Are You A Debt Crusader for Your Family?

What is a Debt Crusader?

Well, I believe it is someone who wants to eliminate their credit card debt. In addition, they want to make sure credit card companies do not earn additional interest from their debt.

I was fed up with my credit card bills. I had no choice and I was in credit card debt - Angelina Lewis

In 2007 it was reported that US consumers owe over $957 BILLION in credit card balances. The average person had balances of almost $10,000. As a society we enjoy to buy a lot of stuff on credit cards and carry balances over time.

This was not always the case, but during the 1980s credit cards became very useful and easy to be approved for high limits. Over the past 30 years we see how the balances have just exploded on us.

This is where being a Debt Crusader comes into play. Most people don’t like to pay a lot of interest on our debt. We solved this by credit card scurfing. However, this had an unintended consequence.

What was that consequence?

More credit cards equals more access to credit cards.

I have seen this happen to many people. They fully intend to pay off their balances, but something always comes up. You can fill in the reason since it has happened to most of us.

When this expense arises we simply use one of the many credit cards we have from all the credit card surfing.

Now being a Debt Crusader you need to realize these traps and attempt avoid them just like in a video game.

What are some traps?

• Take a Payment Holiday (interest keeps growing)
• Your credit limit has been increased (Spend more money)
• Transfer Balance to 0% Rate (usually for a short period of time)

When I was in credit card debt I took a help from debtstrength and I was out of it ~ Amenda Palin

These are just some on the traps to avoid. It takes time and effort to become a Debt Crusader. You can do it one day at a time with simple choices such as can I pay off this purchase in the next month or can I wait until I can pay cash for this purchase.

With time it will become easier and easier to become a Debt Crusader. Visit the site debtstrength for a free ebook which will provide you more details on becoming a Debt Crusader.

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Its Time to Turn your Summer Travel into Cash

I was very excited as Summers were approaching and this time I had made some unusual plans for it. No doubt summer vacations are always very expensive. To afford a good trip it is important for anybody to take a dip into their well planned savings account. I will not consider myself to be smart but yes I think that I played very safely and smartly here. I somehow managed to turn my summer vacations into money making opportunity vacation. And I made huge profits while traveling. This is the reason I decided to post it out so that all of you can do same things and earn some income in your summer vacation this time.

It is really a great idea to earn while you travel

1.) I wrote a lot about my travels : Many people think that it is just not worth of writing where you are traveling. But I think just the opposite. I wrote each and everything thing I did while I was traveling, about exotic locations I visited, different people I met and almost everything. It actually becomes a great source of entertainment for others. I got in touch with a local magazine of my area and shared my experiences in a form of an article. And for each article I was paid by the magazine. So in this way I earned a good income (at least a pocket money for a month or so)

2.) I updated my traveling experiences in different blogs : After reading my article in the local magazine, one of the blogger called me up and asked me to share my traveling experiences, traveling tips, about traveling insurance in his traveling blog. The offer was great. He paid me for the same. I started building a good networking with his fellow bloggers. I also started writing articles in their blogs. In this way for each blog post I was paid, a typical freelancing job. I really enjoyed it.

3.) I sold my trip photographs : I just love photography and even more when I am traveling to some exotic locations. I decided to click some great pictures, pictures that are usually out of our norms. With a little extra effort I got in touch with a stock photography website. I made a deal with them that for each photograph I would charge around $10. She agreed and I started sending her the photographs. Later I also sold the pictures to a local fine print shop. They really appreciated my work.

My traveling bag full of money. I am loving it :)

4.) Create an art yourself while you travel : I have been familiar with some sort of paintings and so as a result of that I started making my own art while I was traveling beautiful places. A lot of time was consumed but trust me if the paintings is good you can get huge sum of money. I managed to sell two of my paintings out of 6. With that money I bought six of my favorite dresses. Isn't it a good idea? I hope I am able to sell other four as well as soon as possible.

5.) I started my own small business : I really played smartly here. I used to purchase local jewelery from the places I visited and used to sell them to my friends and relatives, making sure I am earning a profit out of it. I am still doing this business and very soon I will opening my own Junk Store.

