Tighten the belt in 2009

Problem: You need to find more ways to tighten your budget.

Solution: Check out new Web sites that help reduce your monthly bills.

BillShrink.com helps consumers save money by finding tailored deals on cellphone plans and credit cards based on their individual needs. The site, which will analyze a consumer's spending patterns, credit score and any existing credit-card balances, will suggest the best credit card to maximize rewards or lower fees and interest rates. If you're looking for a cheaper cell-phone plan, the site searches through plans from all the major carriers and returns the best matches, based on how many minutes you use each month and where you live and work.

At SmartHippo.com, home buyers can review and rank lenders and compare mortgage rates with rates that other people with similar risk profiles have obtained.

Other free personal-finance Web sites and many banks will provide consumers with a snapshot of all their bills in one place while providing budgeting tools to help them keep track of their spending.

The Wall Street Journal

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