Each of us lives only now, in this brief instant. The rest has been lived already. So make the most thoughtful choices you can today that will lead to a better future.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Stop drifting and hoping a magic solution will appear. Instead, you can participate in rescuing yourself. Find peace by pursuing facts through trusted advisers and research rather than the blind trust of salespeople trying to sell you something by almost any means necessary.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Make decisions to deal with your debt with logic and facts, not assumptions, and worry about what other people will think. People who judge you will soon be forgotten. Nobody thinks about anyone that much.
Steve's Thought of the Day
The world is nothing but constant change. Your life is only a perception. Choose a way out of debt based on facts, not assumptions. Do what is best for your future because those that judge you will not feed you.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Do you have a greater responsibility to repair your financial past or your financial present and future? Make good choices that allow you to tackle your debt and immediately start building your emergency fund and saving for retirement. Tomorrow will be here before you know it. Lost time is a sin.
Steve's Thought of the Day
There is no sense in wasting a perfectly good financial mistake. Instead, learn from it and do better moving forward. The past is gone. Turn and face the future now.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Those who judge you for past financial mistakes are not your friends. So don't make choices about your future out of fear of what they may think. Instead, make choices based on truth, fact, and what is best for you moving forward from today.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Don't believe everything you think. Challenge your assumptions about getting out of debt. Do what is best for you, not others.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Is it less moral to file bankruptcy or to not take action that leaves you old, broke, hungry, and dependent on others?
Steve's Thought of the Day
If bankruptcy is so bad, why did our Founding Fathers specifically include it in the U.S. Constitution as protection for financial difficulties?
Stop listening to people that say bankruptcy is a last resort. It is neither first nor last. It is a tool like credit counseling, debt settlement, and others. For the best result, you need to use the right tool for the job.
Steve's Thought of the Day
People that tell you to avoid bankruptcy want to sell you something else are repeating something they heard or do not know what they are talking about. Get the facts and then make your own decision. Don't let an unskilled script-reading commissioned salesperson make life decisions for you.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Debt problems are like fingerprints. No two are alike. A one-size-fits-all solution will give you a one-size-fits-all result. You deserve better.
Steve's Thought of the Day
You are not your debt. Your value, self-esteem, and existence should not be defined by the money troubles you may be facing right now. Debt problems are solved with proper action, not guilt, self-hatred, and disgust.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Debt is nothing more than math wrapped in emotion. The math is easy, the emotional part leads us to do impulsive things. Not the right thing.
Steve's Thought of the Day
What type of money personality do you have? It is important to know. Take my online test now and discover how you unconsciously deal with money, credit, and debt.
Steve's Thought of the Day
How much retirement savings are you willing to throw away by dealing with your old debt instead of preparing for your financial future? Find how much you will lose by making the wrong choice. Use my online debt repayment calculator now.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Does it make more sense to ask for life-altering debt advice from an unskilled and untrained commissioned salesperson in a call center or an experienced debt coach like Damon Day that provides a customized solution for money troubles?
Chapter 1 – I Got Hit in the Head With a Baseball and I Saw it Coming In 1990, my wife and I filed bankruptcy. We kept the secret for almost 10 years and never talked about it publicly. I felt like a failure. It was painful and embarrassing and, though there were many factors … Read more
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data today released the July 2022 Survey of Consumer Expectations, which shows substantial declines in short-, medium- and longer-term inflation expectations. Expectations about year-ahead price increases for gas and food fell sharply. Home price growth expectations and year-ahead spending growth expectations continued to pull back from … Read more
In recent years, the Brooking Institution published a series of papers as part of its Future of the Middle Class Initiative. In a 2020 paper, Brookings defined the Middle Class as the middle 60 percent of the household income distribution–“not poor, but not prosperous either.” How much income must a family have to be considered middle … Read more
Have trouble getting approved for a credit card? Do you have bad credit? Maybe a debit card is an answer. But, not to spoil the surprise, it’s not. So, I’m going to help you to understand why a debit card is a much less form of payment, provides less protection from scams, and does nothing … Read more
New findings from LendingClub paint a picture of people sliding back into just getting by financially. 61% or 203 Million Americans are Living Paycheck To Paycheck, Up from 55% a Year Ago. At the same time, the average savings amount dropped to $10,757 in June 2022. People are wandering more towards the financial edge despite … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I’m recently divorced and have gotten myself into a debt hole. As a result, I can not manage my monthly payments. I’m considering a debt relief contract with Americor. Is this a good reputable company, or is there a better option for getting out of debt? Robin Answer: Dear Robin, It is … Read more
By Andrew Haughwout, Donghoon Lee, Daniel Mangrum, Joelle Scally, and Wilbert van der Klaauw Total household debt increased by $312 billion during the second quarter of 2022, and balances are now more than $2 trillion higher than they were in the fourth quarter of 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic recession, according to the Quarterly Report … Read more
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data today issued its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. The Report shows an increase in total household debt in the second quarter of 2022, increasing by $312 billion (2%) to $16.15 trillion. Balances now stand $2 trillion higher than at the end of 2019, before the … Read more
For many years I’ve written about the tactic some debt relief companies use to trick consumers into signing up for some form of debt relief. Consumers receive offers in the mail for a personal or debt consolidation loan and are told they don’t qualify, but “we have a better program.” Damon Day and I discuss … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I had debt discharged back in 2017 in bankruptcya for TERI loan. This year they tried to garnish me after the fact. I won my motion for sanctions and now they are appealing the decision. Any recourse? Aren’t they private-educational loans? Any advice? Tiffanie Answer: Dear Tiffanie, The issue you describe is … Read more