Credit Resolutions for the New Year

One way to cut the sting of the post-holiday credit card bills is to set a new agenda when it comes to credit.  So consider the following ideas when setting your credit resolutions for 2007:

Set dates for getting your credit reports: Each year, you should check each of your credit reports from annualcreditreport.com directly.  You should spread out your requests, making requests quarterly so you can catch errors that might come up at different parts of the year and spot identity theft.

Get your credit score once a year: A credit score is a three-digit number that reflects the credit history detailed by a person’s credit report.  Go to www.myfico.com to retrieve your credit score once a year from one or all of the three credit bureaus.

Continue Reading Credit Resolutions for the New Year

Create a Visual Debt Reminder

Trent over at The Simple Dollar recently posted about how he uses a visual debt reminder to remind himself of his commitment to reduce his debt.

His visual debt reminder combines several elements including:

Inspiration – this could be your children, your spouse, or anything else that will inspire you to keep your commitment

Goal – this could be buying a new home, a new car, going on a fantasy vacation, etc.

Progress – to show how close you are to meeting your goal.

Motivational Movie – Debt Free at Last!

Paying Down Debt on Mom’s Money

I was recently interviewed by Carrie Lauth of Mom’s Money about paying down debt. On this show, we talked about the two most popular debt repayment plans – paying the highest interest debts first or paying the smallest balance debts first.

To listen, go to Mom’s Money and click on show #8.

To learn more about getting out of debt, please check out my new ebook, Living Debt Free .

The Fastest Way to Pay Off Debt

There’s some debate among financial planners as to the best way to pay down debt. Some say paying the highest interest rate debt first is the best way; others say paying the smallest balance first is the best way.

Both methods have advantages and disadvantages, so we’ll take a look at both, and help you decide which method is best for you.

Method #1 – Highest Interest Rate

In this method, you focus on paying off your highest interest rate debts first. The basic steps in this method include: