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Get Out of Debt Carnival – February 17, 2010

Hawk — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:22:16 +0000

Welcome to the February 17, 2010 edition of the Get Out of Debt Carnival. I am very happy with the number of submission included in this second edition of the carnival.

I would like to thank all of the contributors. I really appreciate your participation and love the variety of articles in this edition. For anyone in debt and looking how to get out of debt, the debt management articles this week are great.

Now, on to the Carnival!!

Debt management

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Get Rid Of Your Debt With These Debt Defying Strategies posted at The Digerati Life.

Viviana presents Mission Possible: Get Out of Debt | The Lean Times posted at The Lean Times.

The Smarter Wallet presents Are Debt Counseling Services The Way To Debt Relief? posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, "On debt counseling."

Tom Tessin presents Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Information posted at FSC Blog, saying, "Everything that you should know about declaring chapter 7 bankruptcy."

freefrombroke presents Where will you be financially in the next decade? posted at Free From Broke, saying, "Time goes by fast! What will your finances be at the end of the next decade?"

Joel Ohman presents Government Help for Credit Card Debt: Grants, Loans, & Other Mythical Creatures posted at Credit Card Chaser, saying, "Government Help for Credit Card Debt: Grants, Loans, & Other Mythical Creatures"

MoneyNing presents How to Succeed by Failing Fast posted at Money Ning, saying, "In order to succeed, you must fail again and again. Don't be afraid to try new things."

FIRE Getters presents Knock Out Your Financial Problems Like Rocky posted at FIRE Finance.

Personal Finance

Anne Simone presents 50 Best Money Blogs for Women posted at Accounting Degree.com.

James Staine presents New FHA Rules! (how does this effect Portland?) posted at Oregon Mortgage Blog, saying, "Federal Housing Administration is planning to introduce new rules by increasing its cash position and lower its risk profile for about a year. This increase will affect the down payment, as the first payment amount changed by FHA would increase from 3.5% to 5% down. This increase will affect the down payment, as the first payment amount changed by FHA."

Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog presents Control Your Spending With A Budget posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, "Looking to reduce your spending and save more money? While many dread the word, the best way to accomplish these goals may be creating and following a budget."

J. Savings presents Who cares if you saved money by spending money?! posted at Budgets are Sexy., saying, "If you're spending money, you're spending money. Not spending even more isn't a big accomplishment "

Matt Mason presents To Buy or to Rent... That IS the question posted at FYMO Personal Finance Blog.

Brian McKay presents New Credit Card Rules - How the New Credit Card Laws Affect You posted at MonitorBankRates.com, saying, "A new set of credit card rules takes effect February 22, 2010 and you should be aware of the new rules. The new credit card laws are positive for consumers and offer consumers a new set of protections."

Deposit Accounts presents How to Build a CD Ladder (Infographic) posted at Deposit Accounts.

Peter presents It's Morphin Time: Transform Your Financial Life posted at Bible Money Matters, saying, "Is it time to transform your financial life, make sacrifices and get out of debt?"

Jim presents What is the Average Household Credit Card Debt? posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

Jeff Kosola presents How to Calculate Net Worth posted at DeliverAwayDebt, saying, "Here's a quick How-to for figuring out net worth. Without knowing where you are you can improve and track you're progress. Good luck with the carnvinal Debt Hawk"

Lakita presents 4 Quick Ways to Increase Your Cash Flow posted at Personal Finance Journey, saying, "Rather you want to pay off debt or beef up savings...you can speed up the process by increasing your cash flow. Here are 4 things that worked for me"

tristin presents This Is Me ? I Will Become a Millionaire posted at tristinaugustus.com. Joe Manausa, MBA presents How To Subscribe To Your Favorite Real Estate Blogs posted at Tallahassee Real Estate Blog, saying, "Most blogs are trying to get more subscribers, yet how many of them make it easy to do so? Remember, most readers are not bloggers, and they do not understand the subscription process. That is why you have to tell them all about it."

youngandthrifty presents Why isn't Generation Y saving any money? posted at youngandthrifty, saying, "Originating from a post by Studenomics, a post detailing the other possible reasons why generation Y isn't saving any money."

