Does The Economy Make You Want To Pay Off Debt Or Build Up Savings?

Editor’s note:  I set this post to publish yesterday and made the classic “New Year” mistake of setting the date to 2008! ... , and then systematically started debt-killing.  First the credit card, then one student loan, then the car loan.  Now, we’re left with a $10000+ student loan, and a minimum payment of $145 versus [more...]

Date: 2009-01-09 15:08:06

Blog posts (42) | Videos (32)
 

The Check is in the Mail

I got an interesting assortment of mail today, and I thought it represented my financial life so accurately that I had to share with you ... bill obligation spreadsheet. Next was a monthly statement for my new student loan. My payments don’ ... was cashed. I also got a letter from one of my American student loans. Shall we just say [more...]

Date: 2008-10-15 10:00:45

Eliminate Debt: Get Back On The Road To Financial Independence

Everybody wants to attain financial independence but are tied down because of debts and lack of financial planning ... to credit cards, car payment, mortgage, student loans, personal loans, home equity, and other bill ... are as long as the one I mentioned above, then debt consolidation might be the best choice. The third [more...]

Date: 2009-01-12 06:32:10

Debt Consolidation: Will It Help Me?

We are in uncertain economic times.Many are falling behind in mortgages, student loans, car payments and credit card payments ... clearly explains what bankruptcy, debt consolidation, third party credit counseling and debt settlement ... will negatively affect your credit score and cause an increase in credit card interest rates.One of the best [more...]

Date: 2008-11-30 20:48:00

Tell All Tuesday - Crazy Economy Edition

As I predicted last week, we haven’t made any new payments to debt this past week, ... (including snowflakes to the student loan)  for September.  I have about $170 in survey payouts and blog ... after all after the first student loan is knocked out.   My spouse’s student loan should be paid off [more...]

Date: 2008-09-30 19:07:16

Unpatriotic, sucker, short-sighted, or what?

By Thoreau I just made my last student loan payment.  I’ve been making more than the minimum payment because I wanted to be debt-free ... for not waiting on payments until the hyper-inflation era means that my student loans have the same [more...]

Date: 2008-11-26 04:38:20

College on a Dime: Public colleges boosted by economic woes

Filed under: College, College on a DimeMany college-bound high school students have their eye on attending expensive private colleges, ... job market, a few hundred dollars per month in student loan payments can add to the stress ... . The huge expenditures of the first few years will have been for nothing. With student loans drying up, many [more...]

Date: 2008-10-27 19:00:00

Prepping Kids (Part 3)

Essential Money Skill #4: How to manage bills and other paperwork ... a payment on a credit card, being late with a bill payment, or not keeping track of her paperwork ... with him. Create a Student Loan File which includes all student loan information, a projection of how much [more...]

Date: 2009-01-07 11:48:49

Measure of Relief

The US government has several new student loan schemes to make debt less debilitating. ……… Daniel de Vise reports …………… Suzie Dundas is at that stage of life when student loans loom larger than car leases or electricity bills. The $390 monthly payments seem to stretch into perpetuity. They are her largest monthly obligation aside from her rent, which Dundas has decided she can no longer afford. She is about to move in back with her parents. [more...]

Date: 2009-09-06 11:04:18

Tell All Tuesday: Options Edition

As far as debt goes, nothing has changed since last week ... the minimum payments on my student loan and the car loan (like I have been doing all along) but next ... , that leaves $437.59 to allocate to one of those debts above its actual minimum. The car loan next [more...]

Date: 2008-10-14 19:10:15

Tell All Tuesday - Bye Bye Student Loan Edition

Well, my spouse’s student loan, anyway. October is a three paycheck month for both my spouse and I ( ... our furnace died, so instead of that extra paycheck going towards debt, it went towards a new ... in and looked at the 10-day payoff number, it said $2601.54, so I clicked on the “Make A Payment” button [more...]

Date: 2008-10-07 18:29:50

What you need to know about repaying your student loans

For those of you whom graduated this past June, the grace period on your student loans is coming to an end ... loan (Perkins or Stafford), you are entitled to a discounted interest rate (usually .25 ... expenses.  Here's a run-down on the options: >> Level Payment Plan: The total amount of your loan [more...]

Date: 2008-12-30 23:08:33

Tell All Tuesday: Four Figure Debt Edition

Our total non-mortgage debt is now in the four figure range ... demolition!  Yesterday I made my “new” $300 payment to my student loan.  We are still building ... like that.  I like to feel like I am making progress.  This knocked the balance of my student loan down [more...]

Date: 2009-01-08 18:08:14

Being Green in a Tight Economy: Part IV

Let’s talk about energy. Been there, done that you say. We all know to turn lights off when we leave the room, to unplug all cords when not in use ( ... (mortgage, student loan payments, medical insurance). A favorite way for our family to think about being [more...]

