Tuesday, March 31, 2009

A Little At A Time

Knowledge is power, and it isn't that we don't thirst for knowledge, it is just that knowledge oftentimes comes with a little bit of work. A book that I highly recommend is "The Millionaire Next Door" by Thomas J. Stanley. I was brought up believing that being a millionaire is a life of lighting cigars with rolled up $100 bills, Rolex watches, and a Mercedes 450 SL. This book largely dispells that myth. Just as I mentioned yesterday, little things add up. You don't think about the pennies and nickels that fall down between the cushions of the couch (until you wake up from your Sunday afternoon nap to find yourself on a mountain of money). In order to pay down your mounting credit card debt, oftentimes is begins with minute changes that free up a quarter here, a dime there, a buck somewhere else. After a while, you find that you have been piddling away a fortune without realizing it.

The premise of the book is that many of today's millionaires are not those that are living in the biggest houses, driving the fanciest cars, are doctors, and take luxury vacations. Truth be told, there are some that are. One example of the great spending ability of some of those "excess hounds" is the television show from the 1980's that Robin Leach hosted called "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous". People got their misguidance from this show and believed that you had to live the extravagant lifestyle to be rich. That simply is not so. One big key is not to live by the credit card, but to unendingy live beneath your means and save what you don't spend.

For more, visit my website.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Ramen Noodles Are Not Just For College Kids

I can still remember 25 years ago when I was poor and in college (as opposed to being an adult and being poor). I was living in the dorms, and the dorm did not feed students on Sunday night. Several local establishments made profit on this as they offered all-you-can eat buffets on Sunday evening. Dominos Pizza did a booming business on Sundays. But soon the summer lawn-mowing money ran out and we were forced to find a low-cost alternative. To the rescue came Ramen noodles. Back then you could buy fifteen packs for a buck (now it is more like 8 packs a buck on sale). We were in heaven. We could fill our bellies with cheap food and life was good. But we grew up. We shuddered at the thought of buying Ramen noodles just to save some cash. But now, the analytical mind kicks in. Even if you only had it one night a week, there's money to be saved there. Let's say that a meal costs on average five dollars to fix. If you were to fix just a bowl of Ramen noodles, you could save $4.75 (that's when you purchse them not on sale). If you were to be able to save that at 10% for twenty years, you will have saved $14,364.57. Not bac for one meal a week. For some delicious noodle recipes, you could always go here.

The point is this: sometimes making a small change can build up to big results. The key is to looking long term and keep in mind that the "expensive" dreams are really achievable with just a few moderate changes in everyday habits. It can help you to eliminate your credit card debt.

More at my website.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

A Soda A Day...

I have had a soda habit since 1982. At first, it was a can or two in the evenings when I would sit down at my dorm desk to study. But as many habits do, it grew and it grew. No longer satisfied to grab a Diet Coke© from the dorm refridgerator, I would purchase one the local convenience store (located conveniently near campus). I would spend approximately $0.79. I have figured that in spending about $2.00 a day, if I would have invested that money instead, I would have saved $96,976.83. (I used the calculator here.). That's enough to pay for my son's complete college education. I have failed because I squandered a little here, a little there. Believe me when I tell you that it all adds up.



I haven't yet (but I am pretty darn close) to completely doing without. I now spend about $0.46 per day, which means I save about $10 per week. Using that same calculator, I now will be able to free up $32,761.3 over the next 20 years. Looking at that figure, it makes me want to go cold turkey and end up with close to $40,000. When we go out to eat (no more than once a week), we now get water to drink, thereby saving $4. Believe me when I tell you that it all adds up.



Tomorrow, let's begin discussion on ways you can save on food (and save a bundle over a lifetime). More at my website.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

A Penny Saved...

Have you ever seen a penny on the ground and left it there thinking "it's only a penny, it isn't worth it"? You may want to think again. The little things quickly add up to be big things, especially when there is compound interest involved. If you were to save one dollar per week (which is a mere $0.14 a day), over a twenty year period, that would add up to be $3,276.14 (with a 10% compounded interest). Divide that amount by 14 and it works out to be $234.01. I can only imagine that if you were doing laundry and found $234 in a pocket, you wouldn't throw it away. Saving those pennies is actually worth it. In reverse, if you were to charge a dollar or two a day on coffee and snacks, with the interest charged, it could end up costing you even more. I found the calculator at David Bach's site to be a real eye-opener. Now I know why people use coupons, attempt to find the lowest price on things -- it all adds up!

