Tune in tonight at 8:30 pm (Eastern) to FrugalCoast2Coast – an online streaming radio program hosted by Lynnae from Being Frugal and Jenn from Frugal Upstate – and listen to them interview yours truly, NCN.  We’ll be talking about losing weight – on a budget!  The show will be broadcast live, and you can even call in with your questions, for me, Lynnae, or Jenn, at (646- 716-5529). Or, visit the FrugalCoast2Coast website and join in the live chat, during the show.  If you miss the live show, never fear.  You can download the show, and even subscribe to it via iTunes, after we have recorded.  I’m looking forward to tonight’s discussion, and I hope you’ll join us.

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FrugalCoast2Coast Interview Scheduled 8:30 pm

I want to thank those of you who have clicked over from Money Magazine. Author Donna Rosato interviewed me a few weeks ago and yesterday, her article, Life Without Plastic, was published on the Money Magazine website. My family and I are profiled on page 6 of the article. The print version of the article will be in the July issue of Money Magazine – on newsstands this week.

(If you missed it, please click here to read my original welcome message, written yesterday when the article was first posted on the Money Magazine site. You’ll find tons of general information about me and my websites.)

Since so many of you are new to my site, I thought you might like a little background information.

Thee years ago, in April of 2005, I sat down at my computer. I was depressed and worried. I had two kids and a great wife, but our finances were a mess. We had less than $500 in our savings account, I was barely funding my retirement, and we were almost $12,000 in debt. Feeling frustrated, I decided that I was tired of being broke – and I determined to do something about our situation.

For months, I had been listening to Dave Ramsey talk about debt reduction. I decided to follow his ‘Baby Steps’. But, I didn’t really know anyone else who seemed interested in talking about debt reduction and I really wanted a way to connect with like-minded people. So, I found a site where I could start a ‘blog’ for free – and No Credit Needed was born.

Since that day at my computer, my life has changed, dramatically. I managed to pay off all of my debts, build up a decent emergency fund, fully-fund several retirement accounts, purchase a newer automobile with cash, and live without using my credit cards. Now, instead of living life worried about bills and paperwork, I look forward to planning for my future and managing my finances.

No Credit Needed is more than a blog. It’s an experiment. Can a modern family of (now) 5 live without borrowing money? And, my honest answer is, I don’t know. But, for more than three years, I’ve managed to not only live without debt, I’ve managed to thrive without it. So, until further notice, I’m still rocking on, No Credit Needed!

I’ve written several articles about credit cards and why I don’t use them, including -

I Do Not Use Credit Cards

Preparing For Life Without Credit Cards

Philosophical Reasons For Not Borrowing Money

How I Live Without Credit Cards

For those of you considering this way of life, let me assure you of two things – it can be done and it does take a lot of work. I strongly recommend that you live on a written budget. My preferred budgeting software is published by the good folks over at You Need A Budget.

I’ll remind you that I am not a financial professional. Instead, I’m very much just a regular guy. I have an awesome wife, three great kids, a job, bills to pay, and a future to plan for. No Credit Needed is my attempt to share my own story. And, hopefully, from time to time, it will inspire or encourage someone else.

Thanks again for stopping by, and if you have not already done so, please consider subscribing to No Credit Needed via RSS or via Daily Email.

For those of you who arrived here via StumbleUpon, thanks for visiting!  Before you leave, please consider stumbling this post.  Thanks!  For those who have never heard of StumbleUpon, click here to view my profile and consider signing up.

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Life Without Credit Cards And The No Credit Needed Experiment

I would like to welcome those who have clicked over from CNN Money. Online, I go by NCN, and this is my website, No Credit Needed.

I have been blogging about debt and debt reduction for more than three years. No Credit Needed started out as a simple blog – designed to track my progress as I paid off my credit cards and automobile debt. Over the course of time, No Credit Needed became more than just my blog, it became part of my identity. After getting out of debt, I continued to write about life without credit. I hope you enjoy the site and I thank you for stopping by.

For more about me and my site, check out the links below -

Click here to read the story of my debt reduction – from start to finish.

Click here to view the online version of the No Credit Needed Debt Reduction Guide or here to view the eBook version of the No Credit Needed Debt Reduction Guide.

Click here for a list of all of the posts that I have written.

I also have a weight loss blog – No. Calories Needed and a personal development site – 99 Changes.

For more information about me and my sites, please read my about page.

Again, I want to thank you for visiting my site. I tend to publish one or two articles a day. I write about all kinds of personal finance topics, including debt, debt reduction, frugality, saving money, retirement, investing, family finance, kids, credit cards, and budgeting.

Before you click away, please consider subscribing to No Credit Needed.

You can click here to subscribe to No Credit Needed via Email. Once a day, you’ll receive the site’s most recent content, sent directly to your Inbox. Or, click here to subscribe to the No Credit Needed RSS Feed. You’ll be able to read new content, just as soon as it is published.

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Welcome Readers Of Money Magazine

I’d like to welcome those of you who have come from The San Antonio Express-News and The Consumerist. Claudia Zapata wrote an article about personal finance bloggers who also blog about their weight loss, and my sites were included in the article! Claudio mentioned two of my sites, No Credit Needed and No. Calories Needed. Thanks, Claudia! Also, The Consumerist linked to my article about how to “Drip, Drip, Drip Your Way Out Of Debt.” The links for The Consumerist article were compiled by Free Money Finance.

I also have two other sites. Please consider visiting the No Credit Needed Network and the No Credit Needed Podcast.

