The Carnival of Debt Reduction: As Suze Orman might do it (if she did carnivals, anyway, instead of things like the Oprah show!):

Quotes from Suze Orman’s book, “Young Broke and Fabulous”:

Listen, I know dealing with money, especially the lack of money, may not necessarily be high on the list of priorities.  But something motivated you and brought you to this page…

Laura, from No More Spending, has made the commitment to getting out of debt, and shares her story in  Tunnel Vision, Focus, Going Gazelle, anything will do, just get out of debt

Heidi presents A Penny Saved is More than a Penny Earned! posted at Little People Wealth.

Ashley from the Wide Open Wallet shares Debt Reduction for 2008, a snapshot of how much she’s paid and how much of those payments went to principal and how much went to interest.

Jennifer Derrick presents Financial Regrets From This Past Year and What I’ll Do Differently In ‘09 posted at Saving Advice.

Young people have the greatest asset of all on their side – time.

Deposit Accounts teaches us that Learning to Live on 70% of Your Income posted at Deposit Accounts, is a great way to find money to repay debts or invest.

Tom Tessin presents How People Cut Out Debt posted at FSC Blog.

MoneyNing presents Do You Switch “Frugal Mode” On When You Come Back from Vacation? posted at Personal Finance Blog by Money Ning.

Tristan presents When Should I Change Mortgage Lender? posted at Debt Consolidation Quote.

Carson Brackney of Personal Finance Analyst asks the common question, Investing vs. Paying Down Debt – Which Way Should You Go?

Broke is: paying your rent with a cash advance from your credit card.

Debt Freedom Fighter presents 3 Methods to Discover the Best Company For Credit Card Debt Relief posted at Discover Debt Freedom.

David presents Keep Emergency Fund Or Pay Off 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card? | My Two Dollars posted at My Two Dollars.

apply4-credit presents 5 Secrets the Credit Card Companies Don’t Want You to Know posted at Apply4-Credit.

Bob at Christian Finances was surprised to find They cancelled his credit card because he has good credit and his account was in good standing.

Broke is: treating credit card bills like kryptonite – you don’t open them because you’re afraid they will destroy you.

Debt Free Destiny presents Bankruptcy Has Far Reaching Effects on Your Life posted at Debt Free Destiny.

Sam presents Things to check when looking for credit card posted at Fix My Personal Finance.

Curtis from Money $ Liberty talks about paying off debt, in Ah, the catharsis of paying off large swaths of debt.

You know what you need? You need advice that deals with your reality.  A set of solutions for the problems you have.

Matt Caldwell presents 5 Reasons to Track Your Expenses posted at 15minutestoriches.com.

Jessica Karels presents How to Eliminate Your Debt (Without Spending More) posted at Words of the Shadow’s Kin.

FMF presents Free Money Finance: What to Do When Relatives Ask for Loans posted at Free Money Finance.

MoneyNing presents Do You Switch “Frugal Mode” On When You Come Back from Vacation? posted at Personal Finance Blog by Money Ning.

J. Money presents Today’s the last day to grab those Charity tax write-offs! posted at Budgets are Sexy..

DianeDean presents Where To Make Your 1040-ES Payments;Addresses posted at Need IRS Help?.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Best Coupon Sites For Online Shoppers posted at The Digerati Life. Lower your debt by finding the best coupon sites to use before doing any spending or shopping!

The Smarter Wallet presents Going Shopping? Avoid The Layaway Plan posted at The Smarter Wallet.

You know what else you need?  You need a plan. You need to believe you can make it way past broke and come within reach of the dreams and goals that are yours to achieve.

Trisha Wagner from Empowering Mom Blog wonders Are You Waiting for Your Ship to Come in? and wants you to stop waiting for tomorrow to make your dreams a reality… you never know if tomorrow will actually come.

Destroy Debt gives you the steps you need to Make Your Own Debt Reduction Plan.

Scott Crawford presents DebtGoal
9 Steps to Achieve New Year’s Debt Reduction Goals posted at DebtGoal.

KCLau presents Redefine Retirement: Lifestyle Design of the New Rich posted at KCLau’s Money Tips.

NCN at No Credit Needed helps motivate us all to reach that debt free lifestyle, with 20 Things That Rock About Being Debt  Free

The Carnival of Debt Reduction (Like Suze Orman Would Do) was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Don’t Take Money Out of Your 401K Account Early!  A large number of people are taking money from their 401K accounts because they’re “losing” money in them.  While you may be watching the numbers go down, the market will recover eventually.  Taking money out early results in high penalty fees as well as having to pay income tax on that money at tax time.  If you really don’t trust your 401K account will recover before it’s time for you to retire – you should at least be considering moving the money into another approved investment that won’t cost you the early withdrawal penalty – just keep in mind, if your employer matches your contributions, you will miss out on that “free money”.

