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No, it’s not just you — the U.S. economy really is bewildering. The government says gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of nearly 4 percent in the third quarter, the fastest pace in a year and a half. The stock market is still up by 4 percent for this year, despite a sharp 3 percent drop on Nov. 7. On the other hand, growth in consumer borrowing slowed unexpectedly in September. Some economists argue that the U.S. is teetering on the brink of a recession, if it isn’t in one already.
Oil has exploded to nearly $100 a barrel, gold is near an all-time high, and the cost of food is soaring. It seems like high prices are breaking out all over, right? Yet the core rate of inflation is less than 2 percent a year, according to one widely followed measure. Confusion reigns right on up to the Federal Reserve, whose interest ratesetters are openly disagreeing about whether more cuts are needed.
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March 31, 2008 — There’s no magic bullet, says Steven Fazzari, economics professor at Washington University in St. Louis. The root cause of the current economic slowdown in the U.S. goes back several decades. There has been a concurrent wave of increasing consumer spending and rising consumer indebtedness. In the past, consumer spending actually helped the economy as it raised firms’ sales and encouraged more hiring. But the associated rise in household debt, most obviously in the recent housing bubble, has come back to haunt the U.S.
“For more than two decades we had consumer-led growth, which actually mitigated the recessions of the early 1990s and 2001,” Fazzari says. “Part of the reason we had mild recessions was due to consumer strength. But we kept building up debt. It was also a period of falling nominal interest rates. This meant that every cycle of low interest rates was another opportunity for people to refinance on better terms and extend their spending further.”
The economy is changing, however, and we can’t rely on consumer spending to keep rising beyond its already inflated level; households can no longer push the debt limit because the credit isn’t there. Even the Federal Reserve Bank’s move to lower interest rates doesn’t give Fazzari much hope for a turnaround.
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Jun. 30, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) — Tax rates could double. Spending on education, research, health and even Social Security could be squeezed tighter than ever. And foreign governments could use powerful financial leverage, rather than military force, to impose their economic and political agendas on the United States.
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CNN Money has a great article on saving some hard earned cash as inflation beats down on all of us.
Gas – Conserve fuel in any car
5% of your household budget
Up 21% from a year ago
Underinflated tires can cut your mileage per gallon by 5%, says Jesse Toprak of Edmunds.com. Check your tires once a month.
And lose the lead foot: You can save up to 33% by maintaining steadier, slower speeds.
Potential savings: About $800 a year – not to mention what you’ll save in speeding tickets.
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Some sites that I’ve found that offer good suggestions on how to manage getting out of debt:
9 Ways to Pay Off Debt
You can throw the reminders in the Cuisinart or chuck them into a garbage can, but that won’t make the debt go away. Debt hovers like a carrion bird over a dying beast, with annual rates of 20% or more compounded monthly, month in and month out. You can’t wish it away. But you can pay it down with determination, our free debt-fighting resources, and the good graces of a few wealthy relatives (see tip No. 5). Here are nine ways to get out of debt:
1. Pay more than the minimum
First, break the habit of paying only the minimum required each month. Paying the minimum — usually 2% to 3% of the outstanding balance — only prolongs the agony. Besides, it’s precisely what the banks want you to do. The longer you take to repay the charges, the more interest they make, and the less cash you have in your pocket. Don’t play their selfish game.
Instead, bite the bullet and pay as much as you can each month. If your minimum payment is $100, double that to $200 or more. Examine your normal expenses — you can find the money. (For a gazillion ideas, check out our Living Below Your Means discussion board.) Skip eating out at lunch, and bring it from home instead. Eliminate desserts. Give up happy hour. We all have “luxuries,” and you know what yours are.
Make a few sacrifices, and you will find the extra dollars needed to increase your debt repayments dramatically. Those increased payments will save you hundreds, if not thousands, in interest payments. Plus, you will get out of the hole you’ve dug for yourself much more quickly. Is it fun? No. But it sure beats living a hand-to-mouth existence, fearing bills each month.
MORE HERE http://www.fool.com/ccc/debt/debt03.htm
Don’t Pay Your Minimum Balance
If you’re like most Americans, you have debt. If you’re like many Americans, you try not to think about just how much debt you have and what it’s really costing you. If you did think about it, you might not sleep well.
But ignorance never was bliss, and in order to get out from under the burden of debt, you need to face the uncomfortable (and perhaps downright ugly) truth: it may take you 30 years to pay off that credit card balance.
How can this be, you ask? You may have balances totaling less than $5000. Surely this will be paid off in no more than a couple of years. The credit card company wouldn’t let you take so long to repay them, would it?
The answer is: yes, it would. In fact, if you took 30 years to pay off your balance, you would be the ideal customer.
MORE HERE http://financialplan.about.com/cs/creditdebt/a/GetOutOfDebt.htm
Debt Snowball – The Truth About How to Get Out of Debt
Myth: I should pay off the debt with the highest interest rate first to get out of debt quickly.
Truth: You should pay off the smallest debt first to create the greatest momentum in your debt snowball.
The math seems to lean more toward paying the highest interest debts first, but what I have learned is that personal finance is 20% head knowledge and 80% behavior. You need some quick wins in order to stay pumped enough to get out of debt completely. When you start knocking off the easier debts, you will start to see results and you will start to win in debt reduction.
