Jane, 28, is an events executive who earns $48,000 a year and is a spender. Gary, 35, is an IT analyst who earns $56,000 a year, but is a planner. They have no children.

Monthly Expenditure

Mortgage $600

Bills $800

Entertainment $1,200

Debts $30,000

Shopping $2,000 (Jane); $1,000 (Gary)

Savings $200 (Jane’s monthly savings policy); $1,100 (Gary)

Jane Says “I’ve always been pampered by my parents, who provided for all my wants. I believe money is earned to be spent. I think it’s okay to reward myself with designer clothes and accessories because I work hard at my job. Money is not everything in life, so I might as well use it to make myself happy.”

Gary Says “I hate being in debt, so I would like to clear it as soon as possible. After that, i would like to pursue a Master’s degree. But Jane’s spending means I have to contribute more to the household expenses and cut back on our savings.”

Expert’s Advice “The most urgent task for Jane and Gary now is to repay the $30,000 debt. The couple should decide how long they want to take to clear the amount. A good time frame is two years, so the couple have to make a monthly payment of $1,250. So they may need to cut down on their entertainment expenses.”

After researching on different unique gift ideas, I have come to believe that a unique gift would have the following characteristics: significant and meaningful to the person receiving the gift; personalized and unique; brings surprises to the person; beautiful and have artistic value; affordable but looks expensive.

Franklin produces a wide variety of binders by size, price, function and a broad array of materials; Franklin has the binder you want.

This is a good combination. I just moved to a palm and found it hard to move from complete paper to the palm.

Now I can keep up with note taking and enter them later. This also has slots for credit cards and paper. It a great item for a business professional.

I’ll admit the use of the palm is supposed to lessen or negate the paper amount. There is still use for paper, I never lose my notes.

All binders manufactured by Franklin feature quality, durability and excellent design. Franklin binders protect your Palm from dust and scratches.

Although it can seem impossible, there are ways out of credit card debt, and if you want it to happen then you can begin getting out of debt today.

There are a bunch of ways and systems that people use to get out of credit card debt. I highly recommend Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt to anyone who carries a balance on his or her credit cards or anyone who wants to gain skill in negotiating with a credit card bank to reduce interest rates or eliminate fees.

Learning how to talk your way out of credit card debt is the quickest, easiest, and most efficient way to start saving money!

It’s true! You can call your credit card banks to negotiate a better interest rate and have fees waived!

However, it may not be as easy as picking up the phone and asking. That’s because bank representatives are trained to deter you from pursuing the deals you deserve. Overcoming their tactics can be difficult when you don’t know what to expect.

Scott Bilker, author of Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt, and creator of DebtSmart.com, has spent 10+ years making banks compete for his business.

Now, he’s sharing his personal phone calls to banks that saved more than $43,000 for himself, his family, and friends! These 52 phone calls, out of the hundreds he has made, demonstrate exactly what worked, what didn’t, and why. In each call transcript, for anonymity, banks have been renamed as dog breeds and their reps as bugs.

In this book you will discover proven negotiation strategies, and build your confidence, while learning how to:

1. Get annual fees waived;

2. Lower your current interest rates;

3. Shop for the best credit card deals;

4. Get late-payment, overlimit, and cash-advance fees waived;

5. Compare loan options and calculate savings;

6. Dispute charges and get all your refunds;

7. Negotiate account settlements; and much more!

Christmas is a time of giving and sharing, not of outrageous spending. It is very easy to get caught up in the holiday season, but you really need to be realistic about your spending habits this time of year.

Christmas spending doesn’t have to mean an increase in your debt load. Don’t fall for those buy it now and pay for it later options as you could find you still owe money for Christmas gifts in the spring the following year.

With some planning and saving, you can avoid using your credit cards at all for holiday shopping. This is important because you won’t have to pay for interest on the items you have purchased. You also will have those credit cards available in the event that any type of emergency situation comes up in the future. Read more »

I like this book because it is full of practical and simple steps anyone can take to realize their dream of being debt-free.

You will learn proven results that will teach you how to look beyond your current situation, and see a vision to get debt free for yourself.

There are few easier steps to take in order to eliminate debt forever.

“If I could do it,” Sharman says, “I know tons of other people out there can too — equipped with the right information and the strategies found in 12 Steps to Eliminate Debt Forever.

The fact that Sharman and her husband have already paid off their mortgage is evidence enough that she has earned the right to speak on this subject.

Clear, concise, and easy to understand. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to be free from debt.

Financial freedom is available to everyone. Financial freedom isn’t based on who we know or how much money we make. It is a result of a change in our thoughts and habits regarding our hard-earned money.

Living debt free is not just for the rich and famous! In 1995, Sharman and her husband got a vision to pay off all their debt, including their mortgage, in five years.

After accomplishing that monumental goal in 1999, she was inspired to reach out and help others who are struggling financially and living paycheck to paycheck.

Catch the vision. Live debt free! Living debt free is a lifestyle and philosophy that anyone can choose to implement in his or her current situation using his or her current income.

Sharman lives what she teaches! The simple changes her book recommends translate into dramatic life-changing freedom for those willing to take on the challenge.

Unlike most purchases, a college education appreciates in value instead of depreciating. Despite college cost increases, a college education remains an affordable choice for most families.

