It seems like it’s become a national craze – using your credit card for everything—even routine or daily purchases. While it’s a bad habit that will be hard to break, it’s better to start sooner rather than later.

To break that habit, here’s a simple idea to help get a handle on the situation: Pay for everything with cash for one month. If you can’t manage to go cold turkey, then target certain things that you will only pay cash for during the month (groceries, for instance).

Once you get started, you’ll likely gain momentum and encouragement from what you’ve accomplished. If you’re in financial hot water, this may be the jump-start you need to devise a get-out-of-debt plan.