Search results matching tag 'debt'

Re: Too much spending on children, reader needs help

Penny — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:10:13 GMT

You have to realize that your not doing any of these kids, grown or not, a favour by continuously opening your wallet all the time. Time for a family meeting to discuss the situation. The two adults get a 30 day warning that the bank of mum and dad is closing. They are adults and it's time for them to act like it. One of them is married and has kids and you're paying her credit card bill?!! Time for them to learn that you shouldn't use a credit card if you can't pay it when the bill's due. Let them know that you love them but that you can't continue to finance them to your own detriment. For the younger kids a more gentle approach is needed. Give them an allowance each week (the usual figure is $1 per week per year of age) and have them save 10% of it (at least), give 10% of it away (to a charity, etc.) and the rest is theirs to spend. Have them pick their favourite activity that you will fund; anything else they pay for themselves. No new toys, games, etc. unless its their birthday or Christmas. You can make a simple pie chart that shows how much you spend on food, housing, etc. and also shows what it costs for all their activities. If it's as out of whack as you say it is, they will get the message.

Time to do a budget and look at what you have coming in and what you are spending that money on. And cut up the credit cards! NOW! You can't afford them. If you must have one, freeze it in a block of ice so it's not readily available. I spent two years getting out of credit card debt and now that I'm there, I'm never going back! You can do it, too! Good luck!

I fell off the no credit wagon....

Anne Cross — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:37:00 GMT

...but am climbing back on. Well, I've been trying to accomplish a couple of goals in these last few months -- one was not to incur any more consumer debt, and the other was to get some stuff fixed around my house. It turns out that I over did it on the latter, leading me to fail at the former.

I had a flurry of stuff fixed at my house: new storm windows, patching holes in my soffit, sealed some flaking stone on my stoop, got a new garbage disposal, and some burnt out outlets rewired. Nothing especially glamorous, but things that have improved my quality of life. I knew how much money I had, but I kept thinking I'd get a little extra somewhere.... turns out that was not a good way to think. Not only did I not get a little "extra" I also am earning about $20,000 less this semester than I thought I would.

So I took out a cash advance on my credit card for living expenses, since I blew through savings for all that house stuff. Then I had to get my car fixed for $500, and I charged it. So I'm really not in the place financially that I expected to be right now, but I'm very grateful that I have enough money to live FRUGALLY through the end of the year. I'm going to use my unexpected free time to work on a writing project (that I hope to sell one day), and to try to drum up more business for the new year.

It's disappointing, because that other money would have really put me in a great place financially, but I'm really really grateful that I have enough to get by for a while. I learned a good lesson about not counting my chickens before they're hatched...

Lease to own office equipment. A success (for me)

Anne Cross — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 09:54:00 GMT

Two years ago, I took out a lease to own contract with Dell computers for a laptop, software, and digital video camera for my training company. I needed the equipment, didn't have the money to buy it outright, and didn't want to use a credit card to pay for it. I didn't splurge by getting the top of the line models, but I didn't get the cheapest ones either (which I might have done had I been paying cash). The equipment has been quite reliable, and when I've had (two) problems with it, they sent someone to my office to fix it. I also have an additional year's worth of that "we'll fix anything" service plan (I'm notorious for dropping or spilling things on laptops, so this is one time extended warranty was totally worth the peace of mind).

Last week, I made my final lease payment. So now I own this equipment! I'm sure for some people, a two-year old laptop would seem outdated, but for my business, it works just great (although I'm hoping the new Windows OS is better than Vista, which it now has -- I'm really a Mac user, but thought (correctly) the PC laptop would be good for integrating into workplace systems where I was using it.

Anyway, this is a long rambling post -- just wanted to share my success about leasing office equipment. It's really nice not to have that bill anymore, and it's nice to have good equipment for my business. For me, lease to own was a good decision.

Credit Card Strategies

Tina Morgan — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:46:33 GMT

I have heard of this credit card strategy and wanted to know if it really works. Instead of paying one monthly payment on or before the due date, you take the same amount and divide it into to two payments and pay your credit card payment twice in the same month. Somehow, this is suppose to lower the amount of interest you would be paying on this card. Please let me know of any feed back you have regarding this strategy.

Re: I can't get these credit cards paid off fast enough!

Joe — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:25:56 GMT

Hi Everybody,

Credit cards are toxic when they get the better of us. I speak from experience. At one time, I had about 14 different credit, dept. store, and gas cards with a balance of several thousand dollars. Now, I am debt free and I'm coaching people to avoid and get out of credit card debt.

I started a blog on this topic recently. I invite you to go to http://saygoodbyetocreditcarddebtforever.blogspot.com

I'm also writing a book about it which I foresee being published next year.

Sincerely,

Joe

April- Facing the Debt Challenge

Brandy — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 16:04:42 GMT

It's April everyone...for those of you who have been hiding from your stack of bills and avoiding the calender with the due dates circled.

I think it's time for a fresh debt check so I challenge you to take a look at your debts and add them up. Where do you stand with a pay off plan?

- Remember, debt is not your friend and having some does not help you to maintain a stress free and happy life. Get rid of that debt...today, right now. If you feel buried by a mountain of bills and have not yet started to consider how to crawl out from under them, check out the many posts here that can help you to lower expenses or find ways to make a little extra money.

