Finance Roll

Indie film financing and movie distribution reminds of what it would feel like dancing nude on stage (much respect for exotic dancers at Larry Flynt's Hustler Club!). You show up to pitch your movie project and need to be able to dance to a film investor's music. It's their stage and not yours as an indie filmmaker seeking film funding. They want you to make a sellable movie which appeals to movie distributors so the production can make money.

Most investors I've met with are not interested in putting hard money into indie art house films because those are tough sells to movie distributors and overseas film buyers aren't usually interested in seeing them. The dialogue and scenes of certain art house type films don't translate well to foreign buyers and movie viewers. Action, horror and skin does not need subtitles for people to follow the story is what I've been told by distributors. Talking head movies can make no sense to viewers that don't understand subtle lines spoken in a foreign language.

Independent film financing continues to change as indie movie distribution gets more financially shaky. The place it's hitting indie movie producers hardest is right at the source - film financing. Film investors right now aren't feeling excited about putting money into movies that do not have bankable name actors. This is not like so-called indie movies that have A-list actors or are produced for millions of dollars. Those type of indie film passion projects you can make once you've made it in the entertainment business at the studio level.

Indie film investors and movie distributors won't expect you to have an A-list actor, but they do want producers to have actors (B-list or C-list or D-list) with some name recognition or celebrity. The first question film investors and movie distributors ask is who the cast is. This is where most indie movie producers are blown out of the water because they have an unknown cast of actors. Plus there is a glut of indie movies being made because technology has made it more affordable to make movies.

The bright side is that entertaining indie movies are being made that might not otherwise ever have seen light of day before. The downside is meaningful movie distribution (getting paid) for indie produced films continues to shrink as indie films being made rises (supply and demand 101). I talked to one movie distributor that caters to releasing independent films and they told me they receive new film submissions daily.

They were honest saying they get very sellable movies and ones that are less than appealing, but with so many movies out there they no longer offer a majority of producers advance money against film royalties or pay a lump cash "buy-out" to secure distribution rights. Their business viewpoint is most indie filmmakers are just happy seeing their movie released. The term they used was "glorified showreel" for an indie filmmaker to display they can make a feature film. So, they acquire many of their movie releases without paying an advance or offering a "buy-out" agreement.

Not making a profit from a movie does not make financial sense for film investors that expect to see money made. When people put up money to produce a movie they want a return on their investment. Otherwise it's no longer a movie investment. It becomes a film donation of money they're giving away with no expectations. I've been on the "dog and pony show" circuit meeting with potential film investors and learning invaluable lessons.

I'm in the habit now of talking to indie movie distributors before writing a screenplay to see what types of films are selling and what actors or celebrity names attached to a potential project appeal to them. This is not like chasing trends, but it gives producers a sharper picture of the sales climate for indie films. Sometimes distributors will give me a short list of actors or celebrities to consider that fit an independent movie budget. Movie sales outside of the U.S. are where a bulk of the money is made for indie filmmakers.

Movie distributors and film sales agents can tell you what actors and celebrity talent is translating to movie sales overseas at the indie level. These won't be A-list names, but having someone with some kind of name is a great selling point to help your movie standout from others. Brief cameos of known actors or celebrities used to be a good way to keep talent cost down and add a bankable name to your cast.

That has changed lately from my conversations with distribution companies. Movie distributors now expect any name talent attached to have a meaningful part in the movie instead of a few minutes in a cameo role. Cameo scenes can still work if there is a visual hook that grabs the attention of viewers in some way. But having name talent say a couple of lines with no special hook won't fly anymore.

Another way to make an indie film in need of funding more attractive to investors is to attach talent that has been in a movie or TV show of note. Their name as an actor might not be that well-known yet, but rising stars that have appeared in a popular movie or TV show can give your movie broader appeal. If you cast them in a supporting role keep working days on the set down to a minimum to save your budget. Try to write their scenes so they can be shot in one or two days.

When you're pitching to serious film investors they will want to be given a detailed movie budget and distribution plan on how you plan on making money from the film's release. The Catch-22 that happens a lot is that most movie distributors that cater to releasing indie films won't commit to any deal until they've screened the movie.

There is not built-in distribution like with studio budget films. Film investors that are not traditionally part of the entertainment business can get turned off when a producer does not have a distribution deal already in place. They don't understand the Catch-22 of indie filmmaking and distribution. This is where a movie producer really needs to have a solid pitch that explains the financial dynamics of indie film distribution.

Most film investors will pass on an indie movie producer's financing pitch that mentions self-distribution in it. From a movie investor's business perspective it takes entirely too long for an indie movie to generate money going the self-distribution route. It's like the old school way of selling your movie out of the trunk of your car at places, but now it's done online using digital distribution and direct sales via a blog. That's a long grind that most investors will not be interested in waiting around for. Moving one unit of a movie at a time is too slow of trickle for investors.

A possible way around the Catch-22 is to reach out to movie distributors while you are pitching to film investors. With a firm budget number and possible cast attached you can gauge to see if there is any meaningful distribution interest in the movie. It's always possible a distributor will tell you that they would offer an advance or "buy-out" deal. They usually won't give you a hard number, but even a ballpark figure of what they might offer can let you know if your budget makes financial sense to approach movie investors with.

I know one savvy indie movie producer that makes 4-6 movies a year on very reasonable budgets and knows they're already making a profit from the advance money alone. The film royalty payments are a bonus. The producer keeps budgets extremely affordable and streamlined at every phase of production. Once you have a track record with a distribution company you know what you can expect to be paid. Then you can offer film investors a percent on their money invested into the production that makes sense.

Social networking with other indie filmmakers lets you hear what's happening with movie distribution from other people's real life experiences. A cool thing I've been hearing about is that there are film investors that won't put up money to make movie that is going to be self-distributed, but they will roll the dice on a feature that is going to specific film festivals. Not the art house film festivals. The ones that are very genre specific like for horror or action films. Like Screamfest Horror Film Festival or Action on Film (AOF). Film buyers attend these events and meaningful distribution deals are made.

Independent film financing and movie distribution are areas of the entertainment business all filmmakers will have to deal with and learn from each experience. I was in the hot seat today pitching to a film investor. I've streamlined the budget as much as I can without making the plot lose steam.

The jam I'm in as a producer is there are hard costs that cannot be avoided that include lots of gun play including two rigging shots where baddies get shot and are blown backwards off their feet. Badass action films need experienced and seasoned film crews to pull-off hardcore action shots off clean and safe. The cast I want to hire has the perfect appeal and name recognition for this indie action movie to rock viewers. There is nothing that can get lost in the translation in this film for foreign film buyers and movie viewers.

What I think got lost in the translation with the potential film investor today is if I keep taking out below-the-line crew to save money I'm going to have to do rewrites to the screenplay to take out action scenes. These are selling points that will hurt sales if they are written out. But it's my job as an indie filmmaker to balance a budget that appeals to film investors. We'll see how this goes. This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing fade out.

Many entrepreneurs only focus on bleeding-edge, burgeoning markets when developing their technology, product or service offering. This is done for various reasons including:

• The perception that burgeoning markets have limited competition,
• The ability to establish an early foot-hold to increase the value of their company, and
• The reality of the difficulty in developing a differentiated, long-term competitive advantage in large established markets.

This article outlines why this market approach is generally too risky for many venture capitalists and then provides five reasons why venture capitalists prefer large established markets over bleeding-edge, burgeoning markets.

Emerging Bleeding-Edge Burgeoning Markets
Often in order to differentiate themselves from large, established competitors, smaller companies or start-ups believe that they should address emerging markets with bleeding-edge technology. Generally speaking, it is true that the larger competitors will not jump into a new, emerging market segment until it is deemed that the market has enough volume to support the required investment. In addition, these same large companies are more conservative in their investment philosophy and can afford to wait as they have the necessary resources and marketing presence to jump in quickly and create their own position in the emerging market. On the other hand, smaller companies or start-ups believe that if they can create a foothold in an emerging market, it will allow these same start-up companies to secure a strong position and for them to gain market share supporting a significant exit strategy for their investors by either going public (less likely) or getting acquired by a larger, more established competitor.

More often than not, this bleeding-edge, burgeoning market entry strategy comes with a large amount of risk. The most important risk factor here is that the underlying, emerging market that supports this bleeding-edge technology does not develop in a predictable, near-term time frame. In this situation, the technology pundits often claim that their target market or market segment will take off within the next year, providing their company with a substantial return on investment in a very short period of time. This optimistic view of the world, usually does not consider the time it takes to roll-out new technology infrastructure or to establish this same new technology with the customer base. More often than not, this one-year time frame turns out to be five to seven years. This makes it virtually impossible for a small, venture-funded company to finance the multiple generations of product development that are required before their bleeding-edge target market supports the shipment of significant enough volume to make their business model self-sustaining. In many cases, this same small high-technology, start-up-company has secured a tremendous amount of funding (e.g., $50M to $100M) and cannot secure additional funding from third-party investors. In this situation, the amount of funding secured significantly outweighs any financial value of the company or its technology, product, or service offering, requiring its investors to sell it to the first large company that will pay pennies on the dollar just to get out of the investment.

This scenario is not unusual. In fact, it has been my experience that within the high-technology wireless markets, this has happened to many start-up companies in the digital cellular, Bluetooth, the wireless LAN (WiFi) and WiMAX markets. For all of these markets, the pundits had projected substantial immediate growth in short periods of time, only to have the markets develop over much longer periods of time, causing many of the early, venture-funded start-up companies that targeted these markets to go out of business or to be sold to larger competitors for an insignificant valuation for the company and their investors.

This is not to imply that there are not many cases where venture-funded, start-up companies developing bleeding-edge technology for an emerging market did not secure a significant return for their investors. In the high-technology boom of the late 1990s, many large semiconductor companies were purchasing small start-ups to hedge their bets on some of the emerging wireless markets. At the time, many of these small companies were being purchased at valuations between $200M to $400M. These unheard of valuations, although good for the start-up companies, rarely made significant returns for the acquiring company, which often shut down these operations within one to two years after their purchase.

