digital coupon marketplace,” RetailMeNot features coupons from about 500 of the world’s largest online retailers.

Estimated unique monthly visitors: 13,000,000

Example deal: Save $10 off an Old Navy order of $50 or more

My take: RetailMeNot always comes up in my Google coupon code searches. In my experience, most of their coupons work. Every now and then you’ll get a bogus code, but that’s pretty normal with any coupon site.

4. Coupons.com. If you’re looking for the more traditional supermarket coupons, the Coupons.com site offers deals on items like toothpaste, Cheerios and Tide laundry detergent.

Estimated unique monthly visitors: 8,400,000

Example deal: $.50 off two boxes of Nature Valley Granola bars

My take: I’ve never used this site because I don’t purchase any of the items for which they offer coupons, and because we’ve established that I’m not great at remembering to redeem coupons in stores. But if you do manage to redeem your coupons like a responsible adult, it’s worth checking out. Also, while reviewing the site to write this article, I saw that they do offer coupon codes for retailers, as well.

5. SlickDeals. This “community-driven bargain hunting” site that relies on its community to post and rate deals and coupons. The site doesn’t focus on any particular type of deal.

Estimated unique monthly visitors: 6,000,000

Example deal: A Panasonic Lumix LX7 camera for $299, plus free shipping

My take: Like Coupons.com, I haven’t used SlickDeals. It’s obviously a popular site, but just surfing around on it for 10 minutes or so was pretty confusing. Maybe it’s for deal-seekers more hardcore than I.

Coupons for a cause

Recently I learned about another way to play the Internet-coupon game: Saving money and helping a good cause.

Michele Boal co-founded Coupons.com after she used coupons to survive on a budget. Then, more than a decade later, she decided to help families who can’t afford groceries at all, even with the help of coupons. So Boal launched Coupons for Change, partnering with Feeding America to help consumers save money while providing free meals to those in need. For every three coupons clipped from the site, one meal will go to a family.

Sounds like a win-win. According to their website, they’ve provided 107,653 meals to date.

I know I’ve covered just a small handful of the coupon sites out there, so let me know: do you use online coupons? If so, what are your favorite sites?