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Getting out of debt is one of the most important things you can do to improve your financial health and secure your financial future. When I paid off my credit card debt, I wanted to tell EVERYONE!

With Debt Free Friday, you will be able to tell us about any debt you've recently paid off and I will post it on the blog so everyone who visits can celebrate your success. If you've recently paid off any debt (credit card, loan, student loan, mortgage, etc), let me know and I will post it on the Debt Free Friday page. Each Friday, I will post the results of the emails from the prior week.

Fill out the form below and be sure to include:

Creditor (Sallie Mae, Citibank, Chase, etc)

Date of Payoff and Amount Paid

What you plan to do with the money that you are no longer sending to the paid off debt

Debt Free Friday

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I received the following email from a reader. I'll give my thoughts at the end and I'd like to get your thoughts for the reader.

"So here's the deal. I have bills beginning to pile up. I try to pay one and make good with them, but then others pile up and become more difficult to pay and its getting even worse now. I have a second job as a server, but the pay is getting worse due to summer and people going to the shore. So my idea was, in order to save my credit rating and attempt to not go into bankruptcy all while keeping my car and roof over the wife and kids (my job could actually be at stake if I do file bankruptcy), is to get a personal loan of about 20,000 to consolidate all irregular bills (ie small loan, credit cards and make current on bills that are past due approaching the 60-day mark) and have to just make one payment to the one big loan.

So, the question, do you or your readers recommend either going down that route (the big loan) and/or recommend a loan company I should go with (bank, some online credit company)? I haven't spoken to my bank or other banks just yet, but I have searched around online seeing that there are sites offering 1k-30k personal loans."

My advice, given my own personal situation, is to not consolidate the loans. I tried the same thing when I was trying to get out of credit card debt and it backfired on me. I did not change my behavior so I ended up running up additional debt on the cards I paid off and consolidated. I then had new debt to pay in addition to my old debt.

Withought knowing actual numbers regarding income and expenses, it's hard to offer any other kind of advice on how to handle the debt.

Reader, if you haven't already, I would recommend gathering all of your bills and writing them down. I would then use one of the debt calculators to determine the best method for reducing your debt. If you Google "debt calculators", you will get thousands of results.

What do you think?

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5/29/09 Update: I spoke with the mortgage broker and everything looks good, except the value. Looks like my home appraisal is borderline and will the deciding factor on whether or not I am able to refinance. The mortgage broker plans to review the appraisal with two other appraisers to get their thoughts. Hopefully, I'll know something by the end of this week.

I've debated on whether or not I wanted to refinance for a few months now. Rates are the lowest that they've ever been and I don't think they are going much lower.

I started the process last week with my current lender. I've been with my current lender for over three years with no late payments. Their website said that they offered a streamline refinance which meant there would be no appraisal, no income verification and minimal paperwork.

Apparently, that program is no longer available. I received a call from my current lender advising me that the streamline refinance is no longer available and I would need to "requalify" for the loan.

When I applied for a refinance with a current lender, they pulled my credit. Apparently, based on my credit score, Equifax also sent my information to another lender. The lender called me and explained they could offer me a better rate than my current lender. The company is a direct lender and they their own money which means they can offer lower rates than the big national banks.

I provided all of my information and was pre-approved with the new lender. I was able to lock in a fixed rate of 4.5% for 30 years. I received a Good Faith Estimate from the company and the fees are reasonable.

The only thing standing in the way of the refinance is the home appraisal. I need to have at least 3% equity in order to be able to qualify for an FHA loan. The appraisal was completed this past Friday so I'm waiting to find out the value of my home. I think I have enough equity but the only thing that concerns me is that sales have been slow in my neighborhood and there have been several foreclosures.

I should find out if I will be able to refinance later this week. I'm crossing my fingers hoping that my home will appraise high enough to refinance. I would be going from my current rate of 6.375% to 4.5% which would save me a few hundred dollars a month. I'm pretty comfortable with my current mortgage payment so I would continue to make the same payment each month.

Have you refinanced or attempted to refinance your mortgage lately?

I wish all of you a safe and happy Memorial Day. Thanks to all of those who fought for us.

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If you know of anyone about to graduate high school, make sure they read this post. I wish someone had referred me to a post like this or given me the advice I am about to give when I was graduating high school.

