Carnival Blurbs

After browsing through the most recent Carnival of Debt Reduction I found a few great articles.

The one I am paying most attention to is How to Improve Your Credit Score. I haven’t looked at mine or my husbands credit reports in over a year. It’s time to order them. I don’t have any excuses since I can get them both for free! Then I need to work on making sure the scores improve.

This article on True Life I’m In Debt that was on MTV was a good write up – I didn’t see the show but mostly because I rarely watch MTV anymore. I can’t handle the “reality” tv that they offer and it isn’t like they show videos anymore.

~ Sidenote: here is another article on the MTV True Life I’m In Debt Show.

I agree with both of the articles – MTV has a captive audience and did nothing to actually show that being in debt is bad. It is a good thing I didn’t watch as I would have ended up changing the channel anyway. I am teaching my kids different then this but it is sad to think of how many people my age don’t know the truth about credit, credit cards or being in debt. And savings is nowhere near on the list of what is important!

Every chance I get, I talk to my brothers about credit. One of my brothers purchased a big screen tv on credit because he “needed to have credit” so he could buy a house someday. Another bought a top of the line minivan because his family “needed” a nice vehicle. Of course neither of them have any kind of savings. They got long talks – numerous times – out of me for both purchases. They were both thinking about buying a house and I talked to them a long time about that too. They don’t need houses when they are so young just to have one.

Now check out this post that features paycheck and emergency calculators ~ sweet links! I did a quick emergency calculator for us and figure that is a bit more in a typical emergency – we wouldn’t be keeping cable or a cell phone should something happen. I didn’t try the paycheck calculator yet though. But it is a good number to strive for.

Here is a great reminder that you can go out and pay off debt too. I admit that I forget this a lot of time. I stick to walking the neighborhood or the kids playing in the yard. When really we could pack some snacks and go to a park and spend more time there. It has been so nice lately it is a shame to miss out on great weather. Don’t forget to check the freebies in your area – and sometimes they offer one free or inexpensive day a month. I will always remember (unless it has been changed) that San Francisco museums are free or a low price (ie as low as $1) on the first Wednesday’s of the month. I have yet to find anything in my area that does this but it is about time I check again since it will be warm outside everyday soon.

~ Sidenote: Don’t forget to also look into buying a seasons pass, figure how many times you would need to go in order for the price to be justified – and then GO to the place! We bought a pass to the zoo one day because it was so hot out and the line for the day pass was really long. Not the best excuses. But it was a waste of money because we only used the pass twice. It was especially a waste when we would have only needed to go four times in order for the pass to be worth it (ie four times on the pass was cheaper then four times paying daily). Yes it costs but it could end up being very inexpensive entertainment.

So what we take from this is go outside and enjoy more then just your neighborhood, plan for an emergency and check your credit score. Those are all easy enough so let’s all work on that for the next week or so and report back. :)

[tags]carnival of debt reduction, credit score, go out and pay off debt[/tags.

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