Will Your Spending Habits Change When You’re Out of Debt?

The following post is by MPFJ staff writer Travis.  Travis is a customer blogger for CareOne Debt Relief Services, and also appears weekly at Enemy of Debt.  Travis candidly shares his personal journey to pay off $109,000 of credit card debt and the tips he’s learned along the way. As a father and husband he provides a unique perspective on balancing debt, finances, and family.

My wife and I are planning a surprise mini-vacation for the kids at a tourist place known for amusement parks of all types, but specializing in water rides.    Even the hotels in the area have huge indoor water parks that people flock to during the winter months.  As part of our planning, Vonnie and I were comparing prices and amenities of different hotels.  One in particular was more expensive than the rest, but had a lot more things to do, including some activities for which guests have to pay extra.

We decided to cross that one-off our list, as the hotel was out of our price range, and we felt that the activities weren’t worth what they were charging.  As we prepared to continue to discuss the remaining hotels on our list, my wife made a comment that shocked me.

“Why don’t we save that place for when we’re out of debt and paying $45 a person for a zip line tour won’t matter.”

Excuse me?

The reason I don’t want to stay at that hotel is because it’s overpriced.  The rooms, the zipline, the go karts, the entire package is not worth what they’re charging.  We can do the same activities at one of the amusement parks for less.  That kind of spending with complete disregard of value is how we go into debt in the first place. So, no thank you to that hotel whether we have credit card debt or not.  However, our conversation got me thinking.

Do my wife and I have the same spending expectations for after we are credit card debt free?

I honestly don’t think things should change all that much.   The grocery budget will likely increase a little because I love food and  I’m a firm believer that having great food at home prevents us from wasting our money eating out.  Maybe we’ll take a family vacation here or there.  But mainly I just think of being debt free as being convenient.  Convenient that I don’t have to save up for months to host Thanksgiving dinner, or school clothes.  The money will be there, sitting in our savings account ready to be used when we need it.  The decision-making process as to what to spend out money on will remain the same. Value is value, wasting will still be wasting.

But does my wife have a different view?

I suddenly wonder if she dreams of the day when she can spend money just because it’s there.  Will she impulsively buy a new pair of shoes just because they’re adorable only have them sit on the closet shelf because the right opportunity to wear them never arrives?   Will she use rolls of twenty-dollar bills to start our fire pit?

Ok, I’m getting a little off track, but I think you get my point.  Even after we have completed our debt management program I want us to still be smart with our money, and get the very most we can out of it.  We had best have that discussion soon, as we are less than eight months away from eliminating our 109K mountain of credit card debt.

How about you, readers?  How will your spending habits change when you get out of debt?  Does your significant other share the same view?

Image courtesy of artur84 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

4 Ways to Save on Pet Expenses

The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Melissa Batai.  Melissa is a freelance writer who covers topics ranging from personal finance to business to organics to food.  She blogs at Mom’s Plans where she shares her family’s journey to healthier living and paying down debt.

My family had pets for as long as I can remember–cats, dogs, even rabbits for a while.  When I moved out on my own, I took my two cats with me.  After they both died within 2 years of one another, my  husband and I couldn’t stand how empty the house felt without a pet.  Within 2 months, we adopted another cat, who we still have today.

Pets can certainly enrich your lives, but they can be expensive!  Some financial experts recommend that if you have debt, you shouldn’t own a pet.  I wouldn’t go that far, but I would suggest that you take steps to minimize the cost of owning a pet while still providing the pet with a good quality of life.

Luckily, there are many ways to save on pets and their care:

1.  Consider pet insurance.

Just like humans’ medical care, animals’ medical care has advanced.  It’s now possible to treat an animal’s condition that previously was untreatable.  The problem is that you may not be able to financially afford the treatment.  Pet insurance is one way to be able to afford more services, but consider this carefully.

Many people find that there are so many restrictions and upfront, out-of-pocket costs that pet insurance doesn’t really save them money.

