Mighty Bargain Hunter

Welcome to a mid-September Carnival of Debt Reduction

September 15th, 2008 | by mbhunter |

No clever theme this week, just posts on debt reduction advice and personal debt reduction stories!

The original intent of the Carnival was to highlight people who were actively getting out of debt.  The four stories that fit the bill from my end are on the top.  Please visit those folks and offer some encouragement.

Personal debt reduction stories

• The Financial Wellness Project has debated long and hard about whether or not to raid her retirement account to pay off debt.  These are always tough questions.  The cost of early withdrawal from a retirement account is pretty steep.
• In Debt Because I Like Nice Things (ha, good title!) shares tales from the trenches and reminds us that debt repayment doesn’t happen overnight.
• Debt Reduction Formula relates their debt and credit rating to a leaky faucet.
• Paid Twice had a slight hiccup in her debt reduction progress, but doesn’t lose the lesson.

Debt reduction advice

• Fix My Personal Finance gives some advice on dealing with credit card debt.
• Personal Development questions whether college is worth all of the debt that might be incurred.  (I think this is a valid question.  There are much cheaper alternatives to a college education than the traditional route.)
• Taking Charge likens credit cards to Monopoly money.
• Ask Mr. Credit Card explains whether setting up a debt repayment plan will hurt your credit score or not.
• Broke Grad Student does a nice roundup for resources on paying back student loans.

Money posts ancillary to debt reduction (saving money, budgeting, etc.)

• Financial Learn runs through a 23-point checklist of recurring expenses that are possible money leaks.
• KCLau expounds on don’t spend.
• Not The Jet Set reviews the savings one can achieve by brown-bagging it.
• Quest to be Debt Free lists 25 free or low-cost entertainment ideas.
• Digerati Life says that buying used is a good way to spend less in order to reduce debt.
• American Consumer News gives a few tips for when the going gets tough.
• Discover Debt Freedom has some advice for saving at the grocery store.
• Money Answer Guy rattles off important financial lessons he has to teach.
• Destroy Debt deals with the money drip of school fundraisers.  (They show up at work all the time.)
• The Smarter Wallet dishes out some cheap dining tips.
• Money Ning shares the lessons he learned when he really cut back on his expenses as an experiment.

Thanks for reading!  Next week No Debt Plan will host.

Questions tagged savings at Cash Commons:

• Automated Savings
• Should I pay down my debt of try to build an emergency fund in savings?
• What's the purpose of a mortgage offset account?