Review Your Budget

• Go through a year's worth of bank and credit card statements to see where your money has been going. While your present inability to pay property taxes may have more to do with a recent disaster than your spending habits, reviewing your spending history may reveal categories where you've been spending too much and can afford to cut back. Going out to eat and buying snacks at gas stations can quickly siphon hundreds of dollars a month out of your accounts, money you might be able to use to pay your taxes.
  
  

Make Painful Cuts

• Reconsider your concept of the word "need." While you need groceries and electricity, you probably don't "need" cable, internet or health club memberships. If your home is in danger due to your inability to pay property taxes, you should be slashing your spending down to the barest minimums. This may require selling vehicles or expensive recreational equipment, stopping allowances to children and cutting off contributions to college funds and retirement. Consider every expense in light of the possibility of losing your home, and question whether a given budget item is worth it.
  
  

Move

• You can only cut back so far. If you cannot find a way to pay your property taxes on your current income and there appears no end in sight to your financial crisis, consider selling your property and moving to a property with a lower tax value or a jurisdiction where taxes are lower across the board. Some states and counties are renowned for exorbitant property taxes and high real estate prices. Selling a house in New Jersey and moving to North Carolina or Georgia may solve your problem even in light of the generally lower salaries earned by people in southern states.
  
  

Negotiate With The Authorities

• If moving and budgeting won't solve your problem, consider working directly with the tax authorities to get you through a difficult period. Some jurisdictions have programs that reduce property tax payments for senior citizens or people with qualified disabilities. Others may be willing to hold off on the foreclosure process if you can pay them something until you get back on your feet, even if it's not the full amount. If you know you're never going to get back on your feet due to disability or the loss of an irreplaceable job, they may agree to collect back taxes out of the sale of your home.