The No Debt Plan
What is the No Debt Plan?
Simply put it is a list of advice in step format to help readers go from being in debt to getting out of debt to staying out of debt and creating wealth. That’s a long run on sentence, but I think it works. If you come across this page and you’ve already paid off your consumer debt then you can pick up reading in Step 5 — but you might want to go back and read everything to make sure you aren’t missing some important information.
Pre-Steps:
- #1 – An Honest, Positive Attitude
- You can’t make any progress until you’ve decided to be honest with yourself about your situation.
- #2 – A Long Term View
- This is not going to be an easy quick fix. To make long lasting change you need to invest some time in the process.
- #3 – Goals
- There’s no point in the journey if you don’t have a destination.
Steps:
- #1 – A Budget
- You need to tell your money where to go rather than it telling you where it went. It is a lot easier than most people think.
- #2 – Achieve Free Cash Flow
- More money coming in than going out.
- #3 – An Emergency Fund
- Disasters will strike — flat tires, air conditioning going out, the roof needs replacing… you need money set aside for these.
- #4 – Pay Off All Consumer Debt
- No more credit card or furniture store interest!
- #5 – Revisit Your Goals and Budget
- Stop for a minute and reassess your situation before continuing on.
- #6 – Investing for Retirement
- Put your money to work for you. Let time and compounding interest work for you rather than against you.
There is more to come, so stick around!
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Question: Do you contribute to a retirement simply to equal the match? Or, according, to your No Debt Plan, would you hold off on contributing to the 401K and use that money to pay off consumer debt? Would love to hear your opinion 🙂
My answer to Steve’s question:
Contribute to 401(k) to get full match, pay off all consumer debt, possibly including mortgage debt as well (5% interest loan is like 5% CD, which is great), Fully fund Roth IRA (if younger than 40) or Traditional IRA , then max out 401(k). This is an easy way to get ~$20,000 / year into non-taxable accounts. Spend the rest however you enjoy. You’ll retire well off no matter what, how soon depends on how much of the surplus is saved. I live on ~25% of my take home pay.
I live in Australia and I had a visit from a mortgage accelerator salesman that tried to get us to sign up. We didn’t. After reading your site i am glad we didn’t.
Regards Frank
Wow, this is intriguing and challenging too. Getting plenty of discuss your site can certainly help you receive traffic. Apart from this, you’ll have the ability to get plenty of feedback and results from endeavors.
Hello…
I’ve been debt free for 3 years. I’ve been saving money like crazy and put 12% into my 401k.
Three months ago, I decided I wanted to purchase a home so that later in my life, I could midigate my costs. For me, it’s all about being able to afford living when I retire.
So, I applied for a loan at the credit union where I have my savings account. I was immediately denied. My credit score, because I have no debt, has fallen to 615. They won’t give me a home loan until I raise it to 650. So how do I do this? I don’t even qualify for a credit card anymore.
Please help me.
Credit Unions also offer secured loans. Basically they take your savings account and lock it up, continue to pay you a very low interest rate on it. ( sometimes you can even put the money in a CD) Then they give you a loan for that same amount of money or about 95% of it. Often times they only charge 2% above whatever rate you get on the locked up money. You make monthly payments on that and it builds your credit.
Also getting a credit card, provided no monthy / yearly fee no matter how crapy has a grace period. Get it, use it once each month, then pay it off and do that for a few months, that will really help as well. Probably more so then my first suggestion.
I wish you luck.
KC
Great, straight forward article on getting out of debt. To learn the best way to “recapture” the entire amount of your debt or to download a chapter on this tecnique from my new book please go to:
http://tinyurl.com/l4tsjxj
This is a great approach to organizing yourself financially. The most important fact should be to live within your means. Great article, love the bullet points.
Is there a cost for your information or plan? Is there a monthly fee? Do you have a magazine? How can I continue to check out the best deals to lower /compare rates without being penalized for too many inquiries on my TRW? ..THANKS..GARRY GOOSE MCCRAY THE