The truth of the matter is that if you keep doing the same things over and over and expect different results, you’ll set yourself up for failure. If you’re up to your eyeballs in debt and keep using your credit cards, nothing will change. I’m a strong believer that if you change your mind about your finances, you’ll change your financial status. What does all this mean?
It means that if you’re really committed to getting out of debt once and for all, you’re going to have to change your money habits - specifically, how you spend and save. So many people find any excuse to spend money to numb any pain they may be feeling in their lives. Relationship splits, job losses, whatever situation has brought stress and anxiety can also bring the “urge to splurge”, unfortunately to your own detriment.
So it’s one thing for me to say this is how it is…what’s the solution?

1. Fess up to the fact that there’s NO quick fix. Getting out of debt will take time and require that you exercise patience, discipline, sacrifice and commitment!
2. Understanding that doing the same things and expecting different results is the definition of insanity - look at what negative habits around money you have that need to change? Better question…are you WILLING do do things differently?
3. Face reality. What I mean by this is it’s imperative that you tell the truth about exactly how much debt you have to pay off. It’s easy to want to be vague - when you’re specific and clear, you’ll see the exact numbers on what you owe and it may not make you feel great. Believe me though, once you get a handle on exactly where you’re at, you’ll feel a sense of empowerment like you never have before!
4. Make a plan and Work that plan! Once you’ve decided that you’re ready and willing to make some positive changes and you’ve listed exactly everything you owe and all the money you have coming in, you’re ready to make anaction plan for getting out of debt. Restructure your life to minimize the triggers that cause you to spend money unecessarily and pick a buddy who’ll support your goal of being debt free.
5. The best way to lose weight is to go on a diet or a sensible eating plan. It’s no different for getting out of debt. When you’ve made up your mind to go on a debt free diet, you’re going to have to track every dollar you spend so it can go towards every dollar of debt you owe. Once you see your debt go down, you’ll be invigorated to keep the momentum going.

I’m going to focus several articles specificallyl on Saving, Budgeting and Controlling Spending. I”m bound and determined to help anyone who’ll listen get out of debt once and for all.

Talk to you soon,

Dee Dee Sung
Founder, Debt Free Divas, Inc.
From Self Worth to Net Worth
www.debtfreediva.com

It’s that time of year again; soon you will have many sources popping up suggesting ways to spend your upcoming tax refund. Let’s put this in perspective.

First, tax refunds are not “found” money, but a return of money YOU overpaid into the tax system! The average refund check is somewhere around $2,200 and $2,400.

One of the first things that you should do, if you had no abnormal deductions for the year and anticipate that those deductions will remain the same in the future, is to change your withholdings so you don’t overpay in 2006. I have no idea why you would want to give someone (even the government) money to hold onto for a year with no interest being made off of that money.

An easy way to calculate this adjustment is to take your refund amount, divide it by twelve and adjust your withholdings accordingly. Your company’s payroll department can assist you in this process. By doing this, it could give you several hundred dollars …continue reading the article titled Tax refunds a good way to get out of debt