A better idea, if you’re disciplined, may be to set aside money yourself to create your own “pet insurance” fund.  If you own a cat, for instance, set aside $25 a month for the animal’s care.  At the end of the year, you have $300, but the cat’s annual check-up and shots may only cost $150.  Now you have $150 to roll over for next year.  Do this for the first 7 years of the cat’s life, when most indoor only cats have very few medical needs, and you have over $1,000 in an emergency fund strictly for the animal’s care.  Continue to put this money aside and let it grow, and when the cat is older, you’ll have the money to cover her care.

2.  Find alternatives to boarding.

Another large expense can be finding someone to care for the animal when you’re gone.  Sure, you could board your animal at a kennel or the vet’s, but that is not cheap.  Instead, consider hiring the neighbor child to come in and feed and water your pet as well as taking him out to play, if necessary.  If that’s not an option, you could also use a site like dogvacay.com.  People who are vetted and insured are available to care for your animal for just $15 a day.

3.  Find reasonably priced food.

Unless your dog or cat has a health condition, there’s no need to buy the most expensive food available at your veterinarians.  While you probably don’t want to feed your animal the cheapest food available, keep in mind that there are several mid-priced brands that offer good quality food for a reasonable price.  Often, shopping at Amazon instead of the grocery store or a pet store can make the price even lower.

4.  Love your animal, but realize it’s not your child.

Some people go overboard when they become pet owners.  They dress their animals in cute little outfits and buy them expensive, cozy beds.  These animals get many presents under the tree at Christmas.

If you want to have a pet on a budget, realize that Fido is your pet, one you love very much, but he doesn’t have to be spoiled like that.  Your wallet will thank you.

Owning a pet can be expensive, but there are ways to lower that cost and make pet ownership much more affordable.  We still have debt that we’re working on paying down, but we wouldn’t miss being pet owners.  Instead, we just monitor our costs carefully.

How about you all? What other ways do you save on pet expenses?

Share your experiences by commenting below! 

***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/randysonofrobert/2639402501/

The Road to Good Credit

Building and maintaining a good credit history and/or score can be quite challenging. Some of my favorite techniques are to 1) take out a small secured personal loan from a bank, 2) pay all your utility bills in your name (not your roommates’), and 3) use a credit card wisely.

How To Compromise On Finances In Your Marriage

The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Catherine Alford. Cat is a freelance personal finance writer who blogs at www.BudgetBlonde.com. 

I write a lot about money and marriage because I think it’s such an important topic. Not only that, it’s something that can be constantly improved and worked on. Much like marriage itself, compromising on finances takes a significant amount of work and communication, and it’s definitely worth all the effort you put into it!

First, when it comes to money and marriage, I think it’s completely natural to want to do everything your way. For example, I always think my money ideas are the best ideas, never mind that my husband may have a few ideas of his own! However, I’ve realized over time that the whole point of a marriage is to work together on challenging issues, and becoming financially independent is one of the biggest obstacles and most rewarding goals in life. So, what’s required to achieve these goals is a lot of compromise, listening to each other’s viewpoints, and talking through important financial topics.

Below are some of the ways that I’ve compromised when it comes to money and marriage, and I’d love to hear some of the ways you’ve worked out money issues as well!

1. Short-Term Vs. Long-Term

When my husband and I got engaged, we had to go to a pre-marital weekend retreat to get married in the church. Instead of grumbling about this minor inconvenience, we decided to actually try to get something out of it, and it was actually really valuable.

One of the exercises that we did was sit back-to-back and answer important questions by raising our hands. For example, the proctor would ask a question like, “Who’s going to cook dinner most of the time in your house?” If you thought it was you, you had to raise your hand then turn around to see if your partner agreed.

We were doing pretty well with this exercise until we got to the questions about money. When the proctor asked, “Who will be handing the finances in your marriage?” both my husband and I shot our hands up. We both thought we should be the one handing it!

It was a funny moment, but it was also an important one. There we were just a few months from getting married after 4 years of dating, and we had never talked about who would handle the money!

The proctors had a great suggestion, one we use to this day. They said to have one person handle short-term finances and one person handle long-term finances. Ever since then, we’ve never wavered. He handles all of our investments, retirement funds, and makes decisions like choosing stocks. I pay all of our bills, handle our savings accounts, make money goals, and keep him updated on our progress. It really is the perfect balance, and it allows both of us to feel like we are contributing to our overall financial goals.

2. Have Your Own Money

Veteran couples swear by this tip. Let each person have a set amount of spending money every month. I didn’t do this at first. I thought that it wasn’t a big deal, until my husband finally told me that it really bothered him every time he had to ask for money. After all, he’s almost 30 years old and in medical school. I think he can probably handle a bit of cash! I didn’t even think about how our system affected to him until he told me that so ever since then, I split my money into envelopes when I get my paycheck, and I always give him money just for him to use, no questions asked.

This makes him feel like more of an adult, and it also helps alleviate the impression that I’m always looking over his shoulder when he buys things. Now, he can go on campus and buy himself a coke without feeling odd about it.

3. Forgive Each Other

When it comes to money and marriage, we’re all going to make mistakes. It’s unavoidable. I’ve paid my husband’s credit card late completely on accident and felt terribly about it. In the future, he might choose a stock that plummets the next day. It happens. It’s life.

Of course, some mistakes are worse than others. If your spouse drained your retirement fund to go to the casino, that’s a different story, but for day-to-day blips, it’s important not to blame each other and remember which team you’re on.

I’m sure there are many more tips out there for compromising when it comes to marriage and money. Essentially, it’s all about maintaining communication and respecting each other when you make decisions. In the future, I know my husband and I will have even more to learn about finances and marriage as we continue on our journey, but it makes me happy to know that I share my goals with someone who is just as willing to work hard to make them happen.

How about you all? How do you compromise when it comes to money in your relationships?

Share your experiences by commenting below! 

***Photo courtesy of http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6235/6355220839_792984400f_o.jpg

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance 2013 – Final Championship Sprint on the “Parisian Champs-Élysées” of Personal Finance

The 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance has been an absolute 100% success (far beyond anything I could have imagined!). A big thanks goes out to everyone that has participated in the Stages and to the hundreds of voters who have stopped by to support their favorite authors/articles.

Later this upcoming week, I’ll write up a Tour de Personal Finance recap, post-race show, and awards ceremony to talk about what happened this year and how I envision the event growing in the coming years. But, that’s enough of that commentary for now!

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the Final Championship Sprint of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF is doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

• Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
• In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

How to Vote

You can vote for the article  you’d like to see win the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 24th for this Stage!

Championship Sprint

• My Husband is Now WORKING FROM HOME WITH ME!!! (Husband): It’s important to work out a plan before leaping into self-employment.  It’s even more important when that entrepreneurial spirit hits both of the income earners of the household.  But after running the numbers, looking at worst case scenarios, and mulling the idea over…it was time for us to put on our big girl panties and jump in.     Here’s the post about the excitement and fear when we officially put all of our financial eggs in one basket and happily skipped away into the unknown…

VERSUS

• Is it Time to Get Out of the Stock Market? (Time): Whenever we see highs or lows in the stock market we see an increasing number of talking heads telling us what we should do with our portfolios. The problem with listening to them is they have no idea of your personal situation. That said, these are great times to analyze your portfolio while remembering the importance of maintaining a long-term view of your investing.

Tour de France Daily Recap

Peter Sagan has pretty much clinched the green jersey competition, and the first-timer Colombian rider, Nairo Quintana has won the White Jersey Young Rider’s competition as well as the King of the Mountains Jersey as well! So, those jerseys are pretty much wrapped up, and there shouldn’t be too many surprises on today’s Stage.

***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/peter-trimming/7692579848/

Reader Profile – Christine from The Pursuit of Green

Today, in the ongoing Reader Profile Series, we’re getting to know MPFJ.com reader and commenter, Christine, from the site, The Pursuit of Green. Let’s all give Christine a big round of applause for sharing her life with us and listen to her story. Enjoy!

Also, if you’re interested in sharing your own financial story/journey with us in a reader profile of your own, just shoot me a quick email, and we can get the ball rolling!  

