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Bravo Oprah!

Oprah is famous for giving away great studio prizes. Some have included new cars, paying off debt and the list goes on.

But this gift give away was a little different. 300 audience members where given a $1,000 gift debt card which was sponsored by Bank of America. Here’s how it works. You can give the money to an individual or split it up amongst several different charities. Family members are not eligible to receive the money.

Oprah is using her high profile to promote giving back to the community. Times are tough out there for the average American Family so with this small jester Oprah has put a spot light on giving.

This year we hope to help at a homeless shelter for thanksgiving and we always do a big round up of clothes and old toys for donation during the holidays. What can you do to help?

Technorati Tags: Oprah, paying off debt, gift debt card, community, thanksgiving

I use Microsoft Money to track my finances. I bought the program 3 years ago and have resisted upgrades because it still does the job. MS Money  has a great debt tracking tool included. If you are just getting started in your journey to pay off your debt, the last thing I want to do is encourage people to go out and spend money.

There are many online tools you can use for free. I found this one on bankrate.com
Check out this past post with more tools.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Money, MS Money, debt tracking, debt

But living with out one can be…

Some people say budgets are “evil” or the big bad “B” word. I don’t get it. Maybe I am just one of those people who think you should know where your money is going, at all times.

A budget is simply a term for measuring the incomeand outflow of your money. Having a realistic budget and sticking to it is the only real way to get out of debt.

Everyone is looking for the “Silver Bullet” or the quick fix, but guess what? They don’t exist, unless you win the lottery. That aside there really is no quick fix to getting out of debt. There are no letters that will make your debt disappear with out completely trashing your credit.

1. It starts with creating a budget and sticking to it!
2. Keeping current on all your debts
3. Reducing your costs. (Example Less take out food and more home cooking.)
4. Increase your income. Ebay is a great way to raise some money from your old junk.
5. Apply the new found income to one debt at a time.
6. Apply over and over until all debt is paid.

It really is that simple. Time, Dedication, Motivation and Action!

You can pay Dave Ramsey for his books or his website but that’s what he will teach/preach you. Of course there will be a few small differences from one expert to another, for example Ramsey will says attack the smallest debt first and others say take the highest interest rate cards first.

This debate will rage on into infinity. But one fact will always remain if you do not take action you will not change your financial situation. If you are not willing to make a budget you might as well give up now. With out a plan you are 99% on your way to failure. So take out some time right now and grab a pen and paper, open an excel sheet, fire up quicken or MS money and get to it.

It really is not that hard and it will put you on the road out of debt.

Technorati Tags: budgets, income, getting out of debt, Dave Ramsey, MS money

When our child was born there was no question that my wife would stay home. We gave up an income but our child gained so much from having her mother with her everyday.

So how did we do it on just one income? We cut cost, big time! Yes, I gave up my fancy car, we gave up nice vacations, etc… but what we got back in terms of our child’s growth and happiness can not be judge in terms of dollars. The three of us live on one income and are very happy.

Life is about choices and in this case I choose the happiness of my child over material things. In very near future my wife will go back to work but I am so thankful my child had two great years with her mother.

Making the decision to step out of the work force to raise children can seem overwhelming. Some families consider it impossible to live on one income in today’s world of huge mortgages, large credit card balances and looming college costs. Yet some parents do manage to make the leap homeward.

How to survive as a one-income family (Page 1 of 3)

technorati tags:Living on One Income, child