Large Established Markets With Strong Growth
A much stronger strategy is for start-up and emerging companies with unique and disruptive technologies to go after large, established markets with strong growth. This is the one of the untold secrets for receiving funding from the venture capital community. The venture capitalists always look for companies, as previous defined, with disruptive technology product or service offerings, looking to address large and established markets with strong growth potential. By addressing large, established markets with strong growth, one has eliminated the substantial risk that exists when there is the need for the underlying market to develop in order to support your business model. This generally is an undue amount of risk that many investors are unwilling to take to ensure their return on investment. In addition large established markets have five favorable market characteristics as described below.

Reason #1: The Market is Large
The market is large. By virtue of its large size, this makes the market very attractive to investors and new start-up companies seeking to establish themselves in the market. The market, due to its size, is big enough to support one or more new competitors. Therefore, the opportunity exists to establish your company in the market by securing enough market share to support your business model projections. In addition, due to the inherent size of the large market, it does not require your company to secure an unrealistic market share to meet its business goals. This makes the large market an excellent investment opportunity and significantly reduces any risk that is out of control of your company, the size of the market.

Reason #2: The Market is Established
The market is established. This also reduces the overall risk to your company looking to enter the market with your technology, product, or service offering. By being established, there is a defined history to the market, the competitors, and their technology, product, or service offerings. This makes the underlying dynamics of competition within the market well understood, again eliminating any unknowns and unforeseen risk that may be hovering just under the surface of smaller, less established markets. By addressing a market that is already established, your company can predict many of the risk factors that it will need to address to be successful in the market.

Reason #3: The Market Has Strong Projected Growth
A market with strong projected growth is desirable for two reasons. First, by having strong growth, your company can be assured over the long term of the opportunity to increase its return on investment. Strong growth also allows for the possibility of new market sub-segments to develop, creating additional growth opportunities for your company. Secondly, strong growth makes a market very dynamic. That is, there are new competitors trying to enter the market, and established players trying to retain their positions. This provides for more opportunity for your company to develop a compelling technology, product, or service offering that can be used to secure significant market share. The pure dynamics of a growing market requires established competitors and new competitors alike to constantly monitor the market for new opportunities, creating a highly competitive environment.

Reason #4: The Market Has a Known Customer Base
By being large and established, the market has a known customer base. Therefore, your company with its technology, product, or service offering can look at the established history of the market and determine the needs of your target customer base. In addition, with the established customer base there is always a strategic, opportunistic customer need that is not being addressed, providing for an opportunity to substantiate your company as a new competitor in the market. Generally speaking, established customers are always looking for new ways to differentiate their technology, product, or service offerings, providing themselves with a leg up on their competition. Also, with an established customer base, by studying the market leaders, and their specific customers, market positions, and product offerings, it is easy to determine what is required to make a company successful in the market.

Reason #5: The Market Demands New Customers
Large, established markets with strong growth also attract new potential customers for your technology, product, or service offering. By virtue of its size, growth, and the underlying dynamics, new customers will always be looking to establish themselves in the target market. These new customers may be established competitors or new competitors, but one must always assume that there exists opportunity for new customers for your technology, product, or services offering. Many times these new potential customers exist under the radar. They may be strong competitors in complementary markets, new venture-funded start-ups, or large corporations looking to established themselves in non-related markets. The issue here is that, for large, established markets with strong growth, there always exist new potential customers for your technology, product, or service offering. The key is to do your research and due diligence to identify these new potential customers.

Since all venture capitalists are by their nature risk adverse, it pays for entrepreneurs to target markets that are large with strong growth. Generally speaking bleeding-edge, burgeoning markets end up being a disappointment -- both for the entrepreneur and their investors, resulting in much lower returns for the venture capitalists. The five reasons outlined here provide the entrepreneur with the necessary insight that will allow them to be discriminating when choosing their target markets of interest.

When it comes to money lending, payday loans are becoming one of the most popular alternative solutions to high-street bank loans. However, like all loans, they do have to be paid back at some point and in the case of payday loans, paying them back on time is imperative. In order to help with the repayment process, it is always prudent to understand just how payday loans are made and more importantly what you, as a consumer needs to know about the whole process.

The first thing that a consumer will need to understand is that a payday loan is designed to be paid back in one lump sum and over a period of no longer than one month. This means that there are no installments for the borrower to worry about, thus allowing them to better focus on paying off their loan right away and staying on top of their finances. Additionally, one swift payment means that the loan won't incur any more interest.

Let's review some of the main elements to consider when taking out a payday loan.

When is taking out a payday loan right for me?

It cannot be stressed enough that taking out a payday loan is not for everybody in need of some last minute funds. Why? Well, in short, a payday loan is a temporary solution to a short-term problem. If you are considering taking out one of these loans, but constantly find yourself unable to make ends meet at the end of the month, then a payday loan is probably not the answer for you.

If you usually have a pretty good grip on your finances and just happened to overspend this month or found yourself in an unexpected emergency with a temporary cash flow problem, then a payday loan could be an excellent tool in easing your financial stresses.

How is the repayment made?

In essence, the pay back process is made as simple and as easy as possible - all thanks to the internet. When an applicant applies for a loan, he (or she) must pass through a series of filters to make sure that they qualify. One of the criteria for a payday loan is that they have a current bank account, which they must provide to their lender. These details are then used by the lender to automatically take the one and only payment on the specified date that was agreed upon by both parties. In doing so, things are made a whole lot more convenient for the borrower especially because the only thing that needs done is to make sure that the amount is in their account on that day.

