When it comes to money troubles and dealing with debt, it’s scary stuff. I lived through it and will never forget how crappy that experience was. But what I learned the hard way, and what I see every single day from watching others is the fear of failure attracts people to make the most illogical, dumbest, stupid mistakes because they ... Read More »

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 that lead up to that ... Read More »

Chapter 3 – Take a Lap on the Gerbil Wheel of Debt Think of debt as that annoying squeak in the back seat that you hear as you drive alone in the car. The squeak distracts you from the beauty of the scenery, and before you know it, you are only worried about the squeak. I knew a guy that ... Read More »

photo © 2008 J.B. Hill | more info (via: Wylio)Next month will mark the six month anniversary of the passage of the FTC telemarketing sales rules which changed the landscape in debt settlement sales. As a consumer advocate I don’t think there is any doubt they TSR has had a fundamental and positive impact on the way debt settlement services ... Read More »

Here is a nice movie from Honda about about the benefits of failure. Even though this is primarily about motorsports, many of the messages are still very true when it comes to dealing with all sorts of failure in life. And the key benefit of failure is to learn from the mistake and use that to make life better moving ... Read More »

Ben wrote in through the GetOutofDebt.org site and asked for help and advice. “Dear Steve, At times I feel like my life is over. This year I did something I never thought I’d ever do, I went bankrupt. I was raised to pay my bills and I’ve always done that, but last year my overtime go cut and we were ... Read More »

Nicholas “Dear Steve, So far, my wife and I are current every month on all of our bills, but we’ve been living with steadily deepening debt since we got married 8 years ago. We were students then, living on student loans. We went into debt for our wedding and haven’t had a positive net worth since. I studied hard, ignoring ... Read More »

Being in debt is not an emotional walk in the park and unless you know what it is like, you can’t feel the pain or suffering that goes with it. People forget or don’t know what it is like to be in debt. No, not the kind of debt where you owe Bob a bit for spotting you for lunch. ... Read More »

Mehdi “Dear Steve, I’m about $90,000 in credit card debt and can’t afford to pay them. I’m willing to pay what I can but the economy has really hurt my business. What can I do to lower my monthly payments significantly? Mehdi” The Answer   Dear Mehdi, Sadly the reality is that you just simply might not be able to ... Read More »

MYTH #1 My financial condition is so bad that my situation is hopeless. REALITY Although you may not be able to find the perfect solution, you probably have some choices about how to best resolve your situation. Open your mind and be realistic about your options. MYTH #2 If I don’t use credit, I’ll never have anything. REALITY If you ... Read More »

Michael “Dear Steve, I’ve had a hellish trip through misery and desperation the past few years. In 2006, I experienced a health condition and illness from heavy metals and mercury through extreme consumption of fish and seafood since beginning to eat them more frequently in 1997. In Jan 2007, I had to leave my established sales career because of the ... Read More »

“Dear Steve, I had some bad luck in small business and had to use my credit cards and now I am about $50,000. in debt. I have very little income coming in right now and have about 3 months of cash left to pay the mortgage and monthly bills. I want to pay my bills,but I am or will start ... Read More »

Therapist: Financial Infidelity Can End Couples Fox5 KVVU, NV - 41 minutes ago It can be anything from keeping credit card debt a secret to hiding money from a spouse. "I'd say finances and financial stress is one of the number one ... Read More »

“Dear Steve, When I read the news I get so afraid that I will get laidoff. Business at work seems to be slow and I find myself surfing the internet more at work and reading more of these stories about the pink slips that are coming. I’ve got bills and credit card debt to payoff and a wife and kids ... Read More »

Anne wrote me through the GetOutofDebt.org site and asked for help. You can write me also and ask for help. Anne says “I have a large debt load and I am unable to make the payments. I have been on short term disability for eight weeks which has made an already difficult time even worse. Some of the creditors have ... Read More »