Did you know that homeowners paid or will pay 580% interest in the first year of their 30 year mortgage?

Neither did I. But a Realtor in Mobile, Alabama wanted to enlighten the public and Dave Ramsey about this and tried convince us that United First Financial’s $3,500 computer software was worth every penny.

Measure twice, cut once

I came across a blog this morning run by a twenty-something soon-to-be-graduated college student. He wrote a great post on what he currently does with his money and outlines some of his post-graduation plans. It’s rare to come across a 20-year old who thinks about money management let alone investing. He asked for some suggestions and advice on how he could do things differently, so I offered a few suggestions. I thought this might help someone else, that’s why I’m posting my recommendations here.

Will you be debt free by 2009?

Becoming debt free by 2009 was one of our goals later last year. When we got the news that we’ll be adding another member to our family however, our goals changed. Our main goal now is to save up as much money as we can to prepare for the arrival of the baby. If things go well, we’ll simply drop the load of cash to the debt.

We’ve made a decision to stop our debt snowball — temporarily

To be honest, it wasn’t a hard decision to make. Currently, we have about $30,000 left in two student loans. We’ve been attacking mine aggressively, since mine is the smallest with $9,000 remaining. In fact, we planned on having it paid off by August. But, things have changed.

The ‘coming’ credit card crunch would be a good thing

After reading the latest article on SmartMoney.com about the looming crunch in the credit card industry, I am more convinced that it wouldn’t be such a bad thing. In all honesty, I welcome it.

Gloom and doom in the U.S. economy is media hype

Everyone’s been hearing about the mortgage and credit meltdown in the U.S. and the media has been feeding on it like starving boas in a mice den. USA Today’s article yesterday, Bush: Economy is sound, despite credit woes is a prime example.

Be mortgage-free in less than half the time…really?

United First Financial is a fairly new MLM (multi-level marketing business) that claims to help people pay off their homes in half the time. I’m sure it works most of the time and sounds like a great idea, but there’s a catch. 3,500 of them. That’s right. It costs $3,500 to purchase propietary software that ‘helps’ you pay off your mortgage.

3 myths about debt consolidation companies

CNNmoney recently featured an article highlighting key things that debt consolidation companies can’t do. One of which happens to be illegal. But, people keep falling for these ‘con’-sters because of the hole they’ve dug themselves in with debt. If you’re in the thick of it and can’t see a way out, don’t fall for these common myths about debt consolidation companies.

Debt is dumb

Got your attention? I hope so. You see, we believe debt is dumb and most people think you need debt to prosper in America. Before you get your panties in a wad, chew on this.

Oprah’s Debt Diet

Moneytalk didn’t get a chance to watch Oprah’s show today on debt diet. Although Beachgirl’s Budget Blog had a good review of the show.