Search Results for: blog can you borrow your way out of debt

Why People Make New Year’s Resolutions

The custom of making a New Year’s resolution goes back farther than you might think! According to History.com, the ancient Babylonians are said to be the first people to make New Year’s resolutions, some 4,000 years ago. They were also the first to hold recorded celebrations in honor of the new year, which, for them, began in mid-March when the crops were planted. There was a 12-day festival known as Akitu, when the Babylonians crowned a new king or reaffirmed their loyalty to the reigning king. They also made promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any objects … Continue reading →

The Best Way to Pay Off Credit Cards

Credit card debt is at an all-time crisis. With compounded interested levels of up to 20 percent, it can quickly spiral out of control. Getting the credit cards paid off should be every family’s number one financial goal. It is the first step in living debt free. The are right ways and wrong ways to pay off your credit cards. Taking out a second mortgage or home equity loan is probably not the best idea, although some others may advise such actions. The same goes for borrowing from your life insurance policy or from friends and family. The key is … Continue reading →

How to Save Money on Ebooks and Ereaders

The sale of ebooks has outshone the sale of traditional printed books. They are convenient and instant. Unfortunately, though you can’t just go to a used ebook sale and pick up armfuls of titles for just a few dollars as you might with paper books. Still, there are a number of ways to save on ebooks, including getting ebooks for free. Let us start with the ereader itself. There are a number of choices available right now. My suggestion is to do your research and try them out in the store. Once you have made your selection, try these strategies … Continue reading →

Using A Loan To Get Rid of Old Debt

If you have been debating whether or not to take out a loan to get rid of some of your debt, you may be on your way to finding a good solution to the problems of high interest and that nagging feeling that it will take forever to pay off that debt. One of the reasons that things like old credit card debt take so long to pay off is that the debt often keeps growing long after you have cut up the card and stopped using it. For example, I have a few old credit card balances that I … Continue reading →

Saving Money on a New House

One of the easiest ways to save on a mortgage is by making a substantial down payment. The larger your down payment, the less you will have to pay on a monthly basis. In most cases, home buyers are required to cough up at least 20 percent of a home loan in order to avoid Private Mortgage Insurance. Whereas it would be wonderful if we could all put down 20 to 30 percent of our dream home’s total price, many potential buyers struggle to come up with even half that. Fortunately, for many first-time homebuyers, down payment assistance is available. … Continue reading →

Pros and Cons of Paying Down Debt

I know what you are asking: “How can there be any cons related to paying down debt?” If you are not careful, there are several ways you can dig yourself deeper into debt trying to pay loans and other bills. In a previous blog I addressed the option of cashing in retirement accounts and other investments to pay down debt. While there are a number of benefits to doing this, there are also quite a few downsides as well. In fact, the Department of Labor went public recently warning Americans that making permanent withdrawals from their retirement accounts is not … Continue reading →

Thrifty Tips for College Students

Whether you are a parent of a college student or you are a student yourself, you know that college is expensive. What you may not know, and what I wish that I knew when I was in college a few years ago, is that there are some things that you can save money on while you are in college which can add up to significant savings. That’s right, you can have more cash left in your pocket or less money borrowed from student loans and other sources if you do a few things a little differently. For example, when you … Continue reading →

It’s Always About Money

This time of year is always stressful financially. It is especially stressful when you are a single parent, you have to make that dollar you are stretching go even farther. Striving to be financially responsible is something you should do all year round. As a single parent it is doubly important that you do your best to manage your money. *Don’t keep secrets about money, talk to your kids. I remember when I was a child and my mother would tell me we couldn’t afford something and I would be resentful because I knew she had money. Because we never … Continue reading →

Take Stock of Your Needs

One way to greatly affect your budget in the positive, be it buying groceries or paying for cable, taking stock of your family’s needs and then attacking each area in turn can go a long way to reducing the amount you pay for everything. Step 1: Take Stock Make a list of everyone’s needs. Ask each family member for their wish list. For example, my four-year-old’s list would probably include chocolate ice cream, my ten-year-old might include Pokeman cards, and my six-year-old wants a new skating dress. My husband might list lunch out once a week with his best friend … Continue reading →

Is Your Degree Worth The Debt?

The idea behind student loans is that you borrow money to earn a college or graduate degree that will in turn enable you to earn so much money that you will be able to pay back the enormous amount of money that you borrowed to acquire the degree. While this is a good idea in theory, many people who have student loan debt are now feeling like their degree is not worth the debt that they acquired to get it. I can tell you that this is not just a feeling, it is a cold, hard fact that is supported … Continue reading →