Budget

How to Avoid Debt for Christmas

avoid debt for christmas

All I want for Christmas is You

Ahh Christmas is almost here.  Christmas season is the best time of the year for many, but it could also be one of the most stressful times for people who are in debt and can’t afford to buy gifts.

There is just so much pressure put on us to buy everybody and their mother a little something something for Christmas.  If you don’t, then you are just like Ebenezer Scrooge.

The pressure comes from everywhere.  There are countless Christmas commercials telling you what you should buy, there’s Christmas music everywhere (doesn’t tell you to buy stuff, but it reminds you two months in advance that it is Christmas season and that you should start getting ready), and there are also those who keep asking, “What are you getting [INSERT NAME] for Christmas?”  It is not even November yet!

Don’t get me wrong.  I love Christmas.  It is a time to get together with your family and loved ones.  Everybody seems to be happy – maybe tired of the Christmas songs, but happy – some of us gets a little break from work, and we get gifts.

Yes, I like gifts too.  The problem I have is when people get into debt just to buy somebody else a gift.

The Best Way to Pay Off Debt

best way to pay off debt

Photo Credit: StockMonkeys.com

Getting into debt is very easy.  Just start buying stuff with your credit card and don’t pay it off each month.  But getting out of debt is very difficult.

The average American family with at least one credit card has around $16,000 in credit card debt (2012 data).  Many of these families are trying to erase that debt but are having a hard time accomplishing that.  There might be many different reasons why this is so, but one of those reasons might be that they’re not approaching it the right way.

Read more at ComLuv.com

4 Ways to Replace Cable and Save Money

replace cable

Cut the cord, man.

Okay let’s admit it.  We’re TV addicts.

The average American watches 5 hours of TV per day, according to a report from Nielsen.  Five hours a day!  That’s a lot of TV watching.  But that’s understandable, I mean how else are you going to keep up with the entire Kardashian family?

But just because we are addicted to TV doesn’t mean we have to pay over $100 a month to watch our favorite shows.  And $100 is a low number.  It is estimated that the average price of cable TV will hit $123 a month next year.  That’s $1,476 a year!

I’m not suggesting you stop watching TV – I watch more TV than I’d like to admit – all I’m saying is that you should consider paying less for your services.

I haven’t had cable for over a year and I don’t miss it at all.  True, I have to wait a day to watch my favorite shows, but as long as nobody ruins it by telling me what happens, one day is not that long of a wait.  I’ve noticed that people nowadays are pretty good at not telling me what happened.  They usually ask, “Oh man, did you see it last night?”  No, and don’t say anything or I’ll karate chop you in your throat.

Anyways, below are a few ways you can replace cable and save money in the long run.

Living On Campus Costs More than Off Campus (Infographic)

living on campus

NJCU in ‘da house!

With the cost of higher education in the U.S. rising tremendously each year – over 500% since 1985 – it is no wonder students and parents get into so much student loan debt.  I mentioned that there are proposals being written to try and change that, but until those proposals are put in place, we have to deal with this price gouging if we want to get a college degree.

There are a few things we can do to avoid student loans, like 529 plans and working through college, but the fact remains that we still have to pay for tuition – unless we get a scholarship.

A college education is becoming more and more of a necessity.  Study after study has shown that people with a bachelor’s degree earn on average 66% more than people with only a high school diploma.

That being said, there are definitely ways to lower the cost of a college education. You could go to a in-state public school for example.  But even if you go to an out-of-state school, you could potentially save a lot of money by living off campus.

How To Track Your Spending

track your spending

Write it down!

The number one rule of wealth management is “Know where your money is going.”  Don’t look it up, it’s an unwritten rule.

Everybody knows how much money is coming in every month.  They just have to look at their paychecks.  But not everybody knows where all of that money is going.  Sure, they know about the big bills: rent/mortgage, student loan, car payment, utilities, phone, etc., but many don’t remember at the end of the month what they spent at the beginning of the month.

This causes them to always ask, “Where the hell did my money go?”

I certainly was one of these people.  Every month I used to ask myself the same two questions.  The question above and “What did I buy this month?”

I was really fed up with that routine so I decided to write down every single expense I made… I mean EVERYTHING.  After a month I looked back at my spending and was able to figure out where my money was really going.

