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• Dollars and sense when life hits you hard

  Posted Sep 19 2008, 05:35 AM by Karen Datko
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  Filed under: family, emergency, Simple Dollar, employment
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from Trent Hamm at partner blog The Simple Dollar.

  Not long ago a friend of mine lost one of his parents very suddenly. It came out of nowhere and felt like a punch in the gut to him. He spent a few weeks almost in a daze lamenting the loss of his father, with whom he was very close, and when he finally came out of that daze, he discovered a few things.

  He'd racked up quite a bit of credit card debt. He was deeply behind on his work. He had let some important personal things slide. In short, he now had some serious catching up to do in his day-to-day life.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 1 comments) 2,635 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• The debtor's toolkit: 12 tactics to use for tackling debt

  Posted Jun 20 2008, 06:08 AM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: debt, saving, emergency, Simple Dollar
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from Trent Hamm at partner blog The Simple Dollar.

  Almost every day, people write to me with intimate details about their debt situations. Some of them are pretty mild and can be taken care of easily with a little bit of elbow grease. Others are horrifying and will take some very serious attention to manage.

  In either situation, the principles for getting rid of debt are much the same. Similar tactics can be applied whether the debt is a $200 credit card balance or a mountain of $250,000 worth of various forms of debt.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 7 comments) 7,146 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Preparing for and surviving an economic downturn

  Posted Jan 11 2008, 07:43 AM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: investing, saving, emergency, Simple Dollar
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from Trent Hamm at partner blog The Simple Dollar.

  Lots of people have written to me recently asking how I am preparing for an economic downturn. Take, for example, this e-mail from Arnold:

  A lot of major publications (The Economist being the biggest) have been predicting that the U.S. will have a recession this coming year. My question has to do with preparing and surviving during a time of recession. Also, another idea would be how to work with the dropping in value of the dollar.

  First of all, I think most mainstream articles on economic downturn are sensationalistic. For most people leading normal, everyday lives, a recession doesn't mean too much. Unemployment might rise some as companies trim fat. Stable companies don't fire good employees because of downturns.

  If you're worried about an economic downturn affecting your financial status in a significant fashion, consider the following scenarios, most of which have more to do with your own choices than the market:   Read More...

  Discuss ( 1 comments) 1,826 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• When all hope seems lost

  Posted Jan 04 2008, 05:32 AM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: debt, spending, emergency, Simple Dollar
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from Trent Hamm of partner blog The Simple Dollar.

  No matter how careful you are, there may come a time when enough bad events happen that you simply cannot afford your bills. While you can do certain things to protect yourself from being in that situation -- building an emergency fund, practicing frugal living -- they don't really help when you have no money and a pile of bills to pay.

  If you find yourself in this situation and don't know what to do, here are some practical steps you can take to get started on the road to recovery.

  Don't bury yourself in guilt and shame. Everyone makes mistakes in life, and you're certainly far from the first one or the only one. I was in a desperate situation once upon a time.

  Realize that there are solutions to your problems, no matter how bad the challenges are. Just because you don't immediately see the answers doesn't mean the answers aren't there. There are answers, and there is a path to a better situation.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 10 comments) 8,259 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this