http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/judirich.html Keep Debt Under Control www.destroydebt.com Tue, 21 Oct 2008 05:40:00 GMT webmaster@destroydebt.com webmaster@destroydebt.com http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/judirich/303-can-i-make-money-on-the-internet-to-pay-off-my-debt.html http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/judirich/303-can-i-make-money-on-the-internet-to-pay-off-my-debt.html Tue, 21 Oct 2008 05:40:00 GMT             I’ve explored this over the past several years and have come up with several conclusions.  Every business opportunity that’s sold over the internet promises real wealth in a short time, enough to pay off debts and live the good ...
 

            So, after spending lots of money on business ideas and trying to implement them myself, I’ve finally decided that I don’t have what it takes to be an internet marketer. Working fulltime outside of my home doesn’t allow much time for setting up an online business and marketing it daily or weekly.  I found it takes a lot of work and time to get it going and to make it successful.  Not only that, one has to learn how it all works. 

 

            I learned that there are scams out there.  If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  There are so many business opportunities out there, that you can spend a ton of money trying several, each promising to do what the others don’t do.  Fortunately, if you find the plan doesn’t work for you, you can ask for your money back. 

 

            I believe you can make money, but you need to know that it doesn’t all roll in the day your business goes live.  It takes work and persistence.  You’ll need to invest time and some money to make it work.  I’ve been able to generate a little money, but not enough to pay off a lot of debt.  It seems to trickle in at first and what little you make has to go back into the business. 

 

            Before jumping in, be honest with yourself.  Do you like to sell?  Some people don’t.  That doesn’t mean you can’t make money on the internet. There are other things you can do to generate money.   Freelancing is just one.  Taking surveys is another.  But again, even these two options require a certain amount of your time. 

 

 So before you invest in an internet marketing business, ask yourself if you’ve got the time, the money, persistence and patience to make it work.  If you’re not sure, maybe it’s best to look at some other ways of generating extra income.  If you do decide to try one, just remember that the reality is that you won’t become a millionaire overnight.   

 ]]> http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/judirich/298-college-loans-lead-to-debt-for-parent-and-child.html http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/judirich/298-college-loans-lead-to-debt-for-parent-and-child.html Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:23:53 GMT Much has been said about the burden students take on when they take out loans for their education.  How about Mom and Dad?  Many times the burden is share by the family.    Our three children were always told that Mom and Dad would pay for their college tuition and that an...
 

Our three children were always told that Mom and Dad would pay for their college tuition and that anything more than that, graduate school, they would have to cover.  One of our children decided to get her BS degree from a state college.  Since it was in the southern part of the state, room and board added to the total cost. 

 

We dutifully filled out the FAFSE form knowing we made too much money for a state grant, but figured we could qualify for loans.  We did and took on the debt of student loans.  We are still paying on these, but since the interest rate is low, we paid higher interest debt off first. The principal has been reduced considerably and will be paid off before we both retire.

 

Our daughter decided to go to grad school in Australia.  She took on the full burden of her education, taking out student loans to cover the full costs.   Today, she has $30,000+ to pay back which seems insurmountable to her.  I wonder if she still feels the cost of a foreign graduate degree was worth it.  She probably does as she is one who loves to do something different.

 

After several deferments because of unemployment, she was finally able to set up a payment schedule and begin her payments.  Luckily she makes good money at her job and can afford the payments.  Many graduates can’t, and I wonder how many parents end up helping the students pay off their debt.  At times we’ve made payments to keep our daughter’s credit score from dropping because of late or missed payments. 

 

I read an article that questions the heavy debt students take on just to attend a prestigious university just to graduate with a degree from that school.  Is it worth it?   Will the graduate impress the recruiter with a degree from a prestigious school?  The author seemed to think that the debt load is not worth the cost of attending a prestigious school.  That conclusion should dispell the notion that a degree from an expensive, prestigious school is something students have to have to be successful. 