1. Please Tell Everyone a Little Bit About Yourself (Background, Education, Family Situation, etc).

Hi, I’m Christine! I’m an Ohioan who was born and raised there, then transplanted to Los Angeles after college. My parents are considered middle class now, but that wasn’t always the case. Growing up, I learned how to be frugal and make the best of what you have. It’s helped me a lot after I moved out to Los Angeles where the cost of living and rent is so much higher than in Ohio.

I went to school for digital design, which encompasses basically anything you do on a computer. I’ve been building up my career and last year decided to become self-employed.

Along the way, I started learning about personal finance to figure out the best way to manage the income I was earning. I also focused my time on doing more to be earth-friendly, minimizing my impact on the earth with every step I take. These two things have melded in the last few years as I found that a lot of times they go hand in hand. Many times I’ll do something to be earth-friendly and find that it saves money, and vice versa.

Earlier this year, I had a big party otherwise known as a wedding. It was a challenge for sure to keep from spending too much!

2. Describe Your Current Financial Situation (Who Works in Your Family, How Your Income Is, Your Expenses, etc).

My income has been fluctuating ever since I became self-employed. In my industry, the holidays are extremely slow times. I’ve had a few months where I haven’t found any work and months where I’m extremely busy. It’s definitely an eye opener to be your own boss. My hours are flexible, but there’s always that unknown of whether or not I’ll have work. I’ve also learned a lot in the last year about taxes. Paying your own taxes really does make you aware of how hard you work and how much goes toward the government.

Luckily, my husband has a steady full-time job. It helps to offset the unsteady aspect of self-employment and gives us assurance. We’ve worked out our finances so that we are able to live well under his income only. Any income I bring in every month is extra!

We’ve cut out a lot of expenses to reach our goals. That includes a lot of eating out. We both love food and that is one of the hardest expenses we’ve had to cut. Restaurants simply add up too much. We’ve also taken other measures such as canceling our cable, cutting his hair at home, and buying less clothing and unnecessary items. We’ve kept some of the cheaper items as indulgences; for example, my chocolate and the occasional dinner out at a reasonably priced place.

3. What Are the Current Financial Challenges You Are Facing (Saving, Paying Off Debt, Student Loans, Merging Finances After Being Married, etc)?

We’re still figuring out the finer points of merging finances. We have the same goals overall, but the way we get there is a bit different for both of us. My husband is in favor of throwing everything towards one goal. I like a more balanced approach where we have one main goal but also work towards longer term goals. We’re both learning to talk more about our financial goals together and compromise on how to get there.

Currently, we’re really trying to focus on saving up for a down payment on a house. We live in Los Angeles and the house prices here are insane. Just saving up for a down payment itself is pretty daunting, and we’ve been plugging away at it for two years now. Of course, buying a house will be another challenge to come!

Another goal we are working towards is making ourselves as ready as possible to start a family. Buying our own home is one thing that helps us there. The other is living off one income.

4. What Are Your Plans for the Future (Retire Early, Build Your Career, etc)?

It would be wonderful to be able to retire early! It’s something that I dream about but am not sure if it will happen. I’m steadily saving for retirement, but it’s hard to say anything. Most likely I will “retire,” but keep working in some form or another because I enjoy it.

Currently I am trying to build up my career so that I have a good portfolio where I can be self-employed with steady work. The traditional work place is definitely changing, so I am trying to be more flexible in the way I think about work. I mostly work on a computer and information is exchanged online, so it’s entirely possible to be self-employed doing this kind of job.

Eventually if everything goes well, then we’ll have fully funded retirement accounts, savings, a paid-off house, paid-off cars, and investments that create spending money.

5. What’s Your Best Piece(s) of Financial Advice and/or Your General Philosophy on Personal Finances?

While there are many financial goals that you should be working towards, remember to sit back and enjoy the present. I want to be happy when I retire, but I also want to be able to live life when I am young enough to not have creaky bones. The things you do today don’t have to be expensive or lavish, but it can still be fun and enjoyable. Live life in the present, but plan for the future. It’s all a matter of keeping everything in balance.

We Became a One-Car Household: Could You?

The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Kelly Gurnett. Kelly runs the blog Cordelia Calls It Quits, where she documents her attempts to rid her life of the things that don’t matter and focus more on the things that do. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Back in April, I said goodbye to my beloved first car, and my husband and I became something I never thought we would be: a one-car household.

As I’ve written about before, we lost half our income in April when my husband had to stop working due to his Fibromyalgia. (We’re currently applying for disability benefits.) This happened just as I was planning to make the leap from having a day job and working a side hustle to freelancing full-time—thus decreasing our income even further. I’d already made plans to sell my car when I was considering the leap, but once my husband lost his job, it went from a smart money-saving idea to a necessity.

We’ve now been a one-car household for a little over a month, and it’s had its pros and cons. Since I’m fortunate enough to work from home, and my husband doesn’t work at all anymore, our situation is certainly easier than couples who both have jobs outside the home (not to mention children, of which we have none except furry ones). That said, we have friends with more “standard” lives who are also one-car households, including a married couple who both hold down jobs with shifting schedules—and just had a baby.

So, it can be done. As with any other big financial/lifestyle change, it all comes down to what you’re willing to give up, and put up with, in order to gain certain tradeoffs.

For anyone considering becoming a one-car household, here are some of the big things to ask yourself:

What are your work schedules like?

Our friends who have jobs without set schedules never know what their hours will look like each week, so every week is a different balancing act of “Who’s going to need the car when?” If you have some flexibility over the days you work, or you both work different shifts, it’s much easier than if you both work standard 9-5s that can’t be negotiated.

At the same time, plenty of one-car households get around this by having one-half of the couple carpool or take public transit. The cost of a bus pass could be considerably less than the cost of paying for and maintaining a second vehicle.

Are you o.k. with not having instant mobility?

Gone will be the days of running out for a latte spur-of-the-moment (although that could be good for your budget, too). If your partner has the car, you’re homebound (or stuck wherever else you are) until it’s your turn or they can come pick you up. Some people will have serious problems with the lack of freedom and independence this poses.

Also, if you have an illness, children, or any other situation that makes you feel uncomfortable not being able to drive somewhere in an emergency, that’s something else to consider. Should something happen, do you have people you can call on to give you a ride? If your partner gets stuck late at work, how will you get the kids to soccer practice? These are all day-to-day logistics you should work out before you find yourself in theses situations.

Are you good at compromising with each other?

There will be times when you both need the car, and it can come down to either a game of rock-paper-scissors (followed by resentment by the loser) or a level-headed, adult conversation about whose needs take priority and how accommodations can be made.

If you think sharing a home with someone teaches you how to compromise and be patient, try sharing a car when you’ve each accidentally made plans for the same night. Just like everything else in your relationship, negotiating car turns can take sacrifice at times. If your relationship doesn’t already have a healthy level of give-and-take, you’d better be prepared to develop some pretty quickly.

So…Why exactly would we do this?

After considering questions like the above, you could understandably wonder this. Much like selling your house to downgrade to a smaller one or taking on a second job to pay off debt, going down to one car is a sacrifice, and the decision ultimately comes down to whether you will get more out of doing it than you will lose.

So, what will you get? In addition to saving on car payments, you’ve got all the incidental costs that come along with owning a car, like insurance, repairs, gas, registration fees, tolls, and parking. And if you own your car outright, selling it can get you a little extra cash. (We used the proceeds from my car to pay off my husband’s car and finish my debt repayment plan.)

For me personally, I also enjoy not having to deal with the stress of driving. Working from home, I can avoid the crazy rush hour commute altogether—but even if I still had my office job and my husband was working, I think I’d choose to let him have the car so I could ride the bus to work. No frustration over inconsiderate drivers, no worries about navigating through Buffalo snow storms, just a chance to sit back, do a crossword, and let someone else do the driving.

If you’re particularly green-oriented, losing a car is also a great way to reduce your carbon footprint.

So, do you think you could become a one-car household? Why/why not?

***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/lescientist/8747173579/

What Do Workout Supplements and Credit Cards Have in Common?

The following post is by MPFJ staff writer Travis.  Travis is a customer blogger for CareOne Debt Relief Services, and also appears weekly at Enemy of Debt.  Travis candidly shares his personal journey to pay off $109,000 of credit card debt and the tips he’s learned along the way. As a father and husband he provides a unique perspective on balancing debt, finances, and family.