Peak Personal Finance presents Tax Time: Home Related Tax Breaks posted at Peak Personal Finance, saying, "Don't forget these tax benefits of home ownership."

Steve Faber presents Propose To My Girlfriend » Cheap Wedding Plans – How to Save A Bundle of Money on Your Dream Wedding posted at Propose To My Girlfriend, saying, "Don't go deep into debt for your wedding. The average American wedding tops $20,000, but yours does not have to. Get a great wedding for much less with these powerful strategies."

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Loan Poem posted at Mad Kane's Humor Blog.

Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog presents Avoid The Financial Trap Of A Reverse Mortgage - Canadian Finance Blog posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, "If you and your spouse are both over 60 and your house is completely paid off, you may have considered getting a reverse mortgage to take advantage of the equity you’ve built up in your home."

Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog presents Don't Just Track The Past, Forecast With PocketSmith - Canadian Finance Blog posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, "What sets PocketSmith apart from other applications is that it focuses more on forecasting your finances up to 12 months ahead and less on reporting what has already happened."

LeanLifeCoach presents Why Can’t I Save Money? posted at Eliminate The Muda!, saying, ""Why can't I save money?" was a search used that found Eliminate The Muda. This question has certainly been asked millions of times. Why wouldn't this reader already know why they can't save money?"

PT presents Exposed: The Risk of Making the Minimum Payment posted at Prime Time Money.

Investing

Patty Pedersen presents Fidelity Investments Offers Free ETF Trading posted at AlphaProfit MoneyMatters - Investing Blog, saying, "Following Schwab’s move, Fidelity is offering free trades on a wide range of ETFs. This article explains how can investors can prudently you use free trading of ETF to their advantage."

Honeypurple presents 100 Important Personal Finance Posts for Women posted at Accounting Degree.com.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Get Out of Debt Carvinal using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Get Out of Debt Carnival – February 3, 2010

Hawk — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:48:32 +0000

Welcome to the first edition of the Get Out of Debt Carnival. My goal is for this to become the best blog carnival for people looking for articles on how to get out of debt. But, despite this goal, I am not going to limit it to only topics about debt reduction.

So, first of all, I would like to thank all of the contributors. I really appreciate your participation.

Now, on to the Carnival!!

Debt management

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Get Rid Of Your Debt With These Debt Defying Strategies posted at The Digerati Life.

The Smarter Wallet presents Are Debt Counseling Services The Way To Debt Relief? posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, "On debt counseling."

Jim presents What is the Average Household Credit Card Debt? posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity

Personal Finance

J. Money presents Who cares if you saved money by spending money?! posted at Budgets are Sexy..

Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog presents Control Your Spending With A Budget posted at Canadian Finance Blog.

Joe Manausa, MBA presents How To Subscribe To Your Favorite Real Estate Blogs posted at Tallahassee Real Estate Blog, saying, "Most blogs are trying to get more subscribers, yet how many of them make it easy to do so? Remember, most readers are not bloggers, and they do not understand the subscription process. That is why you have to tell them all about it."

Tristin presents This Is Me ? I Will Become a Millionaire posted at tristinaugustus.com.

Jeff Kosola presents How to Calculate Net Worth posted at DeliverAwayDebt.

Investing

Mark presents Vanguard Short Term Bond Fund posted at Best Mutual Funds.

John presents Gold ETF Funds posted at Gold Prices Today.

Banking

Mark presents Academy Bank posted at Best CD Rates.

Mark presents Sovereign Bank Online posted at Online Banks Blog.

That concludes the first edition of the carnival. Please submit your blog article to the next edition of Get Out of Debt Carnival using the following carnival submission form.

Again, I would like to thank all of the contributors.

Get Out of Debt 2010

Hawk — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:31:51 +0000

You Get Out of Debt Roadmap

Boy, what a year 2009 was!! The economy hit bottom (hopefully) - the U.S. dollar crashed - millions of Americans lost their jobs - taxpayers were forced to bail out the financial sector - millions of Americans faced bankruptcy and foreclosure. 2010 has to be better than that. Right?

Well, here at The Debt Hawk my goal is to help you make 2010 a much better year than 2009. And, my focus is going to be to make 2010 the Get Out of Debt Year.