Save Money the Old Fashioned Way.  Even though things are tight, you want to continue to save money.  Banks are insured by the government up to a certain amount (typically $100,000).  If you aren’t confident in the stock market or other investments at this time, take the safe route and save money in a traditional bank or even in a jar at home (but you give up even the small percentage you could be earning in a traditional bank; or the 3-4% you could earn on your money with an online bank).  Just be sure to be setting money aside.

Reduce Your Living Expenses.  Use less water, turn the heat down, buy groceries on sale, cut back on your entertainment expenses.  Skip things you don’t really need and apply that money to paying off debt or savings.  Now is the time to reduce expenses so the money you’re earning can be put to better use and go further.  Avoid using credit cards at all costs, and concentrate on learning to live within your means.

Work Hard to Eliminate Debt. Whether you are concerned you may lose your job or have faith in your job security, it’s a good time to establish a plan to getting out of debt – once and for all!  Try the Pyramid or snowball method to get out of debt.  If your credit is good, consolidating with a loan may be a good option for you.

It’s never in anyone’s best interest to panic, but with all that’s happening in the financial world it’s a good idea to take some action and put yourself in the best possible financial position.

Never a Better Time to Become Frugal was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Being in debt, no matter how deep or how recent, is not the end of the world. The key is to attack the debt head on. For this you need to start with a plan. The first step of such a plan is to collect all of your bills at the same time and analyze what is going on with your account. On a piece of paper, write down the name of the account, the total balance due, the minimum payment due each month, and the amount of the interest rate charged. Make certain you have included all of your bills. Ordering a copy of your credit report can help to ensure you have included all of your debt and can help you understand the exact nature of your personal financial situation.

After you have listed your debt obligations, look over your list and determine which of the accounts charge the highest interest rates. Number each account according to the interest rate charged. For instance, the account with the highest interest rate should be listed as number one, and so on down the list.

Once you have created your list of debt, start working on your budget. Total up all your sources of expendable income and develop a budget for a month. Be sure to include daily living expenses and the like. Your priority will be to pay off the bill with the highest interest rate first, despite the remaining balances. Many people make the mistake of paying off the accounts with the highest balances instead of the highest interest and find they never get anywhere.

When creating your plan of attack on the high-interest accounts, figure out how to make payments that are double or triple the minimum payment required until the account is paid in full. As one account gets paid in full, take that payment and move it to the next high interest account. Continue on this payment plan until your accounts are paid off and current. You should find that it becomes less difficult to deal with overwhelming debt once you establish a cycle of budgeting and payment plans. If you find you can not afford to double up on payments and still live an adequate lifestyle, you may want to consider finding new employment with a higher pay rate or perhaps take on a second job and dedicate those funds to paying down your debt.

Pay Attention to Your High Interest Not High Balance was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

• Destroy Debt offers some pointers for spending less to free up available income.
• Discover Debt Freedom offers Record Breaking Debt: How did We Get This Way and How Do We Get Out
• A Dollar a Day asks are you ready for a disaster?
• No Debt Plan writes 10 Steps to Avoid Becoming a Millionaire

The Carnival of Personal Finance #152 Ready to Go was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

While most get-out-of-debt plans have you start paying on your highest interest accounts first, based on the theory that you don’t want to pay them all of that interest- the snowball method is a little out of the ordinary as it doesn’t even pay much attention to your interest rates.

What you need to do first is make a list of all of your credit card accounts and loans, utilities, and living expenses.  Anything that you pay on each month, make sure you put it on your list.  Don’t put them in any particular order, just make sure you write everything down.  Include the account name, the total amount you owe, and the amount of minimum payment required each month.

You also need to know how much income you have each month.  You want to know your after-tax, after-insurance, after-all-deductions amount.  The actual cash you have access to each month!   From your income, go ahead and subtract your living expenses (rent, mortgage, electric, heat, etc).  What is left?  This amount is what you have available for paying credit cards and loans.

Re-organize your expense list with your credit cards and loans.  This time, put them in order with the account you owe the LEAST at the top, and write them in ascending order like this:

You are going to pay the minimum payment on each of your accounts except for the first account on the list.  On that account, you’re going to send as much as you have, every month, until it is completely paid off.  So if after paying your living expenses and minimum payments on the other accounts you have $70 left, that is how much you will send every month until that account is paid off. 

When the first account is paid off, you will add that $70 to the account that is second on the list.  So if the minimum payment on account 2 was $20, now you will be sending them $90 a month, every month, until it’s completely paid off.

When that account has been paid, you now have $90 a month that can be added to the minimum payment of account 3.  See how your payment amount is getting larger, like a snowball rolling down the hill? You didn’t need a raise or lottery winnings to make your payments bigger, you just needed discipline and a plan!  Your accounts will get paid off very quickly if you stick to this plan, and avoid creating new debt as you’re paying down on your exiting debt.

Snowballing Debt: How to Make Bigger Payments To Your Creditors Without Making More Money was created by and is property of American Consumer News.