Let's just use a simple example. Where I work during the day, we have vending machines that offer candy bars, soda, and the like. If someone find themselves hungry for a snack (or skipped breakfast or lunch), they can always find refuge in the vending machine. A candy bar costs $0.85 and a soda costs $1.10 (your findings may differ slightly). $1.95 a day for five days equals $9.75 a week (let's round it to $10 for simplicity sake. If you were to take that $10 a week, invest it at 10% and compound it for twenty years, that candy bar and soda habit adds up to $32,761.30. Now that is one expensive habit (and you though it was trivial). We will explore little things that you can do to free up cash to help pay down your credit card debt.

More at my website.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Analyze This

We have been discussing the various was to eliminate your credit card debt, but now that you have an idea on how your are going to do it, you need to free up some money so that you can redirect it to where you would use the little bit of of extra money that you free up to immediately begin paying down your debt. One of the most effective ways is to write down everything that you spend money on, regardless if it is with some change in the cup holder of your car or with a swipe of your debit card. Do this for one month. It will absolutely amaze you when it is all added up. There are several tools out there for you to use. Since I now use only my debit card (and I do most of my transactions online), I used tools available at mint.com. Another one is The Latte Factor that is courtesy of David Bach of the Finish Rich series of books. The premise is that there is usually something small that you engage in each day, but think that it doesn't cost very much, so you really don't have to worry about it. He uses the example of a $5.00 latte (I usually drink a cup of the free coffee at work, so I had a bit of a tough time relating to that, so I used a $1.49 cup of Diet Coke © for myself). David Bach has a great calculator (free).

Just take a moment to see how much you are wasting/could be using for credit card debt elimination. In the example I had used, I had a $1.49 Diet Coke © and multiplied it times seven (because I work seven days a week) to have a figure of $10.43 per week. I used a period of 20 years and plugged that into the calculator. According the the calculations, my Diet Coke © habit costs me (over a period of 20 years) a whopping $34,170.04, practically half of my current credit card debt. And that is just one little thing. The premise is this: you probably have one or more things that you mindlessly spend your money on that can be used to build real wealth...it doesn't have to be difficult. You might think about taking a month to write down all of your expenditures and see where your wealth is being wasted.

More at my website.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

It Takes Discipline

No matter what strategy you will use to lower your credit card debt, there is no "easy" way to hold it...it takes discipline. I realize that it may take some conditioning to get you to whee you have developed some financial muscles to overcome a rising wall of debt, it can be done. You wouldn't expect an eighteen month-old to be able to run a lap around the local high school track: it is a progressive thing. You don't have to have all of the answers at the very beginning. Nobody does.

The key is to do something. Ignoring the challenge does not make it go away. In fact, that is probably the worst thing that you can do...nothing. Do something. Decide to end your reliance on high interest credit cards once and for all and do something. Maybe it would begin with a taking inventory of what you owe. Knowledge is power. Read articles on the Internet about it. Talk to others about it. Arm yourself with knowledge and begin to build those financial muscles so that you will learn more, be able to do more, and gain confidence in the process. Use the little successes to build upon and have even greater successes. I began with analysis and I began by using a budget. At first I had to guess at it, but I used tools like the budgeting tools at mint.com.
Over time, I saw patterns of spending begin to emerge and I tackled one challenge at a time. There is a lot more out there too.

I will begin talking about some ways to save money so that you can begin to free up cash to help in your credit card debt elimination.

More at my website.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Watch Out

"The times they are a changing", at least that's how the old Bob Dylan song went. In these tough financial times, everybody is feeling the pinch. I have read that people simply aren't charging as much as they used to (whether they don't want to, or they are completely maxed out on their credit cards). This may be good news for a country who has become dependent on oil, gas, fast food, and, dare I say, credit cards. This may make your journey for credit card debt elimination a bit of a gauntlet rather than a simple side-step to another path.