Where We Are Going To Go This 2010

My primary goal for this site is to help people improve their finances - get out of debt, start saving money, and regain financial freedom through the implementation of a financial plan. Before you can start saving money and achieve financial freedom, you have to get out of debt.

With that said, here is an overview of what you need to do to get out of debt and start saving money.

Get Out of Debt Roadmap

Throughout this year I am going to focus on helping people to get out of debt by following this Get Out of Debt Roadmap. I promise that if you follow these simple steps to get out of debt you will finish 2010 in a much better financial state than you started 2010.

Step 1: Write Down All Your Debts

Step 2: Write Down All of Your Monthly Expenses

Step 3: Write Down Your Monthly Income

Step 4: Decide What Monthly Expenses You Can Lower

Step 5: Figure Out How Much Money You Can Put Towards Your Debts Every Month

Step 6: Start Paying Off Your Lowest Debt

Step 7: Start Earning More Money To Pay Off Your Debt Quicker

Step 8: Determine When Your Debt Will Be Paid Off Following This Plan

This list is intended to be an overview of the Get Out of Debt Roadmap. As the year goes on, I will focus on how to help you with each step of this plan. This plan is not some secret formula, but if you follow this plan, you will dig your way out of your money problems.

The great thing about this plan is that once you reach Step 8 you will have financial freedom. What, financial freedom while still in debt? Yep, that's right. I think that just knowing when you will be out of debt is its own financial freedom. You will be in control of your money. You will be in control of your future.

Budgeting and Money Management

Step 1 through 5 all relate to budgeting and money management. You need to understand how much money you are earning and spending. You need to figure out with you can spend less on the things you need and stop paying for things you don't need.

The good thing about step 1 though 5 is that you can finish these steps in one night. That's right - you don't need to wait 30 days to start paying off your debts. You don't need to write every expenditure down for the next 30 days. Go grab your bank statements and figure out how much money you spent last month versus how much you earned. Then, figure out where you can spend less.

Earn More Money in 2010

The key to paying off debt is not writing down a budget, it is paying off debt. Therefore, while I think it is important to learn how to spend less money, the best way to pay off debt fast is to earn more money. And, by reading The Debt Hawk this year, you are going to learn how to earn more money in 2010.

This is all about growing your way out of debt. Go find a second job, work tons of hours and pay of your debt fast. Income is the fuel of debt repayment. Let's focus on how we can earn more money so that we can regain our financial freedom.

I hope that you like this focus for 2010. 2010 will be the Get Out of Debt year here at The Debt Hawk. I can't wait. This is going to be fun!!

If you want to help yourself get of debt, please subscribe to my RSS feed so that you don't miss any articles. Also, please leave comments and join the discussion. I love hearing what you guys are thinking.

Debt Help: How Much Debt Do I Owe?

Hawk — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:06:20 +0000

If you want to take a step in the right direction for getting out of debt, one of the first things you need to do is to understand what debt you have and how much debt you owe. If you are seeking debt help, this list of debts is necessary in order to truly understand your financial situation.

The Debt Mind Sweep

A mind sweep is where you sit down and just write down everything that comes to mind. I highly recommend that everyone does a debt mind sweep by listing every debt you owe.

At first don't worry what the dollar amount is or what order the debts should be listed. For this task the goal is to just make sure that you create a comprehensive list of every debt you owe. To help you think of all of your debts, think about whether you have any of these debts,

home mortgage
second mortgage
home equity line of credit
student loan debt
car debt
credit card debt
debt to stores for items purchased
Non-current monthly bills
Doctor bills

Once you have the list of every debt you owe, write down how much you owe to each lender. It is important that you know how much you owe to each lender. This will give you a holistic look at what you owe and to whom.

Organize Your Debt

Now that you have your list of debts, organize them so that you can better understand what kind of debt you owe and how much to whom.

List Debts Smallest To Largest

There are many ways to organize your debt, but I start by listing the debts smallest to largest. This allows you to see a path to paying the debt off using the debt snowball method of repayment.

List Debts in Order of Priority

Another way to list the debt is by repayment priority. If you are not current on any bills, you should list these first because you need to get current on these debts. Other debts that are a priority are necessities like housing debt, car debt and utility bills like heating oil or electricity. You need to make sure that you are paying your bills for things that are needed for survival.

