The Debt-Free Spending Plan

The Debt-Free Spending Plan

by Joanneh Nagler
Released October 2012
Publisher(s): AMACOM
ISBN: 9780814432440

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Book description

Anyone suffering under the crushing weight of debt knows how impossible it can seem to find a way out. It’s overwhelming—and the more complicated the proposed solution, the harder it is to stick with it.

That’s why The Debt-Free Spending Plan is SIMPLE. It doesn’t require sifting through chapters of high-minded financial advice or digging up your past spend ing history. It assumes you need help RIGHT NOW, and gives it to you. You will learn to:

• Downsize expenses without feeling deprived
• Allocate money as it comes in and put together an easy-to-manage bill-paying plan
• Adjust for inevitable overspend ing
• Pay off debt without gouging expenses and (believe it or not) start saving

The plan is clear, easy, and takes just five minutes a day—and it doesn’t matter if you make $14,000 or $14 million. With straightforward daily spending strategies and effortless expense tracking tools, you will soon find yourself on the road to financial freedom—all before the next billing cycle.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. Preface
  6. Introduction
  7. Chapter 1 - The Heart of Our Debting Issues
    1. The Debt-Free Spending Plan Is Not a Budget
    2. What This Book Will Do for You
    3. How Did I Get into This Mess?
    4. So, What Have I Been Spending, Anyway?
    5. Stop Debting, One Day at a Time
    6. Pick Your Poison: What Going to Stop You?
  8. Chapter 2 - In with Structure, Out with Stringency: The Simple Tools of the Debt-Free Spending Plan
    1. First Things First: Determine Your Income
    2. Introducing the Debt-Free Spending Plan
    3. Step One: Your Monthly Bills
    4. Step Two: Your Daily Needs
    5. Step Three: Add It Up
    6. The One, Hard-and-Fast Rule
  9. Chapter 3 - Make It Work Every Day: Your Personal Debt-Free Spending Plan in Action
    1. A Typical Debt-Free Spending Plan
    2. A Quick Emotional Read on the Numbers
    3. Do Your Plan Once a Month, Every Month
    4. The Magic Little Notebook
    5. Your Personal Tracking Record
    6. Your Bill-Paying Plan
    7. What to Do if You’re Behind
    8. How to Catch Up
    9. What to Do if You’re Ahead
    10. “Payday Debting”: Consultants, Home Office Professionals, Entrepreneurs, and Artists
    11. Debit Cards versus Cash
    12. Putting It All Together
    13. Begin Today
  10. Chapter 4 - Deprivation Will Never Get You Debt-Free: A Plan for Everything We Need, Want, and Dream of
    1. Why Have a “Healthy Reserve” Account?
    2. You Also Need Short-Term Savings
    3. Fun Money and Special Projects Accounts
    4. Weddings, Vacations, and Special-Event Debting
    5. Simple, But Not Always Easy
    6. Learn to Live Well First
  11. Chapter 5 - To Cut or Not to Cut: Taking a Reasonable Look at What You Can and Can’t Afford
    1. Cutting Means Financial Freedom
    2. Making Cuts in Your Daily Needs Categories
    3. Making Cuts in Your Monthly Bills Categories
    4. Start Simply and Incrementally
  12. Chapter 6 - Nailing Down the Octopus Arms: How to Pay Back Your Debts without Gouging Your Living Expenses
    1. The Value of a Debt-Repayment Plan
    2. Easy-Does-It Payback Plans
    3. Credit Ratings and Less Than Minimum Monthly Payments
    4. How to Talk to Creditors
    5. A Note About “Forgotten” Debts
    6. Making Your Peace with the Payback Timeline
  13. Chapter 7 - Our Aphrodisiac Spending Plan: A Loving Approach to Approaching the One You Love About Debt Problems
    1. Lay the Unresolved Issue on the Table
    2. A Debt-Free Spending Plan for Two
    3. Victoria and Mark’s Spending Plans
    4. Nobody Wants to Be Told What to Do
    5. The Aphrodisiac Quality of a Debt-Free Spending Plan
    6. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
    7. Hope, Backed by Action
  14. Chapter 8 - “Mom, Can I Borrow…?”: How to Stop Asking for Money and Start Paying It Back
    1. How Much Do You Owe?
    2. You Pay What You Can
    3. How to Make Money Amends
    4. Loans, Gifts, and Debt Forgiveness
    5. The One-Third Windfall Money Rule
  15. Chapter 9 - Creativity, Not Credit Cards: Learning from the Spending Plans of the Newly Debt-Free
    1. Downsizing Means Things Are Looking Up
    2. Five Real-World Examples
    3. Alanna’s Debt-Free Spending Plan
    4. Pete’s Debt-Free Spending Plan
    5. Michaela’s Debt-Free Spending Plan
    6. Jake and Anna’s Debt-Free Spending Plan
    7. David and Ellie’s Debt-Free Spending Plan
  16. Chapter 10 - Keeping on Track and Keeping It Real: Using the Tools That Help You Stay on the Plan
    1. Tech Tools
    2. Bottom-Line Tools
    3. Coaching and Other Support Tools
    4. No Excuses
  17. Chapter 11 - To File or Not to File: Bankruptcy and Our Future Financial Health
    1. Do I File for Bankruptcy?
    2. Attorneys and Agencies
    3. Ethical Issues
    4. Be Honest
    5. The Fallout of Filing
    6. The Devil in Disguise
  18. Chapter 12 - Building a Life of Financial Integrity
    1. Success Is Going to Look Different Now
    2. The Real Jackpot
    3. The Happy Life
    4. This Book Is for You
  19. Index

Product information

  • Title: The Debt-Free Spending Plan
  • Author(s): Joanneh Nagler
  • Release date: October 2012
  • Publisher(s): AMACOM
  • ISBN: 9780814432440