6.) Learn skills : I made sure wherever I used to travel, I used to learn a special skills from the local people there. I visited Beijing last year. There I learned about Chinese Magic. I performed same tricks here in my city and it was highly acclaimed. I started doing my own shows. In this way I earned quite a good amount of money.

Now I am happy, Finally I have some extra hard earned incomes

7.) I acted as a Teacher : I am quite aware of 2 foreign languages including french and German. When I visited China, I taught the local children about these languages. They really enjoyed it and I have decided that I ll learn more of foreign languages.

If you want to share your traveling experiences then do email me or post your comments here.

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What else You want to know About Me?

All of you know me for quite a long time now. But I am sure you are not aware of many things about KIM, and for that reason I have decided to share this post with all of you, so that you know me well from inside as well as outside. I have answered 50 questions that my best friend had asked me. With these questions I am sure you will be able to know me well. I know you guys are bored up with daily finance updates so just thought of writing something different and interesting.

~50 Questions~

1.) What is your Best Friend's name?
Betty Parker

2.) What is the color of your nails now?
Black

3.) What are you listening to right now?
Linking Park

4.) Whats your favorite number?
8

5.) What are you eating right now?
Pan Pizza

6.) If I make you a crayon, what color you would like to be?
White or Pink

7.) Which weather suits you best?
Winters

8.) Who was the last person you talked over the phone?
My boyfriend, Richard

9.) The 1st thing you notice about the opposite sex?
eyes

10.) Who is more important, your best friend or boy friend?
Best Friend

11.) Favorite TV show?
F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

12.) Siblings?
one elder sister who is married in texas

13.) Height?
5 ft 6.

14.) Hair Color?
Brown

15.) Eye Color?
Black

16.) Do you wear contacts?
I love wearing colored contacts.

17.) Favorite Holiday Spot?
Switzerland

18.) Favorite Month?
December

19.) Have you ever made anyone cry?
Yes, guys in high school

20.) Last movie you have seen?
A walk to Remember

21.) favorite day?
umm.. 3rd of July(I will get engaged)

22.) Are you very shy or out spoken?
I guess I am not shy. I had 4 bfs in 2 years

23.) Can you do skiing?
I guess NO.

24.) what would you prefer? Hugs or Kisses?
BOTH.

25.) Chocolate or strawberry?
Chocolate(dark)

26.) Do you want your friends to leave a comment of this?
Yes, please do

27.) Whom do you think will respond 1st?
YOU

28.) Whom do you think will respond last?
my Bf. He is busy with his dad's business

29.) Last book that you have read?
I know what happened in Vegas

30.) How many piercings?
3

31.) Favorite Actor?
Tom Cruise

32.) Favorite sports and team?
None

33.) What was the last thing you did?
made coffee for you.

34.) Butter or salted popcorn?
BOTH

35.) favorite pet?
horse

36.) favorite flower?
Orchids

37.) Have you ever been caught doing an unusual thing?
twice in HS.

38.) Do you have a male best friend?
NOPE

39.) Have you ever fallen in love?
I am in love right now

40.) Whom do you want infront of your eyes right now?
Richard

41.) Are you still friends with people in HS?
Yes, All of them.

42.) Have you ever seen a live accident?
yes

43.) Do you like traveling?
A lot

44.) Are you right handed or left handed?
Right

45.) how many soft toys you have?
I get one soft toy on every weekend from Richard

46.) Whom are you missing right now?
My elder sis

47.) How many tattoos have?
4

48.) Have you ever gone on a blind date?
Thrice

49.) What is in your mind right now?
My Marriage

50.) What was the last gift you got?
A ring

I hope all of you have enjoyed my questionnaire round with my best friend Betty. Please leave your valuable comments on the same.

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Totally Blown Away with Jewish and Muslim Financial Challenges

Have you ever wondered that Religion can play a great role in managing your finances. As a Catholic I am trained to manage my finances in terms of Christianity. But after I read about finances of other religion including that of Jewish and Muslims, I am really in utter shock that Money can actually play different roles in terms of religions.