Date: 2008-10-24 14:01:23

Attempt to Get Back on Track... (pfblogs.org)

...Or at least I'm going to try.  I've updated everything on the sidebar now as well as NetWorthIQ.  It's not looking good, but I didn't expect it to what with the student loans being added to it all.I made several payments to the truck loan.  We are now down to $7,131.24 left on it and I don't [more...]

Date: 2008-09-17 01:28:52

Tell All Tuesday ~ The 49.99% Edition

As I write this, it is still barely Tuesday, although it’ll already be Wednesday by the time most of you read it ... I earn solely to debt elimination, and come closer and closer to actually being able to live ... payment to my spouse’s student loan, to bring our percent of total debt eliminated since June [more...]

Date: 2008-07-16 03:05:20

Who Is Generation Debt?

This article was originally posted at Qvisory in October 2008 as a guest post ... be part of my ticket out of Generation Debt. As Broke Grad Student has become more popular, the small ... making enough blog-related revenue to cover my monthly student loan payments. Of course [more...]

Date: 2009-01-12 13:00:22

Three Easy Steps For Climbing Out Of Debt

Yesterday I read a weeks worth of all the blogs I follow and one spoke about debt, specifically credit card debt. Some people rack up tens of thousands of dollars worth of credit card debt which to me seems ... dodged the credit card trap may still have mortgages, student loans car payments, etc. While debt [more...]

Date: 2008-12-29 02:54:00

Where To Put Your Money Right Now

This is for anyone who has under 250k dollars in stocks and bonds and also has debt ... payment, your student loan, the Rent A Center TV and Dell Computer Loan, your loan shark, your uncle [more...]

Date: 2008-10-15 14:24:46

Creating Our First Ever “Real” Budget Was An Eyeopener.

When we started looking at real estate a few months ago and started to get our finances in order to apply for a mortgage, ... Netflix: $9 Student Loan Payment: $121 Total of just the above = $2,946. This does not include stuff [more...]

Date: 2008-09-23 13:00:49

Video: Can't Afford Your Own Place? Try Phrogging.

Last night while watching the news and eating an entire Entenmann's cake (with festive Christmas tree sprinkles!) ... filling out our rent check or trying to make the minimum payment on our student loan or figuring out how [more...]

Date: 2008-12-30 18:30:08

Money Match #5: Erin, Nashville Female Seeking Friends

It's been a while since we had any Money Match posts-- mainly because I totally flaked out and let a couple entries languish in the depths of my ... . This of course is my only form of debt, 54k in student loans. I have no credit card debt, no car payment, etc ... have me showing up on her front porch if I lived in Nashville! Email me at openwallet1 at [more...]

Date: 2008-10-28 13:17:00

Tell All Tuesday ~ Slowly Forward Edition

This past week, all I did directly towards reducing our debt was made my monthly car payment ... $21,414.50 Broken down into: Credit Card: PAID OFF 2/7/08 Student loan (at 7%): $11,084.68 Spouse ... about our future debt elimination strategy and I wanted to address it.    Once my spouse’s student loan [more...]

Date: 2008-09-23 19:39:00

So What!

Image by PaoloMazzo (license). Note: This is a guest post by Curtis Greve of Metreks The other day I was talking with my good friend ... a house payment; my kids might have to take out a student loan to go to college [more...]

Date: 2008-12-08 14:28:59

Goal # 1 Complete

I love setting easy goals. I can already scratch No. 1 off of my 2009 Financial Goals list – Pay off my student loan. I set my budget several months ahead, so January’s budget was devoted to paying off this debt. On Friday I scheduled one final payment for the balance of the loan, almost 10 years after I graduated [more...]

Date: 2009-01-11 15:55:00

Why 2009 Will Be a Fantastic Financial Year For Me

J.D. is on vacation. This is a guest post from Katrina Ramser, a freelance writer who contributes to various websites, newspapers and magazines ... credit card and student loan debt. Inspired by Ramsey’s toughness, I made $450 monthly debt payments [more...]

Date: 2008-12-29 13:00:35

Brace Face 2

Well, we've cracked out our calculators and done some discussions. I do have enough for a down payment on the orthodontic work (essentially, 1/3 of the entire cost) left over from my student loan this semester that I was initially going to cancel disbersment of, and work study should be able to take care of the 16 monthly [more...]

Date: 2009-01-10 20:56:00

Accepting a down payment

Well I’ve discussed borrowing money from family in times of need, boomeranging home, and finances for a young couple starting out ... they were fortunate to get a $50k gift from a relative to pay off their student loans.  So should ... off debt, take it.  BUT not at the expense of your parents. My roomie will get a paid for wedding [more...]

