debt

Why Can't the Government Get Out of Debt?

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The United States Treasury will lose borrowing authority sometime in October when the national debt reaches the legislated ceiling passed by Congress. Treasury Secretary Geithner will have to ask for an increase, which Congress will grant, but he is bracing for the usual politics. Many in Congress use the opportunity to make government debt their [...]

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Weekend Linkage: Debit Cards, Debt Free and Emergency Funds

While most of the Weekend Linkage posts tend to highlight stories from personal finance bloggers, this week, we're showcasing two links from the granddaddy publisher of them all: the New York Times. I've ragged on the mainstream media before for not knowing how to publish useful personal finance content, but the Times comes through with [...]

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Ask the Readers: How Are You Improving Your Financial Situation?

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There is good news coming from the recession. Last week, we learned that American consumers have cut their their debt by $21.6 billion, the largest ever on record, with credit card usage accounting for $6.1 billion of that total. Add that to the personal savings rate hitting 6.9% in May, the highest since 1993, and [...]

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Weekend Linkage: Cutting Debt, Checkbook Balancing and Bad Habits

There's good news on the economic front: in July, American consumers cut their debt by $21.6 billion, the largest amount ever on record, according to Yahoo News. Consumers' appetite for revolving credit, primarily credit cards, declined by $6.1 billion in July, an annualized rate of 8 percent that followed a 6.4 percent drop in June. [...]

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How to Prevent Debt Using Financial Automation

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If there's anything we can learn from this economy, it's that getting into debt isn't necessary to live the life we need. But if you're used to living a life of credit and debt, how can you ensure you won't get stuck in it again? By automating your finances, you can prevent yourself from getting [...]

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Ask the Readers: Are You in Debt?

Like I've mentioned before, now that we've purchased our house, our next big saving goal is to eliminate our debt. Thankfully, we don't owe that much: only a student loan and a couple of private loans. No credit card debt, and no car payments. But I'd like to wipe out what we have, preferably as [...]

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How Automating My Debt Payments Saved Me Serious Money

We often talk about financial automation as a convenience. Instead of having to remember to pay your bills before their due dates, they'll get paid automatically. But for some bills, there's actually a financial incentive to automating your payments. While some service providers (like Sprint) may give you a one-time credit for automatic payments and [...]

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