I want to thank those of you who have supported No Credit Needed during 2008. I thought it might be fun to take a look back at some of the most popular posts from the past twelve months – the best of the best.

February 2008 –

February 2:  My Favorite Books About Debt Reduction

February 3:  Debt Cures For Living Debt Free – Here’s how I live without borrowing money.

February 7:  Living On A Budget: Don’t Knock It Until You Try It – I’ve been living on a budget for almost four years, and I couldn’t live without one.

February 18:  Paying For Three Kids To Go To College Is Going To Be Expensive

February 25:  10 Things To Do After You Get Out Of Debt -  Getting out of debt is only the beginning!

February 27:  Building An Emergency Fund: Where To Keep It?

February 28:  Facing The Frustrating Realities With Which We Must Deal – My reflections on the current economic meltdown.

2009 is shaping up to be another remarkable year for No Credit Needed.  I want to again thank all of you who have supported the site.

If you would like to help No Credit Needed reach an even larger audience, here are a few things that you can do.

You can subscribe to No Credit Needed via RSS or Email.  Either way, you will always have the freshest No Credit Needed content.  Click here for more information about subscribing to No Credit Needed.

You can comment.  I love to hear from my readers, and comments help create a conversation between you, me, and other readers.  Comments take two or three minutes to show up, so please be patient.

You can promote No Credit Needed and each post via social media sites.  At the bottom of each post, you’ll see a little reminder that reads -    Share: add to tip’d – digg this – stumble it – save to del.icio.us – where you can quickly and easily add posts to your favorite social media sites.  If you don’t have accounts with all of these services, consider signing up.  Each service is unique, and each service will help you promote the sites you like and find new sites to enjoy.

You can link to No Credit Needed.  Do you have a website?  Feel free to add No Credit Needed to your blogroll or list of links.  If you do, be sure to contact me and let me know!

You can follow my Twitter updates.  Twitter is a strange, wonderful, unique networking site.  I really can’t describe it, but I sure do like it.  Consider following me and creating your own Twitter profile.

I sincerely hope that you will continue to enjoy No Credit Needed.  Almost four years ago, when I sat down at my computer and started this site, I would never have dreamed, in a million years, the impact that it would have on me and my life.  I have met so many good people and I have learned so much from my readers.  You keep me motivated and you keep me involved.  I can’t think of a better way to put it – You ROCK!

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2008’s Best Of The Best – February

I want to thank those of you who have supported No Credit Needed during 2008. I thought it might be fun to take a look back at some of the most popular posts from the past twelve months – the best of the best.

January 2008 -

January 9:   Building A Better Budget With The New Baby On Board -  In April, my wife gave birth to our third child, a beautiful baby girl.  While preparing for the baby’s arrival, we created a brand new budget.  The baby is now eight months old, and she’s the sweetest thing in the whole wide world!

January 10:  Time To Call The Credit Card Company -  For those who are in credit card debt, this is a must-read.  Do not settle for your current interest rates!  Grab your phone and start making some calls.

January 25:  Back To The Basics : How To Get Out Of Debt -  Here you go, a super-simple guide for getting out of debt.  I’ve written about this subject, over and over, but with today’s economy, articles like this one are more important than ever.

2009 is shaping up to be another remarkable year for No Credit Needed.  I want to again thank all of you who have supported the site.

If you would like to help No Credit Needed reach an even larger audience, here are a few things that you can do.

You can subscribe to No Credit Needed via RSS or Email.  Either way, you will always have the freshest No Credit Needed content.  Click here for more information about subscribing to No Credit Needed.

You can comment.  I love to hear from my readers, and comments help create a conversation between you, me, and other readers.  Comments take two or three minutes to show up, so please be patient.

You can promote No Credit Needed and each post via social media sites.  At the bottom of each post, you’ll see a little reminder that reads -    Share: add to tip’d – digg this – stumble it – save to del.icio.us – where you can quickly and easily add posts to your favorite social media sites.  If you don’t have accounts with all of these services, consider signing up.  Each service is unique, and each service will help you promote the sites you like and find new sites to enjoy.