Just this morning I was reading about some of the sneaky ways that credit card companies are trying to maintain their high profit at the expense of the lowly, unsuspecting consumer. It was certainly disheartening, to say the least. The credit card companies are raising minimum payments, adding new fees (which are pure profit for them), lowering credit limits (which can lower your credit score), and being less and less forgiving for late payments. All I can say is "Watch Out!!!". One must remain steadfast and relentless in their pursuit to become less dependent on the need to have something now and pay a much bigger price later.

More is available on my website.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

To Consolidate or Not

At times, it can be extremely tempting to consolidate all of your debt into one, convenient payment. Let's look at some pros and cons

PROS

* Instead of having multiple payments to juggle and figure out which one gets paid at which time, when you consolidate, you will have a single payment to be made at one place.
* You know how much interest you are paying each month because it is all in one convenient location.
*Having everything in one place will show you immediate progress toward the whole.

CONS
* Depending on the interest rate that you get for your consolidation, you may end up paying more for everything in the long run.
* Once you have consolidated, it is much more difficult to get the interest rate lowered.
* The intimidation of one monthly lump sum may seem a bit unsettling at first.

I was fortunate the first time through (you will recall that I have been saddled with debt many times in my life) that I was able to secure a personal loan at my credit union. My father was kind enough to cosign for me and I was able to get a low rate with a decent monthly payment. It was certainly lower interest rate than I was paying combined on my credit cards. If you have someone who can cosign for you, a personal loan might be a good thing for you (but I am not in the position to offer you loan advice).

Read more at my website.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Highest Interest First

For The Very Disciplined

There is a school of though promoted out there that, when one exams it for the long-term effects, is an extremely good program. It makes sense because you will save money by paying less to eliminate you debt by paying the debts that have the highest interest rate first, thereby immediately lowering the interest in dollars by paying the highest percentage interest debts first. This is promoted by John Cummuta and if you are a highly disciplined individual, you will find that this is an excellent program. Unlike last time when we discussed paying the lowest balance first and building on that success to build momentum to pay off the next-lowest bill, that plan advocates the strength in conditioning and has rewards of seeing you credit card debt eliminated chunk by noticable chunk. In the short term, you see success happen fairly rapidly. In the long term, you may have paid more interest (money) to see this success.

Let's face it: if you were extremely disciplined, you probably would not be in the hunt for credit card debt elimination. This plan has you analyze all of your debt (not just your credit card debt) and rank them by interest rates. The theory goes that if you spend every extra dollar eliminating the highest interest first, you will pay less in interest because that balance diminishes more quickly. From a strictly analytical view, this plan does eliminate your debt well. While you may not pay off the credit card with the lowest balance first, you may pay it off before the highest interest credit card is paid off, but then you will have more money each month available to pay down that higher interest.

Next, we will examine consolidation. Visit my website for more information.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Which Way Is Best?

When it comes to developing a plan to eliminate your credit card debt, there is a plethora of advice out there: some advocate paying your lowest balance first, some will preach about highest interest balances first, while others advocate evenly splitting your payment between all of the cards. Which one is right? Yes. In other words, there are good points to each method and one can argue in favor of each one, because it a certain style fits your personality, then that is the one for you.

Paying Your Lowest Balance First.

This one has some merit. Here is the premise of this plan: Let's say you have five credit cards, all with various balances and all with different interest rates attached. Just for illustrative purposes, we'll suppose that the minimum payment on each add up to $175 per month. You have scrimped and saved and you have an extra $75 per month (for a total available of credit card reduction cash of $250 per month). With this plan, you would pay just the minimum on four of the credit cards and apply the entire amount towards the card with the lowest balance. Once that card is paid off, you would then apply the extra $75 plus the amount that you had been paying on the lowest balance credit card to what you were paying on the next-lowest balance. When the second lowest balance card is paid off you add all you were paying on that one to the next one, and so on.

The cool thing about this is that you can see some measurable results in a fairly quick (relatively speaking) fashion. This helps to add to the feeling of success and may help you to stay the course. Some feel very strongly about this method. You can find more here.

Tomorrow, we will look at paying the highest interest cards first. Visit my website for more information.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Slow And Steady Wins The Race

When first you look upon the burden of the mounting credit card debt, it may (or may not) be a task that seems formidable at best. Just as a beginning runner may look at the course of 26.22 miles for a marathon as un-doable, sometimes it is a matter of taking it one step at a time: perhaps you start by jogging to the end of your driveway, then to the end of the street, then to the end of the next block, and you build on your confidence of doing more and more until a five mile run seems like a walk in the park (pun intended). Such is true with credit card debt.