The amount paid is the loan amount plus the agreed interest.

What happens if the applicant cannot make a single repayment in full?

If you inform the payday loan provider that you cannot meet the agreed payment in full, then the majority of lenders will allow you the option of 'rolling over' the payment. Now, this is where things can get sticky because however tempting it may be to have more time to pay back your loan, it is important to note that this will incur larger interest charges. However, you will have had to agree to these costs in the very beginning when you took out your payday loan.

*Ask your payday lender about the costs of rolling over, should you be unable to meet the agreed upon repayment date*

Generally speaking, the interest charges on rolled over loan are split into two categories; additional fees and extra interest. The extra interest will typically be the loan plus the extra month's interest charges at the specified rate.

The additional fees will typically be that of an application or processing charge. This is usually a small administration fee which is charged out once every time a client 'rolls over' a payment.

If you, the borrower, should decide that rolling over the payment will give you more time to get you finances in order, it is imperative that you speak to the lender before your first payment comes out. Failure to notify your lender in advance will most likely result in hefty late payment charges and may hurt your chances of borrowing any future money.

Obtaining an auto loan with bad credit is do-able if you are smart and take a few precautions. First, find out what exactly your credit score is, and what your credit report looks like. Print it out and memorize it or bring it with you to the auto dealership (but never, ever show it to anyone other than yourself or your co-signer!). Also, do research on what type of car you would like and can afford, and find out what the Kelly Blue Book value of these cars are. Again, memorize it or-better yet-print this information out and bring it to the dealership with you. This time, feel free to show the salespeople the print-out if they give you a price that is too high.

Furthermore, either you, your co-signer or a third party that is knowledgeable about cars should inspect the car you are interested in very, very carefully. Look for signs of rust/corrosion (paying particular attention to rocker panels, floors, wheel spaces/wells, the interior of the trunk and around the roof), accident repairs (uneven doors, panels, fenders, and shades of paint are all telltale signs) and odometer rollback. Check the tires-if they are bald but the odometer shows low mileage, that is a sign the odometer may have been rolled back.

And why all the precautions? Anyone looking to purchase or lease a car should do this, but if you have bad credit then the salesmen may most likely try to take advantage of you by selling you lemons, or telling you that your credit score is far less than it really is, or charging you more for the car than it is worth-interest rates, included. Be smart, look after yourself, and don't take anything the salesman says to heart-educate yourself beforehand.

There are many financial products related to vehicles. Auto loans and auto leases are the most common ones. But there is a third financial product related to vehicles which is just as useful but half as well known as the previously named ones: auto title loans. An auto title loan is a very versatile type of loan which works very much like a payday loan, with the only difference that it belongs to the secured loan group.

This article focuses on car title loans, it is an explication on their very nature, on what they entail as financial products and on the obligatory requirements for approval.

Car Title Loans

This type of loan is, as stated before on this article, a secured loan. You borrow a sum of money by pledging your car as a security for the loan. The amount of money you can apply for ranges between $601 and $2500 more or less. As you can see, this loan can be compared to a secured form of a payday loan. It is also a short-term loan, usually lasting between 15 and 30 days at most. If you fail to repay it at the end of the loan, you will be able to "roll it over". If "rolled" over, the interest rate on the loan will accumulate.

The tricky thing about this loan type is that if for some reason you fail to repay it after it has been "flipped" the maximum amount of times (by law, 6 times), you may have your car repossessed. The interest rate on car title loans, just like in payday loans, is very high. Perhaps even higher than on a cash advance loan. The normal rate is about 25%, or a 300% annual rate.

Vehicle title loans are meant to be used only in an emergency, otherwise, if used regularly for common purchases, they constitute a very bad deal for the consumer.

Auto Title Lenders

These are the lenders offering auto title loans. They make an awful high amount of profit from the interest rate they charge on the loan, and sometimes will do anything to entice you to apply for one of their loans. They will focus on bad credit and elderly people. If you are going through a rough patch and you are in need of money, applying for a title loan involving your car probably will not be the best idea. Try and find other sources of finance because in the end, the interest rate will end up eating up for debt, and you will not benefit from this at all.

Often, these lenders call themselves 601 lenders. Why is that? Because they can only charge high interest rates if the loan is above $600.

Vehicle Title Loan Requirements

Qualifying for this type of loan is very easy. It might be a bit harder than qualifying for a cash advance loan, but easy nonetheless. The first and most important requirement is a car. You must be a car owner (which must be free from liens against it) and be in possession of the title. You must also be employed and be an American citizen with at least 6 months of residence in your current home.

The world is so fast that there are days when the person who says it can't be done is interrupted by the person who is doing it - Anon

Isn't it strange that for some reason, self improvement, self education and financial management have been spilt apart and gone into seemingly different directions, when, in reality, they are all but one?

We need self education to sort our finances out - the financial management part of the equation involves us making far reaching, hard changes to our lives, attitudes and beliefs, leading to Self Improvement & more Self Education. It's a vicious (in the nice, ongoing, sense of the word) circle that keeps on going, intertwining, mixing and using all three components of the same solution.