Thanks for stopping by. If you would like to contact me, click the contact tab at the top of this page, or leave a comment on any post.

Click here to subscribe to the No Credit Needed RSS feed.

Click here to subscribe to No Credit Needed via Email.

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Welcome Readers Of The San Antonio Express-News And The Consumerist

I came home from lunch to a pleasant surprise. The Consumerist linked to my article about selling baby clothes on eBay. Traffic really began to spike around 9AM Eastern. I’d like to thank the good folks over at The Consumerist for the link-love.

If you’re a longtime No Credit Needed reader, you’ll note that I’ve made massive changes to the site layout. After my recent television interview and press coverage, I received several emails from people who found the old site “difficult” to navigate. So, I’m in the process of making things easier to find and easier to read. I’ll be refining the look of site over the next few days. Please be “patient” with my progress!  (Also, I’d like to thank the good folks over at the MBN Forums for their input!)

Speaking of the site, if you’d like to stay up to date with all things No Credit Needed, click here to subscribe. You’ll be glad that you did. I update this site once or twice a day with practical, easy-to-understand posts about personal finance, debt repayment, saving money, and frugal living.

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Consumerist, Site Changes, Subscribe To NCN

CLICK HERE TO WATCH MY SEGMENT ON CHANNEL 2 WSB ATLANTA WITH CLARK HOWARD

If you have come to No Credit Needed after seeing my interview on WSB TV, welcome! Please take a minute or two to familiarize yourself with the site, leave a comment, and read some content. I’ve created a series of “links” below that will help you to better understand who I am, what I do here, and what this site is all about!

(Before we begin, you might want take a second and subscribe to No Credit Needed (RSS).)

No Credit Needed Websites:

No Credit Needed (This is my main blog and my original site where I tracked my debt reduction!)

No Credit Needed Network (View over 100 personal finance charts related to debt repayment and saving money!)

No Credit Needed Podcast (Listen to more than 40 episodes about saving money, getting out of debt, and living debt-free!)

No. Calories Needed (This is my new weight loss site!)

My Debt Reduction Story:

How I Got Out Of Debt: Follow The Posts (These are the “highlights” of my journey as I paid off more than $11,500 in debt!)

NCN Information 101 (All about me, my websites, my family, and my life!)

Popular Posts And Various Resources:

It’s Over, It’s Over! (Read about the day that I was able to declare that I was “DEBT FREE!”)

I Do Not Use Credit Cards (Read this popular, and somewhat controversial, post about why I do not use credit cards!)

(Almost) Everything I Know About Debt Reduction (If you are ready to get out of debt, read this post!)

Money Management Resources (These are the “tools” that I use to manage my personal finances.)

Thank you for visiting No Credit Needed. Please feel free to leave a comment or use my “contact” tab to contact me directly.

Jason

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Welcome Clark Howard Fans and WSB TV Viewers

Back in March, a television crew from Atlanta came to my house and recorded an interview about me and my websites.

Tomorrow, at 5 PM Eastern time, that interview will air on WSB Channel 2!

If you live in the Atlanta area, you can check out my interview (and finally get to see what I look like!). If you do not live in the Atlanta area, you should still be able to see the interview over at WSB’s website. I’ll post more details about the interview, once it runs, but I wanted to give all of my readers a big “heads up”!

Link To WSB Atlanta Channel 2

Information about me and my websites can be found here: NCN Information 101

(I’m much more nervous about the prospect of being shown on television than I ever was actually DOING the interview! Yikes!)

To read more about my various “moments with the press” click here: Awesome Days For NCN: Lifehacker, NY Times, Oprah, Television.

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I’m Going To Be On Television Tomorrow!!!

Two of my favorite personal finance bloggers, Tricia from Blogging Away Debt and John from Mighty Bargain Hunter, were featured in a recent NY Times article. Tricia and John are both great bloggers (and great friends!).

John not only operates Mighty Bargain Hunter, he also created the Carnival of Debt Reduction.

Tricia not only operates Blogging Away Debt, she is also a member of the No Credit Needed Network.

Congratulations Tricia and John! You both rock!

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Fellow PF Bloggers In The NY Times!

For those of you who are fans readers of No Credit Needed, now is the time to show some love.  Free Money Finance is running an NCAA-like contest among personal finance bloggers, and TWO of my posts have made it to the SWEET SIXTEEN.  Please, please, please take a second and go over to this post at Free Money Finance and vote for my two posts.   In game 2 my post is labeled Make Multiple Debt Payments  Every Month.  In game 3 my post is labeled Avoid 10 Common Debt Reduction Mistakes.  Please take a second and leave a comment (your vote) over at FMF.  Also, you might want to read the posts themselves.  All of the posts that have made it this far in the competition are informative.

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Vote For NCN At FMF (Initials Rock!)

The television crew from Atlanta is here, right NOW, filming me as I write this post. I just finished the “interview portion” and we are now filming the “action portion”. In other words, they’re sitting right in front of me, filming the back of my laptop and watching me type these words. No pressure. I’ll be back with more later. (By the way, the film crew is super cool.)

–

My hands are being filmed even as I type the current sentence. I’m glad that I trimmed my fingernails before today’s meeting!

Now I’m having my “closeup” shot done. I must admit that it is a big “unnerving”. Hopefully I’m doing the pf blogging community proud!

Now I’m typing and the camera is directly over my shoulder.  I just had to “edit” this post for a new shot.  (The camera operator just used the word “wide” which I’m a bit worried about!)

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As I Write This, I’m Being Filmed!