Do you think our country

candice — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 02:56:37 -0600

Do you think our country will recover from the debt we are in ?
We owe many countries at this time. Every person in the us would owe $28,000 a piece to pay it all back. That is really not a good thing to me.

Home security systems

You are completely right!

timada42 — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:18:06 -0500

You are completely right! This is a nice blog, a bit ironic, but in the good meaning of the wrord!And about the “nice” situations that comes about money, that’s why I love my <a href="http://www.serioussoft.com/debt_relief.htm">credit card debt</a>. That’s my little plastic hero! :)

Recovering from Debt by Blogging

Grace Davis — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 21:34:08 -0600

Of the million plus blogs on the net, the best bloggers may be those with the willingness and honesty to reveal their flaws to the world. These writers include the 'debt bloggers' who devote their bandwidth to disclosing their histories of compulsive credit card abuse, how they're changing their lifestyle so they can afford to pay these bills in full, and what they're doing to reform and spend responsibly. It's tough and brave stuff. Exposing and discussing debt and credit struggles flies in the face of what may be one of the great taboo subjects - money.

These blogs could be limited to discussion in BlogHerâ€™s 'Business and Personal Finance' section, but this is a deeply personal issue, so debt blogging is also appropriate reading for the 'Life' category. After all, how we manage our money reflects the measurement of our self-esteem. Ruined credit equals injured self worth, and a crippled sense of self worth can lead to lying and hiding purchases and credit card statements. This is no different from alcoholics stashing their empty bottles. And, just as it is for alcoholics, lying and hiding along with the addictive behavior turns life into a living hell for chronic debtors.

The first step of recovery from any addiction is to look at the truth head on. The problem drinker stands up at the 12-step meeting and introduces herself as an alcoholic. The chronic debtor can do this too, but she must also print out an awful document - a spreadsheet with an accounting of the debt she incurred, quite often in the thousands of dollars. She has to look unflinchingly at the scary numbers, cut up her credit cards, pay off the accumulated bills and stick to a plan to stay out of debt forevermore. This is the path to redemption, and the debt blogger elevates this mission to higher ground, as breaking through and writng about the private shame online is a public act of grace and courage.

Last Sunday, the New York Times ran a front page article on the phenomenon of debt bloggers who "...have sprung up in recent years taking advantage of Internet anonymity to reveal to strangers fiscal intimacies the authors might not tell their closest friends." The Times interviewed a number of bloggers, including 'Tricia' of Blogging Away Debt, who puts everything on the line in her 'About' page:

I'm not proud to be in debt and I am rather ashamed. I shouldnâ€™t have let things get as far as they have...Iâ€™ve decided to take all the steps that I need to take to finally become debt-free. I am going to use this blog to chart my progress as well as share information that I have learned along the way. I think debt is something that is crippling many of us. Once we get in debt, it is so hard to get out of.

Tricia, who writes anonymously, diligently blogs her efforts in cutting back expenses and living within her means. She chronicles her progress in a monthly recap and summarizes the amount of debt to date on her sidebar. As of this time, she has paid off $15,312 of a debt load of $37,614. Almost halfway there, and just in 12 months.

Tricia's ongoing success inspired this recent comment on her blog:

Yours was the website that really got us serious about dealing with our debt day to day.

The comment address leads to an arch and witty couple's blog, The Bizarro World Debt Elimination Freak Show - The Inspiring Quest of a Couple Trying to Murder Their Consumer Debt with The Ferociousness of a Cuban Cockfight.

The Bizarros, Basil and Bianca, kick off their first blog entry in their wry but earnest fashion:

This is the year-long story of two creative-types trying to pay off debt while trying to get kids through college. This is us with our guts out on the table. This is us looking to make a change, and looking to do it in the course of a year, and this is how we're going to do it. We have two primary goals. The first and most important is to pay off approximately $24,700 in debt. The second is to live a life free from fear, especially that cold, numbing special kind of financial fear. We will get into gory details about the debt, we will struggle, we will fight, our will will be shaken...We're fighting our way to zero...

The Bizarros are duking it out on a daily basis, pondering money saving ideas like shaving their heads a la Britney Spears. Rather than going for the bald, Bianca enlists a haircutting friend to give her a trim in exchange for dinner and an spare DVD player that was gathering dust at her house:

If Britney Spears can shave her own head, then I shouldn't have to pay big bucks to keep my curly locks manageable...I opted to barter with a friend who does haircuts for her family and friends. I had an extra DVD player sitting around and she happened to mention that her dad was still watching video tapes because he didn't have a DVD player. So a couple of days ago, she came over for dinner and then trimmed about 2 inches off.

Leigh Ann Fraley, who was pictured in the NY Times article balancing her checkbook, maintains the colorful and exuberant blog, Save Leigh Ann - The Daily Rantings of a Bulimic Shopper. Leigh Ann, who explains her tagline by admitting that she is ...a bulimic shopper. I buy things and feel guilty and return them," is a financial educator for a bank in Northern California. The irony of this is not lost on her:

Everyday I would do seminars and presentations to people, counseling them on how to be financially responsible, and yet I couldn't practice what I preached.

Leigh Ann bit the bullet and cut up her credit cards. She put the pieces in a goldfish bowl on her mantle, a constant reminder of her commitment to live debt free. Her blog entries details her struggle with spending - and not spending. Included in her posts is a tally of her daily expenditures. A good day looked like this:

Starbucks $2.05 (Saved: $3.05, no pastry and smaller drink)
Saved $.25 on meter
Saved $15 by eating melting Luna bar instead of going out to lunch.
Saved at least $20 by eating burnt asparagus (don't try that at home)
I also like to think I saved my son's grades...........ok............one of his grades by having dinner at home.
TOTAL: Spent $2.05
Saved $35.25

I ended up ahead over 35 bucks. YAY FOR ME!

However, a bad day looked like this:

I am out of control.

I am spending and have no idea what money I have. I need to stop.

Yesterday I was good. Until 6:30 PM.

I went to get some groceries. Next thing I know, I am putting just anything in the cart. It was all stuff I will use, but I have never spent that much on groceries before. I feel so stupid.

I am going to have to transfer some money to cover the groceries I spent on. I told myself I would never get in the situation again, and here I am. I don't know what is wrong with me.

The day before I went to the book store and bought books for me, my husband and my friend. I would have bought books for anyone who walked up.

I need to get a handle on this, before I spiral out of control...

Groceries $201
Quarters for Laundry $10

TOTAL $211

Though she met her goal in paying off her outstanding debt, Leigh Ann continues to maintain her blog. She feels obliged to guide and encourage others who want to pull themselves out of their own spiral of credit card debt.

More debt bloggers:

Poorer Than You, a film school dropout who left her university because of a lack of funds. This blogger found herself in credit card debt while in school and is trying her best to make the minimum payments. She has learned her lessons the hard way and is now determined to become financially savvy.

Defying Debt...in 2 Years, the blogger, a 25 year old woman who paid off $30,000 of debt in two years, inspired Tricia, mentioned above, to start her own blog.

Single Ma's Fabulous Financials - The journey of a fabulous single mom pursuing financial independence. The popular blog of a 30 something single mother who is working towards paying off her student loans and car.

BlogHer - Recovering from Debt by Blogging - Comments

Do you think our country

You are completely right!

Recovering from Debt by Blogging