You can "build your endurance" for eliminating credit card debt. Perhaps, if you are in a deep dependence on a credit card, use the credit card with limits, or use it every other purchase...you just have to start somewhere. My use curtailed gradually in the months before I ceased using them altogether (with the exception of one department store card that I use every three months or so, but only when I already have the cash to pay for the purchase, but I use the card to help my credit score), I began to use them less. It wasn't because I had developed a "master plan", but as the limits on the cards were reached, I quit using them (not because I wanted to, but there was nothing left to use on the cad). The constant late fees, high interest rates and the beginning cacophony on menacing phone calls all began to wear on the nerves. I finally had to shout (to myself) ENOUGH!! I then quit cold turkey and started using only my checking debit card. If I didn't have enough, I would do without. It is amazing when I look back at how much I wasted. The truth of the matter is that if I can do it, so can you. Read more at my website.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Can You Eliminate Credit Card Debt?

A Challenge.

As this journey has progressed, there have been times that I have asked myself "Can I Eliminate Credit Card Debt?" From the time that I first had a credit card nearly 28 years ago, it was a question that I had to grapple with. It started with a pair of dress shoes that I couldn't really afford at the time (nothing too expensive, just a pair of dress shoes from JC Penney), but I needed for the concert that I was scheduled to perform in with the orchestra. Of course, you had to wear a tuxedo and I managed to use my black suit and white shirt, but I didn't have any black shoes. Granted, I was in the percussion section and nobody in the audience would have noticed that my shoes were brown, but I would have never lived that down, especially since we were going on a weekend tour to different parts of the state. I had just gotten a credit card from JC Penney and decided to get the shoes. They were $50 and I was a poor, newly married college student, but I got them. I was diligent and made the monthly payments on them, but the interest added to the total cost. The cost was $5 a month and it took me nearly 15 months to pay it off. But it never seemed to end. So....to answer the question, "yes". You can eliminate credit card debt. Is it easy? No. But you can.

I have now entered my second year of not using a credit card (although that isn't entirely true, I have kept one department store credit card that I have used to help restore my credit rating, but I have used it for purchasing something that I had the money for, but charged it and immediately scheduled the payment online for my department store card so that it was really like paying cash for it, but it made me look good in the eyes of the credit reporting agencies. I have slowly watched my credit score rise from dismal to poor (it is an improvement, but very slight). I was following the advice of one of the books that I have read. The solution is not immediate, although some techniques have brought me some quick relief.

For More, vist my website.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Credit Card Debt Elimination, A Break

CELEBRATE!!

Getting out of credit card debt can be a long, tedious, and sometimes overwhelming process. To be sure, it takes months, even years of steady, applied discipline. Keeping track and negotiating lower rates takes time and energy. If you have/had an extensive list of credit cards, it can be downright daunting. One thing that I have found that helps me to stay focused and to keep the edge sharp and clear is to take occasional break from the grind. I am not advocating pulling out your credit cards and going all-out with a limousine-chauffeured event (complete with an open bar). You certainly don't want to erase everything that you are working toward and then some, but I have found that as I reach a milestone (say, paying off a credit card, or reaching a certain percentage of credit card debt erased) it helps to keep the focus my celebrating in a small way. I may enjoy an inexpensive meal at one of my favorite restaurants (I now rarely eat out, unlike a daily routine years ago) or purchase a book that I have had my eye on (it has a more lasting effect). It may be something as simple as watching your favorite show on television, talking a walk in a park that you haven't visited in a while, or spending time with those that you love. Whatever. Just take a brief respite from the difficult goal that you have set for yourself and you will find that you will have more overall zest for that credit card debt elimination.

Take a break! Enjoy life! (But don't forget to get back into the game).