People who are not in the circle - the zone - who have no motivation to change their lives, accept and settle for being average, without questioning their beliefs or motives. Why accept being average, when accepting financial and life security takes exactly the same amount of effort. Why, and what is it, that makes most people comfortable with hardship in their lives when it could be so much better for both themselves and their families as well as the rest of the world in general.

Why aren't people committed to making a difference to their lives for the better, enhancing the world they - and the rest of us - live in?

Especially when it's so simple to start?

All it takes is a piece of paper, a note book and a pen. On the piece of paper, list your goals. Write as if you have millions in the bank, and health, marriage, age and status doesn't matter. Write as if you could not fail.

What would you aim for if you knew you could not fail?

Turn that same piece of paper over, and on the clean side, take your single, most important goal, the one that would make the most difference to you if it were achieved today. Under that goal, list every single thing, every way, every solution, you can think of to use to achieve that one, single goal.

With the notebook, make a daily log of everything you spend - every single penny. Analyse your record at the end of the first month, cut out your unnecessary expenditure. That gives you an effective payrise. Out of your new payrise, invest part of it in yourself - your education, your self improvement. If you don't invest in yourself, how can you expect anyone else to?

Put some more of that payrise towards the monthly installments on your smallest bill. Pay that bills monthly installment and the overpayment from your new payrise together, every month, until it's clear. Then, put the same installment and overpayment from that bill onto your next smallest bill's monthly installment, and carry on every month until that bills cleared, and carry it on and on to your other bills, creating a snowball effect, slowly starting to roll, until it becomes an unstoppable force in it's own right. Aim to pay that mortgage off in 13 years, not 25.

Review your daily cash log every month. Eliminate all waste. Try and give yourself as many payrises as you can. One soft drink a day costing 50pence equates to £182.50 a year nett, £224.48 before stoppages. Simple and easy to do, isn't it?

Start looking for opportunities to earn more cash. Second or part time jobs. Start a small internet business, concentrating on building up a residual income that comes in - bigger and bigger every month - even when you don't work on it after a period of time. Aim to work once, and get paid from that work for ever. Stop trading your time - your life - for an hourly wage. Concentrate on filtering your extra income into building up assets that will earn you cash for as long as you own them. Property. Web Pages. Businesses. All Prime examples of how you - and anyone - can better spend their time instead of slaving for an hourly rate.

It's simple to start. A piece of paper, a notebook, and a pen.

Plans on paper are a good starting point, but left as they are, they are just dreams. Dreams don't come true very often. Turning your dreams into goals requires only three basic things - the ABC of life - Action, Belief, Committment.

Work to start achieving your goals the very day you write your list out. Take A ction, save money, start that web site, get that second job.Taking A ction naturally confirms your c ommittment to your goals and your b elief in yourself. One feeds into the other, creating one giant, unstoppable achievement machine - you. Prove to yourself constantly that you're taking ac tion - review your goals often, start saving some your extra income. Start at 1 per cent for a couple of months as you concentrate on clearing your monthly installments.

Put these savings into a separate deposit account -

In life, nobody, absolutely nobody gets what he wants....Yes, you read correctly, You WILL NEVER get what you want...And before you close this post, thinking that I am crazy and start writing articles about my madness, let me finish the idea. In your life, you will never get what you want, you will only get what you focus on!! And I want you to keep this quote forever, because it is going to be crucial in every moment of your life.

You can desire many things: To make more money, to have a better lifestyle, to travel the globe with your family, to find a partner and establish an stable relationship, to improve your finances, to get rid of your debts, to live in the house of your dreams, to drive the car of your dreams, to leave a legacy writing a book or making a difference for your community or even better, to make a difference for the whole world and humanity.

But let me ask you a question: Do you know anybody that wants to have less of what he has or wants to be in worse conditions? Because so far I haven't met any. So, why, if everybody wants better things, the majority of the people never get them? Well, this is the principle that I am talking about, that if you learn it and apply it, it can literally change your life. The thing is not just to consider yourself ambitious and to want to be better, the thing is to Focus on making it happen.

Open the frustrations box of whatever could have been and it hasn't, rescue your dreams, swipe them and make them shinny as new, write them down and set them as a clear and precise goal, I mean, Write them, and this is important, that you WRITE THEM, not only that you think about them, because the mind is volatile when it doesn't have a clear direction and tent to loose the target easily. So, focus, define what you really want to achieve in your life, clearly, like if you were using a photographic camera. When you are taking a picture of the view that you want to keep in that picture forever, you want it to be nit and clear, right? Well, just exactly like that, your brain wants to have a nit and clear image of where you want it to take you.

Then, you have to visualize it, feel how you are convinced that that's what you want to focus on. I mean, don't buy other people's dreams and say "I want a Rolls Royce, because successful people drive a Rolls Royce". If the Rolls Royce doesn't make you move, it is ok, that doesn't mean you are a looser for not wanting a Rolls Royce. You just have to look deeply inside to find out, what is what it moves you, what passions you, what is your life mission.

Ok, then, when you find it out, and you feel like you have a burning desire, you just sit down, visualize, read your notes and wait until it happens? Absolutely not!

