Debt Management

Why it Pays to Track Your Spending

You may have read here once or twice how important it is to create and maintain a budget. In fact, budgeting your money is one of the most important steps you can take toward achieving financial stability.   But any attempt you make to set a budget will be a waste of time unless you go into it with a realistic picture of your spending habits. You simply can’t...

Debt and Your Emotions: How to Cope

If you’ve been in debt – or tried to battle your way out of it – you probably are all too familiar with the feelings of guilt, fear and depression that can come with it. This situation is so common in the United States that medical professionals have given it a name: “debt-stress syndrome.” When stress about debt becomes overwhelming, it can affect your heart rate, blood pressure, breathing...

Got Debt? Seven Repayment Strategies

Few things in life can be as stressful as living with credit card debt.  High-interest debt can make it difficult to do things you want to do, like build up retirement savings or an emergency fund; take vacations; or even buy a house.    If you’ve ever tried to pay down a large credit card balance, you know that it’s not easy.  But it’s also not impossible.  Want to...

Want to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck? Seven Ways to Break the Cycle

Living paycheck to paycheck is the opposite of secure.  You never know when an unexpected expense will tap into the money you intended to use for rent, groceries, or bills.   You want to save, but no matter how hard you try, there’s never any extra money to save for emergencies, debt repayment, or even that family vacation you’d like to take.  Even positive events, like anniversaries or birthday celebrations,...

Delaying Your Spending Can Take a Big Bite Out of Your Credit Card Debt

When you’re struggling with high-interest credit card debt, you’re always looking for new ways to bring down your balance faster.  There are quite a few debt-repayment strategies to choose from, including a couple of my favorites:  the snowball method and the snowflake method.  Both of these are fairly flexible and can be combined with other savings and debt repayment strategies (in fact, you can even use them together!).   ...

Kickstart Your Savings or Debt Repayment Plan with a 30-Day Spending Freeze

Trying to pay down credit card debt?  Want to beef up your vacation savings or your emergency fund?  A month-long spending freeze is a great way to jumpstart any savings or debt repayment plan.    Basically, a one-month “spending freeze” works like this:  For one month, you only spend money on things you actually need, such as food, rent or mortgage, and utilities.  You cover your basic needs, and...

Got Debt? Here are Seven Ways to Reduce Your Debt by $100 This Week

Looking for a way to put a serious dent in your credit card debt?  It would be nice to wipe that high-interest headache away in one payment – but if you’re carrying a large-ish balance, that may not be possible.  That said, there’s no reason to settle for just making the minimum payments, either. With a little creativity, you can start taking good-sized chunks out of your balance –...

Got Debt? Consider the Snowball Method to Pay it Down Quickly

If one of your goals for 2013 is to pay down your credit cards, it’s hard to go wrong with the “snowball method” of debt repayment.  Chances are, you’ve heard about it before:  it’s a favorite method of finance experts everywhere – and with good reason.  The snowball method is a simple approach that encourages focusing on one credit card at a time.  Through a strategy of prioritizing your...

Why Credit Card Minimum Payments Will Keep You In Debt

Have you been paying your credit card minimum monthly payments for years without your balance going down? This video shows you in simple terms, why making the minimum monthly payments will keep you in debt for a long time, and exactly how you can beat the system.

Teach your children debt management from an early age

In America, we are subject to the daily lives of celebrities and sports figures; what they do, what they eat, what they bought and what they wear are just some of the common themes we see in the news headlines on a daily basis.  The issue is that these celebrities spending habits are typically glorified, which is not a good example for their fans that follow them.  They do...