From the category archives:
You can keep your 12 steps.
I’m addicted to becoming debt free, and that’s OK.
I woke up at 2:30 am this morning realizing that I’d just made a deposit, which meant I could pay the next bill on my “snowball list.” After writing the check, and posting the envelope, I was so energized that I [...]
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There are a number of schools of thought on debt payoffs.
-Highest interest first—Suze Orman
-Smallest payment first—My financial planner from USAA
-Debt Snowball (smallest balance to largest balance)—Dave Ramsey
-Secured debt first, unsecured later—source unknown
I must confess, I’ve tried all of these methods in the past ten years, and the only one that has worked for me [...]
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Over the past week or so I’ve been playing with my finance spreadsheets to figure out a way to try and start over with a clean slate. I’ve come up with a way to get the freshest start possible and give me some peace of mind with only 1 account to pay down at a [...]
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My last post was about how to create a budget and discover, retrospectively, how you’ve spent your resources.
With that information in hand, it’s time to triage and stop the bleeding and with any luck, heal the wound.
If you didn’t read and follow the instructions in my “how to make a budget” post–stop. Do not pass [...]
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I have gone back and forth on the emergency fund issue. Should I focus on paying off my debt first and THEN start building up my savings? Or should I build up a cash cushion before I focus on paying down debt. There are many schools of thought on this issue. Some say that having [...]
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Where I Stand
My introduction post dealt mainly with how I accrued my debt. To see the whole picture you need to see my savings and investments as well. I made some very stupid mistakes which caused me to get into debt but I also made some smart moves in saving for my retirement. Maybe they [...]
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There’s a few facts in our society about money. The government is in debt, and will likely always be in debt. Likewise, following the model that “debt is a tool,” Americans have high average household debt. Few Americans buy homes with the “traditional” 20% down-payment anymore. There’s all kinds of “flexible” financing available. Why save? [...]
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I honestly thought when I first started blogging that I would be out of debt in a year or less.
Boy was I wrong.
There is a learning curve once you have the initially “ah ha!” moment. You know the moment when you finally realize you have to change your habits.
Bad Money Habits Take Time To Change
Even [...]
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I wish there was some magic wand I could waive and instantly be out of debt today.
Not gonna happen.
Things have stabilized quite a bit for me, and I think in another few weeks I’ll have a very good and pretty stable budget figured out both on the personal side (income from my new job), and [...]
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Are you down because of your debt?
Join the club. Being in debt blows. The past 12 months I’ve been learning to cope and deal with the on-going pressure that debt brings into your day to day life. So far I’ve found a few things that seem to lighten the burden. These are actually techniques [...]
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