Graduating high school will be among one of the most exciting moments of your life. You no longer have to deal with teachers or your parents treating you like a child. You are now eighteen, or about to be, and you are about to make the important step towards being an adult. You may think all of your troubles are about to be over and you will be able to do whatever you want to do. NOT SO FAST.

Being an adult is not all it is cracked up to be. Being an adult means you have to be financially responsible. Mom and Dad should not have to bail you out. Financial issues are one of the biggest problems of being an adult. You have to work and pay the rent/mortgage, utilities, insurance, car payments, student loans, etc.

You, recent graduate, can make it easier on yourself when you venture out into the real world. You are currently in a unique position. You probably have no debt and maybe a little bit of money saved from a part-time job, graduation gifts, parents and grandparents, etc.

Here are 3 tips to help you make a smooth transition into financial adult life:

1. Save, Save, Save. It may seem boring or it may seem uncool but it's important. If you get $20, save $5. It doesn't matter that it is only $5. Every little bit helps and it does add up. If you start this habit early, it will help you out tremendously in your adult years. Plus, having a nice fat savings account means that when you are early in your career, you can still go out and have fun instead of worrying about how you are going to pay the bills.

**Tip: HSBC offers an free online savings account. No fees, no minimum balance. **

2. Student Loans. If you are going to college and have to take out student loans, ONLY use the amount you need. If you have extra money left over after paying for the necessities and basic living expenses, save the rest (see Tip #1). Just because you have it, does not mean you have to spend it. They will give you more than you need and while it may be cool at the time, you eventually have to pay it back. I graduated college when I was 22. Here I am at 31 and I am still trying to pay off my student loans.
Note: I know there are some student loan programs that do not require repayment but we won't go into that here. I still think the "take only what you need" motto still should apply.

3. Credit Cards. Some people say don't get one, some people think you should get one. I think you should get one. You will most likely need credit to buy a home or car once you graduate college so it is best to build your credit early. Getting a credit card in college, with a small credit limit, will help you once you graduate college. Having good credit out of college will make easier to rent that first apartment, get insurance or when a potential employer pulls your credit for a job.

If you choose to get a credit card, here are the rules:

• Pay your balance in full; never pay interest.
• Pay your bill on time.
  
• Never go over 40% of your credit limit.
• Don't charge more than you can pay. If you don't have the money to pay the bill in full by the time the bill comes, don't charge it. Go back and see tip #1.

**Tip: Discover Card offers a credit card especially for students. **

Note: Using a credit card requires responsibility. If you don't think you will be responsible with a credit card, don't apply for one. It doesn't matter if they give you a "free" t-shirt. The free t-shirt could cause you years of financial stress.

You may think I am just another adult spouting off advice but trust me, I know what I'm talking about. I made ALL of the above mistakes. I wish someone had told me about the three tips above when I started college. I am still working on getting rid of the mistakes I made in my college years almost ten years later. I regret all of the fun things I didn't get to to in my early twenties because I couldn't afford it. I screwed up in college financially and I had bills to pay. Every paycheck went towards bills and there were a lot of nights I had to stay home and watch television while my friends went out and had fun.

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Financial Resources (Affiliates):
HSBC Online Savings Account - 1.65% APY as of 5/11/2009
WT Direct Online Savings Account
Student Loans
Upromise College Savings

This is an old post but I think it is worth bringing it back to the more recent posting list. Unfortunately, this is still happening more and more in the current economic environment.

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I talked with one of my long, lost friends from college the other night. He got my phone number from a mutual friend of ours and gave me a call. It was great talking to him and we spent about two hours on the phone trying to catch up. If you know me, you know that I hate talking on the phone for more than a few minutes so two hours was an extremely long time for me. It was nice to catch up with an old friend but unfortunately, all the news was not good.

He has been working for a IT company for the last five years and is making a nice six figure salary. Unfortunately, he is also spending like he makes six figures and has a nice house, two new cars, a houseboat and a motorcycle. He is the sole breadwinner since his wife stays at home to care for their two year old child. He received an email from his boss the other day saying that they need to have a meeting. This was strange to him since he almost never has to meet with his boss. His boss would not tell him what the meeting is about but would only say that he "may want to have his financial affairs in order". My buddy states the company has laid off a few people this year but he was told that he would be okay and that his job would be protected.