List Debts by Highest Interest Rates to Lowest Interest Rates

While I believe that it often is best for people to pay down their debt by paying off their smallest debts first using the snowball method, I also think you need to understand the interest rates on each of your debts. These interest rates reflect the cost for borrowing the money.

If any of these interest rates are extremely high, you might consider paying these debts first. But, for most people, the payment of high interest debts first rarely gets them debt free faster than paying the lowest amount of debt first. Therefore, while mathematically it makes sense to pay the high interest loans first, the debt snowball method is often easier to stick to.

Knowing what you owe and to whom is critical to start getting out of debt. Therefore, if you haven't done this already, create a list today of all of your debts. It is a great kick start to becoming debt free.

How Did I Get This Far In Debt?

Hawk — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:19:26 +0000

How did I get this far in debt? That is a question that too many have to ask themselves.

The scary thing about debt is that it creeps up on people. I remember the first credit card debt that I started accumulating. It was my first year in college. I started paying for a meal here, an emergency purchase there, but the minimum payments were so low that I didn't really think about it. But, by the time I graduated from college, I had about $2,000 in credit card debt.

I think that this is a common experience people have. They get in the habit of not paying their credit card balances in full every month, and then 12 months later they realize that they owe a lot of money.

Discipline is one of the hardest habits to possess, and financial discipline might be the hardest area to have discipline. There are many reasons why people get into debt, e.g. by not paying for health insurance, losing a job and not having an emergency fund. But, the biggest reason is excessive spending.

Excessive spending is the number one reason why people find themselves in debt. We like to buy houses that we can't afford, cars that we can't afford, collectibles, comic books, Longaberger baskets, the list goes on and on.

The problem with excessive spending is that it compounds into other problems. A lot of people say that they can't afford health insurance, but is it that they don't earn enough to afford it or are they spending too much on other things? Don't get me wrong, I know that health insurance is expensive, but many people just spend too much on less important things like new cars. Then, a health crisis occurs and they get destroyed by debt.

Understanding what is causing you to get over your head in debt is important. You might come up with lots of reasons, but I bet excessive spending is one of them.

Get Out of Debt Friday – October 2, 2009

Hawk — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:22:07 +0000

On Fridays I like to highlight some of the best articles that I have read that will help The Debt Hawk reader to get out of debt. Here are some of the best articles that I have read recently.

Len Penzo dot com had a great guest post titled Note From A Mechanic: Six Money Saving Tips. You will find some great advice for saving money on your car.

Kevin from No Debt Plan wrote a great article titled How to Improve Your Credit Score When Paying Down Debt. When people decide to start getting out of debt, they often want to improve their credit score too. Kevin has some great advice on how to do this while you are getting out of debt.

If you are trying to get out of debt, you need to read Matt's article on Financial Method titled What Would You Give Up To Get Out Of Debt?

Can you believe that fall is here already? Read this post from Jeremy at Generation X Finance to get your house ready for autumn - Fall Maintenance Tips for Your Home.

Nickel form Five Cent Nickel wrote about creating your own extended warranty fund. This is a great way to save money by not buying overpriced extended warranty plans.

I hope that you enjoy these great articles. If you want to learn more about changing you life through disciplined personal finance, please subscribe to TheDebtHawk.com RSS feed.

Debt Consolidation Loans – Why They Don’t Work

Hawk — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:59:54 +0000

Have you thought about applying for debt consolidation loans to help you to get out of debt? People always think that debt consolidation loans are the ticket to regaining control over their finances, but too often they really don't change anything.

Jeremy from Generation X Finance wrote a great article today - If You're Going to Consolidate Debt Then You Have To Stop Using Credit. In this article Jeremy highlights the pitfalls of using secured loans and unsecured debt consolidation loans to consolidate credit card debt.

Here are some of the pitfalls that Jeremy raises.

Stop Using Your Credit Cards

The biggest mistake that people make is continuing to use credit cards after consolidating their debt. Jeremy highlights how this can really destroy your get out of debt plan.

