In 2009, young photographer Anna Newell Jones was rapidly suffocating under the weight of too much debt. An inveterate ₃spender,₄ she was in way over her head, to the tune of almost $24,000. She knew her debt was only going to get worse if she didn₂t take action, but she didn₂t know where to look for help. On a whim, Anna decided to go on a spending fast, an idea she heard in passing but knew little about. Creating her own method, she learned what worked and what didn₂t and wrote about it on her blog, AndThenWeSaved.com. Amazingly, Anna was able to eliminate all $23,605.10 of her debt in only fifteen months! She was interviewed in Forbes, Self, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, and the Chicago Tribune.

The blogger shares the strategies that helped her eliminate a high debt in fifteen months, discussing the benefits of a savings account as well as how to identify how one's money is being used and how to find additional income sources.