How I Paid Off $25,000 of Debt in 14 Months

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First of all, if you are in college right now, please do everything in your power to keep your student loans to a minimum! I really wish that I didn’t have to experience the story below.  Never having that debt would have been much more delightful, for me anyway.

My wife and I had recently gotten married and moved into an amazing rental complex in South Florida.  There was a work-out facility, some tennis courts, and a gorgeous pool.  It was heavenly, that is, until the bills started coming in the mail.

Somehow it had slipped our minds that once we graduated from college, we had to start paying back our student loans.  Between my wife and I, we had $18,000 in student loans plus a vehicle that we owed $7,000 on.  Yep, that was a total of $25,000 in debts!
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La Quinta Returns Member Rewards Hotel Program – A Review

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La Quinta Hotel Rewards Program Review

Many hotel chains offer their own rewards programs, and some of them are fairly complicated as far as how points are earned and redeemed. If you are looking for a straight forward hotel reward program where you can choose to earn hotel points or airline miles, La Quinta Returns Member Rewards may be just the program for you.

La Quinta Returns Member Rewards are earned at 10 points per dollar spent.  If you prefer to earn airline miles, La Quinta has partnered with American Airlines Advantage, Continental Airlines One Pass, Delta Sky Miles, MexicanaGo, and Southwest.com Rapid Rewards.  For all of the airlines except the latter, you can earn 250 airline miles per night at La Quinta Inns.  For Southwest.com Rapid Rewards, you can earn 600 points per stay.

Signing up for La Quinta Returns Member Rewards is quite simple; you are required to give basic information such as your name, address, e-mail address, and phone number .Continue Reading

When Should You Borrow Using P2P Lending?

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Peer to peer (P2P) lending has been gaining in popularity — especially since the recession began. Part of the reason for this is due to the difficulty associated with getting loans from banks.  Another issue is that traditional banks, in some cases, charge higher interest rates.  If you are looking for a way to get a loan, in some circumstances it might make sense to turn to P2P lending.

Consolidate Debt

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Paying Taxes with a Credit Card: Pros and Cons

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credit card on computer keyboard

Are you thinking of paying taxes with a credit card?

The thought of clearing a debt with the IRS in one fell swoop is certainly appealing, and if your credit rating is not in good standing in order to obtain a bank loan, that credit card can sure look good.

But is using a credit card to pay taxes a wise decision?

Before we explore the pros and cons of paying taxes with a credit card, let’s examine paying taxes through an installment agreement with the IRS.

First things first, contacting the IRS and working out an installment agreement is one possible option to manage your debt.  Complete the IRS Installment Agreement Request Form 9465.  If you owe $25,000 or less this process can be completed online.  The IRS may allow you up to 60 months to pay your tax debt.  Within 30 days the IRS should let you know if your request has been approved and what you will be required to pay.
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Credit Karma Review – Get Your Credit Score and More

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If you take advantage of AnnualCreditReport.com you can pull your credit report once a year from each of the three credit bureaus for free.

Your credit report is important to see what accounts you have open, to check the status of your accounts, and to make sure there are no mistakes on your reports.

But your credit report is different from your credit score.

For the most part, you have to pay to get the score that lenders use to determine your creditworthiness.  If you intend to pull your score frequently, perhaps because you are in the market for a house and would like the highest possible credit score to get the best interest rate on your home loan, then give Credit Karma a look, where you can get a credit score and track your score over time with no fees or obligations.

Let’s take a look at what it’s all about in this Credit Karma review.

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What Are You Doing with Your Payroll Tax Cut?

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At the end of last year, Congress hurried through a tax package.

One of the credits that was allowed to expire was the Making Work Pay tax credit.  However, our representatives replaced the Making Work Pay tax credit with a reduction in the payroll tax paid by employees. This means that you should be seeing a paycheck that is a little bit bigger.

Our leaders, of course, want you to go out and spend that money, pumping it back into the economy.  The whole point of tax cuts is to encourage you to spend so that we can keep the economy, which relies a great deal on consumer spending, moving in a direction of positive growth.  However tempting it might be to spend that extra money, though, it is a good idea to consider how that money can help you down the road.
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How We Manage Our Finances on the Road

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On Plane Over My Fuji

This guest post is from Wifey of a Roadie, where M shares her tips and tricks as she and her husband travel the world.

Hi Everyone! Wifey of a Roadie here!

I’m reading all these informative and entertaining blogs on debt control and travel and therefore have been inspired to write this post.

Juggling Love and Careers

Some people have asked how in the world my husband and I have managed to stay together and travel so much.  When my husband got offered his first job to tour with Queen Latifah, he was told to ask my permission to accept because marriages don’t last in this business.
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Interview with Philip Taylor – Organizer of Financial Blogger Conference 2011

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Have you heard about Financial Blogger Conference 2011? It’s happening October 1-2 in Chicago, where personal finance bloggers from all over will be coming together to talk about their trade – everything from trends in personal finance to how to better connect with readers to making a living with a blog.  For me, the biggest thrill is meeting, in person, those people I’ve been “talking” to online all these years.  I’m also excited to meet those bloggers who have influenced me (one being J.D. Roth, whose Get Rich Slowly was one of the first personal finance blogs I found and a primary influence for me starting Free From Broke).  Seriously, check out who’s coming so far over at the Financial Blogger Conference Who’s Coming page.

I had the fortune of interviewing Philip Taylor, the organizer of Financial Blogger Conference 2011 (or for those cool kids, FinCon ’11). You may know Philip as he also runs the incredibly informative PT Money.
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Marriott Hotel Rewards Program – Make Your Stays Worth More – A Review

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In addition to credit cards that offer hotel rewards, there are a number of hotel chains that offer their own reward programs.

One of them that offers the flexibility to earn either hotel points or air mile points is Marriott Rewards.

Marriott Rewards are accrued at 10 points per dollar spent (or 2 air mile points per dollar) at Marriott and JW Marriott Hotels and Resorts, Renaissance Hotels and Resorts, Edition, Autograph Collection, The Ritz-Carlton, and Marriott Vacation Club International.  Other hotels that earn 5 points per dollar spent or 1 air mile point include Residence Inn, and TownePlace Suites, among others.  Qualifying hotels are found in 68 countries.

Signing up for Marriott Rewards is quite simple; you are required to give basic information such as your name, address, and e-mail address.  When you sign up, you can choose if you would like to accrue your points to earn free hotel stays or as air mile rewards.Continue Reading

Kids & Money – The Financial Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree

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Changes you can do to teach financial literacy to kids

For those of us with kids, we hope to pass down certain traits—good looks, agility, perfect vision, smarts, business savvy. But what of our money management skills?  Financial finesse rarely makes it onto our list of personal strengths, yet it’s a crucial life skill everyone needs to acquire.  A Charles Schwab 2010 Families and Money survey found that “not saving early enough for retirement (43%), not saving money for emergencies (42%) and carrying credit card debt from month to month (30%) [were] cited as the top three financial mistakes [parents] fear their kids will repeat.”  Don’t let your kids make your same mistakes or fall into that ever-growing percentage of 18-24 year-olds who file for bankruptcy.

Here are 4 simple things to do differently (or start doing) as a parent, to ensure your kids gain financial awareness from an early age and build responsible habits.

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