People take out loans for many reasons such as buying a home, buying a car, or getting an education. Personal loans are also available, and sometimes people wonder whether it is a good idea to take out a personal loan to pay off credit card debt. There are many factors that will impact whether taking such a loan is the right thing for a person to do. Exploring these factors can help you to get a sense of whether it might be the right choice for you or something you can avoid. There are other ways to pay off credit … Continue reading →

If you would like to stop using credit cards because you have not been able to use them the way that you had intended to use them, there are some things that you can do to make a transition over to a mostly cash (and debit card) based way of life. You may want to do this sooner rather than later, especially if you have quite a bit of credit card debt. In fact, if you have enough credit card debt that you are having trouble paying, the transition to a cash and debit card based existence may be forced … Continue reading →

I had the most interesting conversation with a lawyer last night. He was telling me and my husband some ways to improve our credit scores and how to prepare for home ownership, and he said something that made both my eyebrows go up. He said that we shouldn’t be in too big of a hurry to pay off a house once we get it. Pretend there are two families, and they each buy a home for $200,000. Family A makes the regular monthly payment, and Family B puts every penny into paying it down faster. Some time goes by, and … Continue reading →

Over the past few days, a few more inches of snow has fallen where I live. Yesterday while I was outside, I realized that the recent snow is the kind of snow that makes good snowballs. This means that it is a good time to talk about one sensible strategy for getting out of debt – the debt snowball. I first heard about the debt-elimination method called the debt snowball when I read Dave Ramsey’s book, “The Total Money Makeover”. It is an effective method for getting out of debt, and I think that part of its effectiveness is that … Continue reading →

Are you looking for ways to get out of debt? Debt is a common problem. If it’s not enough that you own a house and a car, you may find yourself swimming in medical bills. This has been an ongoing issue in my family. My 11 year old son has had asthma since he was a year old. Fortunately it is not a frequent problem but when it does flair up, it always requires a trip to the emergency room. For some reason his asthma can’t be managed at home and so it requires medical intervention. ER visits are expensive. … Continue reading →

You have some extra money, or you’re cutting back so that you can make some progressive financial changes in your life. Congratulations! Now comes the confusing part. Where do you put the money? If you have debts, take a look at their rates of interest. You may have everything ranging from a zero-interest loan from family or a bank to a credit card that charges upwards of 18% in interest. These debts are not created equal. Ideally, you want to get rid of those that are costing you a lot of money in interest. Take a look at your debts … Continue reading →

I have two competing money styles going on in my life these days. One is a frugal streak a mile wide, although it seems to have diminished to half a mile these days. This frugal streak comes from my upbringing. My parents were not particularly frugal, but money was always an issue. I remember many concerns about money when I was growing up, so as a young adult, my response to this was to be as tight with money as I could possibly be. This was facilitated by the fact that I didn’t have much of it to begin with. … Continue reading →

Over the past week, I have discussed many ways to approach a do it yourself debt reduction and credit repair plan. A lot of your approach will depend on your situation, so I covered a variety of different angles. Consolidation loans are one of the options to consider when you have many creditors. These are particularly useful if your credit score is still good or if you have a lot of equity in your home. That way, not only can you often create one loan payment, you can often also reduce the interest you are paying. The key warning with … Continue reading →