As regular readers of JosephSangl.com know, I am passionate about connecting people to ways to lower the interest rate on existing credit card debt.  This is why I was so excited to see that credit card providers have begun offering 0% Interest Balance Transfer offers with no transfer fees!

We have updated the on-line offers that we have found HERE (http://www.josephsangl.com/2011/07/19/0-percent-balance-transfer-credit-card/).

If you have existing credit card debt that you are paying a ton of interest on, this is a great way to reduce that interest to ZERO!

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I was listening to the news broadcast coverage of the Greece debt situation recently, and here is how the information was being delivered in all of the coverage.

1. Greece has a debt problem
2. Because Greece is part of the “Euro Zone”, this means that the “Euro Zone” has a problem
3. Because French and German banks are heavily vested in Greek banks and debt, they stand to lose the most if Greece defaults
4. In order for the “Euro Zone” countries to “bail out” Greece, the government and citizens of Greece must accept restrictions and cuts – so-called “austerity measures”
5. The Greek government and citizens don’t want these cuts and restrictions

My response (out loud many times) has been, “OF COURSE, you don’t want cuts and restrictions – NO ONE does!  BUT your economy is BROKE and everything has been financed and leveraged to oblivion – with OTHER PEOPLES MONEY!”  Based upon recent data I have seen, nearly 95-percent of Greek debt is owned by foreign entities.”

Let’s explore this in terms that we can all understand better.  Suppose you let your neighbor borrow $10,000.  Then your neighbor spent all of the money with no real plan for repayment, and when you approached them for repayment, they said, “But if I pay you back all of the money I borrowed from you, I will have to reduce or cut out some of my lifestyle.  I’m not willing to do that.”

How would that work for you?

I have said it 10,000 times if I have said it once. The day I stopped whining and complaining and started taking the tough and difficult actions necessary to get my financial house in order is THE DAY that I started winning with money!

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I meet a lot of people these days who are in the midst of their pursuit of Debt Freedom.  I call it a “Debt Freedom March.”

They have used a tool like our Debt Freedom Date Calculator to calculate their Debt Freedom Date, and they have realized just how much of their money is going to a bank or lender.  For the average family with non-house debt, somewhere between $500 and $1,250 per month is being paid in monthly payments.  If you include the house payment, that average amount is between $1,250 and $2,000 or more per month.

For those who remain focused and diligent, debt freedom is achieved, and it is incredible!

Then the inevitable question shows up – “What’s next?”

If you are one of those who is asking this question, here are a few things to consider using the newly-released money for:

• Pursue a dream
• Give more away to causes you really believe in
• Build a larger emergency fund
• Invest money into a dream
• Invest money into someone else’s dream
• Reward yourself with a purchase of something you’ve always wanted

What other things would you recommend using this money for?

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I was pondering about my family’s journey to debt freedom, and it brought to mind the following words:

• Worthwhile
• Margin
• Motivating
• Freedom
• Intense focus
• Self-Control
• Disciplined
• Dreams
• Abnormal
• Effort
• NO!
• WAIT!
• LATER!
• Tiring
• Exciting
• Possible

Those are the words that I thought of.  What are some that you would add?

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If you are carrying a credit card balance or a furniture purchase with a typical interest rate of 14.00%, 21.99% or 27.99%, you can save an incredible amount of money by transferring your balance to a 0-percent balance transfer credit card!

Here is an example of savings that can be achieved.

Balance: $7,000 Interest: 21.99% Monthly Payment: $140

If this balance were transferred to a 0-percent balance transfer credit card with a 3-percent transfer fee, the calculations would look like the following.

This ONE MOVE could save $1,314.22 in ONE YEAR! If the balance would not have been transferred using a 0-percent balance transfer credit card, the actual balance owed would have dropped by a mere $141.47. By choosing to take just 15 minutes to fill out an on-line balance transfer application, a total principal reduction of $1,330 could be realized.

$1,314.22 saved for 15 minutes work. That’s like making $5,256.88 an hour!

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What do the following companies have in common?

• Apple (AAPL)
• Fastenal (FAST)
• Panera Bread Corp (PNRA)
• Texas Instruments (TXN)
• Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY)

Besides being TOTALLY UNRELATED organizations, they are all 100-percent DEBT-FREE!  Google was 100-percent debt-free until 2010 and Microsoft was 100-percent debt-free until 2009.  Each company possesses more than enough cash to eliminate the debt without any financial margin issues.

Take a good look around at America’s businesses – they are almost ALL carrying some debt.

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I received a great Twitter message the other day with the following statement and picture:

“2 credit cards cut up and outta here! One with zero balance! One more to go and I’m done with these things @joesangl”

Listen – if you plan your spending and pay your cards off every month, get all the points you want.   But I had to chop mine up.   Apparently, this was the right decision for Desiree Dare too!

Can I ask you to do ONE THING?

1. Go to Desiree’s Twitter page and leave her an encouraging note (HERE)

It is our team’s goal to help EVERYONE take their next steps toward their financial goals – and to accomplish far more than they ever thought possible with their money!