You can link to No Credit Needed.  Do you have a website?  Feel free to add No Credit Needed to your blogroll or list of links.  If you do, be sure to contact me and let me know!

You can follow my Twitter updates.  Twitter is a strange, wonderful, unique networking site.  I really can’t describe it, but I sure do like it.  Consider following me and creating your own Twitter profile.

I sincely hope that you will continue to enjoy No Credit Needed.  Almost four years ago, when I sat down at my computer and started this site, I would never have dreamed, in a million years, the impact that it would have on me and my life.  I have met so many good people and I have learned so much from my readers.  You keep me motivated and you keep me involved.  I can’t think of a better way to put it – You ROCK!

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2008’s Best Of The Best – January

As you move away from financial irresponsibility and towards financial stability, you will find yourself becoming aware of certain new realities. First and foremost, you will note that the vast majority of Americans live without much regard for their own financial futures. Supported by a massive government that believes in handouts and bailouts, many folks have forgotten the idea of personal responsibility. Living well beyond their actual means, most have succumb to the pressure to have more, get more, and use more.

Ironically, instead of supporting those individuals who wish to save, our government promotes consumption. Instead of urging people to save for down payments (and thus prove financial maturity), our government promotes even-lower mortgage rates, swelling the supply of money and lowering the value of the dollar. Instead of honoring its budget, our government grows ever larger, competing with private enterprise, entrenching itself in every area of our lives.

We live in strange times, where people have ceded their liberty for (so-called) security. We have abandoned the ideas of frugality, simplicity, and prudence and replaced them with greed, consumption, and excess. I feel that we are moving towards a day of reckoning – A day when the spinning-plates of an ill-advised war, a convoluted tax structure, and a pseudo-stimulated economy shall come crashing down.

I wish that I knew all of the answers – but I’m just beginning to understand the questions. But, I do know this – Things feel uneasy. I talk to folks all the time – good, honest, hard working folks – and they are worried. Many (most?) are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Husbands and wives are working to provide for their families, but they feel overwhelmed. Burdened with the desire to provide bigger and better things for themselves and their children, but unaware of the methods for bringing about true prosperity, many are one misstep, one illness, one lost paycheck away from financial ruin. And so, they depend on credit and the promises of government, instead of their own ingenuity and abilities.

We must gather ourselves – and move in a different direction. We should demand fiscal responsibility – from our politicians, from the people with whom we invest our money, from the companies with which we do business – and from ourselves.

All true change begins at home. We must learn to live within our means. We must seek for opportunities to increase our income. We must teach out children about financial matters and we must talk with our spouses about money. And, above all, we must take personal responsibility for the financial decisions we make. Reversing our course may be difficult – but we must being to turn the wheel.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Instead of blaming the rich, we should learn from them. Instead of criticizing profitable businesses, we should thank them for the jobs they provide. Instead of supporting failing policies and practices, we should encourage ingenuity and enterprise. Instead of borrowing from our enemies, we should trade with our friends. Instead of glorifying the excess of celebrity, we should applaud the wisdom of the millionaire-next-door. Instead of promoting laziness, we should reward hard work. Instead of doing what we’ve been doing – we should do something else.

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Facing The Frustrating Realities With Which We Must Deal

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I have been debt free for two years. After two years of enjoying life – debt free -I can state, without hesitation, that deciding to get out debt was the smartest decision I have ever made. I cannot explain how different my life is now. Instead of worrying about interest rates or late payments, I can enjoy the process of saving money and planning for the future.

Clearly, getting out of debt was a big deal. But, my goal is to live without borrowing money. To that end, I have been working my way through the following list of -

10 Things To Do After You Get Out Of Debt

I created this list almost three years ago, while I was still getting out of debt, and I have modified it, several times, since then, adding new goals as my financial situation changed. These are the steps that I am taking (or plan to take) to ensure my family’s financial well-being. I will list the step and underneath each step, I’ll indicate my own progress.