See more at my website.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Credit Card Debt Elimination, Part V

You Are Not Alone

Sometimes we may feel like we have to be a maverick, we have to do things our own way, we have to forge our own path. That's all good and fine in some things, but when it comes to credit card debt, we may need some support. Sure, it would be nice to have somebody else sweep in and erase our debt, but the probabilities of that happening are two: slim and none. You got yourself into this debt (albeit not entirely your fault because the whole industry is geared to draw you deeper and deeper in debt and in less control of your financial life) and you will succeed in getting yourself out of debt. Just as you don't just wake up one day and find yourself deep in debt, you won't wake up and find yourself out of debt. It came on dollar by dollar, and that is the way it will come off as well.

As it was mentioned yesterday, you can always find help with books, or consumer credit counseling services, but sometimes just having a non-judgemental friend to air out your concerns with can do a great bit of good. A good friend will listen to you, and offer support (although I never ask for them to pay my bills) and encouragement when you need it most. My father was very supportive of me after the first divorce and he was kind enough to offer to put up some of his stock as collateral for me to take out a low-interest loan at our credit union so that I could pay off a large debt that I had (it was money that I owed the IRS, but that is a whole different story in itself). Bottom line: I had support and that meant all of the difference in the world to me.

You can read more at my website. More later.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Credit Card Debt Elimination, Part IV

Getting Help

There is hope in getting help for your credit card debt elimination, you just have to do a bit of homework in finding the people/company/resources to get you to whee you want to be. I know that I spent countless hours on the Internet, sometimes late at night, sometimes very early in the morning, but I know that it was more hours than I was used to spending. If you want to meet with somebody in your community, you can use the consumer credit counseling service. The first time in getting help with my debt challenge, I contacted my local chapter of the service. They assisted me in analyzing my spending habits, looking for ways to save money, and developing a budget that was reasonable. I would send them a monthly check for a certain amount, and they would apply it to my creditors. I got a nice spreadsheet showing me how much each month was going to each credit card company that I owed money to. When one was paid off, the money that was allocated to the now paid-off card was split evenly between the rest. It took a while to see any results, but after several months, my lowest one was paid in full and I started seeing the remaining ones diminish at a faster rate.

I guess that I didn't learn my lesson well after the cards were all paid in full because a year after I was free from them, I found myself lured into the credit card lie again. (It didn't help that I was also single again and attempting to furnish my new digs. I had been given a beautiful piano/keyboard near the end of my second marriage, along with the payments on it). I couldn't make those payments despite working nearly seventy hours a week. I had weekends off, so you do the math. Needless to say, the credit company that had loaned us the money was eager for payment or repossession of the piano. Working as much as I was, I finally go hold of them and they showed up to repossess the piano at two o'clock in the morning, just minutes after I got done working my second job. It was a very humbling and eye-opening experience to say the least. At that point, I was determined not to let that ever happen again. I was ready to once-and-for all eliminated my credit card debt.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Credit Card Debt Elimination, Part II

Getting Help

Even though I am confident that any person can learn to deal with the credit card debt that they have, sometimes you need a little help. A year ago when I sat down and actually figured out the amount of money I owed and my minimum payments at that current rate, I was shocked when I saw that the figure was over $72,000. You would think that I would have a fancy car to show for that, or some great clothes, or pictures of some fantastic world-wide trips that I took...no, I still drove a used car with over 90,000 miles on it (and I still do drive that same car), my clothes were, at best, clothes that came from a mid-tier department store. What I did have, was debt. I was overwhelmed, as I am sure many people are. The worse that my credit score got, the more depressed I became. Sure, I started to receive the tons of email about "We Can Eliminate Your Debt, Legally" and "Need Credit Card Debt Help? We Are There". Like an drowning man grasping for things to help him stay afloat in an instant, I poured through those e-mails hoping to find the instant cure for my problems.

Something to Look Out For

I finally settled on a company I felt that I could trust. Their website was seemingly legitimate, so I began to do a little more in-depth investigation. First I looked at their accreditations. Check. Then I looked at the Better Business Bureau website for any complaints against this company. Check. I "Googled" their name. Check. Everything seemed in order. I contacted them. I used them for about four months, but the more that I read in books, the more I became uneasy. First, they told me not to answer my phones or to talk to the credit card companies at all. They were going to handle it. I was to continue to make one monthly payment to them and they would set up a separate account through a third party from which the payments would be sent. They would take half of their fee out of the first four months payments ($2,800) and then they would put half of my payment into the third party account and when there was enough in there, they would negotiate with the credit card company. That was all good and well, but I didn't really appreciate the fact that after six months, I had paid $4,200, but my credit card debt reduction was not happening. By this time, I realized that they were going to be doing for me what I was perfectly capable of myself. Needless to say, that was an expensive lesson using money that I didn't really have in the first place. This will be continued. To learn more, click here or here.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Credit Card Debt Elimination, Part II

