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maybe you shouldn't payoff your mortgage

October 18, 2006 by Leave a Comment

I agree with this article. If you are carrying high rate credit card debt then you should focus on getting rid of that first and then take on the mortgage. Some cards are as high as 30% so get rid of them!!!

Many homeowners dream of the day when their mortgage is finally paid off. They look forward to not making any more house payments and having the satisfaction of owning their home free and clear. Some homeowners try to use aggressive tactics to pay off their mortgage–tactics like having a 15-year term on their fixed-rate mortgage or a bi-weekly mortgage.

Find Real Estate News, Mortgage News, Home Loans and Homes for Sale on Yahoo! Real Estate

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Filed Under: General News

My 2 year old saves

October 14, 2006 by Leave a Comment

Today my daughter said in the car; “I want money so I can put it in my bucket!” I was so excited because her bucket is the place she keeps her best toys for safe keeping. She lets no one touch her bucket or the items in the bucket. In essences it’s a savings account for a 23 month old child. She is less than two years old but we think it’s important to teach her the value of money. She has a piggy bank and every time she receives a cash gift, together we put the money in her piggy bank. We let her know it’s her money but we are saving it for later. So far she understands.

Back to today’s story, I was so proud of her for saying what she said and inside proud of us for making the decision to show her the value of money and saving, at such a young age. These lessons will help her to make sound financial decision as she gets older.

Here is the down side of this story. We were on our way home from the mall where we just spent $300 in new clothes for our child. The upside is we paid cash.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Filed Under: Saving

Top 5 Costly Addictions

October 13, 2006 by Leave a Comment

As reported by MSN money the top 5 costly addiction are:

Alcohol: with an annual cost of $166 billion.

Smoking: With an annual cost of $157 billion

Drugs: With an annual cost of $110 billion

Over eating: With an annual cost of $107 billion

These numbers are amazing. The amount of money Americans spend on the top five could compete with the GDP of smaller nations.

When looking to increase income or pay off debt try cutting down on alcohol and cigarette.

Despite growing publicity about ‘soft’ addictions, drinking, smoking, drug abuse, overeating and gambling still are the most costly to society.

The 5 most expensive addictions – MSN Money

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Filed Under: General News

Need Money Move

October 12, 2006 by Leave a Comment

A new Forbes survey shows which cities are doing the best to build wealth.

On page two they give a listing of how your city ranks. Also one of the most telling items in the article is this comment: “What do the best-performing cities have in common? Low debt.”

This makes sense. When people have debt they are less likely to build wealth. So if you don’t want to move, then work on reducing that debt and then you will be in a position to build wealth.

A new survey shows which American cities are doing the best job of building wealth. The index ranks the top 500 markets based on their residents’ investing and personal savings behavior.

Where the money is — MSN Money

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Holiday Budgets

October 11, 2006 by Leave a Comment

[tag]Halloween[/tag] is just around the corner and if you have kids this can really screw up your monthly budget. It is reported Americans will spend $4.96 billion this year on Halloween related stuff. Candy, costumes, party stuff, etc… I know our family will spend $80 this year on Halloween. $30 on a costume for our child and the rest for candy decorations and little party we are planning.

How do I know I will spend $80 this year? Because we budgeted for it! That’s the key. Our child will have a great Halloween and we will not suffer from a financial hangover 30 days later. This holds true for Christmas. We already have our [tag]budget[/tag] and have saved all year to meet that goal. Again we want to avoid holiday financial hangovers.

It’s easy to spend a lot of money on holidays that revolve around kids; because we all want our children to be happy. But it’s a balancing act which requires discipline from the parents. By budgeting you create a win, win situation for everyone.

Don’t let this post scare you out of having a good time this Halloween but do keep your monthly budget in mind as you head out to the stores in the next couple weeks.

Filed Under: Budget

Heating Bills Down

October 10, 2006 by Leave a Comment

A report form the Energy Department is predicting gas bills will be down about $119 this year. If this is the case, this is a great opportunity to use it to pay off more debt. 🙂

The bad news is if you use oil to heat your home your bill will be about $91 from last year. Time now to budget for this up tick.

Families using natural gas should expect to pay an average of $119 less during the upcoming winter compared to last year, a decrease of 13 percent, the Energy Department said.

Associated Press Business News: Winter Heating Bills Likely to Be Lower – MSN Money

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Filed Under: Budget

It Takes Motivation

October 10, 2006 by Leave a Comment

Sometimes when the debt is so large and you are looking at 2 to 3 yeas before you [tag]pay off the debt[/tag] you feel like giving up. But a word of advice, it really does get easier. As you start to pay off more and more debt and sell results you create momentum which push you a long to continue on your journey to be debt free.

I have always compared getting out of debt to getting in shape. It’s hard but not impossible. It takes a plan (budget), discipline (tracking your progress) and motivation. I have found motivation is key to my success. Take notice of your small wins. Because every win is just that, a win!

Even if you are $80,000 in [tag]debt[/tag] and have paid off $2,000 in the last year, that is great. You have taken action and need to stay motivated to succeed. Believe me that is better than doing nothing. And as you pay more off you will free up more cash to apply to debt and your debt reduction will start to rapidly increase. Thus the name [tag]debt snowball[/tag].

Slow to start but once it picks up speed it really gets moving. I believe in you guys so keep up the hard work and keep crushing that debt.

Filed Under: Debt Relief

Further Education

October 9, 2006 by Leave a Comment

Getting your employer to pay for your further education of training is a awesome way to put yourself in a position to make more money with out taking on education loans. I happen to be lucky enough to be a part of a company which will pay for training if they feel it will help their bottom line.

It doesn’t hurt to ask if your current employer will pay to educate you.

Education and training can give your career a tremendous boost. Chances are pretty good that your employer will help pay for classes that enhance your career.

How to Pay for Distance Learning – MSN Encarta

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Filed Under: General News

Tools for debt reduction

October 7, 2006 by Leave a Comment

If you want to get serious about reducing debt you need to check out Net Worth IQ.com. What is NetWorthIQ? In their own words; “NetworthIQ™ is a social personal finance manager designed to make monitoring your net worth easy and, dare we say it, maybe even fun.”

Again it goes back to the simple rule I live by, if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Getting out of debt is all about budgeting, cutting cost, and applying as much income to pay down debt. This is a free service so sign up and start your road to freedom

No one wants a physical, but we all need one now and then, just to keep tabs on our well being. Your finances deserve nothing less, and determining your net worth is a good first step. It’s all about keeping track of your overall financial health.

Track, share, and compare Net Worth. How do you measure up? NetworthIQ

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Filed Under: Budget

Out of debt in Three

October 7, 2006 by Leave a Comment

See Dave Ramsey at work her, well not really it’s Steve Bucci over at bank rate.com. His three steps are:

1. Get a plan – start a budget

2. Build an Emergency Fund of 6 months

3. Aggressively pay down debt.

Business failures, credit car debt and, yes, even too much fun can tip the scales of your daily lives, but you can get out of debt with three steps and some hard work.

In debt? Get out in 3 hard steps

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Filed Under: Debt Relief
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