Search results for debt
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Posted
Sep 23 2009, 07:19 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Nora Dunn at partner blog Wise Bread.
How many friendships have you lost (or almost lost) because of money? If money matters are a touchy subject to begin with, then how are we expected to navigate the murky waters of borrowing from friends?
We've all been there (on either side of the spectrum) before: A buddy asks you to spot him $20, but never seems to have the cash available to pay you back, or he continues to forget when he sees you. And when, months later, he buys a fourth round of beer in front of you without handing over the $20 that has been slowly eroding away at your sanity, you pop.
Your buddy has probably forgotten that he even owed you anything and immediately hands you the cash, but the damage has been done. Your friendship now faces trust and communication issues that may or may not be overcome.
Now, $20 is a fairly easy loan amount to forgive or forget about. But what if that $20 is $200, or even $2,000 or beyond? What tension will exist in the friendship as a result of an outstanding loan?
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Posted
Sep 18 2009, 01:10 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Here's a statistic that should give us all pause: The average credit card debt of seniors grew by 26% between 2005 and 2008, CreditCards.com reports. For the rest of us, the increase was a comparatively modest 3%.
Also, CreditCards.com says: "According to a study (.pdf file) released in July 2009 by New York City-based Demos, a public policy group, consumers 65 and older carried $10,235 in average card debt last year." That is a lot.
And that's very troubling, considering that so many retirees are living on Social Security and no other savings, and face considerable medical expenses despite government-run Medicare. The dreaded "doughnut hole" is just a drop in the bucket compared with the other potential health care-related demands on their money.
Bing: Do you have to pay your parents' debt?
What's happening here?
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Posted
Sep 18 2009, 07:21 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
Here is one of the most frequently asked questions in all of personal finance: "How do I get out of debt?" At one level, eliminating debt is simply about following a few steps:
- Stop going into more debt.
- Spend less than you make.
- Pay off debt with the difference.
If you follow these steps, eventually you'll be debt-free. The problem is that following these steps isn't always so easy. And to make matters worse, there is a lot of "help" out there that can make matters worse. From debt-consolidation companies to books like Kevin Trudeau's "Debt Cures," which I wouldn't recommend to my worst enemy, there are a lot of promises being made that getting out of debt is easy. It's not.
In fact, tackling your debt may be one of the hardest things you'll ever do. You have to control your emotions, which can play a big part in how we make financial decisions. You have to educate yourself about everything from home loans to credit cards to credit scores. And you have to discipline yourself in the way you manage and spend money.
The fact is that controlling your spending and paying off your debt is not an easy thing to do. But the good news is that you can do it. If you want to be debt-free bad enough, you can make it happen.
To help you reach your goal of being debt-free, I've assembled a list of 23 tips and tools. If you know of others, please leave a comment at the bottom of this post.
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Posted
Aug 31 2009, 11:22 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
TMZ, the news source for all things Michael Jackson, expressed amazement that MJ had terrible FICO scores.
"Here's a shocker -- Michael Jackson had an abysmally low credit score," said a story at the Web site. In 2007, TMZ says it has learned, Jackson's scores from the three major credit bureaus were 592, 524 and 575, averaging out to just under 564.
It's really no surprise, considering his well-documented ultra-extravagant spending and financial woes, including the fact that Neverland Ranch nearly slid into foreclosure. But there's a lesson for everyday people in the specifics that caused the King of Pop to have poor scores.
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Posted
Aug 28 2009, 08:57 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Some people are talking about a federal bailout for former college students. Forgive student loan debt, they say, and the economy will be instantly energized.
The Baltimore Sun's Eileen Ambrose polled readers of Consuming Interests about this, and, last we checked, readers were hugely in favor -- even though her post presented a solid argument about why it wouldn't work as advertised.
We voted no. "JLP" at All Financial Matters, who directed his readers to the poll, also said no. "Actually, I say HELL NO!" he wrote.
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Posted
Aug 18 2009, 10:45 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from "vh" at Funny about Money.
The buy-local movement struggles under the best of circumstances. All you have to do is walk into your nearest mall to see that: Every shopping district in the land, except for those targeted exclusively at tourists, looks identical, a mind-numbing array of the same boring, cookie-cutter chain stores. Even some tourist traps are chain stores.
