This week several prominent members of Congress held meetings to discuss raising the United States’ debt ceiling. According to the Department of the Treasury, the US will “max out” its legal credit limit sometime in August. If the debt ceiling isn’t raised the government will essentially be in default with its creditors. This would cause widespread financial market chaos and you could expect interest rates within our economy to increase drastically.
While members of both political parties have said they will raise the limit (and soon, so financial markets don’t start reacting), one has to ask: when will the US learn to spend less than they earn and pay off debt? The debt ceiling cannot be raised forever.
While you ponder the debt ceiling, check out these great articles from around the web:
Smart on Money | Financial Perks Contractors Can’t Take for Granted
Lifehacker | Getting Along With Your Co-Workers Might Help You Live Longer
Wealth Pilgrim | Using Health Insurance Deductibles to Save Money
Think Traffic | Share Your Best Post Ever! (and Use These Proven Formulas to Create Epic Content)
Oblivious Investor | Assessing Your Risk Tolerance: Need and Ability
Life And My Finances | How Much Money Do You Need To Start Your Own Business?
Debt Kid | Chapter 7 vs Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
CNN Money | A New Way to Save Tax Free
Boomer and Echo | How I Saved $300 On My Cable Bill
Consumerism Commentary | To Diversify or Not to Diversify
Couple Money | Fraud Protection with Debit and Credit Cards
Money Smarts Blog | RESP contribution rules for 15, 16 and 17 year olds.
Kansas City Star | Even kids can be victimized by deadbeat borrowers – KansasCity.com
Studenomics | Four Ways Your Spare Time Can Lead to Thousands of Dollars
Free From Broke was featured in the following carnivals this week:
Festival of Frugality – Money Index Edition
Best of Money: Debt Reduction Style! | Reduce Debt Faster
Carnival of Personal Finance Mother’s Day Edition
Totally Money Blog Carnival #18 – 6 Ways to Save Money Edition | Prairie EcoThrifter.com
Yakezie Carnival – The Berkshire Hathaway 2011 Edition — Narrow Bridge Finance
Carnival of Wealth #37 – May 08 2011 Edition — Personal Dividends – Money+Lifestyle
Canadian Finance Carnival #35 – Canadian Finance Blog
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for including me in the round-up! I am becoming a strong advocate for new business owners. I think one can start a business for less than $1,000 (easily) and can be quite prosperous! Heck, I started my business for less than $100, and it’s doing great!
We’re at an interesting time in economic history where more and more people are going into business for themselves. And it’s a good thing.
Thanks for the mention Kevin, and congrats on the Kansas City Star mention Glen!
Thanks Echo! It was a pretty nice surprise, the mention.
It should be interesting to watch as this unfolds. It is only a matter of time until China decides to pull the plug on the consumerist treadmill that is America. Debt begets more debt begets more debt….stop the cycle and live within your means!
It will be interesting. Our country, as well as many cities and counties in it, are getting into some real economic trouble. Yet no one wants to pay taxes or cut back. What happened to “the buck stops here?”
When?
When you first admit that you need to pay taxes. Then when you admit you need to pay a reasonable amount of tax. Then when you start paying those taxes.
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