As you will recall, yesterday I began talking about credit card debt elimination. We left off with the suggestion of calling the credit cad company in regards to asking for relief. Oftentimes, that is all that it takes is to ask. There really is nothing to fear for asking for a lower interest rate (I have seen my initial interest rate on a certain, unnamed credit card) creep from the "teaser" rate of 0.00% to an astronomical 29.99%. One could have a $1,000 balance which going from paying nothing for the convenience of paying with plastic to paying $24.99 per month for the same privilege, but only with the 29.99% interest charge. Spread that out over a year, and that equates to $299.90 each year. If it takes 10 years to finally get that balance to zero, it could potentially end up costing nearly $3,000. Would you let somebody "loan" you $1,000, but they wanted $4,000 in return? I cannot imagine that you would.

Having some sort of financial freedom boils down to saving money on things. It all adds up. Little by little, bit by bit, it accumulates until it is a seemingly insurmountable burden. One of the things that I learned after a few months with mint.com was that I was spending a percentage of my money on sodas at the gas station. Sure, $1.28 a pop didn't seem like much, but there were also accompanying occasional candy bars or snacks, but when I looked at the monthly summary, it was over $50. (Over a period of a year it was $600). I couldn't imagine that if someone were to offer to sell me a card that allowed me to get a soda and some candy every work day for a year for $600, I would go for that offer. (It gets worse if you were charging it to a credit card.)

For credit card debt elimination, begin by asking for a lower rate. The way that the economy is affecting everybody, credit card companies will be willing to keep you as a customer with a lower rate, after all, oatmeal is better than no meal.

For more, please visit http://www.money-for-my-life.com/.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Credit Card Debt Elimination

As one who was/is riddled with the burden of credit card debt, I have often dreamt of the day (which is now approaching) that I will be able to eliminate credit card debt once and for all. What a rejoiceful day that will be! As I have often heard that "Rome wasn't built in a day", I realize that my enslavement to credit card debt will not happen in one fell swoop of somebody's pen or a knock on my door from the Publisher's Clearinghouse Prize Patrol. Just as I did not accumulate this mountain of credit card debt in one night (but, oh, how times does fly), I will not achieve credit card debt reduction in one night either.

One of the first things to do in this situation is to take the time to write all of your balances and corresponding annual percentage rates down in one place that can be eailty referenced (and updated as you progress). It will be a good idea to jot down the customer service telephone numbers as well. You will have to make some phone calls. Keep a firm voice and project that you are in control (because you are) of the situation and ask if the customer service representative will lower your interest rate. Remember, the credit card companies want to keep you ensnared, even if they perceive that they are receiving less money, it is still money (as it is said, "oatmeal is better than "no meal"). Do not be overwhelmed (and yes, I have asked myself "Can I Go To Jail For Credit Card Debt?"). This is a process that will get easier with time.

To learn more, visit http://www.money-for-my-life.com/. More Later, stay tuned.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

The "B" Word, cont.

The "Budget" can be a formidable task for the uninitiated, but it needn't be. I used to live paycheck to paycheck (and in some respects, I still do), but since I have started to use a budget, I feel a lot more in charge of my financial situation. A lot of books on personal finance have been written, and I have read quite a few of them. Most of them advocate using a budget of some sort.

Now, don't be intimidated and think that you have to learn Excel skills or take a class in accounting. You can make it as simple or complex as you desire. I happen to have created a few workbooks in Excel and they suffice for my situation. I also stumbled across a great online source at mint.com and I have been very happy with that. It takes a little bit of time to set up, but now I have my banking, investment, 401K, and other information available at the click of a button. What they at mint.com do it once you have set up your accounts, it will be able to display in chart form what you spend, where you spend it, and ways for you to be able to save a little bit of money. Believe me, the little bits add up over time.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

The "B" Word

One of the things that really kept me from succeeding financially was a lack of budget. It wasn't like the "old days" in which people played "beat the bank" with deposits and check writing (this is where you write a check on an account that doesn't have the money in it at the time, but you know that you will be able to deposit into your account before the check that you wrote will go through the clearinghouse), but it was similar. I used my checking account to pay the major bills like rent/mortgage, utilities, car payments, etc., but nowhere did I have a written plan to ensure that I wasn't living beyond my means. This lifestyle gives credence to the adage that if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.

