Debt Reduction Tips

Skokie, Illinois fire rescuers recently drilled a hole in the ceiling to rescue an 82 year-old woman from her apartment. They couldn’t use the door because the space was piled to the ceiling with hoarded stuff. Earlier this year, an El Paso, Texas woman died by fire when the newspapers she had hoarded fed the flames. Firefighters couldn’t get through the clutter to save her. These may sound like extreme cases, but hoarding is becoming an ever-increasing problem. Those who find themselves in cluttered surroundings could end up like one of these women if they don’t take steps to clear up the clutter now.Read the rest...

Today's guest post is from Carol Schultz-Weil, author of In The Trenches, a personal finance survival guide intended to help people just like you overcome past financial disasters to build a better and stronger financial future. 

Life is like a treadmill…if we don’t make a conscious effort to keep moving forward, we will automatically begin to slide backward.  

This is true of every area in our lives, whether it be relationships, health, finances, or even house cleaning.  The momentum of our decline can even speed up when unexpected tragedies and events occur. I wrote In The Trenches to help others keep moving forward rather than sinking backwards.

In The Trenches, what does that sound like to you?  The term it is one commonly associated with the military and conjures associations of a battlefront. Indeed, In The Trenches is a defensive posture with an offensive goal. "How does it apply to finances?" you may wonder?   Read the rest...

 Hopefully you have a fund containing enough to cover your regular living expenses for at least three months. Such emergency funds have never been more important than now. If you haven’t yet been forced to dip into that account, you’re probably one of those contemplating it after a layoff or as the bills get harder to pay every month. At what point is your situation an emergency? When should you throw in the towel and accept that you need to use some of that emergency money you have been stashing away?Read the rest...

Guilt makes you want to slow your spending. Anxiety makes you want to save towards a nest egg. But the process of alleviating these feelings takes so long to show progress, we often feel used and abused before we ever experience relief from our guilt and anxiety. In the beginning of any savings plan, you are likely to feel the same guilt and anxiety that overspending brought you, with the added negative feelings brought on by restricting your spending. So until you can get some positive reinforcement going, it's smart to practice some simple saving tricks that leave you feeling less deprived. Here are 5 painless ways to save that may help you get the ball rolling:Read the rest...