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I’m celebrating with my family another No-Debt Christmas!

It was December 2, 2002 when my family decided to NEVER finance our gift-giving again.   We chopped up on credit cards (because we allowed them to fuel our impulsive spending decisions), put together a Mini-Budget to plan exactly how much we would spend for each person, and then followed that plan!

So that has led to No-Debt Christmas events in:

• 2002
• 2003
• 2004
• 2005
• 2006
• 2007
• 2008
• 2009
• 2010

That is NINE No-Debt Christmas times!

We have discovered some key things that have happened during our No-Debt Christmas times:

• We focus more on family
• There is less stress!
• We don’t dread bills in January!
• We’re able to focus on Jesus Christ – THE reason for Christmas!
• Our savings have not been impacted because we saved for Christmas every single month of the year!
• We can participate in giving like never before – because it is the season for giving!

How about YOU?   Is it a No-Debt Christmas for you?   If so, how many years in a row?   What have you discovered as you have experienced your No-Debt Christmas?

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A local gym has the following statement on its sign: “Stepping in the door is the hard part.   The results are easy.”

It applies to eliminating debt as well.   The hardest step is getting started!

1. Stop signing up for more debt!
2. Save $2,500 and save in your emergency fund – pay minimum payments on all debt until you have $2,500!
   
3. Find out which debts you owe and how much you owe
4. Seek to reduce or eliminate the interest you are paying
5. Calculate your debt freedom date – using the free tool HERE
6. Pay minimum payments on all debts except the smallest one
7. Attack the smallest debt with as much money as possible
8. As each debt is paid off, use the freed up payment money to add to the payment of the next smallest debt.
9. Repeat steps 6 thru 8 until you become debt free!!!

You CAN do this!   When is your expected Debt Freedom Date?

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President Obama has appointed a national debt commission [National Commision on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform] to determine a plan of action to reduce our annual deficits to 3% of the national economy by 2015.   The two leaders of this commission, Republican Alan Simpson and Democrat Erskine Bowles delivered the report.   You should take the three minutes to read it HERE.

Statements that stood out to me:

• “This debt is like a cancer,” Bowles said in a sober presentation …   “It is truly going to destroy the country from within.”
• Bowles said if the U.S. makes no changes it will be spending $2 trillion by 2020 just for interest on the national debt.   “Just think about that: All that money, going somewhere else, to create jobs and opportunity somewhere else,” he said.
• “What we do is not so hard to figure out; it’s the political consequences of doing it that makes it really tough,” he [Bowles] said.

My thoughts …

If it takes tax increases to eliminate this debt, then let my generation be the one that pays for it.   As long as I see the national debt declining, a balanced budget, and a future with lower taxes and zero national debt – I’m in.

Bowles said, “It’s the political consequences of doing it that makes it really tough.”   If we get enough people on this crusade to accomplish far more than they ever thought possible with their personal finances, there would be no negative consequences for doing the right thing.

Your thoughts?

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I was enchanted to find out that the United States Treasury provides an on-line avenue whereby we can all make a contribution to reduce the public debt (HERE).   You can also choose to make a contribution when filing your taxes each year.

Let’s see …   I can contribute to reduce the public debt when the public debt is increasing at a rate of approximately $4.12 billion/day.   I am going to have to make a contribution of $4.13 billion per day just to reduce the debt.

This crusade appears to have never-ending work – I need your help to change this!

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During the Financial Learning Experience, I regularly point people with high balances on high interest credit cards to consider rolling that debt over to a 0% credit card.   During late 2008 and early 2009, the 0% balance transfer credit card offers really dried up, but we have seen them freeing up lending lately.   In fact , we have found that Discover is now offering 0% for twelve months (it was six months) and have lowered the transfer fee to 4% (it was 5% when it was last at twelve months).

Our team keeps a running list of 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card offers on our Next Steps site HERE.

And, of course, here is my statement on that page that emphasizes that this is a tool to ELIMINATE credit card debt, not OBTAIN it!

Statement from I Was Broke. Now I’m Not.’s Next Steps page:

If you are here to acquire new debt, this is not the page for you.   I highly recommend that you prepare a written budget, calculate your debt freedom date, find out just how much interest you are paying every month, and pursue debt freedom.

Need help learning how to use all of these tools?   Purchase a copy of I Was Broke. Now I’m Not. HERE.

Next Steps 0% Credit Card Balance Transfer links were created for people who are looking to gain traction on their march toward financial freedom by restructuring their existing high interest debt to zero percent interest so that ALL of the payment is applied toward the debt balance.

There is a new post written by Carolyn Bigda on CNN Money titled, “Stick With Your Financial Diet”, and I believe every person should read it.

Here is a great line from this article:

“With the worst of the recession seemingly over, history suggests that many of us will soon revert to boom-time bad habits. People grow overly optimistic about their circumstances in periods of economic growth …”

Read the full article HERE.

If you are on a debt diet, what are you doing to ensure you stick to it?

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