Carnival Of Debt Reduction #147

July 7, 2008 – 11:00 am

Hello everyone and new readers, welcome to the 147th edition of the Carnival of Debt Reduction.

I remember when I first began decreasing my own debts exactly one year ago this month. At that time, I was over $18K in debt, and since then I have reduced almost 50% to settle at just under $10K. This month, I hope to lower that number down to less than $6K with one remaining student loan on my debt record and can celebrate of being nearly debt free. While I’ll only have one student loan remaining, I will primarily concentrate my focus on increasing my savings. Our economic situations is hurting the pocketbooks of many Americans, me included, and I want to assure myself that I have enough stored away for those “just-in-case” days.

I am glad and honored to host this week’s edition, but I did find for it to not be an easy task. There were over 40 great submissions this week, and unfortunately I couldn’t select them all. I listed my favorite 25, which includes my top 5 Editor Picks. As you read through today’s carnival, you’ll notice that each post will present a short quote taken directly from the post, I feel this will give a better understanding of what the post is about before you click that left mouse button. I hope you all enjoy this week’s carnival.

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EDITOR’S PICKS (MY 5 PICKS)
Money Ning presents Our Thinking of Money Matters is Way Too Complicated
“I let all these minor issues cloud the main focus, which is really to just make more money than I spend.”

Picture of Wealth presents Defining Debt Free
“Have you thought about how you would define ‘debt-free’?”

Fabulously Broke in the City presents High Income doesn’t necessarily mean Financial Smarts
“It’s a good contributing factor to getting it paid down quicker, but it doesn’t actually determine my behaviour or compel me to save more because I earn more.”

HarvestingDollars presents Don’t Procrastinate On Long-Term Goals
“…long-term goals should be actively pursued. ‘Long-term’ doesn’t mean “wait to start”

I’ve Paid For This Twice Already… presents Using Language As Motivation
“I want to use language that furthers my goals and pushes me, not just allowing me to coast where I am.”

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CARNIVAL OF DEBT REDUCTION #147
My Dollar Plan presents Help a Reader Payoff Debt
“Last night I got a call from a friend looking for some financial help…Before I put together a plan for him, I’d like to hear what you have to say about it!”

Money Sense presents Loan scams: 6 loan pitfalls to avoid
“Loan scams… we all know they exist, but if you arm yourself with the right information, you can avoid becoming the victim of a loan scam.”

Debt Reduction Formula presents My 5-Step System for Paying Off Debt
“…here’s the “system” I’ve used to pay off debt since October 2007. This is the same approach that’s allowed me to reduce my debt by 33% in a period of 7 months.”

The Money Wise Coach presents Debit Card Fraud Much More Damaging Than Credit Card Fraud
“I have always loved the convenience of debit cards, but this recent experience has me re-thinking the cost of that convenience.”

Personal Finance Analyst presents Trick Question of the Week: Pay Down Debt or Save for Retirement?
“paying off debt instead of saving for retirement is risky.”

Budgets are Sexy presents Sometimes you have to just grow a pair, and ask.
“Seriously, sometimes you have to just step up to the plate and ask for what you want.”

Frugal Dad presents Help, Credit Card Minimum Payments Aren’t Making a Dent
“Over the last few months of writing about personal finances I’ve received several emails from readers with variations of the same problem–credit card debt is suffocating them.”

Beating Broke presents Where We Began
“I’ll spare you the pre-story except to say that my wife and I both did a lot of things wrong financially in our college years…It’s been a little over a year since we started our makeover and we’ve seen some pretty amazing results so far.”

we like money presents just giving my money away
“Over the past 12 months, I have paid an average of $275/month in interest to credit cards! That’s more than half my rent every month just in interest!”

Lexie Puckett presents Saving Money Tip: Don’t Waste Money On Stupid Things
“One of the easiest ways I found to save a significant amount of money is to start considering every purchase decision an investment.”

The Digerati Life presents Cut Food Costs: Consumers Switch To Spam
“With food prices rising, we’re seeing some changes in people’s behavior lately.”

Uncommon Cents presents Basics: Saving vs. Debt Reduction
“…save for goals (retirement, a home purchase, college education, or other long term goals) or pay off debt….”

The Happy Rock presents Our Motivation For Getting Out Of Debt
“The Happy Rock readers top seven reason for getting out of debt.”

Ask Mr Credit Card presents Finance vs. Credit Part 4 of 4: Should you pay for Credit Building Credit Cards?
“It was going to be expensive to raise my credit score back up. That’s where the finances vs. credit battle began.”

American Consumer News presents Stay Out of Debt Using Your Debit
“Plan only to use your debit card that links directly into your bank account and nothing else for purchases.”

Discover Debt Freedom! presents Make Credit Card Debt Disappear With 5 Simple Steps
“By following these 5 simple tips, you can make credit card debt disappear and prevent it from returning to ruin your financial stability.”

The Money Answer Guy presents Financial Check-up - How Do I Know That I Am on The Right Track?
“As a wise steward of your financial resources, it is a good idea to stop and examine where you are and how you are doing with regard to financial goals.”

Think Your Way to Wealth presents The Basics on Finding Ways to Increase Your Cash Flow
“If your incoming cash flow does not exceed your outgoing cash flow, you are setting yourself up for trouble.”

College Finance 101 presents Tax write-offs for College Students: Pt. 1
“As college students, we’re always looking for ways to make and save money. More importantly, we’re looking for ways to not pay any money if we don’t have to.”

No Debt Plan presents Would you spend $20,000 to save $100 per month?
“Some people are thinking of trading in their older, inefficient vehicles for something new and efficient like a smaller car or a hybrid vehicle.”

Nine Circles of Debt presents Turning the Carrot into Part of the Plan
“Debt reduction was the plan and the “other dreams in life” was the carrot I was dangling in front of myself to stay on the plan.”

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While you are here at HelpMyCashGrow.com be sure to visit the archives for a wide selection of informative posts, ranging from personal finance to business, and even view some of our past videos and podcasts. Tomorrow, is the return of the podcast, so be sure to return to see the newest interviews and updates.

Finally, I would like to thank to everyone who participated in this edition of the Carnival of Debt Reduction. Next week, the Carnival of Debt Reduction will be hosted by Not the Jet Set. For more information about the Carnival of Debt Reduction, visit the carnival’s home.

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