Three years ago I was $30,000 in debt. I was making $35,000/year. Today (Oct. 2006), I am debt-free. I paid off all of that debt by changing how I looked at debt, by making the hard choices, and by doing "whatever it took" to get out of debt. I don't work in the financial or lending field. The only reason I have put my thoughts into writing is to try to help other people. I am 46 years old. This is my story.


Three years ago I was $30,000 in debt.

I...

As you age, the stress level also increases due to a variety of situations you face. If you are facing such situations for the first time in life, naturally the intensity of the stress is more. When you become more experienced to handle such situations, gradually the stress level decreases.

You, as a youngster, start smoking for fun initially. Fun or no fun, nicotine is such a hard addiction, that it won't spare anyone. Soon your habit dominates you. You can't give up...

Dear DavidPaul,

I'm 35 years old and ready to open my heart to a true partner. I have honored myself in the past by leaving relationships that weren't right, yet I wonder if my idea of how I think it is supposed to be is preventing me from creating what I truly want. I don't want to settle. I met a man recently and was very excited after our first date, but on our 2nd date, he seemed more excited about the possibility of sex than having a relationship. Do you have any insight that...

Are you the head of the household of your family and need some tips on making your life a little simpler? Those that work, take care of the kids and pay the bills have a hard time keeping everything organized. Below are some tips to help budget your household and some maybe even have some fun doing it.

Keep your financial records current. Keep a filing system and create folders for items such as receipts, tax returns, billing statements, bank statements, credit reports, etc. Keep...

A lot of people who are exerting too much of their brain power usually exhaust not only their physical strength when engaging in various multi-tasking activities, they also tend to over extend their brains up to the point when it plainly needs some good old time for relaxation. A lot of busy people who seem to cannot fathom the idea of relaxing and taking time of from work, as well as their worries, tend to actually start having nervous breakdowns, anxiety depression and all sorts of...

Everybody want success, how come so few really attain it?
If we want to succeed in pursuing our own dreams and ideas, we must break out of the limitations that our physical senses can put upon us. As a result of conditioning from a very young age, this tyranny, if you will, causes us to ignore the realm of possibilities afforded to us in this world. Now this is not to say that your senses do not provide crucial input and valuable information necessary to your health and well-being....

Many of us know the harmful effect of negativity. Napolean Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich says; "There is very little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it's positive or negative."

It is probably easier to be negative than positive. It is easy to slide into a blaming culture, the poor little old me mindset. We all know the importance of being positive and...

The rise and fall of ancient empires has developed parallel also to the establishment and destruction of advanced fruit tree orchards. Ancient fruit trees such as olive tree orchards increased the wealth and health of nations by feeding the populations, providing nutritious olive oil to light lamps in ancient houses at night, as food and a cooking medium, and for the purpose of anointing Kings and Queens. Olive trees could not produce continuous crops unless the gardeners growing them...

EMPATHIZE- I feel very sorry for women who have been socialized that "a man is a plan" and now have to "fend for themselves" after being widowed (often at an early age) or divorced. Trying to learn about finances when one is grieving is a recipe for disaster, as grieving is surely a full time job! Additionally women's family's money messages are particularly limiting, if not worse. Women's socialization has also placed huge hurdles in our paths towards understanding...

Let's do something really silly.  Pretend you're climbing a mountain and you notice the rope you're holding on to starts fraying.  You can see it's about to break at any moment.  Your climbing buddy next to you tells "don't worry, just have a good attitude and everything will work out."  You're probably thinking that an extra rope to hold on to would be much more useful than an attitude adjustment.  Of course, you'd be right.  It's obvious a good...