I'm out of unsubsidized debt! (sort of)

Anne Cross — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:19:00 GMT

I am not as proud as I would have been if I'd paid it all off in income, but I re-financed my mortgage and rolled in a home equity line of credit and the last remaining credit card I had hanging around. I'll be paying less for this one bill than I had been for the three, and I won't have any more credit card debt -- a great feeling.

My "only" other debt is my massive student loan debt (which I've deferred paying back for yet another year...sigh). Well, out of sight, out of mind for 12 more months. Gosh it feels good to have only one debt payment each month!

A year of thrift

Anne Cross — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 12:10:00 GMT

It was in February of 2008 that I decided to change my relationship with money. I was sick of living week to week, always being scrambling to pay bills, being in debt and being generally stressed over money. I bartered with a life coach for a couple of sessions, but quickly realized I didn't need someone else to tell me what to do. I knew what I needed to do! I was always listening to shows about personal finance and debt, I had gone through the Dave Ramsey thing (and paid off a bunch of debt, yet there it was again, creeping up on me) -- I knew what I needed to do, and I finally decided to just do it.

I put myself on a weekly budget of $200.00 which I took out in cash each Friday. This was to cover human food, pet food, gas for the car, and any shopping (clothes, household goods, books, etc.) and entertainment (coffee, meals out, movies) for me for one week. Anything left over would go into savings. I went back on to the snowball model to pay off my credit cards, and a few months earlier had started an IRA which had a monthly debit from my checking account (so I couldn't skip paying it).

One year in, I am in much better shape. I have paid off all my "little" credit card debts (Care Credit -- which provided much-needed funding for a pet operation and Sleepy's -- for a new bed), which eliminated a couple thousand dollars of debt and freed up a few hundred each month for other expenses. I started saving for the first time since I was a teenager. I usually had something left over from my $200 allowance and even if it was $1.00, I put that money into my passbook savings each week. I have depleted it a couple of times (once to fix a collapsed celing in my house, twice for my weekly allowance), but hey, it was savings, not debt! And then I've gone back to putting money into it and have continued my savings habit.I just completed a mortgage re-finance which also rolled in a large credit card (around $9500), and a home equity loan.This monthly payment will be less than what I had been paying (due to the great interest rate) and will eliminate two additional bills from my life.

I cancelled non-essential expenses. I got rid of cable tv (which was only costing me $6.00 per month, but I decided was non-essential), and a few months ago cancellled my spring water delivery (which was $40 per month, but was delicious mineral water and supported a local business). And I downsized my home telephone service to something that is local-only, per-call rate and is very inexpensive.

I buy almost everything used. Clothing, household products, books (if not simply borrowed from the library), etc. When I can't buy it used, I TRY to buy it from the source, especially for food. I buy my milk and eggs directly from a dairy, and get as much produce straight from farmers (besides what I can grow myself).

What has fundamentally happened is that I've changed my thinking. I used to operate in scarcity/fear mode, but now I feel like I'm in abundance/security mode. I have plenty of stuff (in fact, I got rid of a lot of stuff over the winter), I make big batches of food and freeze some, so I know I have plenty of food, I have enough money to make ends meet; I pay my utility bills as soon as they arrive so I don't worry about paying them; I live in a city with lots of free entertainment and I'm a block from the library; I have plenty of ways to keep busy, and as I pay down my mortgage (which is now, apart from my blasted student loans my only debt), I will eventually own my home and be even more secure.

I love doing what I can by myself -- soap and cleaning things, food, mending clothes and sheets, fixing clocks, resuing things -- it helps with the feelings of security and independence, but it's nice to be part of a community (like this one) where other people are likeminded and trying to reduce their consumption. I feel much less wasteful, too. I used to be proud of how much I recycled each week. Now I'm happy to see how little is in my recycling bin, since it means I'm consuming that much less.

While anything is possible, I am pretty confident that the changes I've made are lasting ones. My outlook on life has changed so fundamentally and completely that I don't think I will ever go back to my old ways of profligate spending. I used to feel a reward sensation when I bought something, but now I feel that same sensation when I put money into the bank. I like going to the thrift store and walking out empty-handed because I know that I don't need a single thing there.

It has been an interesting journey so far. I can't wait to see what February 2010 looks like!

Re: Credit Cards- need some opinions please

Edey — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:44:08 GMT

Use every spare dime and dollar that you can to get rid of the Old Navy card as soon as possible, then use that monthly payment to agressively pay down the other card. You'll be surprised at how fast it will disappear if you hunker down and get it paid off. Then like Walt said, put it away and don't use it unless you absolutely have to. If you need clothes, pay cash or do without. Need to give a gift? Make it, give of your time as a gift, or plead poverty. Right now your main focus is getting rid of debt. Then afterwards you should have the spare cash to buy nice things. Edey

Debt and the Economy

Brandy — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:41:14 GMT

I read something this morning in a commentary elsewhere that has made me think today. We have touched on this topic here but I want to directly ask in a thread focused on the concept...

If the average consumer was debt free or at least carried very little debt and made large down payments for loans, would the auto industries and housing market be in the mess they are in? Would we even be in a recession?