Dancing w/ Debt

Dancing w/ Debt   

Money is so fraught w/ emotion.  Marriages work or don't, families become enemies, and friendships are broken because people fail to get how important are their feelings about money.  It is a rare individual who feels satisfied w/ the amount of money he or she has amassed, and financial matters control so much of our lives: where we go to school, where we live, who we marry, etc.

One of the purposes of this blog is to help you get control of your financial life, but I want to stress that in my opinion, the success of your life does not depend on how much money you make.  Money is a tool.  It's what you do with it that matters,

One of my favorite expressions is, "Fail to plan, plan to fail."  Control is a basic human desire. If you do not plan, you are giving away your ability to control.  We must take responsibility for our lives, or else give away the right to control them.  We can't have it both ways!

So with this in mind, let's talk about reducing your debt.  As you know, easy credit is a thing of the past, but that doesn't stop credit companies from trying to dangle the credit carrot in front of us.  Seriously, it's time to fight back.

First, call all of your credit card companies and tell them that you are going to reduce your debt.  Find out the percentage rate you are paying on each balance and ask if it can be reduced.  When you have gathered all the rates, pay the minimums on all but the highest rate.  After you've paid your housing & utility costs, pay the most you can on the highest rate card.  Continue this until the first card is paid off, then move to the second highest interest rate until it is paid off, and so on.  After a few months of reliable bill paying, it wouldn't hurt to call back the companies and ask again if your rate can be reduced.

If you haven't already ruined your credit rating and you are receiving offers for balance transfers from the credit card companies, you can use this as a useful way to reduce your debt but there are some important things to watch.

Fees. It can be anywhere from 1% to 5% or more. It will be added to your first month's bill and obviously it makes a big difference.  Hold out for the lowest possible fee.   I currently have 0% balance transfer deals w/ BankofAmerica @ 1% and CapitolOne @ 2%

Length of time: the longer the better.  Watch carefully when the promo offer expires because the interest rate goes sky high.  The expiration date is listed on the bill, but they don't make it obvious.  If you find yourself approaching the cut off date and you haven't paid back the balance, consult your computer and find another 0% balance transfer offer with low fees and a lengthy pay back period.  Keep in mind that balance transfer offers cannot be used on cards issued by the same bank.

Of course, it goes without saying that you must stop spending money you do not have.  I recommend cutting up the highest interest credit card and paying cash.  Or use a debit card so you cannot spend what you do not have.  Hang in there and breathe!  You didn't get into debt overnight, nor will you get out of it tomorrow, but with discipline you will improve your relationship w/ money so that you control it, instead of the other way around.

Time 4 a trade in

I'm the type of person who believes in buying a reliable car, doing only essential maintenance, and driving it into the ground.  I've owned several cars - one at a time, of course - with more than 100,000 miles on them. My current car has only 62,000 miles on it, but it is more than 10 years old.

So it shouldn't surprise you that until a few weeks ago, I was using what I called my 100,000 mile computer. I bought it in 2006, doubled its memory about 4 years ago and used it lovingly every day.

Then Microsoft announced it was no longer going to update Windows XP.  So much has been written about this by techies so much more savvy than I.  So I won't bore you w/ what you hopefully already know.  I'll just state the obvious;  don't go on the internet via an XP operating system.

If you have tons of documents, as I do, on an XP system, you can still access them by hooking up a printer offline or copying them to a thumbdrive.  I've been using a laptop I found on the street - no kidding - and had refurbished w/Windows 7 for $250 a few years ago.  If your old computer can handle it, you can buy an updated operating system.  But seriously, don't go on the internet w/ XP.

Old Friends

I had a whirlwind weekend.  Yesterday, my old friends and colleagues from ABC Network Radio, where I worked in the early 80's got together for a fantastic Reunion.  This was my first "real" job and so many of us have lingering warm feelings about it.  My hat is off to Ted David, who some of you may remember from the early days of CNBC.  He did an amazing job of pulling the whole party together.  Thank you.

Walk MS

Then, today, I did my small part in the fight against Multiple Sclerosis by doing WalkMS.  It makes me feel good to give back.  If you would like to make a small donation to an extremely worthy cause, please visit

 WalkMS

If you enjoyed this blog, please forward it to a friend.  I'm very interested in what you think, and if you sign up as a follower of the blog, you can leave a comment and I promise to reply!  Thank you!

Keep calm & carry on...Lori Bores