Recently, I paid off my car loan a little over a year early. I had a couple people ask me why I made that choice. After all, it was going to lower my credit score, right? So wasn't it worth it to keep the low rate and invest that money? What Happens When You Pay Off a Loan? When you pay off a loan, obviously, you no longer owe money on that debt. You reduce the amount of money you have to pay every month. Your credit score may drop when … [Read more...]
Escape the Trap of Debt in a Sensible Way
Debt can be a trap. It can lead to desperate measures as a solution to the problem. If you find yourself in financial difficulties even though you are working and have a regular income you may resort to a number of different courses of action to relieve yourself of debt. Identifying the problem is a start but there are certainly solutions that you should not seek to rectify your situation. There are some good courses of action but first of all … [Read more...]
Life After Debt
The following is a guest post from Tisha Tolar. Ms. Tolar is a writer for DebtFreeDestiny.com, where she provides information about credit card consolidation, debt relief and how to get out of debt. For years many consumers have been in denial regarding their debt and personal finances. This was made easier by the almost guaranteed availability of credit to just about anyone with a job. Don't get me wrong, not every person in the country … [Read more...]
Content with Credit Card Debt?
The more I learn about personal finance and the more people that I talk to about money, the more I realize that I have grown up with a very atypical view of credit cards. I think that has helped me more than I ever knew. I have always been aware that people regularly carry balances on their credit cards and use cards to spend beyond their means. But I was unaware how many people are completely comfortable with this situation, and not only do … [Read more...]
Charity for Debt
A friend just pointed me to Charity for Debt, a program that is being piloted here in D.C. as well as in Dallas and Oklahoma City. The basic idea is that people with student loan debt can sign up and work at a non-profit and receive tax-free money towards their student loan in return, earning up to $20 an hour. It's an interesting premise. It requires between 6 and 10 hours of volunteering a week, so a volunteer could earn up to $200 a week … [Read more...]