With tuition fees climbing up yearly, it is better to have a sound financial plan so that it would not be difficult for you to send your kids off to college when they grow up. Aside from the cash that you have saved yourself, here are the top 3 sources that can help you get your kids through college:

1. Scholarship grants
2. Part-time jobs
3. Financial aids

These are good alternative sources for your children to start off on their college education.

But as a parent, you would not want to fall in those long lines for financial aid or let your child work himself to death just to have money for tuition and other expenses. Read more »

In the past few years, teenagers have earned billions of dollars with part-time and summer jobs. Summer jobs pay well and help teens save money. American teens are wealthier and work harder than before, but not all of their interests center on clothes, music, and movies. Around 30% of working teens save money in order to go to college.

Kids these days are becoming more and more aware of their family’s source of income and financial status. They apply these money-spending principles when they venture out on their own.

Thus, it becomes more of a parent’s responsibility to start “training” their teenage kids to use their money wisely.

Here are some ways on how you, as a parent, can teach your teens to save those hard-earned bucks:

1. Lead by Example. With your lifestyle, the children will see how you spend your money.

If they see you allotting a certain amount for a specific household need, they will eventually do the same when they get to earn their own keep.

2. Help Your Teens Get a Bank Account. Establishing a bank account under their name would give them an instant financial responsibility.

Sit down and explain to them how to manage their own account, and the “rewards” that they get once they save enough.

Their savings could go to their college tuition, or a big purchase like a car.

Additionally, it gives them a sense of accomplishment once they have saved up, with something concrete to show for it.

You may check out the special benefits that banks offer for teens who open their accounts at such an early age.

3. Construct a “Spending Plan”. Once they hear the word ‘budget’, teens tend to cringe at the mere thought of having to restrict the spending of their money.

Instead, you and your teen son or daughter could build a “spending plan”. This would get them excited, and think of ways on how they can wisely spend their savings.

Also, have them list down their earnings versus their expenses.

Let them know the difference between the items that they need and the luxury items that they want, which they can actually do without.

4. Make a “Mock” Investment in the Stock Market. Make them aware of the options that they have financially.

Casually introduce to them the business part of your daily newspapers and have them make “mock” investments for companies who manufactures products that they like.

Monitor the stocks together and this would give them another option of investing their money in the future.

Those who fail to use a family budget often end up with family problems and worse yet, devastating financial losses, all of which could have been prevented with a bit of planning.

Like diets, many of us have started on family budget only to see it wither away with time. Budgeting requires a commitment to ongoing tracking, analysis and implementation of frugal alternatives.

For some, the idea of a budget is often a blur. So budgeting is a chore people put off indefinitely. It is frustrating to see how hard it is to do a budget and realizing that with one wrong purchase, you can actually ruin the entire thing. And this has been a perennial headache for most homemakers. Read more »

If you have 5 figures in your accounts and you want to manage account transfers buy something else. If you can’t figure out why you are living paycheck to paycheck BUY YNAB !

If you want to stop living paycheck to paycheck and really get a handle on your day to day finances, this is the program for you. You will finally see where your money is going and learn to live within your means.

The software is built around Four Rules of Cash Flow. These Four Rules will help you maximize the value of every dollar, get out of debt, save for retirement, and reach your other financial goals.

It comes with free upgrades and amazing customer support. It is a piece of software that changes how you handle money completely.

It takes all the temptations away from spending every penny by assigning jobs to every dollar.

Experience has shown that when your budget is intact, and functioning correctly, everything else takes care of itself (the bills are paid on time, retirement contributions are made, and unnecessary debt is eliminated).

Be sure and read the setup guide and visit the support forums at youneedabudget.com

Bankruptcy is a process where people who cannot pay their debts give up their assets and control of their finances, either by agreement or court order, in exchange for protection from legal action by their creditors.

Half the 160,000 bankrupts in the country cannot be traced by the Insolvency Department. This means they will have a good chance of getting away with their debts. Bankrupts who cannot be traced will eventually be discharged from bankruptcy.

A discharge wipes the slate clean for the debtor and leaves creditors with a debt that can never be recovered. The problem concerns mainly old cases of bankruptcy, in which identity card details were not available.

Prior to 1992, petitioners were not required to include the debtor’s IC details. So, when the bankruptcy file was handed over to the department for us to administer, it was very difficult for us to trace the bankrupt.

Debtors who still held on to the old blue IC and had not changed to the new IC were also difficult to trace, since their addresses were not updated.

Although creditors are supposed to ensure that debtors are present in court when they file a petition to have the debtor made bankrupt, in 90 per cent of cases, the debtors are not present.

A lot of times, the debtor would not know that he had been declared bankrupt until he has to fly overseas, and then gets stuck at the airport, because Immigration wouldn’t let him leave the country.

Creditors’ petitions make up 95 per cent of all bankruptcy petitions. Only five per cent of petitions are the debtor’s own petitions, whereby the debtor self-declares bankruptcy.

As a result, it becomes incumbent on the Insolvency Department to trace the debtor and serve the bankruptcy order on him to inform him of his status.

While trying to trace the bankrupts, the department will send a “First Letter” to various departments and bodies — including banks, the Immigration Department, Road Transport Department and Inland Revenue Board — to freeze all their accounts and red-flag their bankruptcy status to these departments.

However, if the Insolvency Department is still unable to trace the bankrupts, it will apply to the courts to have the bankrupt discharged, so that the department can be released from having to administer the bankrupt.