For over two years, I operated on 4 hours of sleep a night.

I’d collapse into bed at midnight, and roll back out at 4:15am.  In sleepy darkness, I’d stumble to the kitchen where I would mix a glass of water with pre-workout supplement powder.  Thirty minutes later I’d pull out of the driveway, and feel the very large dose of stimulants kick in as I drove to the gym.  By the time I got to my first weight lifting exercise I probably could have scaled the wall if I wanted to.  This worked for a long time, but then I started to experience some very undesirable side effects.

A change was needed, so I made the decision to completely quit taking any kind of pre-workout supplement.  I expected the workouts to be harder, but I wasn’t ready  for how much the lack having my body pumped full of stimulants early in the morning would affect my entire day.   All of a sudden it was very hard to get out of bed early in the morning, and I found myself being tired all day.   The stimulants had artificially been giving me the energy to push through the day with little sleep.   It really shouldn’t have been any surprise that my body eventually began to break down.

I can’t help but notice the parallels between my experience with pre-workout supplements and my financial journey.

For the first thirteen years of marriage, our finances were artificially kept afloat by supplementing our income with credit cards.  Eventually, our credit card payments grew so large that we could no longer meet our monthly financial commitments.

A change was needed, so we enrolled in a Debt management Program and quit credit cards.  We knew that living within our means for the first time ever was going to be tough,  but we had no idea how hard it would really be.  Suddenly, we had to cut out of our lifestyle things that we had become accustomed to doing at will such as lavish vacations, leaving for the weekend and staying in hotels, purchasing material items at will, and dining out several times a week.

In both cases, an artificial stimulant was used to keep things moving forward.  A huge dose of pre-workout supplements not only gave me the energy to workout, but it also masked the fact that I wasn’t getting enough sleep.  A huge dose of funds from credit cards allowed us to spend without limits for years.  It allowed us to do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted.  It also masked the long-term damage we were doing to our family’s finances.

With the stimulants removed, we had to start doing things the right way.

I am making a concerted effort to get more sleep.  Going to bed a little earlier, and sleeping in a little later.  I’m still not getting as much sleep as I probably should, but on most nights I now average about 6 hours of sleep.  Research has shown that getting too much sleep can actually be detrimental to your health and that sleeping for between 6.5 and 7.4 hours per night is the perfect amount. I have also learned that sleep debt is a very real condition, much like financial debt. In order to pay off sleep debt, you must sleep more than 7.4 hours per night until you have caught up. Once you have caught up, however, it is best to schedule your sleep for about 7, or in my case, 6 hours per night to reduce your chances of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. Between the increased sleep and an improved diet, I now naturally have the energy to work out and get through my day.  Sometimes, I miss the head spinning  buzz that I got from the supplements, but long-term I know this is what’s best for my body.

My wife and I have cut expenses deeper than we had imagined we ever would need to, and have worked very hard to find additional sources of income.  Add to that the teamwork we’ve developed in creating and sticking to a budget and our finances have never been in better shape.  Sure, we sometimes think of the days where we spent without a care in the world, but we know that we are on the right track for a bright financial future.

We are accomplishing our goals with nothing but our own hard work and determination.  It feels right.  It feels good.

How about you, readers? Are you surviving financially through artificial means?  What are you going to do about it?

***Image courtesy of stockimages / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance, Stage 21 – Round 5, Posts 33-64

Without further ado, let’s continue on with the 21th Stage (there are only 4 blogs left the 2013 event) of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance (to follow all of the action, click on the Tour de Personal Finance category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject).

We greatly appreciate Debt Free Direct for being the title partner of the 2013 event and for all their great support. If you’re interested in learning more about the help and advice Debt Free Direct offers to people in debt or their money-saving tips on how to prevent building up debt, click here.

A Quick Reminder On Prizes For The 2013 Competition

The 2013 edition of the Tour de PF will be doubly exciting because we have some very nice cash prizes to give away to the winner and also to charity to continue helping the community.