So it's disappointing to learn that the company owned by one of Arizona's most prominent local merchants, Eddie Basha, had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and close a slew of grocery stores in his statewide chain. He'd already closed 10 stores; this latest round of cuts will shutter 14 more.
Bashas', owned by an old-line Arizona family descended from a Lebanese couple who immigrated here in 1884, actually comprises four sub-chains:
- Food City, downscale markets that target the Latino population.
- Bashas', middle-class neighborhood grocery stores, most of which are small supermarkets.
- AJ's, upscale gourmet grocery stores on the Whole Foods model. They actually were here before Whole Foods and in many ways are preferable.
- Diné Markets, which cater to Indians on three reservations.
Most of the original Bashas' markets, at least the ones in the central part of Phoenix, are small and located in aging facilities. They function more as neighborhood convenience stores than as full-blown supermarkets, and so they often have even less selection of goods than the pared-back Safeways with which they compete. In the suburbs and in some smaller towns, the stores are larger, very much like a Safeway. Prices are often better than Safeway's. But Bashas' real claim to fame is a friendly, neighborhood-market atmosphere where employees behave as though they care whether customers live or die.
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Posted
Aug 13 2009, 02:16 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If you are burdened by debt, you're more likely to be overweight than someone who's debt-free, a new study indicates.
The German research, reports Christy Harrison at Gourmet.com, suggests several possible explanations, including this one: "Energy-dense foods such as sweets or fatty snacks are often less expensive compared to food with lower energy density such as fruit or vegetables."
Another possible reason is -- no surprise here -- food can be comforting when you're distressed. (And thanks to Kris at Cheap Healthy Good for the link. BTW, her favorite comfort food is Kraft mac and cheese.)
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Posted
Aug 05 2009, 07:27 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from "vh" at Funny about Money.
Over at I've Paid For This Twice Already, "paidtwice" invites her readers to think about the relative importance of paying off debt or building savings. Which should be a person's top priority? It is, as she points out, not a clear-cut decision.
Some people say that there's "good debt" (such as home and student loans, owed on property or training that eventually returns more than you pay -- supposedly) and "bad debt" (everything else, especially credit cards). I personally would argue that there's only debt, and debt is slavery. Debt forces you to stay in the traces until you pay it off or until you die, whichever comes first. Over at Debt Kid, "Jessica W" describes experiencing the same revelation.
Freedom from debt is freedom to live as you choose. Period. If working brings you personal fulfillment, you can do it -- and a debt-free worker is one who has a great deal more disposable income (to say nothing of more options) than one who labors under the lender's lash. If you want to retire or devote your energy to low-paid but altruistic work, debt freedom will make either of those choices possible.
I've used savings -- in direct contradiction of advice from money advisers -- to pay off debt and never once regretted it. Here's why:
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Posted
Aug 03 2009, 01:15 PM
by
Teresa Mears
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Is it time to re-examine some of the conventional personal finance advice?
Dayana Yochim of the Motley Fool says yes. In an article in the July issue of Woman's Day magazine, she outlines five money mistakes worth making, or how challenging some conventional wisdom can help you boost your savings.
For example, personal finance writers often point out how much you can save over time if you plug the small money leaks, such as a daily latte, restaurant lunch, weekly manicure, etc.
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Posted
Jul 31 2009, 04:41 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from Mr. ToughMoneyLove at Tough Money Love.
Recently the Tough Money Love blog had its first anniversary. To help me celebrate, I invited my blogging colleagues to tell us about a personal-finance lesson he or she learned the hard way. Many responded with their own versions of the hard truth.
I encourage you to read every one of their contributions for their entertainment and educational value.
Patrick at Cash Money Life writes:
I learned about high mutual fund expenses the hard way when I made my first mutual fund purchase. The fund was front-loaded and came with a 1.5% annual expense ratio. It gets worse. The fund basically mimicked the S&P 500, so an index fund with an expense ratio of 0.20 or less would have been a much more efficient way to go. It was an expensive lesson, but I learned that brokers do not always act in your best interest. Since then I have taken it upon myself to learn as much as I can about the basics of personal finance and investing.
Pinyo at Moolanomy shares his story about falling into vending machine hell:
The worst one I made was going to a "free" business opportunity seminar. This one was about candy vending machines. Got all pumped up about the opportunity without doing any research whatsoever. Then fell for the classic "buy your equipment today for half off -- a one-time-only deal." Well, you know how the rest of the story goes.
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