1. Fully-fund an emergency fund with enough money to cover 6 months worth of necessary expenses.
   • Shortly after getting out of debt, I accomplished this step. Since that time, I dipped into my emergency fund to purchase an automobile. I am currently rebuilding a portion of my emergency fund. I have also begun to refer to this portion of my savings as non-retirement savings.
2. Learn more about available retirement options. Consider pre-tax and after-tax retirement options. Understand the account benefits / restrictions.
   • I have chosen to fully-fund a 403b account, a Roth IRA, and partially fund a SEP-IRA account. My wife fully-funds her pension plan and a Roth IRA. The amount that you can contribute to a retirement account will be limited by the amount of money you make and the amount of monthly necessary expenses you have. For me, funding retirement accounts is a ‘must’.
3. Learn more about investing – mutual funds, exchange traded funds, stocks bonds, etc.
   • While I only have a rudimentary understanding of the stock market and how it works, I have decided to stick with low-cost, index-based mutual funds and ETFs. I read several books and websites about investing. Right now, I am working to build up the funds in my retirement accounts and I am ‘keeping things simple’. Perhaps, one day, I will broaden my basket of investments, but for now, I am satisfied with the mutual funds and ETFs that I own.
4. Learn more about college savings options.
   • My wife and I have two children (with a third on the way) and I am working very hard to fully-fund three Education Savings Accounts. I am also learning more about 529 plans and other options for college funding.
5. Create a will and other end of life documents to ensure the safety and security of my wife and kids, should something happen to me.
   • I have a will and my wife does, too. I still need to work on some other end-of-life documents and learn more about this particular subject.
6. Increase term life insurance coverage to an amount that will adequately support my wife and kids, should something happen to me. Do the same for my wife, should something happen to her.
   • My wife and I both have term life coverage – but we need to increase our coverage amount. At present, we both have about 6 times our annual income in term life coverage, but we would like to have about 12 times. I will revisit this issue next October, when our policies are due to be updated.
7. Organize my financial documents. Create a system that I will actually use.
   • I have created my own, very simple, system for organizing and storing my documents. I still need to invest in a safe / safe-deposit box. For now, I keep copies of important documents in two locations.
8. Create and maintain and easy-to-use financial inventory for my spouse.
   • I have created a financial inventory for my wife, but I haven’t updated it in a while. In fact, this post has inspired me to do so.
9. Learn more about taxes and how to minimize my tax liability.
   • I have yet to understand our arcane tax system, but I have learned that I can reduce my tax burden by increasing my pre-tax retirement contributions. Also, I have done my very best to understand effective tax rates.
10. Find creative ways to earn extra income and become financial independent.
    • I have figured out how to monetize my various websites, I enjoy selling items for profit, and I am working hard to make myself an irreplaceable worker. Every day, I move towards financial independence, and every day, I am reminded of both how far I have come and how far I have to go!

Clearly, this isn’t an exhaustive list, but its the list that I’m working through at this time. I want to encourage you to create a list of your own. If you can’t think of your own list – that’s cool – use mine!

If you have steps / goals that I haven’t listed, feel free to leave a comment and share. Combining our knowledge and dreams, we all move forward.

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10 Things To Do After You Get Out Of Debt

My wife and I have two children (and a third on the way) – and we think that it’s important to save for their college educations.

Our oldest daughter is eight, our son is four, and our daughter will be born in the next two months. We have been saving for our daughter’s education since 2006 and our son’s since 2007. Once the baby is born, we’ll begin saving for her college education, as well.

I’ve created a chart of our current plan -

Our plan assumes an 8% annual return on our investments. We make contributions to Educations Savings Accounts (ESAs). The annual limit for 2008 is $2000 per ESA, per child.