When you have a burning desire, the next step is to Commit! Nothing happens without a commitment with yourself on focus to achieve what you want, on creating a plan and take action, on doing what needs to be done, to make this dream come true, in alignment with the ethics and the common good.

In other words, your mind is like a photographic camera. Imagine that in front of you, there is the clear and nit image of your dreams and goals, you see all your talents and the infinity of resources that you can count with to make them happen, the belief that you deserve something better, that you were created for something big. All this is right in front of you. And right behind your back, at the same time, you can feel all your problems, all your limiting beliefs, your debts chasing you, the economy, the crisis, the bad situation that your country is going through, the fear, the hopelessness. If your mind is your photographic camera, It can not focus to the front and to the back at the same time right?

Now, think in the quote that titles this post, If you don't get what you want, but what you focus on, What is going to happen if all the time you focus your camera in your problems, in your lack of resources, in your limitations, your fears, your insecurities, your debts. What is what you will get as a result of this? More of the same thing!!! Because you will get what you focus on!

If you had your camera (your mind) focus all the time in your problems, you won't be able to focus in your dreams or in finding the solution to your problems. A camera, can not focus in opposite directions at the same time. So, Where is where you have to focus your camera (your mind) on? You have to keep it focus in your dreams, in all your possibilities, in all that completes the beautiful picture that you have ahead of you, your future, your life, your mission!

If you want to capture a picture of a beautiful view, that makes you vibe. You are not going to put in the scene trash or images that depress you or make you angry or discouraged right? Well your mind works exactly like that, exactly like a photographic camera. So from now and on, always remember that YOU WILL NEVER GET WHAT YOU WANT, YOU WILL ONLY GET WHAT YOU FOCUS ON.

Focus on your dreams, on your mission, fill up yourself with all the resources to achieve them and please.....Please!!

Dare to become that Wonderful and Successful Human being in which God dreamed when he Created you.

Check the national debt clock: Our federal debt is $13.3 trillion, next year's budget is $1 trillion in the red, and we have unfunded commitments for Social Security, health care and other programs as far as the eye can see.(1)

Is the United States already insolvent? Yes, according to a recent Bloomberg column by Boston University economics professor Laurence J. Kotlikoff. After comparing the government's obligations with its expected future revenues, he concludes: "Let's get real. The U.S. is bankrupt."(2)

But Kotlikoff's analysis does not go far enough. He looks at all the government's obligations, but he does not consider the value of all the federal government's assets. We could sell off federal property to raise money to repay creditors or to support our spending, at least for awhile.

In other words, it will soon be time for some creative financing.

The Treasury has more than 147 million ounces of gold at Fort Knox, Ky. It just sits there, costing us money to store it. That gold is worth more than $176 billion at current prices. I remember when $176 billion was a lot of money. Now, it would plug the hole in next year's budget for only about two months. Of course, dumping 147 million ounces on the market abruptly would depress the price of gold, so we would likely get even less for it. (Central bankers have an agreement among themselves to limit gold sales for exactly this reason.)

Okay, selling our gold isn't going to get us very far. We have some other really good stuff in the attic. It's hard to predict what the White House might bring at auction. We could sell it and then lease it back for any president who wants to occupy it. Or we could just pocket the money and elect rich people who can afford their own digs in the District of Columbia.

How much is the Statue of Liberty worth? What about the Washington Monument? Or the Capitol?

In a piece in Time magazine, Douglas A. McIntyre suggested that selling the timberland of Yellowstone National Park could bring in over $4 billion, but that doesn't factor in what an eccentric billionaire might give to own Old Faithful.

In 1962, the British government got nearly $2.5 million when it sold the London Bridge, which was in disrepair, to American oil magnate Robert McCulloch. (He moved it to Arizona.) Our famous bridges, like the Golden Gate and the Brooklyn Bridge, are not federally owned as far as I know. Still, perhaps we could sell the Bay Bridge that links San Francisco with Oakland. Like London Bridge, the Bay Bridge has a tendency to fall down.

If selling any of our national crown jewels seems unthinkable, the federal government owns plenty of other land that we could more easily part with. A 2004 congressional study found that the federal government owned 28.8 percent of all the land in the country, a total of more than 653 million acres, most of it national forest and federal grazing land. The total includes nearly 85 percent of Nevada. We could sell some of that land We could sell Nevada. We could throw in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and make it a package deal.

While we are on the subject of selling sparsely settled states, the Russians have expressed interest in reversing the Alaska Purchase. One call to Messrs. Putin and Medvedev might be all it takes. We should insist, however, that they also take any adult Alaskan named Palin or Johnston who has ever appeared on national television.

In the nation's urban centers, we really ought to look at maximizing value for the numerous old forts and other military installations that serve little purpose in the modern defense structure, but which sit on valuable real estate. We can no longer afford sweetheart deals like the $1 sale of much of Governor's Island to the people of New York in 2003, and the similar conversion of the San Francisco Presidio to a public park.

Only 800 yards from the southern tip of Manhattan, Governor's Island has 172 mostly wooded acres that, in private hands, would be a developer's dream. But after serving as a U.S. military base for almost two centuries, it is now open to the public and serves as a playground for urban dwellers. Recently it hosted a "Commandos vs. Zombies" capture the flag game. There is a miniature golf course with holes that are also works of art.

