401k’s and Anything Goes

loser

During the last few years of economic upheaval, some people have begin to return to a more sensible way of dealing with their financial situation.  The last few decades have seen the American public give themselves over to the “anything goes” mentality of personal finance by taking on unprecedented levels of debt, which has come back to kick them in the tail over the last few years. Lately though, some stats have been showing that more and more of us have finally started to wake up from our “anything goes” hangover and have begun to pay down our debts substantially.  [...] Read more »

Getting Out of Debt is About Challenging Yourself

MUDWARRIOR_FIREJUMP

There are a lot of things that go into getting out of debt. You’ve got to spend less than you make, put some effort into tracking your income and expenses, and perhaps the most important thing is to change your financial behavior. With that said, something I find to be extremely helpful is taking myself out of my comfort zone in the name of reaching my goals. This can be a hard thing to do but challenging yourself to do what you don’t want to or think you can’t do is great for finding out who you really are. I [...] Read more »

Uncle Sam Wants to Know: Did You Have Debt Forgiven?

uncle sam

April 15th is right around the corner and that means, it’s time to pay up. For many Americans 2011 was another year of unemployment, rising costs, and underwater mortgages. In fact according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Americans owe a combined $11.5 trillion on credit cards, car loans, mortgages and other consumer debt. So in a desperate attempt to keep their finances afloat many have turned to settling their debts. Settling a debt is certainly damaging to your credit, but to make matters worse, Uncle Sam wants his take as well. If you have a debt forgiven [...] Read more »

When Should You Give Up?

Photo from Flickr by Brian Carlson, Houston, Texas

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about difficult situations. When is enough enough? How do you know when you should just focus your energy elsewhere? Sometimes life can really make you feel like you are beating your head against a brick wall. A lot of the articles on Enemy of Debt talk about persevering. However, there may be times when it is a smarter financial move to just give up. Here are some financial examples of when you might want to say, “Enough!” Making payments on something that isn’t worth it This could be a house, car, or something else. [...] Read more »

The Not-So-Pretty Story of Paying Off My Debt

debtpayoff

Hundreds of people emailed, commented, tweeted and direct messaged me after this post asking to hear more of my story. The number one question: How did you do it? How did you pay off $571,817.68 in less than 3 years? The answer to paying off debt is pretty simple. Stop using credit. Earn more than you spend. Use the extra earnings to pay off debt. It’s not romantic. It’s not complicated. It’s actually very straight forward. I, however, do not typically do things the easy or simple way. In hindsight, I can see that the first year of my “debt [...] Read more »

Debt Free News #22 – Bobbie Bushman

Debt Free News 22

Happy Monday everyone! Today I thought I would share another Debt Free Story with you. It’s been a while and this series has become very popular so I hope you enjoy this one. This Debt Free News edition is actually one of my favorites. Not because previous debt free stories are any less exciting but because it so closely resembles my story. When we were plagued with debt we both worked our tails off and in the very beginning of our marriage we spent more time with our co-workers than we did with each other. We passed each other at [...] Read more »

The Power of One Small Step

debtsucks

A wise man once made me a shirt that says, “Debt Sucks!” And you know what, it sure does. It sucks the energy out of your body. It sucks the fun out of your life. And it sucks the money right out of your budget. Finding the courage and will power to make a change with your finances usually comes at a moment of frustration and depression. My own moment came when I was at, what felt like, the lowest point in my life. I was unemployed, living with my mother, 2 years post divorce, broke, in debt and without [...] Read more »

Battle of the Sexes, Over Debt?

mom & kids

In today’s world women are no longer “just staying home” to raise their children. I say “just staying home” as anyone that is a stay at home parent knows that raising children is one of the most difficult jobs you will ever have. Many women are both working full-time and raising their children out of necessity for their family. Whether you are married with kids, divorced with kids or widowed with kids it’s a tough dual role to play, for either parent. As a divorced single mom I know the challenges of going it alone and the debt that goes [...] Read more »