One of the unique things about the ESA is that, once a child reaches 18, no more contributions can be made to that child’s account.  For my daughter, I have 10 more contributions to make.  For my son, I have 15 more contributions to make.  For my newborn, I have 19 contributions to make.

Adding 15+10+19 = 44 contributions of $2000 between now and 2026!  That, my good friends, is $88,000.

We live in Georgia, where most students qualify for the Hope Scholarship – which pays for public education with proceeds from the lottery.  I have no idea if the Hope Scholarship will be available for my kids – but I do know that I want to have a substantial amount saved for their educations, just in case the scholarship is no longer around.

Clearly, even if we save the amounts indicated above, we’ll still have to include a ‘College Expenses’ category in our future budgets.  In other words, we’ll save for college in the ESAs, but we’ll also help our kids to pay for college expenses, after they’re actually attending.  Plus, we’ll expect our kids to work while at school, and we’ll expect for them to pay for some portion of their educations.

For much more about ESAs, checkout this Wikipedia article, this article from Fool, and this article from Saving For College.

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Paying For Three Kids To Go To College Is Going To Be Expensive

My fellow members of the Money Blog Network are writing articles about budgets and budgeting.

As most of my readers know, I’m a little ‘old school’. I don’t use credit cards. I don’t borrow money. I use cash. And, I live on a budget.

Each month, I sit down at my computer and ‘map-out’ the month.

I list my monthly income and then I list expected monthly expenses.

At the end of the month, I take a ‘look back’ – looking for areas where I over- or under-estimated.

I use a budget for three reasons -

1. I struggle with organization, and using a budget helps me to stay organized.

2. My wife and I work on the budget together, and it gives us a chance to talk (about money, life, finances, etc.). Having a monthly ‘business meeting’ helps keep us focused and on the same ‘team’.

3. I have found that when I ‘write it down’, I spend less money, period.

I would strongly urge you to ‘give budgeting a try’ – especially if you are new to personal finance management. I think you’ll find that using a budget ‘frees your mind’ to think about more important things – like friends, faith, and family.

Here are a few articles that I’ve written about creating and using a budget -

How To Create A Budget If You Have Irregular Income

Annual Expenses: When Dividing By 12 Doesn’t Work

Simple – A Simple Zero-Based Budget

If you are looking for a great, easy-to-use budget software, consider site sponsor -

YNAB Personal Budget

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Living On A Budget: Don’t Knock It Until You Try It

Here are a the strategies that I’ve adopted so that I can remain debt-free for the rest of my life -

1. I live on a budget.
2. I use cash, debit cards, or checks.
3. I do not use credit cards. Period.
4. If I cannot pay for it, I don’t buy it.
5. If I want it, I save for it.
6. I make a house payment to ‘myself’ each month.
7. I look for opportunities to create ’side income’.
8. I look for opportunities to reduce taxes.
9. I talk with my spouse about our hopes, plans, and dreams.
10. I write down my goals and I work very hard to achieve them.

Here are the accounts that I’m funding so that I can remain debt-free for the rest of my life -

For Pre-Tax Retirement Savings -

I am fully-funding my 403b.

My wife is fully-funding her Pension Plan.

These plans allow us to save for retirement AND reduce our annual income taxes.

For After-Tax Retirement And Education Savings -

I am fully-funding my Roth IRA.

My wife is fully-funding her Roth IRA.

We are fully-funding 3 ESAs.

These plans allow us to save for retirement AND our contributions grow tax-free.

For Non-Retirement Savings -

I maintain an emergency fund (inside of my savings account).

I am rebuilding my non-retirement savings (inside my savings account).

I am ‘making a house payment’ to ‘myself’, each month, through a deposit to my savings account.

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Debt Cures For Living Debt-Free

After writing about (and reading about) debt reduction for almost three years, I’ve amassed quite a collection of books about the topic. I thought it might be helpful to present my personal ‘Top 3′. If you click on any of the links below, and make a purchase from Amazon, I’ll make a little bit of money. If you don’t want to buy the books, I recommend that you head to your local library and see if you can find them there. Either way, these books are on my personal ‘must read’ list.

The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness

• This book, quite literally, changed my life.  I know that there are some people who do not like Dave Ramsey, but I think that he speaks in a way that ‘regular’ folks can understand.  I will, forever, be grateful for for this book.  That might sound a little corny, but it’s true, nonetheless.

Debt Free Living

• Years ago, I started listening to Larry Burkett on the radio. (Larry, sadly, passed away a few years ago, but his books and writings are still relevant.)  This book is strongly influenced by Larry’s Christian-faith (and it’s better for it, in my opinion).  I have friends who still use Larry’s budgeting techniques.

Debt-Proof Your Marriage: How to Achieve Financial Harmony (Debt-Proof Living)

• Mary Hunt always finds practical ways to inspire and inform.  I received one of her books years ago, as a wedding present, I think.  I WISH that I would have read it, way back then.  I could have saved myself from so many financial headaches.

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NCN Top 3: My Favorite Books About Debt Reduction And Credit

Are you ready to get out of debt? Great! Here’s one method that works. In fact, it worked for me!

1. List all of your debts (including or excluding your first mortgage).
2. Make your minimum payments (on time) each month.
3. Send extra payments to a single account -
   1. The account with the highest interest rate (or)
   2. The account with the lowest balance
4. Continue to make minimum payments and extra payments, until first account on your list is paid off.
5. Take the minimum payment that you were sending to the first account, combine it with the extra payments, and send this entire amount to the second account on your list.
6. Continue this process of paying off accounts, combining those minimums with extra payments, until you are debt free.

Click here to see an illustration of how this debt reduction process works.

Once you get a hang of the process, here are some additional ideas that you might want to keep in mind -

1. If you get a chance to move debt from a credit card with a high rate to a credit card with a low rate – do it! But, only if you understand the terms of the balance transfer. (Be sure to figure in any balance transfer fees, before you pull the trigger.)
2. In most cases, you do not need a debt consolidation company. If you will create a plan, and stick to it, you can get yourself out of debt.
3. It NEVER hurts to call your credit card company and ask for lower rates. (Also, you can call your phone company, cellphone company, satellite provider, etc. and ask for discounts. The more money you save, the more money you have for debt reduction.)
4. Every dollar matters. Even if you only have two extra dollars to send, send those two dollars.
5. Before you start sending extra payments, be sure that you have some money set aside in a ‘rainy day fund’. The amount of money in this fund will vary, according to the size of your family. (You’ll need this fund, just in case you have a mini-emergency. This fund will keep you from having to use your credit card. I always kept (at least) $1000 in mine.)

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Back To The Basics: How To Get Out Of Debt

If you are trying to get out of credit card debt, you might want to think about giving your credit card company a call. Why?

If you have a high interest rate, you can ask them to charge you a lower rate…

If you have been charged a late fee, you can ask them to waive it…

If you are over your limit, you can ask them to increase it…

If you want to consolidate balances, you can ask them to waive balance transfer fees…

If you decide to call, be patient, be polite, get first names, and be persistent.

When I was getting out of debt, I called each credit card company once a month and I asked them to lower my rates. Over a 10 month period, my rates were lowered on three different occasions.

One quick note – If you are averse to confrontation – if you struggle when talking to people – simply ‘work’ your way through the conversation -confidently.

Put your emotions to the side.

Avoid sounding desperate.

Let them know that you are thinking about taking your business to another company.

Never be intimidated.

Remember, the number on the back of the card is toll-free. Shoot, even if they don’t change your rate, at least they have to pay for the phone call. (Before you leave a comment reminding me that the credit card company will pass that phone charge on to their customers – I know, I know. I’m making a joke.)

Getting out of debt rocks! Now, go make those phone calls!!!

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Time To Call The Credit Card Company