During my first round with credit card debt, I sought the help of Consumer Credit Counseling, a not-for-profit organization that negotiated terms with your credit cards. They would schedule an appointment with you for you to go over what you spend each month, and let me tell you, they were extremely thorough in expenses. When I had completed my survey of what I usually spent my money on, they worked with me to set up a budget. Included in that budget was an amount that I sent them each month to pay down my debt for me...more information can be found here

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Credit Card Debt and Credit Scores

We have already established that we have a credit card debt challenge and that we are acknowledging that it does exist and that we need to do something about it before it does something to us! There are two keys to eliminating or diminishing the credit card debt that we have: 1) stop increasing the amount of the debt and 2) paying down, or lowering the amount of debt that we already have. This is both a simple solution and one that may seem excrutiatingly difficult. A lot of that hinges on your mindset. If you think it is impossible, think again.

Nothing is impossible and you may have to seek out assistance. This can be particularly challenging to those that have large egos, have never "stooped" to seeking assistance, and those that are too afraid to ask. It never hurts to ask, because if the person(s) you ask for assistance say "no", they are are no worse off than when you were before you asked. I know, I have been there. I, for years, was afraid to ask anybody (parents, friends, spouse) for any help because I had always been an independent person and capable of being self-sufficient.

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Thursday, March 5, 2009

Credit Card Debt

Oftentimes, when it comes to having debt pile up on a credit card, people don’t like to recognize the problem. This is the first step. In successful12-step programs (such as Alcoholics Anonymous), the first step is always to just acknowledge that there is a problem that you have a challenge with credit card debt. This is quite frequently the biggest stumbling block for someone who is seeing their credit card debt begin to control their very lives. The credit card companies will not assist you with this dilemma. They have the agenda of assisting you to accumulate increasing amounts of debt…and at your expense. It isn’t necessarily that they nasty or evil, but large consumer debt is their way of making money. The exorbitant money that the credit card companies make for the interest that you pay for your credit card debt (not to mention all of the accumulating fees) is cash that goes to pay corporate executives of these credit card companies and fund their luxurious lifestyle: houses, cars, jets, extravagant vacations. The audacity of these actions could make you want to extinguish the (allegedly legal) scam that is a disease named credit card debt.Let’s not beat around the bush. Call it what it is: Credit card debt is a high interest loan that doesn’t require you to fill out any lengthy forms beside the initial form to get the card. Once they issue a card to you, the credit card companies are more than happy to jack up your credit limit, which allows you to purchase more thing (and they will creep up the interest rate as well). Before long the debt level is astronomical and you continue to send them hundreds of dollars which is mostly interest and fees

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For assistance with debt settlements, click here.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Money For My Life

Have you ever been caught up in living life that you haven’t been able to keep up with paying for it? Do you find that the minimum payments are getting larger and larger and you end up paying exorbitant fees that end up costing many times the cost of what you had originally charged and thought nothing about? Are you tired of living paycheck to paycheck?

Don’t worry, you are not alone. Bankruptcies are increasing as our economy gets weaker and weaker. There are many things that you can do: 1)stop using credit cards for frivolous things, 2) pay down your debt, and (ideally) 3) make more money. What I have found is that there is money to be made out there, and it isn’t that difficult to find.

I have tried to do it the hard way. I have worked two jobs at least half of my working life. This included doing jobs that others with a college degree wouldn’t have even considered doing. The jobs are out there. I have been on overnight cleaning crews, done third shift temporary work, worked nights and weekends as a cashier. These have helped in keeping my head largely above the deep waters of debt so I don’t get ahead, I just stay alive. But there are other ways. I have painstakingly researched many of the various methods that are floating out there and I believe I have found some of the best ways that aren’t difficult and you will get out of them what you put it, and then some.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Welcome to my blog

This is my blog about helping people to make money for their dreams.