Tag Archives: emergency-fund-
- Saving Money is Important When Getting Out of Debt
Here is a video from Cambridge Credit Counseling that speaks directly about the need to save even when dealing with debt. Embed Share Video about Saving Money is Important When Getting Out of Debt by @GetOutOfDebtGuy from GetOutOfDebt.org Copy and paste the embed code above if you have made your selection. I can’t stress it [...]
- Should I Pay Credit Cards Down or Create Emergency Fund With My Tax Refund?
I have $5,800 of credit card debt with a high interest rate. This year I had a medical emergency and have depleted my savings, and have no savings cushion. I usually get an approximately $2,500 tax refund every year. How do I get the most out of my return? Rebuild my emergency fund, or pay [...]
- Having An Emergency Fund
An emergency fund is crucial because it is an account that will prevent you from going into debt in the future again. Without an emergency fund you’ll turn to credit to pay your unexpected expenses, rather than using your bank account. Building your emergency fund is not easy and it can be harder sometimes to [...]
- We Can’t Seem to Make Ends Meet and Save. Is Bankruptcy Right For Us? – Matt & Patti
“Dear Steve, My wife and I gross $93K. We owe $38K in credit cards, $1290 mortgage and two kids in private HS @$15K/year. Take home is approx. $3200/mo. We are upsdie down on our house by at least $20K. Our current credit scores are – me 690′s, wife low 700′s. We make all our payments [...]
- You’ve Paid Off Your Debt, Now What?
Your final payment has been made, and you’ve contacted your credit counseling representative to let them know you will be finished with your plan. Wow! You are officially debt free! It’s so exciting that you can hardly contain yourself. That one payment you had been struggling to make for years is now yours – all [...]
- I’ve Never Missed a Payment But I Have No Savings and Not Really Getting Out of Debt. – Brian
“Dear Andy, I am 31 years old and I own my own house. I have never missed a payment, yet can’t get refinanced due to my lowered house value. (Currently I owe about 149,000 and I just had it appraised at 140,000). My mortgage rate is 6.2%. That is part of the story…the other part [...]
- We Are Making Ends Meet But Looking Forward to Doing Better. What Should We Do With Out Tax Refund? – Maggie
“Dear Steve, Thanks in advance for answering our questions and having your help available for free! I am thrilled to be able to discuss this with an expert and get a third objective opinion about our finances. My husband and myself were thrilled to find our dream home but it was probably a year to [...]
- The Unforeseen Importance of Having a Boring Savings Account – Ask Steve Video
This week I answer Brandon’s question about saving money even if you are barely able to make ends meet. When you are just making it from month-to-month and paying the minimum payments alone it seems like a strange time to need to think about saving money. Most people don’t and then guess what happens when [...]
- Peter Is Trying to Find Shelter In These Uncertain Economic Times
“Dear Steve, I’m wondering if it time for a a mid-recovery, mid-recession course correction? My situation is grad school era babies, two layoffs and completely unnecessarily missed/late CC payments have buried us in CC debt (65K@30%APR), auto (6K@0%, 15K@7%) and student loans (35K at 8%) with little hope of lower interest rates or new financing [...]
- My Husband and I Are Just Barely Making the Minimum Payments. – Janet
“Dear Steve, My husband and I have about $40,000 in credit card debt. We are just barely making the min. payments. Right now the interest averages about 7.99%. Part of this 40,000 is due to purchasing a used truck in December and charging the 12,000. on a card at 5.99% until Oct 2009. In addition [...]
- I Want to Use My Tax Refund to Pay Down My Debt. – Laurie
“Dear Steve, Okay you asked, I have my five credit cards($850), ($120), ($140), ($870), ($550) an overdraft, gas card, timeshare, 2 car loans and a mortgage. I also have to pay my property taxes for my home($1050) and the time share($883). I want to knock out 2 cards one both under $150, and try to [...]
- Nine Essential Steps to Successfully Manage Your Money
Only the rich need to worry about having people manage their money, right? Wrong! With a handful of credit cards, checking, savings and retirement accounts and lots of different bills to pay we all need money managers. The difference is if we aren’t wealthy, the money management responsibility usually falls on our own shoulders, rather [...]
- I’m a Female in My Late 20s and My Credit is Horrible. – Tayumika
“Dear Steve, Hello, I am a female in my late 20′s and my credit is horrible. However, I have been focusing on cancelling my credit card debts and paying down my school loans. My goal is to purchase my first home in about 3 to 5 years. I’m also interested in investing but don’t know [...]
- Should I Use My Money in the Bank to Pay Down My Credit Card? – Jenn
Jenn “Dear Steve, I have been out of college for 3 years. I have 26,000 student loan debt with low interest rates 1-4%, 6000 in credt card debt with 9% interest. I’m struggleing with if its better to have a savings accont or to pay down my debt. i currently have a savings account, but [...]
- I Have a Really Big Emergency Fund to Carry Me Through My Unemployment. – Ashlee
Ashlee “Dear Steve, I was laid off in March 2009. I’ve been collecting unemployment and haven’t found a new job yet. I built up a large emergency fund so I’m alright until 2011 if needed (covering my mortgage, bills etc). I have a car loan and I owe around $4000 on it, however; I have [...]