I was just reading one of the articles in Money Magazine when I came to know about financial religions of different communities and trust me I was just blown away after reading it. It was really a wonderful article where it showcased stories of three different community families with different faiths and how they cope up between their financial stability and values. You can found the stories here.


I was really moved away after reading the article. The christian part was very known to me but the Jewish and the Muslim part, I would definitely like to discuss as it was more interesting and taught me some really good values of religion and money. I do not want to give any long lectures to anyone of you. It is just that I want to share what I have learned.

The Muslim Family Part :

1.) As per Quran, the holy book of the Muslims, You can never earn nor pay any interest. This is very difficult on the part of us, The Americans.

2.) Since no interest can be paid, therefore, no mortgages, no credit cards and limited amount of retirement portfolio.

3.) Education is always an exception here.

4.) The most shocking is that the charitable donations should equals to 2.5% of the net worth. I have no idea how they calculate the net worth, But I am sure they give more percent than what is exactly allocated.


The Jewish Family Part :

1.) They prepare high, extremely high, budget. The cost of a biscuit is not less than $14.99. I wonder what they earn and how they live a living.

2.) The veg and the non-veg items are always kept separately. That means they always have 2 sinks, 2 refrigerators, and almost 2 of everything.

3.) Each and every family members needs to have everything separate. No matter its a car or a house.

I am sure that the financial religion between different communities are taking place in US also, the only difference is that here it is more challenging.

Jewish Tokens

I would love to hear from all of you, what religion you practice and how you manage your finances with it. No matter what our faith is, the only thing i know is that it should be practices with best of our abilities.

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Consumers Feel Protected with new Credit Card Laws

A Reform that was much awaited since quite a long time has now came into existence when President Obama signed into a new law regarding credit cards. The reform was well supported by the house as well as the senate. Trust I am very happy with this decision since it has given a relief breathe to all the consumers. The best part is the legislation passed even when the credit card industry people were against such a decision.

President Obama declaring new credit card reforms

The decision came into act when President Obama came to know that the credit card industry people are taking advantages of the consumers and violating the rights. The legislation was brought up in between because so many people started falling into the trap of credit card debt.

But in my opinion the worst part is that the legislation will make the rules effective not before 2010 which is quite far away from now.

Let me quickly discuss the ways in which this new reform would help the consumers :

1.) Nobody will be allowed to keep the credit cards until he/she is 18

2.) The rate will be increased if in case you are 60 days late and will restore the original rate after 6 months of minimum required payments.

3.) By order, all the credit card companies need to post rules on the internet.

4.) In case of any interest rate hikes, the credit card companies are need to inform the consumers in advance 45 days.

5.) It forces them to apply for payments for the highest interest rate first.

6.) No credit card companies will be allowed to increase the rates, no matter you are late on payments to any lenders.

I am really impressed with these new rules, but only one thing with which I am not satisfied is the effective date which has been fixed in Feb, 2010. Avoid paying any kind of penalties if you don't have credit card debt. Now there is no need to wait for the government to help you. You can easily help yourself. 

I just noticed that our President is left-handed. I wonder how many left-handed presidents we had? Let me know how many of you are satisfied with Obama's New Reforms.

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I found a Money in an Unexpected Place

Last night when I was cleaning my book shelf, in one of my books I found $50 cash lying in between the pages. I was so happy to see them. Obviously it was an unexpected place for me and I had no clue how it came inside the book. I do not even remember if I have ever kept any amount of money inside a book.



It came as a surprise to me. I immediately went to my husband and told him about the incident. He was not able to hold back his laughing. The best part is I have never lost even a penny in my entire lifetime and this $50 inside the book came as a surprise to me. So where did this $50 came from?

Here are few theories which might have just taken place : It is just an assumption.

1.) Might be it was a return of cash that the shopkeeper gave it to me and in a hurry i kept it inside the book.

2.) Maybe I have kept it as a page mark.

3.) I am born lucky. So luck always favors me.

4.) Nothing but a MAGIC!!

Honestly speaking I have no clue from where that money came, but it got me thinking whole night from where it came. My wife came to me and told me it was nothing but a money that I found in an unexpected place.


Does these type of things has happened with you? Do share your experiences with us.

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