Debt Clubs and Money Groups

How much interest are you really paying on your credit card?

debtclub — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 03:30:37 +0000

Credit cards are like cell phones… we can’t imagine how we ever lived without them, but we sometimes wish we could get rid of them!

The one thing that so many of us do is to think we can’t do anything about our financial situation. This happens so often with credit cards… you get in deep and you can’t see a way out.

If someone offered to loan you $4000 and that it would cost you $2000 in interest charges, would you accept? Unfortunately most people pay it without even knowing it!

The average household carries about $4000 on their credit cards, paying 13% interest. To pay this off with the minimum monthly payment, it would take 2.5 years and cost almost $700 in interest.

$700 is a lot, but it gets worse. If you have a poor credit score, pay late, go over your limit, bounce a payment or even APPLY for a car loan or mortgage, many credit cards punish you and can increase your interest rate up to 28%!

At this rate, it would take over 3 years and cost over $2000 in interest! That’s highway robbery!

Next I’ll show you how to get out of this mess and make the credit card companies HELP YOU instead of helping themselves.

Get Inspired! See how others succeeded in paying down debt.

debtclub — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 01:41:55 +0000

Oprah’s show on Monday, January 22, 2007 featured a group of young friends who started a money group to pay down their debt and take control of their money. They call themselves the Smart Cookies and though they’re smart, the real difference between us and them is that they took action!

By meeting weekly and confessing their debt issues, they exposed themselves to criticism… but instead they got support. Each friend helped in their own way by providing tips and tricks for dealing with credit cards, spending less and learning how to earn more income.

Phoning each other for support in times of weakness (shopping malls), giving up unnecessary expenses, going back to school and contributing to savings helped each of them achieve their goals in one year!

Stories like these show that it doesn’t take a financial wizard to get you out of your mess. It takes desire and dedication. Would you rather wallow in debt or achieve financial freedom? The choice is yours.

So what is a Money Group aka Debt Club?

debtclub — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 01:44:43 +0000

A money group or debt club is a group of people who get together to talk about saving money, how to pay down debt and ways to increase their income. The point of a money group is much like any other club… getting like-minded people together who share common goals and interests. In this case it’s to get a handle on your finances!

Why would a debt club be helpful you ask? It’s about motivation and sharing! Not many people like to sit alone and crunch numbers… it gets too depressing. Get together with a bunch of friends however, and you’ve turned a chore into a social event with a purpose.

Money groups get people together to share tips on how they’ve saved money, how they found better interest rates, and tell real stories about reducing their dependency on credit cards.

They can be a real morale booster, especially when you realize that you’re not alone!

So how do you start one? What do you talk about? Stay tuned…

What does Oprah know about getting out of debt?

debtclub — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 21:29:35 +0000

You might think Oprah was born rich, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. She’s lived at every level, from dirt-poor to beyond-your-dreams rich. Her story is unique, and we can’t all hope to be as successful as her, but one thing she believes in strongly is that everybody has the power to change their own lives.

So how do you go about changing your life and getting out of debt? Find out how much your spending, what you’re spending it on, pay down debt and start saving!

Oprah’s Debt Diet breaks it down into simple steps, but if you’re interested in learning more, the best place to start is with the experts she consulted with: David Bach, Jean Chatzky and Glinda Bridgforth.

David Bach is known for his extremely popular books about achieving financial freedom, such as The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich.

Jean Chatzk’s book Make Money, Not Excuses is all about results. Stop procrastinating and start changing your life!

And finally Girl, Get Your Credit Straight! gives the straight talk on how to improve and maintain your credit score, and save you money on lower interest rates.

I’m starting on the Debt Diet!

debtclub — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 19:44:15 +0000

If you haven’t heard of Oprah’s Debt Diet, now’s your chance to learn some easy tips for managing your debt. I’ve decided to follow her Debt Diet since she’s broken it down into simple steps that anyone can follow.

She enlisted the help of some financial experts (David Bach, Jean Chatzky and Glinda Bridgforth) to come up with the plan, so you know there’s some substance to it!

The basics of the diet are:

Short Term

Find out how much debt you’re in
How much are you really spending?
Start paying off your credit cards now!
Spend less and save more!

Longer Term

Create a budget for how much you can spend in a month
Increase your sources of income
Pay off the most costly debts first and improve your credit score!
Understand why you spend money and how to change your behaviour

If you’ve watched Oprah’s show, you’ve seen the families whose lives were changed by following these simple steps. It’s not a walk in the park, but anyone can do it if they put their mind to it. It’s worth the effort!