Don't Risk Your Home Just to Consolidate Debt

The second warning is about using your home's equity as collateral for your debt consolidation loan. I hate when I see people make this mistake. People get way over their head in credit card debt and then try to get out of the mess by getting a home equity loan as a way to consolidate the credit card debt.

Now they are in a huge mess. The credit card debt is unsecured debt meaning that the credit card companies cannot take your house due to defaulting on your loan. But, if you consolidate your credit card debt using a home equity loan, now you risk losing your home if you default on the debt.

I highly encourage you to read the article linked above. Generation X has done a great job highlighting some common mistakes people make with debt consolidation loans.

Loans to Get Out of Debt

Hawk — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:00:53 +0000

Should you apply for loans to get out of debt?

I hear this question asked all of the time by people in debt. There are many forms that this question comes in like,

Should I take out a loan to consolidate my credit card debt?
Should I borrow money from my 401(k) to pay off my debt?
Should I take out a home equity loan to get out of debt?

You get the picture. People for some reason think that if they owe less people but still owe the same amount they are somehow ahead.

I couldn't disagree more. You can't get out of debt by borrowing more money.

I hear financial planners saying, "Oh you should consolidate those loans." Or, "Borrowing against your home is a great way to reduce your interest rates." But, this advice is dangerous.

Getting out of debt requires one thing and one thing only - Disciplined Personal Finance. There is no secret trick. No one is going to get you out of this mess. You have to do it yourself. It is as simple as that and as hard as that.

It is simple because it is not complicated. It is hard because let's face it we lack self control. But, with disciplined personal finance you will get out of debt.

So, instead of taking out loans to get out of debt, create a budget, reduce your spending, and pay more money to your creditors. If you focus on being disciplined with your money, you will get there.

Spend your time focusing on paying off your debt instead of applying for loans to get out of debt. The latter just results in you having the same amount of debt.

Why Do I Need An Emergency Fund?

Hawk — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:20:27 +0000

When the get out of debt bug hits, the last thing most people want to do is build an emergency fund. Many ask, why do I need an emergency fund? Well, to put it simply, you need an emergency fund to make sure that you continue to pay off debt when emergencies arise.

Time and time again, people start paying off their debt, but stop due to an unexpected emergency. When this unexpected expense hits, these people have to incur more debt to pay this expense.

That is where an emergency fund can save you.

If you build an emergency fund before starting to pay off debt, when these emergencies arise, you will not have to go into more debt. Instead, you can reach into your emergency fund, rebuild the fund, and get back on your debt repayment plan.

Many people make the mistake of not being patient and saving this emergency fund. But, then when an emergency arises, they become demoralized because they are back in debt. There is no worse feeling than going backwards. Having to incur more debt, can cause you to give up paying down your debt. To quote Benjamin Franklin, "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."

But, with an emergency fund in place, you can plan for these unexpected expenses. No longer are they unexpected. You acknowledge that they will arise, but you are ready for them. YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF YOUR FINANCIAL LIFE.

Personal finance is all about being disciplined. Disciplined personal finance is the name of the game. An emergency fund is your first step to living a disciplined financial life.

So, don’t wait. Start building your emergency fund right now. If that means that you have to suspend your debt repayment plan, do it. The key here is to put yourself in the best position to get out of debt. That is why you need an emergency fund.

Top 100 Personal Finance Bloggers on Twitter

Hawk — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:29:16 +0000

Are you one of the top 100 personal finance bloggers on Twitter? Do you want to find personal finance bloggers to follow on Twitter? If so, check out my new feature here on The Debt Hawk - Top 100 Personal Finance Bloggers on Twitter.

This list ranks the top 100 personal finance bloggers based on the number of followers they have. Unfortunately, I am still way down the list at number 86, but if you follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/thedebthawk I will quickly move up the list. I really love using Twitter to connect with other people interested in personal finance.

Some of the cool things about this list are that it includes a link to everyone's personal finance blog, a link to everyone's twitter profile, twitter profile picture and bio from Twitter.

If you are not on the list, please contact me using my contact page. I hope that this list helps Twitterers to find their favorite personal finance bloggers on Twitter. I also hope that it helps to bring us personal finance bloggers closer together.

So again, follow me on Twitter.