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Posted
Jul 16 2008, 02:27 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Would you rather eliminate your debt with a snowball, or smack it down with an avalanche? "Flexo" at Consumerism Commentary says, "By choosing the debt avalanche method, you will pay off your total debt faster, you will pay less interest, and you are mathematically efficient." We're all for being mathematically efficient.
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Posted
Jun 11 2008, 03:03 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Sometimes a good way to learn is to examine other people's mistakes. Lately, personal-finance bloggers have written about two doozies. "Mrs. Accountability" at Out of Debt Again tells the story of Nancy, a woman she met about six years ago when both were poor and living in a trailer park. Nancy's life changed when her mother died. The will specified that some of the estate be used to buy Nancy a condo free and clear.
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Posted
Feb 11 2008, 04:49 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly. During the 20 years I carried consumer debt, I made several attempts to change my habits. Every time I decided to lick the debt monster, I would follow the advice in the financial books: I'd arrange my debts in order, listing the one with the highest interest rate first. I'd pay extra on that bill for a couple of months, but then give up in frustration because I didn't seem to be making any progress. An extra $100 on a $12,000 balance doesn't make a dent. Eventually I read Dave Ramsey's "The Total Money Makeover." His debt snowball method changed my life. Ramsey writes: Personal finance is 80% behavior and 20% head knowledge. The Debt Snowball is designed the way it is because we are more concerned about modifying behavior than correct mathematics.... Being a certified nerd, I always used to start with making the math work. I have learned the math does need to work, but sometimes motivation is more important than math. This is one of those times.
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Posted
Jan 14 2008, 02:57 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Inspired by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's advisory system and his own quirky sense of humor, Frugal Guy at A Frugal Living Blog by a Frugal Guy has devised his own Financial Risk Advisory System. It has five "threat levels" ranging from green to red, and it's even written in bureaucratese. For instance, if you're at Threat Level Red (underemployed/using credit), he advises that you "implement extreme frugality initiatives" and "prepare selective defaulting plans." If you're fortunate enough to be at Threat Level Green (employed/positive savings), "It is the responsibility of citizens in this state to undertake efforts at budget preparation and to adequately prepare for an involuntary transition to a higher threat level."
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Posted
Jan 03 2008, 08:49 AM
by
Karen Datko
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Some personal-finance bloggers are well on their way to financial security. But others live like the rest of us, trying to build savings while getting through each day. We learned this after a group of PF bloggers decided to post about net worth (assets minus liabilities) at the end of 2007. For instance, Lynnae at Being Frugal reported that for the first time in 12 years of married life, she and her husband are starting the new year with a positive net worth.
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Posted
Dec 27 2007, 06:19 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Krystalatwork, who blogs at Give Me Back My Five Bucks, shares pretty much every detail of her financial life in little charts on her Web site. She keeps readers up to date about her triumphs, large and small, her disappointments, and her hunt for full-time employment. And her readership is bound to grow after she was included in a Wall Street Journal article about young PF bloggers. So why is it that she doesn't want the new man in her life to read her blog?
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Posted
Dec 24 2007, 08:12 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Personal-finance bloggers joined voices to give us "12 days of Christmas -- personal finance style,'' and their work is quite a gift. For the first day of Christmas, Lynnae at Being Frugal presented "the best way to manage money," including making a list of necessary expenses and checking it twice. You'll likely find out if you've been naughty or actually are spending less than you earn. Credit Withdrawal offered "two guaranteed ways to financial freedom," and Ana at DebtFREE-Revolution gave us three paid-off credit cards, including an American Express that rose from the dead even after she got the balance to zero.
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Posted
Dec 12 2007, 05:05 PM
by
Karen Datko
Some people think having money means freedom. Plonkee Money says money equals security in her life, but to an irrational extent. In a gutsy, beautifully crafted guest post at Get Rich Slowly, this British blogger admits that "I waste time worrying about money. Worse, spending large sums of money -- even on things that I need -- makes me extremely uncomfortable." Her fear has some benefits. She doesn't have consumer debt, and she pursues a healthy savings plan. "But I always feel like I’m on the edge of a slippery slope, where the sign is pointing to rack, ruin and the end of my happy little world."
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Posted
Dec 10 2007, 07:43 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly. Twenty years ago I was a freshman in college. I was a poor kid from a poor family, but my roommates came from wealth. In order to fit in, I went out and picked up a department store credit card. I bought some new clothes, an electric shaver and a bottle of cologne. From that day on, I've been in debt. My debt grew slowly at first. The department store credit card had a $500 limit. I knew that I shouldn't come close to the limit, and that I should pay the card off, but within a year I'd maxed it out and was making only minimum payments. By the time I graduated from college in 1991, I had acquired two additional credit cards. I was glad I had them, too. When my job plans fell through, the credit cards became my emergency fund. I lived off them for months. I also bought a brand-new Geo Storm. Within six months of graduating from college, I was unemployed and carrying $20,000 in debt.
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Posted
Nov 30 2007, 04:38 PM
by
Karen Datko
You don't have to be a total screw-up -- bouncing checks, making late payments, ruining your credit score -- to be a poor money manager. You need help if you're merely "standing still." That's the message of No Credit Needed, who came to terms with his lack of long-term financial planning three years ago. Why did it take him so long? He was lazy, busy with the rest of his life, and didn't have anyone to talk to about money. "Also," he writes, "I felt like the magic day would come and I'd make enough and I wouldn't have worry about money. Sound familiar?"
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