Good Debt Vs. Bad Debt

Good Debt vs Bad Debt

All debt is bad… or is it?

Debt is such an integral part of our daily lives that most people think it is the only way to live.  I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve heard people say, “I will always have debt.”  This makes me sad because it doesn’t have to be so.  Debt is not necessary.

That being said, I’m not opposed to certain type of debt.  I would even go as far as saying that some debt is actually good debt.  Okay I take that back, no debt is good debt, but you could argue that some types of debt are not “as bad” as others.

Good Debt – a.k.a. A little better debt.

Good debt is debt that helps you build assets, helps you make more money, and/or increases your net worth.  Some examples of good debt include:

Home Loan – Okay, I personally don’t think that buying a house is a must, but I also don’t think that getting a loan to buy one is a bad idea either… as long as you can afford it.  The value of a house usually increases over time so a house is more of an investment than an expense.

You have to understand though, that the value of a house doesn’t always increase and there’s definitely the potential of losing money, so I wouldn’t advice you to purchase a house unless you are ready.  Meaning, you have a 20% down payment and an emergency fund of 6 months to 1 year worth of expenses in case something goes wrong.

Can’t Go To Philly and Not Run Up The Rocky Steps

Rocky Statue

Yo, Adrian. I did it!

As I mentioned in Part Two of our trip to Philly, we ended the night eating delicious food while watching a free showing of an opera in front of Independence Hall.  I’m sure we weren’t allowed to sleep on the lawn so we headed over to our hotel.

Usually we use AirBnB for our accommodations, but we couldn’t really find anything that would suit our needs.  We were three heads so we needed two beds and I wasn’t going to pay $200 for one of us to sleep on a sofa bed.  This forced us to go to a hotel and the cheapest room we found – with good reviews – was $124 for two double beds and breakfast.  Not bad, since that came to about $41 a person.

The room was nice, but nothing fancy.  You know, it was a hotel room.  The breakfast? The same hotel breakfast you get everywhere.

We checked out after breakfast and made our way to Ultimo Coffee Bar because we heard it was the best coffee in town.  Kate and I didn’t drink coffee because that’s not my thing and Kate was full from breakfast, but our friend KJM had a soy vanilla latte and she said it was delicious.

Our Trip To Philly – Part Two

Statue - Philly

People are Fancy in Philly

Monday, I started telling you about our trip to Philadelphia and about how much fun we had there.  We were only there for two days, but there’s so much to see and do that I couldn’t fit it all in one post.  I guess I could have, but nobody likes to read long posts… I sure don’t.

If you haven’t yet, please read Part One of our trip and then come back here, or you could go check it out after you read this.  You do what you want, I’m not the boss of you.

Anyhow, let me give you a quick recap on Part One.

  • Got free tickets to Independence Hall.
  • Saw the Liberty Bell (through a window).
  • Went to the Second Bank of The United States.
  • Went to the Benjamin Franklin Museum.
  • Ate a Cheesesteak… yum!

Our Trip To Philly – Part One

Love Sculpture - Philly

Love Everywhere

As I mentioned Friday, this weekend we went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – The City of Brotherly Love also known as Philly.  I was very excited to go because I had never been there and let me tell you, I was not disappointed.

Since we were there for only a couple of days, we were forced to do the touristy things and didn’t really have time to just hang out and feel like a local.  That was okay though because the tourist attractions are pretty cool.

There’s so much American history in Philly that you’ll leave with a better understanding of how America was founded – I know I did.

Frugal Dates: NYC High Line

High Line

NYC’s High Line

We’re all trying to save money and cut down on expenses to pay down debt, save up for a house, or reach early retirement.  But that doesn’t mean that we should cut all the fun from our lives and stay home all day like hermits.  We should go outside and enjoy the weather before it gets too cold and at least walk around to get some fresh air.

We try to go outside every weekend even if it just for a little while.  Sometimes we go to the park, or hiking, or even just take a walk around town.  Other times we like to go to New York City.

Many people automatically assume that New York City is one of the most expensive cities in the world, and that’s true in many aspects, but there are a lot of things you can do in New York without having to spend too much money.  One of these things is walk the New York City High Line.