The next credit card statement arrives in your mailbox and you get sick knowing what’s inside. You begin to ask yourself when you let it all slip away.
You used to have control of your finances, but something bad happened.
Something terribly wrong.
All those innocent purchases and false reassurances that “you’ll eventually get ahead” were all just a lie.
You have over $100,000 of consumer debt and it’s only getting worse.
Travis Pizel found himself in this exact situation almost 5 years ago. Through reckless spending and always hoping that the next paycheck would allow him to get caught up, he found himself with $109,000 of consumer debt.
He could have waived the white flag and gave up. He didn’t
By working with CareOne Services, Inc, he has been able to payoff $84,000 of debt in just under 4 years.
When I tell people that I used to smoke, they are completely shocked. Being a health nut and Crossfitter, that’s the last thing that people would expect that I would do.
To my defense, it was during a stressful time in my life. While I was deployed to Iraq I smoked a cigarette at least every day. It even got to the point to where I was buying cartons of cigarettes.
My wife wasn’t keen on the idea, but I promised her when I returned I would quit for good. Since I got back home in 2006, I’ve smoked (I think) 3 cigarettes total.
How’s that for going cold turkey?
If you smoke, it’s going to hurt your life insurance rates. Since this habit carries so many health risks, smokers generally need to pay more for their coverage and also could have a more complicated application process.
If you handle your application properly though, you can minimize the extra costs you’ll need to pay. Here is a complete guide to life insurance for smokers to help you get prepared. [click to continue…]
This post is provided by Andrea Woroch from AndreaWoroch.com.
There’s nothing more frustrating than saving every dollar possible and still coming up short on your monthly expenses or barely making a dent when paying down debt.
Despite our best efforts to live frugally, clipping coupons and brown-bagging lunch doesn’t always cut it. Sometimes the only solution is to add more income to the mix and with the recent two-percent payroll tax increase, it may not seem realistic.
Luckily, there are several easy ways to beef up your cash flow without distracting from your regular 9 to 5. Review these 10 suggestions on how to make some extra money on the side. [click to continue…]
When you find yourself under a mountain of debt, there’s nothing more appealing than paying your credit cards off as fast as you can.
One of the most commonly used methods for paying off credit cards fast is The Debt Snowball, made popular by Dave Ramsey. The snowball gives you tangible results and helps motivate you to pay off your debts, but it is somewhat controversial in nature because it doesn’t have participants pay off their highest interest debts first.
I started this blog for the sole purpose of being able to help people make more informed decisions about their finances.
It’s been a wonderful journey with over 1,100 blog posts published and over 4 million people (closing in on 5 million) visiting this site.
Amazing for a guy who once knew nothing about blogging or how to start a website, huh?
I love running this blog. It’s hard for me to consider doing anything different.
Growing Pains
As this blog has evolved, so has the maintenance of keeping the blog going. If you run a blog, you get it. If you don’t, let’s just say that there are hours and hours AND HOURS of work going on behind the scenes to keep this blog running.
Writing new content is just a fraction of all the time I spend managing this site. Wanting to put out more great content and help more people, I knew I had to bring on help. That help is Kevin Mulligan.
Kevin has been working behind the scenes with me on this blog for over a year. I just asked Kevin to become an official contributor and editor of this site. His duties will include providing content, managing the editorial calendar, and correcting all my typos. Pray for Kevin. He’s about to have A LOT on his hands.
What about my role? My goal is bringing on Kevin officially is so that I’ll have more time to do what I do best: put out solid content. I want more time to write, do videos, create courses, start a podcast and more. So much more! Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.
To kick off Kevin’s new role, I thought it would be good to give him a formal introduction. Here’s a quick Q&A with my new official contributor. Welcome Kevin…..
It will be 9 years ago this November that I had the honor of walking my wife down the aisle. Our first wedding (Yes, we had two. More on that in a bit…) didn’t cost close to the $28,000 that the post title references.
When I hear stories of these elaborate weddings that cost tens of thousands of dollars, I don’t get it. Why?
So the question remains: How much does a wedding cost? And probably more important, “should” cost.
I’ve tasked Miranda to do some research. Be sure to check out my story in the middle of the post that talks about why I got married to the same woman twice.
When I think about all the clients that I have worked with over the years, the ones that successfully retired all followed these all too familiar pieces of financial advice:
Spend less than you earn
Save and/or invest money for your future.
But if it’s that simple, why on earth are there countless books, blogs (like mine), forums, experts, conferences, classes, podcasts, and television shows on the subject of finance?
Shouldn’t we all have been able to master those two simple financial points by now?
Well, to quote Morpheus, one of my favorite movie wise men,
“There’s a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path.”
In Neo’s case, that difference meant finally believing he was capable of stopping bullets in mid-air, which is pretty kick-ass. [click to continue…]
Air conditioners break, kids need braces, and dogs need heart worm medication.
When the unexpected occurs and you suddenly find yourself in a cash needy situation, one place that investors are tempted to raid is their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA’s).
If you don’t have a 401k that you can borrow from, your credit cards are tapped, and your emergency fund is in need of just that -an emergency, then tapping your IRA might be the only option.
This is a last resort, especially if you haven’t reached the age of 59 1/2. Did you know, however, that there are ways that you can withdrawal your IRA without penalty?
Yes, that’s right. Uncle Sam was generous to allow you to touch your IRA under special circumstances. If you need the money for one of these reasons, then you might be in luck. [click to continue…]
If your parents are retired or nearing retirement and concerned about their finances, they might float the idea of getting a reverse mortgage past you.
After all, in that commercial, that nice man from Law & Order says that it’s a great way to get supplemental income in retirement.
Unfortunately, there is a great deal that the commercial leaves out.
And these issues are something that the reverse mortgage holder’s family—that is, you—will likely have to deal with.
After all, your parents aren’t getting any younger.
Here is the breakdown of what those in the Sandwich Generation need to know about reverse mortgage disadvantages—before Mom and Dad sign on the dotted line: [click to continue…]
The next credit card statement arrives in your mailbox and you get sick knowing what’s inside. You begin to ask yourself when you let it all slip away.
