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Archive for the ‘General Personal Finance’ Category

A reader shared that she is planning on taking a trip to Yellowstone National Park over the summer and asked for advice on how to save money on flights.

Other than recommending obsessively monitoring every online travel search engine (Bing, Travelzoo, Kayak) for months and doing a faux mystical rain dance to evoke the flight sale gods, I’m a bit short on good advice.

I always avoid summer travel since its peak rate season so I’m not much help.

Do any of you know the best way to buy a summer flight?

I received my husband’s registration for his truck in the mail yesterday. I noticed it looked a bit naked, the registration had a big empty white space.

Curious, I took a second look and noticed the void was a representation of our new debt free way of living.

Yup, the ‘Lender Information’ section was bare for the first time since we’ve been married. Heck, for the first time EVER.

We paid off his truck in July and seeing that big empty space brought back the same feelings I experienced the day I mailed the final check. I received two reminders since then that my fight with debt is ending. The pink slip made me giggly and the registration nearly made me cry.

Debt has haunted me, but I’m finally starting to clear the ghosts out of the closet.

It’s a wonderful feeling.

I was listening to Dave Ramsey’s show while he interviewed Zac Bissonnette, author of Debt Free U. To be fair, I haven’t read Zac’s book (I’ve been short on time), but based on the amazing amount of information he shared in a short interview with Dave, I am IMPRESSED.

Zac stands by state colleges instead of private colleges and supports the financial decisions of students who attend community college for their freshman and sophomore years as a way to save loads of cash.

I graduated from a private college and I loved it… but sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I hadn’t paid $26K a year. My degree would be the same… but I wouldn’t be carrying student loans.

Thanks to some awesome scholarship opportunities and grants, I graduated with ‘only’ $15K in debt. My friends did not fair nearly as well. Most have more than $100K in student loans.

If you have a child in high school, buy his book and read his articles at: http://www.dailyfinance.com/writers/zac-bissonnette/

You’ll need the help.

You can thank me later.

My husband and I are attending Financial Peace University (Dave Ramsey’s course) again. We attended the series two years ago but I missed nearly half when I lost my day job and started working nights.

The first class was this week and the facilitator asked if anyone was a returning student. My husband and I raised our hands along with one other couple. After the video, we gathered into a small group and were immediately asked if the course had changed our lives. My husband and I said it had and that we lived below our means.

‘Are you debt free?’ a classmate asked.

‘Um. No. We have about 10 grand left.’ I said, ashamed two years has passed and I’m still carrying financial baggage.

‘At least you are working on it. And you’re here!’ she said smiling.

The rest of the group talked about their struggles and goals for about 20 minutes and then we all headed home. It was nice to hear others are fighting the same things as me.

It’s funny that I can openly and fearlessly share every little detail about my debt with you but I’m completely ashamed to share it with the small group – then again, I don’t have to shake your hand every Sunday morning.

If you haven’t been through FPU, you should consider it. The lessons are great but more than that, you have someone to look you in the eye every week who asks… how did you do this week?

Suddenly, spending feels different.