Debt Snowball Plan
The principle is to stop everything except minimum payments and focus on one thing at a time. Otherwise, nothing gets accomplished because all your effort is diluted.
First accumulate $1,000 cash as an emergency fund. Then begin intensely getting rid of all debt (except the house) using my debt snowball plan. List your debts in order with the smallest payoff or balance first. Do not be concerned with interest rates or terms unless two debts have similar payoffs, then list the higher interest rate debt first. Paying the little debts off first gives you quick feedback, and you are more likely to stay with the plan.
MORE HERE http://www.daveramsey.com/the_truth_about/get_out_of_debt_4055.html.cfm
Original Post From:
http://www.newstarget.com/z019659.html
Originally published July 17 2006
The coming financial collapse of the U.S. government: Fed papers reveal what’s in store for Americans
by Mike Adams
The bankruptcy of the United States government has been talked about for years by independent observers. If you’ve read the book, “Empire of Debt,” then you know where the U.S. is headed financially. But most people have no idea about the ultimate financial consequences of decades of borrowing and spending by Washington, and they remain irrationally convinced that the status quo will remain intact for eternity. No one in any position of authority, you see, has yet admitted that the U.S. government is indeed going bankrupt. Until now, that is.
In a remarkable paper posted by the Federal Reserve of St. Louis, and authored by a Boston University teacher named Prof Kotlikoff, it is revealed in blunt, powerful language that the era of borrowing and spending without consequence may soon come to a close. The paper, entitled, Is the United States Bankrupt?, may not remain posted for very long once the public gets word of what it actually says.
And what, exactly, does it say? For starters, Kotlikoff explains, “Unless the United States moves quickly to fundamentally change and restrain its fiscal behavior, its bankruptcy will become a foregone conclusion.”
Continue reading The coming financial collapse of the U.S. government: Fed papers reveal what’s in store for Americans
There is growing talk on Wall Street about the possibility of a recession. Since the beginning of the year three Wall Street firms (Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs) have all stated they believe we are either in a recession already or are very close to a recession. In other words, it’s no longer a matter of if a recession happens but when it will happen and how long it will last. In response to these developments, various presidential candidates have proposed various solutions. However, none of these will work, largely because this is not a typical slowdown caused solely by slowing consumer spending or business investment. Instead, it is a slowdown caused by inflated asset prices and a nation gorging on debt. As a result, it will probably take a lot longer to come out from under this problem.
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Do you own every gadget known to man (or woman)? Does your closet contain lots of shoes or clothes that you almost never wear? Are you feeling lost without credit cards? Do you come home with things you didn’t specifically go to buy? Do you use shopping as a quick fix for the blues? Do you spend more than you can afford? Are neighborhood malls and Internet shopping sites possess a mesmerizing magnetic appeal for you?
If you answered yes to several questions above, you are probably shopping as a recreational activity. You have a condition called Oniomania. It is also known as shopping addiction or shopaholism, is the compulsive desire to shop. People who shop or spend compulsively get a feeling of being “high” from the experience. This translates into endorphins and dopamine, natural receptor sites in the brain, getting turned on, creating a “good feeling” and reinforcing the desire to shop or spend.
Credit cards facilitate the spending of money as well as mail orders via catalogues or the Internet. In America, shopping is embedded in our culture; so often, the impulsiveness comes out as shopping addiction or compulsive spending. Shopping addiction and compulsive spending can put a strain on both your finances and your relationships. In other words, shopping addicts buy more than they need and spend more money than they can afford, in an effort to make themselves feel better. It can wreak havoc on a person’s life, family, and finances.
Here are the 10 simple steps to stop the cycle of shopping addiction and compulsive spending:
1. Identify a “need” from a “want.” Learn to recognize wants from needs, and practice controlling your impulses to spend your money on things you don’t really need, and you’ll be able to change your spending habits and end up far ahead financially. Before buying anything, ask yourself if it is a need or a want. If it is a want, let go of the item.
A need is something you have to buy, such as groceries. It may also be a new pair of shoes to wear to the office if your present pair is no longer in good condition. A want, on the other hand, is something you just desire but can do without. Examples are a new CD or DVD, a nice-looking hand bag when you have a dozen other hand bags at home, and a cellphone that’s loaded with so many features.
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Or you’ll end up like this:
“This lady who appeared on Oprah lives the life of a big house in the burbs, new cars, six beautiful kids, and spending way beyond her husband’s $5,000/month salary. Felice drops $400 a month on Starbucks, $240 on tans and manicures, and her children have no health insurance”
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There’s really no excuse for acting like this, if you run yourself into this kind of dept and stupid spending habits then it’s your own fault. Manage those credit cards wisely.
What does it take to pay off your credit card debt? Some people feel that they need to win Lotto to get ahead and pay off their credit card debt. We wish you luck, but you cannot depend on that. You should have a better more promising means which can deliver you out of credit card debt in a certain time frame.
If you only make a the minimum payment on your credit card each month, it is like giving the Credit Card Companies a residual income. They do nothing but tack on more interest and send you a new bill each month. At this rate you will never pay off your credit card debt plus your debt will snow ball.
The trick to paying off your credit cards is to get all of your credit payments into one and to lower the interest rate. Try to take all your debt and consolidate them into one affordable monthly payment. If you need help to get your credit card debt under control please feel free to get a no obligation quote today, at least give it a hearing.
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