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  • Treat debt like a bill

    Posted May 07 2008, 11:02 AM by Donna Freedman
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    Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

    "Dividend" has been using the snowball approach to debt reduction. To do so, the reader treats debt reduction payments as a monthly bill, "as necessary and unavoidable as paying rent."

    Dividend started by creating a minimalist yet realistic budget to live on. This includes predictable expenses such as car insurance, gift-giving and "a little bit of play money." Everything left over is officially invisible. "I treat that money like it doesn't exist until the end of the month. Then, out of that, I pay minimums on everything first, and then the remainder gets paid to the next item in the snowball."   Read More...

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  • The 'aha' moment and frugality

    Posted Oct 19 2007, 09:41 AM by Donna Freedman
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    Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

    Losing a debit card. Cleaning out the garage. Buying a condo, or not being able to buy a condo. Living out of a suitcase. Wanting to stay home with the kids but fearing you can't afford it.

    All these were defining moments that turned spendthrifts into thrift-thrifts. A reader posting as "bigdreams" solicited such tales in a Smart Spending message board thread called "Switching from being a spender to a saver -- what was your 'aha' moment?" 

    Some "moments: were epiphanies, others slowly dawning realizations. Readers variously described their experiences as a slap in the face, a kick in the butt, a good hard look at oneself, a God-given wakeup call, the sudden glimpse of a bleak future.

    However they arrive, aha moments carry the same basic message: Something has to change.   Read More...

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