This is all very nice, but we just can't afford it. Before its one-dollar sale, the island was valued at $500 million. It would not have been hard to find a buyer eager to put up luxury apartments instead of a quirky miniature golf course.

On the other hand, there are some federal assets that we should give away just to avoid an endless stream of future losses. Amtrak jumps to mind. A study last year found that, in 2008, U.S. taxpayers kicked in about $32 in subsidies toward the cost of the typical Amtrak trip. Even in the Northeast, where passenger volume is highest, Amtrak lost almost $5 for each passenger who traveled on its Northeast Regional trains. The train between San Antonio and Los Angeles lost $462 per passenger.

Our leaders have not been talking about asset sales because, so far, foreign lenders have been willing to hand us vast sums of money at ridiculously low rates. And they have been willing to roll over that debt again and again. But eventually the rest of the world is going to realize that Uncle Sam is in debt way over his head, and the lending party is going to stop.

Other countries have already started putting assets on the market. European governments sold €13 billion worth of property (about $17 billion at today's rates) in 2006, according to a report by CB Richard Ellis. The United Kingdom has announced plans to sell around £35 billion (about $53 billion) of assets over the next 10 years. Russia recently said it plans to raise around $30 billion by selling minority stakes in 11 state-run firms.

Our turn is coming. Take another look at that national debt clock. See how much it has increased in just the time it took to read this column? We may not be bankrupt yet, but we're well on our way to being broke.

Sources:

(1) National Debt Clock

(2) Bloomberg: U.S. Is Bankrupt and We Don't Even Know It

Have you tried to take the whole family out to a major league baseball game lately? The cost of tickets, parking AND food could easily top $200 for four or five people! I honestly don't see how big league teams are making it during tough economic times. And I don't understand how anyone with a family can go to those games. I like watching baseball in person much more than only watching on TV -- but how to get around this "little" issue of cost?

I've got some ideas here that could solve that little problem for you and also help you to conserve and save money, and consequently help the status of your family and household budget. This is just one of a number of financial strategies that I'll be rolling out for you that should help you learn how to budget just a little better and help your personal finance picture improve. Good goals for us all!

A great baseball option that can provide an afternoon or evening of inexpensive and high quality action is your local high school, college or university. When they were young, we often took our children to the University of Hawaii baseball stadium and everyone enjoyed themselves for a fraction of what going to see the Islanders would cost. And parking and getting into and out of the stadium was sure a lot faster, and cheaper.

The University of Hawaii had recently built a new baseball stadium, which was not so big that we couldn't see the kids where ever they wandered. We'd give them food money so they could buy whatever they wanted to eat and they had a great time. We got a chance to see good baseball for a lot less than it would have cost to see the Islanders play. And high school games could be cheaper still.

Now the Islanders weren't, and still aren't, big league, but college ball was definitely cheaper. It can still cost a lot less to go see minor league teams play than big league teams, and a lot of those minor league teams and stadiums are making a big effort to make low-cost entertainment and food options available to families. Be sure to check minor league ball in your area as a lower cost baseball option.

If your son or daughter plays Little League, watching their games as your baseball "fix" can result in huge savings over professional games. Little League games can really be exciting and are often filled with some quality ball playing. The entertainment value, when you factor in the humorous and off-the-wall plays that Little League often features, is also a fun factor. And bringing your own food can save you money over paying concession stand prices.

Yes, there are definitely options available for you to take your family out to watch some exciting baseball for a lot less than it would cost you to go to a big-time stadium. Take some time to check around and see what you can find that will give you a chance to create some quality time for your whole family to spend together and still enjoy watching a great, All-American game.

I hope these ideas have put you on the right track to considering small things that you can do, which can add up to big amounts, to improve your personal finances and help to protect your precious family financial resources!

Financial management is concerned with procurement and utilization of spenditure in the correct way according to ones financial situation, while Financial management is critical for the greater success of businesses and organizations it is equally important to implement financial management into our personal lives. Learning how to become financially disciplined and how to budget money wisely is vitally important, being financially disciplined plays the largest roll and is something not all people manage that well, however there are several methods and hundreds of computer programs that can assist you, Many people need visual aids to monitor and track their progress and in this day and age with just about every household having a computer now is the perfect time to start implementing finance management techniques. Budgeting money is also a grey area for many people and again there is plenty of help out there if you know where to look, in recent years more and more people are turning to digital budget planners (finance management software) to help budget money and plan for a brighter future.

Budget planners via the way of computer software can help you keep track of your funds, most budgeting software these days includes digital graphs which really help people manage their funds, seeing which areas your money is being distributed to via graphs improves ones understanding and mental process, this method really improves your chances of successfully budgeting money.

Here are some tips that you can put into place to help budget your hard earned cash

Tip #1: Opening a savings account or a term deposit bank account is quite popular these days, however with term deposit accounts you must ensure that you can meet the required minimum monthly deposit or you Will forfeit your interest rates that were agreed on when opening this account.

Tip #2: Working out where you should spend your money, wants and needs are two different things entirely, if you can draw the line between wants and needs you really can start saving money a lot quicker, for example that sexy dress you would love to purchase is not a necessity when you already have a wardrobe full of dresses.