My buddy is now pretty scared that he is about to be laid off. He will probably get a pretty good severance package but one that is gone, he won't have anything to fall back on. He has no savings account and borrowed from his 401k to finance his boat. If he loses his job, the money he borrowed from his 401k will need to be paid back immediately or he will owe the federal government since that money will be taxed. Even if he hadn't borrowed money from his 401k, if he were to use the money prior to retirement, he will owe taxes and penalties for early withdrawal.

How could my buddy have avoided being in this situation?

Emergency Fund. No matter what you call it, everyone needs to have cash set aside that they can get their hands on in the event of an emergency. Many financial planners recommend three to six months set aside to keep you afloat until you can get another job. Depending on your individual situation, I would recommend having six to twelve months of expenses set aside in this economy. I've set aside 8 months worth of expenses in case my employer decides they don't need anymore. I would keep my emergency funds in a simple savings account. With interest rates so low right now, you'll usually find the best rates online. I recommend WT DIRECT or HSBC for an online savings account. Both of these are free, no minimum balance accounts which means you can open them with $5 or $500 and you won't pay any minimum balance fees. (There goes your excuse about not having enough to open an account.)

If you don't currently have an emergency fund, don't wait, now is the time to start saving for the unexpected.

Live Below Your Means. My buddy makes over 100k a year but he also spends just that much. If he had only managed to spend less than he earned and set some money aside, he might be able to breathe a little easier right now. Just because you make $100k doesn't mean you don't have to spend $100k!!

There you have it. This post should be the inspiration you need to start saving. There is a good chance that your job is not guaranteed. You could get the axe at any time and you need to be prepared.

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Apparently, the credit card companies don't see me as too much of a risk. Even though we've been hearing about numerous credit card companies suddenly reducing the credit lines of credit worthy customers just because of the places that they use the card.

The past few days, I've received three separate offers from two different credit card companies offering me low interest money because I am a "valued" customer. They want me to use their money for anything I need. Just in case I didn't have any ideas, they suggested that I could use the money to take a vacation, buy a computer, do home repairs or consolidate other high interest debt.

I thought about taking them up on the offer; not to do the things they suggested but to put the money in a savings account until the low rate expires and then payoff the balance in full. Basically, I'd take advantage of the offer to make a little extra money for myself. This game worked a lot better when the interest rate on savings accounts were over 5%.

The only catch is that the offer includes a balance transfer fee of 3%. If I took $10,000 of my $15,000 credit line, the fee would be $300. Putting $10,000 in my savings account that is currently paying 2.5%, I would have $250 after one year. By taking advantage of the offer, I would actually be losing $50.

No thanks, I'll pass on the "generous" offers this time. Next time, send me an offer that doesn't include a balance transfer fee and I'll probably take the money off your hands.

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When it comes to home repairs, it pays to get a second opinion. I don't think that all companies are shady or crooked but unfortunately, there are some dishonest companies out there.

I got a call from my tenant the other day because the air conditioning was not working properly. It's not too hot right now so and it generally wouldn't be an issue except my tenant has health problems and when she gets really hot, she gets sick. Needless to say, it was important to get the problem taken care of as soon as possible. I called a large local air conditioning repair company and scheduled them to go out the next day.

I had planned to meet them to go over the damages but I was too busy at work to get away. I called the company and advised them to call me once they found the problem and I would give a credit card over the phone. The tech called me within 30 minutes of being there and told me I would need gadget A, gadget B and gadget C (I forgot the names of the items) and the cost would be $1200.

Needless to say, I did not give him authorization to repair the items and told him I would need to call him back. About 5 minutes later, my tenant called me and asked what the technician said. She told me she did not have a good feeling about this guy and I should not let him do the work. I told her I would get someone else out as soon as I could. If the next company told me the same things were wrong, I would go ahead and authorize the repairs.

The next company came out and did a thorough inspection and advised me that it would cost $250 to get the air conditioning working. He sounded a lot more knowledgeable and explained exactly what was wrong. I gave him the okay and about an hour later, he called to tell me the repairs were completed. About 2 hours after that, my tenant called me to tell me it was nice and cool.

Don't be afraid to get a second, third or even fourth opinion when it comes to home repairs. Some companies will try to take advantage of an unaware buyer.

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SingleGuyMoney continues to grow and mature in the personal finance blogosphere and I'd like to thank all of my readers; past and present. I'd also like to thank everyone who links to any of the articles posted on the blog.

How did things go for SingleGuyMoney in April?

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