 

I would much rather have a child attend a less expensive school, get a degree and be free to investigate alternate employment opportunities without worrying about how to pay off a huge student debt.  The same should be said to parents who think their children have to go to the best school to be successful and take on part or all of the burden of paying for that education.]]> http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/judirich/287-take-control-of-your-spending-and-debt-hire-a-bookkeeper.html http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/judirich/287-take-control-of-your-spending-and-debt-hire-a-bookkeeper.html Mon, 15 Sep 2008 03:48:14 GMT When I started offering bookkeeping services, I found that some people, in fact, many people, don’t like to deal with their finances whether personal or business.  They know they should be watching their finances, but either don’t like to work with numbers, don’t want to take the time to deal w...
 

I’ve kept books for friends as well as businesses and since I enjoy working with numbers and putting things in order, it’s something I enjoy doing.  It’s not hard and I enjoy the challenges of digging out the information and returning everything to the clients in good order.  They end up knowing what they have in the bank and can even see a monthly income and expense report.

 

Some of the things I do for individuals who don’t have the time or inclination to deal with books on a daily basis is 1) to reconcile their bank accounts, 2) update their registers to show a current balance, 3) enter all the transactions into a QuickBooks company and 4) organize all statements, receipts, deposit slips, etc in folders by month.  At the end of the year I provide a printed report for tax purposes.

 

All the client has to do is write every check in the register.  The same with deposits. Adding the date and check number is even more helpful.  I have paid some clients’ bills, but most times they prefer to keep the checkbook and pay them themselves.  A monthly report of income and expenses gives a client a good picture of where the money is going each month.  It can show you where the debt is coming from and how large it is.  Hopefully from there you can come to some decisions about debt or spending and make some appropriate changes.   

 

A bookkeeper can’t fix the problems, but he/she can give you a picture of where you stand financially, especially if everything right now is in a cardboard box.  I charge $15-$20 per hour with the highest cost coming when I start organizing and setting up the books.  Once that’s done, it shouldn’t take much time each month to reconcile.  You may want to take that over yourself once everything is set up, or you may want your bookkeeper to set you up on Quicken so you can do it yourself with easy-to-use software.

 

Burying your head in the sand won’t solve financial problems.  A bookkeeper can get you sorted out, take care of as much business as you want and keep you on track.  The information you get can help you make some sound financial decisions without spending a lot of money to see a professional financial advisor. 

 ]]> http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/judirich/285-reducing-debt-before-you-retire.html http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/judirich/285-reducing-debt-before-you-retire.html Tue, 09 Sep 2008 04:42:17 GMT The less debt you have at retirement, the more money you will have to live on and it may allow you to retire sooner.  If you have huge debt at retirement, you may have to keep working to live and pay off the debt. We’ve been working on this since our last child left home. In 3 months my hus...
In 3 months my husband will be able to enjoy some of the fruits of all his hard work, investment decisions  and penny pinching.  Besides putting money away in an IRA and a 401K, we’ve been doing other things to prepare ourselves mentally and our pocketbooks financially for retirement.

Needless to say we still have debt, though we have reduced it by quite a bit.  Our mortgage debt is around 5 figures and the college loans at 4.  Our credit cards are paid off, except for one which is paid off every month.  It’s taken us awhile to get to this point, but we put every extra penny towards paying off credit cards and other small loans first.  We still have the house loan and the college loan to give us some write-offs at tax time.   

We both work fulltime and are not extravagant spenders, buying every new toy that comes on the market.  We’ve been buying used cars and traveling at non-peak times to get good fares.   As money builds in our checking account, we either put it towards the IRA or purchase gold and silver coins.  We’ve found that to cut back on unnecessary purchases now and put that money against the debt is easier to do when you’re bringing in income from a job rather than when you’re on social security. 

In order to decrease our living expenses and increase the amount of money we can use for retirement, we are considering moving out of the state of California where taxes on investment income and social security are high.  Sales tax, gasoline and the cost of living are high here.  We’re doing our homework now:  online research for retirement friendly states, reading books and magazines that recommend locations and finally traveling to visit the most promising sites.  We’ve found that there is a lot out there and you can get more for your money than you can in California.

We look forward to being debt free in retirement.  It will allow us to enjoy retirement, quit working if we so choose and spend time doing all the things we never have time for.    ]]>