Debt Consolidation Help » Debt free http://debt.makemoneyguides.com Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:10:34 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 Moved to a new address; www.myjourneytoeliminatedebt.com http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/moved-to-a-new-address-www-myjourneytoeliminatedebt-com/ http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/moved-to-a-new-address-www-myjourneytoeliminatedebt-com/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:48:19 +0000 hotpassion http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/moved-to-a-new-address-www-myjourneytoeliminatedebt-com/ This blog has been moved to www.myjourneytoeliminatedebt.com due to content theft    Google searchers – here’s the links to these two very popular pages you might be looking for:
Debt Free Stories
Goin’ Gazelle
                                                 Please update your blogroll links and thanks for visiting!
                                                 Louise

]]> http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/moved-to-a-new-address-www-myjourneytoeliminatedebt-com/feed/ 0 2012 Goals & Plans http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/2012-goals-plans/ http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/2012-goals-plans/#comments Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:39:31 +0000 hotpassion http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/2012-goals-plans/

When I started my blog 2012 was the year that I expected to have completed paying off our mortgage. Then we jumped on a roller coaster called ‘life throws you a curve ball ‘and instead of decreasing our debt we added over $70,000 to it.

So 2012 feels very significant to me. Our goal is to reduce our mortgage, if not get rid of it completely, by selling up and downsizing next year.

Last week DH and I went out for dinner ($38) and we discussed our finances. Here’s whats on the schedule for 2012 ( all based on our assumption our refinance goes through)

  • Finish and sell our house? -this is priority one at the moment!
  • Buy a smaller home closer to the CBD
  • Pay double the mortgage amount each month while I’m still in this job.??
  • Keep ALL of our remaining money? in the mortgage offset account- so no separate emergency funds etc
  • Each month plan our spending together using YNAB
  • Sell DH’s car and buy a van so we can travel – no more putting life off!
  • Replace my car
  • Travel somewhere at least once a month – so 12 weekend trips in 2012
  • Reduce food costs!
  • Track my spending on this blog in much more detail!
Our main goal for 2012 – To reduce our debt to under $50,000.
Our s-t-r-e-t-c-h goal for 2012 – To be debt free!

    ]]>     http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/2012-goals-plans/feed/ 0     Why You Should Dispute Your Debt http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/why-you-should-dispute-your-debt/ http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/why-you-should-dispute-your-debt/#comments Tue, 13 Dec 2011 07:31:40 +0000 hotpassion http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/why-you-should-dispute-your-debt/ A debt validation letter is a grueling requirement on the part of your creditor or debt collector. Debt collectors could hardly provide substantial information to certify your account. Therefore in pursuing your efforts to a debt free life, it is important to understand how a debt dispute can be use to your advantage.

    ]]>     http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/why-you-should-dispute-your-debt/feed/ 0     And the winner is…. http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/and-the-winner-is/ http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/and-the-winner-is/#comments Sun, 11 Dec 2011 11:16:09 +0000 hotpassion http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/and-the-winner-is/
    Thanks so much toThe Hawaii Plan for the Liebster award! I enjoy blogging, it still amazes me that so many people visit and read my blog and I’m so grateful to the lovely ‘blog friends’ I’ve met along the way.

    “Liebster” is a German word meaning dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. What a gift to be awarded with such kindness!?? As for the details…The?Liebster is a way to show a little Blog Love to bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers.



    The rules:

    1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
    2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
    3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
    4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
    5. And most of all – have fun!

    I’d like to pass on this award to five great bloggers who are on my regular reading list:

    It’s me Sam!
    Little Lamb wants to be debt free
    Destination Planet debt free
    Making sense of cents
    Cents to Save

    ?Stop by their blogs and check them out!

    ]]>     http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/and-the-winner-is/feed/ 0     Things You Should Know To Be Free From Debt http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/things-you-should-know-to-be-free-from-debt/ http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/things-you-should-know-to-be-free-from-debt/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:56:48 +0000 hotpassion http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/things-you-should-know-to-be-free-from-debt/ Financial overload is a lot of stress. It hinders your knack of finding solutions to become debt free. There are a lot of options you can choose before you can finally find the right one for you. This article will lets you know the things you should know to be free from debt.

    ]]>     http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/things-you-should-know-to-be-free-from-debt/feed/ 0     Stop Repeating Financial Mistakes That Lead to Debt Problems http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/stop-repeating-financial-mistakes-that-lead-to-debt-problems/ http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/stop-repeating-financial-mistakes-that-lead-to-debt-problems/#comments Tue, 29 Nov 2011 02:46:25 +0000 hotpassion http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/stop-repeating-financial-mistakes-that-lead-to-debt-problems/ They say history is prone to repeating itself and if consumers are not careful, the cycle of debt will continue on for years to come. So too will low credit scores be a consistent part of your financial life. In order to stop letting history repeat itself, you have to learn from your mistakes and move forward financially wiser and ready to commit to remaining debt free.

    ]]>     http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/stop-repeating-financial-mistakes-that-lead-to-debt-problems/feed/ 0     Don’t lose focus in the silly season! http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/dont-lose-focus-in-the-silly-season/ http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/dont-lose-focus-in-the-silly-season/#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:59:01 +0000 hotpassion http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/dont-lose-focus-in-the-silly-season/
    I made a payment of the Bankwest card last night and the balance is now only $1774! If things go to plan it will be gone in 2 weeks.? The debt snowball really is begining to speed up now! With each card that is paid off there is more money for payments. Every day we don’t spend money, eat cheaply, use the solar lights and ignore the shopping hype there is even? more money to pay off debt.

    A few weeks ago I was feeling pretty low about the work situation? and everyones comments really helped me. Vickys comment in particular has stuck in my head:

    “Use this as a reminder of exactly why you decided to get out of debt all those years ago. You can let this get to you and control your life. Alternatively you can choose your future. Get your finances into order asap, get that consolidation loan done, finish your house, sell it and suddenly you have the power to decide what you want to do.”?

    ?Only this week I made an excuse to get out of the office and went down to park to get away from the drama and I kept thinking about what Vicky had said. It has really helped me stay focused on my goal – debt freedom.

    So I wanted to share those comments with those of you that might have missed them. I wanted to let you know that debt snowballs work ( click here to see what we’ve snowballed), beans and rice living really works and don’t use the silly season and the sales to be sidetracked from your debt reduction goals. Take Vickys advice to me and make it your own!

    thanks Vicky :)

    ]]>     http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/dont-lose-focus-in-the-silly-season/feed/ 0     Debt fatigue is tiring… http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/debt-fatigue-is-tiring/ http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/debt-fatigue-is-tiring/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2011 02:09:54 +0000 Admin http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/debt-fatigue-is-tiring/ Well it’s pretty clear the debt reduction is the most popular choice for what to do with our windfall! It’s great reading everyones thoughts and it has been good to spend some time thinking about our priorities and also what we’re aiming for in all this – a simpler life.

    So we’ve had lots of discussions and I feel more focused about where we are headed and how to get there. It will take a few weeks for my tax money to arrive and when it does we have decided to put it in savings while we make up our mind exactly how to spend it. Rhitter posted a really helpful link? about Suze’s advice when you recieve a windfall, and several people suggested splitting the money. between the emergency fund and the debt and even the van.
    .
    I think that debt fatigue is a real problem when people have large amounts to pay off. For quite a while it felt good to log into my account each payday and just transfer money towards debt payments. It would be in the account for a matter of minutes. Now the novelty of that has well and truly worn off. I wish I was transferring that money to savings! I guess I’m a bit tired of not doing anything or going anywhere. My only excitement is decluttering!

    The only spending area left to cut back on is food, and I’m not going to eat poor quality food to save money. So we need to just keep poking along, keep ourselves motivated ( I’ve been reading all those debt free stories again)and get this done!

    I’ve updated the debt totals. I’ve been making extra payments to GoMastercard for a while now and it’s down to $3810. It will definetely be paid off before the end of November.

    Anyone else feeling a bit ‘debt fatigued’ at the moment?

    ]]>     http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/debt-fatigue-is-tiring/feed/ 0     Get Busy Livin’ Or Get Busy Dyin’ http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/get-busy-livin-or-get-busy-dyin/ http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/get-busy-livin-or-get-busy-dyin/#comments Mon, 22 Aug 2011 02:14:57 +0000 hotpassion http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/get-busy-livin-or-get-busy-dyin/ During my free consultation with my debt relief program it was suggested that I follow a debt settlement path to becoming debt free. Debt settlement is when a lawyer from the program contacts the credit card company to settle on a lower payment, interest rate, and or balance.

    ]]>     http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/get-busy-livin-or-get-busy-dyin/feed/ 0     Consolidation the best option with job uncertainty? http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/consolidation-the-best-option-with-job-uncertainty/ http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/consolidation-the-best-option-with-job-uncertainty/#comments Sat, 13 Aug 2011 14:52:14 +0000 Admin http://debt.makemoneyguides.com/consolidation-the-best-option-with-job-uncertainty/ We’ve had no internet for the last five days while we changed providers. It probably did me good to be honest! An enforced break from being online gave me more time for other things and it was actually a nice break.

    We’ve given the situation at work and our finances some serious consideration this week.? If my job was to go in the restructure, then we would not be able to make all the minimum payments on DH’s wage. So we would quickly find ourselves back in a very difficult situation. You have only to read the papers in NSW to see that job cuts are coming.

    Also, even if I got another job straight away we would not be able to refinance/consolidate to reduce the payment, as I would be back on another 6 or 12 months probation in a new job. While my preference has always been NOT to consolidate these debts, I think given the uncertainty at work that it’s the best financial move for us.

    So we are going to apply for a consolidation loan that has a two year introductory rate of 6.88% with Resi.? This will make our minimum payment approximately $1300 a month. Only $200 a month more than what it currently is. It’s affordable if I should lose my job.

    Then we will continue to pay most of my wage off the debt and start preparing our house for sale. Our goal is to come out of this sale debt free, or close to it.

    While we’re preparing the application and waiting to hear back, I’ll still keep paying everything off the GoMastercard as planned.? I’ve sent another snowflake of $28, I was refunded an overpayment this week.

    Time to catch up on my blog reading and then into the decluttering again! …would love to hear your thoughts on our plan…

    * edited to add a couple of links about whats happening in NSW right now,

    NSW – 500 people a day losing jobs

    Premier set to weild the axe through public service in NSW

    NSW TAFE faces the axe


    31,000 jobs to go in NSW

    DPI? NSW – 25% predicted job losses?

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