Save for a “Rainy Day,” something most Americans do not do. You need to build your emergency fund. Take 50 minutes and learn seven steps and apply them to your life.

• Not paying bills on time
• Writing the checks but waiting to mail them
• Rarely balancing the checking account
• Taking cash advances from credit lines or individuals
• Accepting additional credit cards
• Paying only the minimum on charge accounts
• Bouncing checks
• Borrowing from family and friends

-Mary Hunt

I would like your suggestionsof the ideal ways you know to get out of debt. I have listed a few below to get the ideas flowing in your mind. Use the contact form above to submit your ideas. I will than put the ideas together and show them to you in a future post. So if you’ve a suggestionplease submit it today.

• Stay out of Debt. Pay cash for all your purchases and do not take on any new debt accept for a home home.
• Spend less than you earn. Live below your income.
• When your debt is closed out, put 60% into savings and enjoy the remaining 40%,
• Know your liabilities. Create a spreadsheet showing exactly everything you owe, include monthly payments, interest, balances and a running total of all your balances. Update it monthly as you pay off debt. It is very motivating to watch the change.
• Only have one credit card. It must have a low limit and you must pay it off every month.
• Build your emergency fund. Any extra money, via tax return, birthday, raise, etc. put into your emergency fund. Once that is built add it to your debt payoff.
• Cut up your credit cards and do not get any new ones.

I really enjoy reading Leo Babauta who writes the Zen Habits blog. He is a terrific writer and recently I discovered a Free Ebook he has called “Thriving on Less: Simplifying in a Tough Economy.”

This book goes right along with what I am trying to promote with this site so I want to make sure you know about it and get your own Free copy. Here is a brief outline of the book:

From the introduction:

The recent economic recession has a lot of people worried, about their jobs, their businesses, their homes and their bills. When your income is dropping or in jeopardy and you still have a mountain of bills to pay, things can get pretty scary.

However, tough economic times don’t have to be a time of struggles! If you look for the opportunity in the middle of difficulty, as Mr. Einstein suggested, then tough economic times become an opportunity totransform your life.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. A Simple Lifestyle
3. Focus on the Essentials
4. Thriving on Less, Not Struggling
5. Focusing on Enough, Not More
6. Make Small Financial Changes First
7. Look at Large Expenses for the Long Term
8. Changing Your Spending Habits
9. A Guide to Getting Out of Debt
10. Tools for a Frugal Life
11. Resources

Get your Free copy of this great bookTiny ebook Thriving on Less: Simplifying in a Tough Economy here.

The jobs not only helped him financially, however; they helped Lincoln broaden his circle and gain a seat in the IllinoisSay legislature. From there, he became a lawyer and was elected to the United States Congress. Of course, you know the rest of the story… Lincoln remained true to his values and honed his gifts to become one of the most revered presidents in United States history. Lincoln’s administration abolished slavery and helped others to comprehend equality and to value education. Lincoln stands as an example of how paying off a small debt can ultimately benefit an entire society for many generations.

I really enjoy Dave Ramsey and in this video he debunks some debt myths. If you’ve 10 minutes to sit down and listen to this you’ll gain some great knowledge. So enjoy and learn something new today…

Warnings Signs of Impending Financial Trouble

Here are some warning signs that might alert you to the fact that you may be getting close to financial trouble.

• Not paying bills on time
• Writing the checks but waiting to mail them
• Rarely balancing the checking account
• Taking cash advances from credit lines or individuals
• Accepting additional credit cards
• Paying only the minimum on charge accounts
• Bouncing checks
• Borrowing from family and friends

If you’re in debt most likely itDidn’t happen overnight. It won’t be easy to get out of debt and will take time and persistence. So check the signs above and if you fall into this category step back and prepare to move forward to conquer this debt problem.

10 Habits to Develop for Financial Stability and Success

Just like any goal, getting your finances stable and becoming financially successful requires the development of good financial habits. I’ve been researching this topic extensively in the last few years in my quest to eliminate debt, increase my savings and increase financial security for my family. I’ll speak more about these habits individually, but wanted to list them in a summary (I know, but I’m a compulsive list-maker).

Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Make savings automagical. This should be your top priority, especially if you don’t have a solid emergency fund yet. Make it the first bill you pay each payday, by having a set amount automatically transferred from your checking account to your savings (try anon the internet savings account). Don’t even consider this transaction — just make sure it happens, each and every payday.
2. Control your impulse spending. The biggest problem for many of us. Impulse spending, on eating out and shopping andon the webpurchases, is a massive drain on our finances, the biggest budget breaker for many, and a sure way to be in dire financial straits. See Monitor Your Impulse Spending for more tips.
3. Evaluate your expenses, and live frugally. If you’ve never tracked your expenses, try theOne Month Challenge. Then evaluate how you’re spending your money, and see what you can cut out or reduce. Decide if each expense is absolutelynecessary, then eliminate the unnecessary. See How I Save Money for more. Also read 30 ways to save $1 a day.
4. Invest in your future. If you’re young, you probably don’t think about retirement much. But it’s important. Even if you think you can always plan for retirement later, do it now. The growth of your investments over time will be amazing if youbegin in your 20s. Start by increasing your 401(k) to the maximum of your company’s match, if that’s available to you. After that, the ideal bet is probably a Roth IRA. Do a Littleresearch, but whatever you do,begin now!
5. Keep your family secure. The first step is to save for an emergency fund, so that if anything happens, you’ve got the money. If you have a spouse and/or dependents, you should definitely get life insurance and make a will — as soon as possible! Also research other insurance, such as homeowner’s or renter’s insurance.
6. Eliminate and avoid debt. If you’ve got credit cards, personal loans, or other such debt, you need tobegin a debt elimination plan. List out your debts and arrange them in order from smallest balance at the top to largest at the bottom. Then focus on the debt at the top, putting as much as you can into it, even if it’s just $40-50 extra (more would be better). When that amount is paid off, celebrate! Then take the total amount you were paying (say $70 minimum payment plus the $50 extra for a total of $120) and add that to the minimum payment of the next largest debt. Continue this process, with your extra amount snowballing as you go along, until you pay off all your debts. This could take several years, but it’s a very rewarding process, and very necessary.
7. Use the envelope system. This is a simple system to keep track of how much money you have for spending. Let’s state you set aside three amounts in your budget each payday — one for gas, one for groceries, one for eating out. Withdraw those amounts on payday, and put them in three separate envelopes. That way, you can easily track how much you have left for each of these expenses, and when you run out of money, you know it immediately. You don’t overspend in these categories. If you regularly run out too fast, you may need to rethink your budget.
8. Pay bills immediately, or automagically. One good habit is to pay bills as soon as they come in. Also, as much as possible, try to get your bills to be paid through automatic deduction. For those that can’t, use your bank’son the internet check system to make regular automatic payments. This way, all of your regular expenses in your budget are taken care of.
9. Read about personal finances. The more you educate yourself, thesuperior your finances will be.
10. Look to grow your net worth. Do whatever you can to improve your net worth, either by reducing your debt, increasing your savings, or increasing your income, or all of the above. Look for new ways to make money, or to get paid more for what you do. Over the course of months, if you compute your net worth each month, you’ll see it grow. And that feels great.

Plan a menu for the week, create a grocery list and stick to it. You can save five, ten, even twenty dollars or more a week doing this.

Put those extra dollars into your debt reduction payment for the month.

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Paying off Debt Quickly

In the last post we discussed how to accelerate your debt reduction by setting up an emergency fund and than listing your debts from smallest to largest so you canbegin getting rid of your debts.

The next step is to find extra money so you can accelerate your debt payoff. You need to find or make extra money so that you can speed up the process and become debt free.

In the tips section I have covered a couple suggestionsto save money, these suggestionswere To completefix up jobs around the house yourself and to drive your car for the life of the car. 

In the next few posts I want to discuss a few of these ways to help accelerate your payoff. I have added a couple below to get you started thinking about ways you can save money.

Remember you must first stop feeding the debt, so stop spending on your credit cards and only pay cash for things you are going to buy. By spending cash you’re more aware of what you are spending, and if you are keeping record of your spending and writing it down you’ll tend to think before you buy and will avoid impulse buying.

1. Take a lunch to work and don’t eat out. You can really cut back on your eating expenses by doing this.
2. If you’re a coffee drinker and do the Starbuck’s thing, stop your daily visit and make your own coffee and take it in a thermos to work.

Figure out the money you are saving and apply that amount to your payment on your lowest bill. You may find you have enough even to pay it off, depending on its size.

Take your first baby stepsThis day and make the commitment to save money on your daily habits.

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