Steadfast Finances
A Personal Finance & Investing 101 blog that delves into current events, consumer education, and techniques to improve your bottom line.
‘Til Debt Do You Part: Should a Hidden Financial Past Stop the Wedding? Part Two
In the first part of this article series we discussed, or rather I expounded, on the problem of marrying someone who is irresponsible with money—should you or shouldn’t you go through with the wedding if your intended spouse is keeping or has kept financial secrets from you?
Getting Serious About Paying Off Your Mortgage
For most people, paying off a mortgage is not really a priority. Given the typical timeline of 20-30 years, it’s really hard to get excited at how big a dent an extra couple thousand dollars will make. Combined with the fact that most of us will sell that home long before we own it outright, [...]
What You Need To Know About Debt Relief
Being in debt can be incredibly stressful. The logistics of just trying to remember who you owe money to and when you have to pay them are enough to drive you crazy, but on top of that you have to deal with all of the uncertainty, fear, sacrifices, and damaged relationships.
‘Til Debt Do You Part: Should a Hidden Financial Past Stop the Wedding? Part One
Congratulations! You are endeavoring to step forward onto the path of lifelong love, commitment, and togetherness with someone you cannot live without. You’ve made the wedding plans, you’ve done the responsible thing and mapped out your five year plan in detail (savings, spending, investments, mortgage, and eventually kids), and now you’re as excited as punch to share your secure and detailed plan with your future spouse. You are so excited about what the future holds for you and your beloved one until you show them your brilliant financial plan and they turn as white as a sheet.
Debt Settlement vs. Debt Consolidation
Debt settlement and debt consolidation are among the top debt-reduction options for individuals who have more debt than they can handle. While both tracks can help you get out of debt, their approaches are very different.
Why Credit Cards are Attractive
Anyone who has been managing their finances for anytime knows that credit cards make consumer debt that much easier. It’s a simple fact that if you have the option to go into debt without truly knowing the harsh reality of having to dig yourself out of debt, you are likely to do just that – go into debt. It’s easy to get caught up in possessions and think that your life will be better with more stuff, even if you can’t afford it. Yet, credit cards offer many benefits that make them attractive.
What You Need to Know about Your Debt to Income Ratio
Have you ever heard of the term debt to income ratio? Although this term may not be as popular as the credit score, this is also something that lenders like to look at when evaluating their borrowers. This figure is important because it represents the cash flow of an individual. So, if you are planning to get a mortgage, it’s important for you to know what your debt to income ratio is so you can self-assess how well you qualify.
Thought Provoking Quotes about Debt and Paying Interest
As a self confessed quotes junkie, few things in life can change my thought process or motivate me to change my opinion more than a hard to forget quote. Not only are they fairly easy to remember and somewhat sexy to interject into everyday conversation, but in a small number of incidents, they can act [...]
Personal Finance Equations You Should Know: the Leverage Ratios
If you’re a believer in The Stuff You Own Ends Up Owning You philosophy, it’s only natural that you should spend a few minutes of every month actually calculating how much, if any, that you’re leveraged and how much of income goes solely to repay your debts. Yes, I know that for many, topics like [...]
Visualizing One Trillion Dollars and U.S. National Debt
One of the most jaw dropping, and completely depressing, animations of U.S. National Debt I’ve ever seen. Perhaps I’m overly melancholy after seeing that it would take 12 plus football fields of 100 dollar bills stacked 8 feet high to pay our national debt, but isn’t it just a little ironic that one of our [...]
10 Signs You Have a Debt Avoidance Problem
I drafted this article after spending two weeks of discussions with an old friend who finally acknowledged her debt was beginning to influence her behavior. By creating a budget and drawing up a plan to aggressively pay down her debt within 15 to 18 months, she now claims she can finally set down the guilt [...]
Debt Collector Scare Tactics Straight Out of Goodfellas
I’m all for repaying your debts and owning up to your responsibilities, but there are some situations when bad things happen and repaying what you owe isn’t a realistic possibility. If you happen to be in this unfortunate situation, let’s hope the debt collectors featured in this CNN report aren’t the sort of (Good)fellas calling [...]
