Conquer Debt Year Round

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Tuesday September 6

Use your debit card, not your credit card.

This advice is from dear friends who live the life we all hope to live someday. "Beholden to none and focused on fun" best sums up the daily routine they earned through hard work, living within their means and saving along the way.

It works folks and it really is that simple.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Wednesday September 7

Just think. All that money going out your door to creditors will someday be all yours.

Keep track of exactly how much is going out so that you will be ready when it all stays where it's supposed to stay, with you.

And, when you figure up how much is going out the door to interest and fees you are required to get mad. I mean really mad. So mad you resolve never again to spend what you don't have.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Thursday September 8

To review. Cars are to be paid for. Student loans are to be paid for. Emergency funds are to be fully funded. Retirement is to be invested in. Kids' educations are to be planned for. Homes are to be purchased with sensible loans that will be paid off. No debt is ever to be acquired again.

Questions?

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Friday September 9

If you are interviewing a financial adviser the first question you should ask is, “I have debt, what should I do?” If the answer isn't to develop a plan to rid you of that debt first, you need to interview a new financial advisor.

Advisors worth their salt will have you debt-free before they ever talk to you about investing. Don't fall for advisors who put their own investment product sales ahead of your interests.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Saturday September 10

Only you can answer this question, “Can I really afford how I am living?”

If the answer is "yes," good job. If it's "no," you know what to do. If you were smart enough to ask the question, you're smart enough to fix the problem.

Do the math. I've said it many times and I'll say it again. Calculating income minus expenses is the first step to being honest with yourself and your family.

Start being honest today.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Sunday September 11

Never forget.

God Bless the victims and their families.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Monday September 12

Personal finance is not a mystery. If it is you're either over-thinking it or not even trying. Which is it for you?

Don't let finance intimidate you. It's a game of pluses and minuses. It's a game of not spending more than you make. It's a game played with simple rules on the playing field of reality.

Don't show up to the game with the wrong equipment. You'll find the equipment between your ears.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Tuesday September 13

Since seven out of 10 people are living paycheck to paycheck you need to be ultra careful who you ask for financial advice.

In other words don't take advice from broke people.

Do your own homework, take control of your finances and be honest. The only reason you aren't writing down what you spend is because you don't want to face the result.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Wednesday September 14

I answer to the person who pays my bills.

That's the person in the mirror I have to tell I just loaded up a 20% credit card to take a trip or buy something I'll pay on forever because I couldn't wait until I had the money to pay for it in full.

Are you answering to the person in your mirror? You should be.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Thursday September 15

I don’t have a scientific study to prove this, but it's my opinion that as your debt decreases so does the number of credit card offers you receive.

Wonder if a signal goes out to the credit card companies that says, “Stop sending. They are paying off their debts. They get it. Time to move on to easier targets.”

Refuse to participate in a game that's rigged for you to lose.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Friday September 16

When you are completely out of debt, solicitation phone calls are actually kind of fun.

I take the call and talk up the poor person on the other end about how I have no debt but have money and don’t need their card. It's fun to make them hang up on you instead of you having to hang up on them.

Get control. Don't be afraid of a ringing phone. Drive those callers crazy instead of the other way around.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Saturday September 17

Annualcreditreport.com is the site to use to obtain free credit reports from the three major bureaus. Don’t be fooled by other sites. This one is the real deal.

You are entitled by law to receive a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus.

Once you clean up your report and are satisfied with its status, go to this site every four months and request a report.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Sunday September 18

Only buy what you need and can afford, not what you want. There, the scary “change your behavior” task is done.

Many people disregard their personal reality and supplement their income with credit to obtain things they think they deserve. You only deserve what you earn, nothing more.

Don't be a fool. It takes only the swipe of a credit card to get you into debt, but it takes forever to get out.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Monday September 19

How can you be planning for the future if you aren't saving in the present?

It’s just not possible...but I bet you already know that.

Get out of debt and save for your retirement. Don't wait and do it later. There are a lot of things in life that can and will happen between now and later. Deal with the reality of now and chart your own course.

Happen to your life. Don't let life just happen to you.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Tuesday September 20

Taking on debt is never the solution to a problem. Develop this mindset and you've achieved another behavioral change that will serve you well.

You can't borrow yourself out of debt. This house of cards will catch up with you.

You can't borrow yourself to prosperity. Using borrowed money to invest is akin to gambling.

You can't run your life on borrowed money.

Don't borrow money.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Wednesday September 21

Call it a spending plan, a cash flow strategy, or a budget. I don’t care what you call it, but having one is not a nicety it’s a requirement.

If you don't tell your money where to go and dictate each dollar's job it will disappear.

If you don't control your spending you eventually will crash.

If you don't budget, get out of debt, and save for your future you will fail.

Sorry, someone had to tell you this.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Thursday September 22

Oh give it a rest. You aren't as mysterious as you would like to think you are, and those time-tested methods apply to you, too. Budgeting, planning, living within your means, not spending what you don't have. Yes, those are the methods I’m talking about.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Friday September 23

Debt-free people don't talk about the points, rewards, or cash back features of their credit cards, and you sure don’t hear wealthy people extol the virtues of these devices.

No millionaire I know ever used these "tricks" to become financially secure.

Don't fall for the tricks used by credit card companies to get your money. Note, I didn't say to get your business. They want your money, not your business.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round Saturday
September 24

If you have accounts sent to collection agencies you do know you have rights, correct?

The sole purpose of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is to eliminate abusive practices used by collection agencies. Read up on this and know your rights.

Only you are going to care about you. Don't pay an agency or company to do this for you. Quit the pity party, face your debt, and know your rights.

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Conquer Debt Year Round
Sunday September 25

If your house payment (principal, interest, taxes, insurance) exceeds 25% of your household income I'm the bearer of bad news. It's time to move.

Payments more than 25% of your take-home pay create stress. The lawn is no longer as green, the patio no longer as peaceful, and the sound you hear is not just house character creaking, it's something breaking.

Don't turn a dream house into a nightmare. Do it right.