Back In The Saddle - Plus A Stroll Through My Blogroll
Thursday evening, I went to the movies. I saw No Country For Old Men. I loved the movie. (When the movie was over, half of the audience booed because they hated the ending - the other half clapped! Awesome.)
I’m ready to get back to blogging - but first, let’s take a quick stroll through the best posts from last week.
From the Money Blog Network:
FMF writes about house hunting.
Jim talked about mutual funds and their fees.
MightyBargainHunter has list of checkbook tips.
JLP talked about calculating compound growth.
Nickel has issues with Dish Network.
JD published a guest post about hidden costs of products.
Flexo wrote about timing your salary bonuses.
From my Blogroll:
Sun talked about increasing dividend yields.
SVB talked about how to increase your income.
Jeremy writes about if Americans are saving too much for retirement.
Ben talked about living within a budget.David writes about poverty in Mexico.
Lazy Man talked about saving money on vacation.
4M talked about the “sandwiched” generation.
New Episode Of The NCN Podcast - Plus, A Contest And A New Way To Connect With NCN
I have recorded and released Episode 52 of the No Credit Needed Podcast. Click over to listen to the podcast - and you’ll see that I’ve added a new “feature” to the podcast - a listener line! That’s right. Now you can pick up the phone and leave me a voice mail. Plus, I announce a new contest - with a prize pack worth $50! For more information and all of the details - you’ll have to head over to the No Credit Needed Podcast and listen to the latest episode. (By the way, you do NOT need an mp3 player or special device to listen to the podcast! You can “stream” an episode directly from the website, download an episode to your computer, or subscribe to the podcast using iTunes. If you have questions about “how” to listen to a podcast, feel free to contact me and I’ll try to answer them.)
Exactly HOW I Pay Off Debt, Mortgages And Credit Cards Early
I just received an interesting email from a reader, Bob.
Bob asks, “NCN, I understand how the debt-snowball (and various similar methods) work while paying off debt, but I wonder if you could share HOW you actually paid off your credit cards early. Did you send one payment per month to each debt account? Did you send multiple checks? I am worried that if I send in extra money to one of my accounts, a creditor may not apply the money to my account, if I don’t use the right “process”. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks, Bob.”
I emailed Bob and asked if I could write a post, answering his question. He responded, “Sure!”.
Let’s assume Bob has a fixed monthly mortgage payment, a fixed monthly car payment, and a fluctuating credit card payment.
- I use online bill pay, which reduces the number of physical checks I write and the number of stamps I have to buy.
- When I receive a bill from a creditor, I send in a check for the “monthly minimum payment due”. In other words, if my car payment equaled $300, I would send a check to my automobile loan company for $300.
- After making minimum payments (to all accounts), I then go about “attacking my debt” - by making extra payments, throughout the month, if possible, to a specific creditor.
- By using online bill pay, I can schedule MULTIPLE extra debt payments each month. At one point in my debt reduction process, I was sending $5 a DAY to one of my creditors. Why? I loved the psychological boost that I received when I saw, not one, but thirty payments!
- Please note, when making an extra payment, it is always a good idea to write the words “apply to principal” in the memo section of the check. Some companies will “hold” any additional checks they receive and cash them at the beginning of the next billing cycle. Needless to say, you want your creditors to cash your additional checks as soon as they receive the checks.
Here are a few things that I would NOT do:
- I would not sign-up for a bi-weekly mortgage service. Why should I pay someone to set up a system that I can set up for myself, for free?
- Use a credit counseling service. Again, why should I pay someone to set up a system that I can set up for myself, for free? I can call my creditors, I can create a debt repayment plan, I can make extra payments.
- Obsess over interest rates. I did do one transfer from a high rate card to a zero rate card, but I didn’t spend my time moving balances from card to card. Instead, I really, really focused on paying off principal.
I hope that Bob enjoys this post - and I can’t wait until I receive an email from him, letting me know that he’s debt free! (As always, please remember that I am NOT a financial professional, and the information that you find at No Credit Needed is just “my way” of doing things. I’m debt free and here’s how I did it.)
