Carnival of Debt Reduction: DAY ONE

Hi. Happy 2006. Welcome to the Carnival of Debt Reduction as hosted by the Frugal Duchess all this week!!! It's a great way to start the standard calendar/solar New Year!

With thanks to the MightyBargainhunter.com, I present the Carnival of Debt Reduction. Debt is an important subject and slicing down debt tops the 2006 agenda for many of us.

For the Carnival of Debt Reduction, I have some great submissions and I will be adding entries through the end of the day, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2006. So, if you have any ideas about reducing debt, drop me a note (sharonhr@bellsouth.net) or file a comment on this blog. I will continue to update the Carnival until 11:59 (EST) Jan. 7.

Thanks to those who have submitted ideas, examples and technical advice! Thanks to everyone for stopping by the carnival.

By the way, next week's Carnival of Debt will be hosted by Personal Finance Advice

And speaking of Personal Finance Advice, the developer of that site offers the following insights about debt reduction.

Debt and Motivation

Here is a quick summary of the article:

"One of the essential ingredients of debt reduction is finding a
motivating factor to tackle your debt."

Full article

"I received an email that asked what it takes to get out of debt. I
don't think there is an easy cookie cutter answer to this. Yes, it
means spending less than you're making and making payments toward the
debt. That's the simple answer, but what I've found is that for the
majority of those who pull themselves out of debt, they have embraced
a compelling reason to get out of debt.

There is more to overcoming debt than merely wanting it to go away and
knowing how to accomplish this. Before any debt reduction plan can
work, you will have to be committed to get out of debt. That is, you
have to find a reason that is more powerful than not doing anything at
all. Not doing anything at all may seem like a silly response, but
it's what most people do. While not doing anything may seem to be the
worst choice, the real life problem is that people have the imagine
that tackling debt takes a lot of time, effort and pain to accomplish.
The pain associated with being in debt has to conquer the pain they
imagine it will take to get out of debt.

Many of the people that contact me seem to be looking for a quick and
easy fix. They keep searching for a quick fix and don't do anything
while searching for it. While I don't believe getting out of debt has
to be as painful as many imagine, it does take dedication and a change
in current lifestyle.

How difficult this change will be depends heavily on how committed the
person is to getting out of debt. If they have truly made a
commitment, they'll find that saving more of the money they make is
actually quite simple (although it may take come practice). On the
other hand, if a person isn't fully committed to erase all their debt,
or they're simply searching for an easy way out with no effort
expended, they'll likely find the necessary steps to get out of debt
much more difficult, if not impossible.

What I think it comes down to for the vast majority of people is that
in order to be committed to reduce their debt, they have to find that
compelling reason that allows them to face the imagined pain the debt
reduction will cause. There has to be something that has finally made
them realize that the current state of affairs can't continue. It can
be as simple as realizing that their current budget isn't working or
as urgent as having creditors knocking at their door or telephoning
them at all hours of the day and night. The ultimate reason isn't near
as important as that whatever that reason is will compel the person to
tackle the debt. Once a person has a reason, they can use it to
motivate and to do what it takes to reduce the debt in a systematic
manner."

--
The Blog: http://www.pfadvice.com
The Website: http://www.savingadvice.com

CUTTING PMI COSTS FROM THE EARLY RISER


Title: Do you need to refinance to eliminate PMI?

Summary: The Early Riser give some advise on how to avoid and eliminate the useless expense of Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI).


Overview: Debt Reduction Blogs from the Mighty Bargain Hunter

Summary: "This is a brief discussion of four types of debt reduction blogs I've run across."


mbhunter from MightyBargainHunter.com )
Post title: About debt reduction blogs