Posts tagged as:

debt

Lifestyle Inflation – Where Financial Disaster Starts

January 31, 2011

Remember early in your life when you didn’t have much money, didn’t make much money and maybe didn’t know quite how? You probably lived on hope, hobbies and friendships more than anything, but somehow there was a sense of purpose in the middle of the struggle that not only kept you going, but it probably [...]

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How to Pay Off Your Mortgage Early – And Why It’s a Priority

January 17, 2011

The habit of homeowners in recent years has been to keep their homes in a perpetual state of debt. There are after all, tax advantages to mortgage debt that lesser forms of debt don’t share. And houses have been—until recently at least—appreciating assets that will wipe out debt in an eventual sale. Not to worry [...]

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4 Best New Years Resolution Ideas for Your Money & Finances That Can Pay Off Big

January 1, 2011

With the possible exception of the weigh loss/start exercising promise millions will be making to themselves for 2011, getting into better financial shape is probably the top New Year’s resolution, for this year or any other. Sadly, most New Year’s resolutions don’t survive January! Ever wonder why? Most New Year’s resolutions set the bar too [...]

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When the Credit Score Mania Goes Too Far

December 27, 2010

An article on a well known website (not another blog) caught my attention the other day. I’m not going to disclose the name of the site or provide a link to the article since it is, more than anything else, representative of a mindset in the financial world that I mostly disagree with. The post [...]

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How to Get Out of Debt After a Long Layoff

November 3, 2010

There’s much in the financial news and written on personal finance blogs about how to get out of debt. Cut this expense…lower that cost…clip coupons…and in X number of years you’ll be debt free! For many, this type of trimming at the edges may be all that’s needed to reach debt freedom. But what if [...]

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Are You Preparing For the Next Economic Recession?

September 17, 2010

We find ourselves in one of those peculiar times when it’s anyone’s guess which way the economic winds are blowing. The media is doing little to untangle the confusion. Last week Yahoo! Finance reported that the economy may be dangling on the edge of another downward plunge in 5 Doomsday Scenarios for the U.S. Economy. [...]

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Can Cash-On-The-Barrel Get You Out Of Debt?

August 7, 2010

Debt settlement services are all over radio, TV, the internet. They seem like a shot at redemption for many people, but often the solution to our biggest problems can be found in the little things we do every day. Overspending is a classic cause of debt problems, but how we pay for products and services [...]

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The Fallacy of OPM – Other People’s Money

July 26, 2010

Can a phrase influence a person or even an entire society into destructive behavior? The analysis of debt woes is often presented as if it’s a math problem, as though people got too far in debt merely as a result of spending too much money over an extended period of time, and all that’s needed [...]

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What Would You Do With a Cash Windfall?

June 2, 2010
What to Do with a Windfall

This question is kind of fun, but the answer to it can reveal how we think about money at the deepest levels. Budgeting paychecks is a matter of necessity; we have a certain amount of income that needs to be allocated to cover a certain level of expenses. When it comes to windfalls however, options [...]

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Is Your Car Ruining Your Budget?

May 26, 2010
Thumbnail image for Is Your Car Ruining Your Budget?

In the never-ending pursuit of saving money we search out every nook in our lives trying to find hidden and unnecessary expenses we can either cut or eliminate. But try as we might to find small reductions in a whole bunch of places, eventually we bump up against the wall of our fixed expenses—the truly [...]

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