These will be as follows:

• Yellow Jersey (1st Place) Winner of the 2013 Tour de Personal Finance will receive $100 cash via PayPal.
• In addition, the Yellow Jersey Winner will also get to decide what charity they want me to donate $700 to in honor of their efforts/victory. 

To view the most up-to-date brackets of the competition, click the following link – 2013 Debt Free Direct Tour de PF Bracket

Going along with Tour de France cycling tradition, I’ve listed each competition within each stage as an “intermediate sprint” (one post versus another) along with the description provided by the blog author when the post was submitted.

Also, if applicable, I will give a brief description of the stage of the Tour de France that took place the same day as (or that has happened since the previous Stage of) the competition.

How to Vote

You can vote for the two articles (one from each intermediate sprint)  you’d like to see proceed in the Tour by commenting in the comments section below and telling which are your favorites. I’ve listed a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote (as a made-up example, you can just comment: Sprint 1: Mutual; Sprint 2: 401k, etc.) 

Be sure to comment which one you like the best out of each set of two! Criteria for the best article is completely up to you, but you can use these factors as a guide: 1) post of your favorite blogger, 2) most interesting post, 3) most thought-provoking post, 4) most unique post, or 5) most actionable post. Here are today’s competitions:

Voting will continue until July 20th for this Stage!

Intermediate Sprint

• Is it Time to Get Out of the Stock Market? (Time): Whenever we see highs or lows in the stock market we see an increasing number of talking heads telling us what we should do with our portfolios. The problem with listening to them is they have no idea of your personal situation. That said, these are great times to analyze your portfolio while remembering the importance of maintaining a long-term view of your investing.

VERSUS

• Financial Lessons Learned from The Bachelor (Bachelor): I’m a fan of the TV show, The Bachelor, on ABC. After a few episodes, I realized that  not only is the show about finding love, it can teach us about investing, debt and general personal finance as well. So what financial lessons has The Bachelor taught you?

Tour de France Daily Recap

The Tour de France in real life continues today with a mountain time trial of 32 km. The favorite today has to be Chris Froome, who seems to be both time trialing and climbing the best of the overall contenders. Should be exciting!

How to Get Started Attacking Your Debt

The following is a guest post. Enjoy! 

If you are trying to get your finances on the right track because you’ve struggled with some mistakes in the past, one of the first steps you want to take is to tackle your outstanding debt. Whether you racked up debt from using credit cards, buying a car, or borrowing from family members, there are a number of steps you can take to start reducing the amount you owe.

• Get organized. The key first step to debt reduction is knowing how much you owe and to whom you owe it. Track down all of the paperwork or online access you need and neatly list out the outstanding balance, minimum payment and interest rate for each of your loans. Not only will this give you clarity about your financial situation, it will also help you develop a plan for which debt to attack first.

• Reduce your interest rates. Whenever you are paying down debt, you want as much of your money as possible going towards reducing principle. Reducing the interest rates on your loans is one way to make sure that more of your payment is going towards principal rather than interest. Call up each of your lenders and see if you can negotiate a lower rate on your loans. This can be an especially useful tactic when you have credit card debt or high interest loans. If you can’t negotiate with your lenders, using a loan with a lower interest rate to pay off your higher interest rate loans is another way to reduce your overall interest rate.

• Decide which debt to attack first. The general rule of thumb is to start paying as much as you can towards one debt and then, once that is paid off, move onto the next loan. The first loan you attack should either be the one with the smallest balance or the one with the highest rate. By paying extra on the loan with the highest interest rate, you are getting the best return on your money as you are ridding yourself of high-interest debt. However, if you start with the loan with the smallest balance, you could be motivated by the accomplishment of reducing the number of loans you have which will help make your commitment to paying off all of your debts stick.

• Cut expenses. Now you want to find the extra money to throw at these debts. Look everywhere you can to cut expenses – give up cable, start packing your lunch, cut back on eating out – and instead of letting your savings slip through to other spending, throw every cent at your debt repayment.

How about you all? What was the first step you took to start paying off your debt?

Share your experiences by commenting below! 

***Photo courtesy of http://pixabay.com/p-37557/?no_redirect