We have an adjustable rate mortgage and it’s a good thing! Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) have been blamed recently for a lot of the housing troubles going on. However, adjustable rate mortgages do serve a purpose and meet the financial needs for some people, including us. We carefully selected the best product to match our financial [...]

Posted January 30, 2008 in Advanced, Carnivals, Debt by Madison | 6 Comments

Welcome to the 124th edition of the Carnival of Debt Reduction started by Mighty Bargain Hunter. Since it’s the 124th carnival and last Thursday was 1/24 or January 24, let’s learn some fun facts about that day from Wikipedia while we read about debt reduction!

Posted January 28, 2008 in Carnivals, Credit cards, Debt by Madison | 8 Comments

Sixteen personal finance writers put together an outstanding guide of finance material that spans a lifetime in the Money Matters for All Ages series. The entire series is also available to download in a free e-book. Here’s the highlights:

Posted January 26, 2008 in College savings, Credit cards, Debt, Frugal, Insurance, Investing, Kids, Retirement, Savings, Taxes by Madison | 10 Comments

Debt snowflaking is a successful technique to get out of debt. In addition to the fixed amount that you have planned each month, you apply all the extra money you find to paydown your debt faster. It’s an extension of the snowball method and snowball calculator.
Investment Snowflaking
I didn’t want the investing crowd to be left out in [...]

Posted January 25, 2008 in Debt, Intermediate, Investing, Taxes by Madison | 7 Comments

I mentioned yesterday that I do not use a credit card for all of my purchases. We actually operate our “allowances” on a cash basis. We take out money on the 1st and 15th of each month to cover lunch, dinners out, haircuts, and any other miscellaneous purchases. I don’t use a credit card for these purchases [...]

Posted January 7, 2008 in Credit cards, Debt by Madison | 3 Comments