ING Direct Has Acquired ShareBuilder
I just received an email from ShareBuilder, informing me that ShareBuilder has been acquired by ING Direct.
I have been an ING Direct customer for more than four years. (I have my emergency fund in the ING DIRECT - High Yield Savings Account and I also have a Electric Orange Interest Bearing Checking Account. [affiliate links] I also have an investment account through ShareBuilder.
If you want to read more about the acquisition, read this article from Reuters or this article from the ShareBuilder homepage.
I really like the ING Direct interface and I am excited to see what they are able to do with ShareBuilder. Hopefully, they’ll integrate ShareBuilder into their main interface and I’ll be able to easily move money between my savings, checking AND investment account.
One of the main reasons I keep my Emergency Fund in my ING Direct account is the fact that I can move, seamlessly, between my savings and checking accounts. If an “emergency” happens, I initiate a transfer, and send a check, or, I can initiate a transfer and withdraw money from my checking account, using my debit card. Either way, I have “almost-instant” access to my emergency savings.
Day 30 of 33 Days And 33 Ways To Save Money And Reduce Debt: Know Your Weaknesses (Spending Triggers)
Click here to read all of the 33 Days And 33 Ways To Save Money And Reduce Debt posts.
Day 30: Know Your Weaknesses (Spending Triggers)
If you have struggled to get out of debt, take a few minutes and write down a list of your, personal ’spending triggers’.
When you find yourself in certain circumstances - or around certain people - do you find it difficult to maintain good spending habits?
At Christmas time, do you spend more than you should on gifts, food, cards, and parties?
When you go to the convenience store, do you buy snacks that you don’t need?
If you are at a restaurant, do you feel social pressure to order what others are ordering?
Are you overly influenced by “sale papers” or “internet specials”?
As simple as it seems, if you want to get out of debt, you need MONEY! So, you can either earn MORE money, or spend LESS money. (Brilliant. I know…)
If you are aware of your ’spending triggers’ you can
A) avoid situations where you might be tempted to overspend.
B) discuss your financial goals with your friends and family, so that they will be “on your side” (helping and not hurting).
C) be absolutely committed to living on a budget.
I’d love to read your comments. Have you figured out what your “spending triggers” are? Do you have a system in place that helps you avoid overspending?
Click here to read all of the 33 Days And 33 Ways To Save Money And Reduce Debt posts.
Observant readers will note that this series has taken much longer than 33 days. I can assure you, I am blogging as often as life permits.
If You Get Your Paycheck A Few Weeks Early - Be Careful!
My wife is an educator and she normally gets her paycheck on the last day of each month. But, in November and December, she gets her paycheck a couple of weeks early, due to the fact that school will be out for Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. In the past, we would look forward to this “early money”, because we were living “paycheck-to-paycheck”. But, inevitably, when January rolled around, we would be struggling to make it to January 31st! November’s and December’s paychecks would have long-been-spent, and we’d be using our credit cards to help fill the “paycheck gap”.
Sound familiar?
If you get your paycheck a few weeks early, be careful! Do not treat this money as a “bonus” and go crazy. I know folks who will spend every dollar of their December paycheck before January 1st - and then they have to go through all of January, using credit cards to ‘make ends meet’. This ’strategy’ (or lack thereof) will put them behind for an entire year!
Now, because we have an emergency fund and a budget, it really doesn’t matter to us “when” we get paid. Our budget is based on our annual salaries, and bills are broken down into monthly categories. So, even though we might receive a paycheck on the 21st, money from that paycheck will not be allocated for expenses until the 31st.
Using a budget helps to keep things in perspective!
If you are looking for an easy-to-use budget solution, consider the YNAB Personal Budget system. YNAB is a spreadsheet-based system that I’ve been using (with great success) for more than 2 years. (YNAB has been a sponsor of No Credit Needed for more than 2 years - and I proudly promote it!)
If you want to read more about creating a budget, check out a few of these articles I’ve written:
How To Live On A Budget If You Have Irregular Income