Date: 2008-11-13 13:00:16

Tell All Tuesday - Where Did August Go Edition

I can’t believe it is September already!  I guess that old saying about how time flies when you are having fun is true after all ... towards it.  With our credit card, I just threw an extra payment onto it whenever I earned some extra ... of people have asked about the idea of moving the student loan to a credit card with a 0% transfer offer [more...]

Date: 2008-09-02 19:16:05

Are there any Downsides to Student Loan Conslidation?

The most obvious downside is that even though your payments are smaller, you are extending them over a longer time ... . Then you’re just piling up more debt than if you hadn’t consolidated. [more...]

Date: 2008-11-04 17:56:59

DD’s Monthly Expense Checkup - September 2008 (pfblogs.org)

Here is the latest installment of my monthly expenses. Below are the results from September: $830.00 - Mortgage $643.00 - Daycare $464.09 - Groceries $330.00 - Van Payment $194.16 - Gas $136.62 - Electricity $135.79 - Medical Bills $125.00 - Student Loan $115.75 - Phone & Internet $113.59 - Misc Household $77.15  - Eating [more...]

Date: 2008-10-04 05:26:07

Another Reason to Skip College

Another Reason to Skip College Posted by Karen DeCoster at 08:59 AM This article claims that student loan defaults are still under 10%, ... allowing them to seize income-tax refunds, withhold professional licenses and enlist collection agencies to gather payments. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Education withheld eligibility [more...]

Date: 2008-11-25 14:59:40

Debtinator - Manage your money better to hold on to more of it.

Debtinator Manage your money better to hold on to more of it. Normally: $15.00 ZOT Price: $9.99 Click to MacZOT ... ! You have expenses. Sure, you’ll try and send the occasional $50 to your student loan on occasion ... go out to eat just to save a few pennies on your car payment? Why should you bother? Better tracking yields [more...]

Date: 2008-08-21 06:59:14

Tell All Tuesday - Everything’s The Same And Everything Changes

Since we paid off my spouse’s student loan this month, everything else just got the minimum treatment last week.  This week, we haven’t done anything towards paying off debt as far as paying money out directly ... month. I figured out last week that I’d need about $490 above and beyond the snowballed debt payments [more...]

Date: 2008-10-28 19:16:41

Student Loan Default: How to Deal with It

by William Blake The Department of Education has many different avenues with which it works hard to get money back from individuals whose student loan payments have turned into student loan default. Defaulting on a federal student loan can become such a costly event that it often becomes more expensive than an individual’s original student loans [more...]

Date: 2009-01-15 12:05:44

Everything You Need To Know About Student Loans

This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Student Loans Ten years ago I received a piece of Bazooka Bubble Gum in the mail with a note from my student loan lender requesting payment saying “don’t blow it!” At the time I was extremely annoyed ... others through the student loan maze. Things To Consider When Taking Out A Student Loan Financial [more...]

Date: 2008-11-17 21:14:37

What Happens When You Default on Your Student Loans?

As the economy tanks and employment skyrockets, the number of former students struggling to pay off their student loans is likely to grow, too.  While failure to repay any debt can have serious consequences, not making payments ... student loans are one of the only forms of debt that cannot be discharged in a claim of bankruptcy [more...]

Date: 2008-12-15 17:38:59

Ten Things to Do With $1,000 (Plus 21 More)

If you’ve suddenly come upon $1,000 you didn’t have the day before, you may get the urge to celebrate ... your student loan debt. This month, I again increased my monthly payment to my student loan debt. This student loan is currently the only debt I have, and I no longer qualify for a tax reduction [more...]

Date: 2008-09-15 12:00:04

Sign Up For Online Banking - Now What?

A crucial reward of onling banking is the fact that you can construct your account to do payment automactically for some of your bills when they are due. Such payment may include utility bill payment, student loan, mortgage payment, etc. Pretty much all you have to perform is to set up the system and forget ... [more...]

Date: 2008-10-08 05:35:24

Rule of Thumb For Reasonable Housing Costs?

In an earlier post on motivating myself to work harder, I had thrown out a piece of “common” financial advice: ... from a mortgage calculator. The “other debt” is the sum of your other recurring monthly liabilities - car loans, credit card balances, student loan payments. There are usually two lender ratios [more...]

Date: 2008-09-10 13:58:59

Eliminate Debt

We can't deny the fact that our world suffered economic crises nowadays ... own more than one credit card, car payment, mortgage, bills, student loans, personal loans, home ... , lower credit card payments, budgeting debt, stay debt free and many more. It's guaranteed safe [more...]

Date: 2008-11-23 16:25:14

Paying My Student Loans

This post originally appeared on January 23, 2008. It explains how I’ve managed my American student loan payments as an expatriate in France ... with me when I moved to France: my American Visa and my student loans. I have paid off my credit card, although ... . Then it finally hit me- my father owns a store, and has the ability to charge credit cards [more...]

Date: 2008-12-25 11:00:02

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