Tip #3: Setting goals will go a long way to helping you learn to budget your money, for example rather than purchasing a new television with your next pay cheque is not going to help, if you set a goal to purchase this television in 1 month or even 2 months time, not only will this ensure that you still have extra money each week this will also teach you the art of financial discipline.

Making small personal goals and sticking to them even if they are small goals at first you can then implement this theory into larger ideas, you will gain much more than just financial discipline you will also gain self satisfaction from what you have accomplished.

I have come to the conclusion that the process of going through a divorce can oftentimes be, emotionally, more catastrophic than a death in the immediate family. That's a statement that is not easy to make, but I believe it is true. Ask anyone who is going through or having gone through a divorce and they will tell you it is or was the most stress they have ever experienced in their lives. I see this stress in the face of many of my clients. Divorce can break a person, plain and simple.

Next to personal bankruptcy its affects on your personal finances will take years to overcome. Most never do overcome the financial wreckage a divorce leaves behind. It is for this reason that anyone contemplating divorce seek out a competent tax advisor to help minimize the financial repercussions of a divorce. A good tax advisor, experienced in divorce tax planning, can better position you to recover from the divorce, financially. There are many pitfalls in divorce tax planning that can be avoided through thoughtful analysis and planning with your professional tax advisor. Anyone contemplating a divorce must meet not only with their attorney but also with their CPA or tax advisor.

I have encountered many instances in my practice where being left out of the planning process resulted in lost tax benefits, typically to the party making payments to their soon-to-be ex-spouse. Additionally, where separation occurs first, there are ways to formulate the separation agreement that enable the payor spouse to receive tax benefits for payments made to the recipient spouse during the period of separation.

In a divorce, there are typically three types of payments that are made between spouses. One is in the form of alimony, another is in the form of property settlements, and the third, if there are minor children, is in the form of child support.

Deductible Payments:
In order for amounts paid by one spouse to another spouse to be considered deductible, the amounts paid must be pursuant to either a legal separation agreement (called "separate maintenance payments") or a divorce decree (called "alimony"). In order for separate maintenance payments to be considered deductible, the separation must be considered a legal separation. In a legal separation there needs to be a formal separation agreement and neither spouse may live together in the same home. Additionally, a legal separation requires a court order governing what will happen while the parties are separated.

A legal separation is infinitely more complicated and more expensive than an informal separation. Like a legal separation, a divorce decree must be issued pursuant to a court order. There is a formal agreement setting forth the terms of the divorce. The payments must be made in cash and there is a three-year recapture rule that looks at the dollar amount of the payments made over a three-year period. As an example of this rule, if the payments made in years two and three are lower than the payment made in year one by $15,000 or more, than the year one payment is considered a property settlement and that deduction is recaptured (treated as taxable income to the payor spouse) in year three. Liability for separate maintenance payments or alimony must end upon the death of the recipient spouse.

Any cash payments made to third parties (i.e. mortgage or rent), pursuant to the separation agreement or divorce decree, qualify for separate maintenance payments or alimony. Legal fees paid for tax advice relating to the separation or divorce are deductible as itemized deductions. Legal fees relating to the drafting of the separation agreement or the divorce decree and legal fees related to child custody or child support are not deductible. The payor spouse is entitled to a tax deduction for the separate maintenance payments or alimony made, incident to a legal separation or divorce, and the recipient spouse is required to include such payments as income in their annual income tax return filing. Separate maintenance payments and alimony are considered "compensation" to the recipient spouse for IRA deduction purposes.

Non-Deductible Payments:
Property settlements represent a distribution of the ownership rights in property that one or both spouses have title to. This may be a home, an employer retirement plan or other assets created during the term of the marriage. In New Jersey, most assets created during the term of the marriage are split down the middle between both spouses in a legal separation or divorce. Property settlements are never tax deductible by the payor spouse and never considered taxable income to the recipient spouse.

They are considered tax-free exchanges if they are incident to the separation or divorce and transferred within one year. Qualified employer retirement plan money, generally, cannot be removed from the account of an employee spouse while the employee spouse still works there. A Qualified Domestic Relations Order ("QDRO") issued by the court as part of the legal separation or divorce decree is one of the few exceptions. In most cases, a QDRO is used to transfer money from the 401(k) of the payor spouse to the recipient spouse's IRA. However, the tax code also provides that the money being transferred under a QDRO can go directly to the recipient spouse without being subject to the 10% penalty tax.

These funds can then be used just as any other money in a savings account. Thus, this money can be used for immediate purposes, such as a house down payment. Adding further flexibility is the ability of the recipient spouse to have some of the QDRO money transferred to an IRA while the rest can be transferred directly to the spouse. While there is no tax penalty, the 401(k) money not rolled over directly into an IRA, will be subject to income tax in the year of receipt. Transferring IRAs or annuities of the payor spouse to the recipient spouse do not require a QDRO from the court. In the case where a home is sold after a legal separation or divorce, each ex-spouse is entitled to exclude up to $250,000 of the portion of the gain. This is true even where one spouse has moved out of the home and would not otherwise qualify for the exclusion.

Child support is never tax deductible to the payor spouse or taxable income to the recipient spouse. In no case will child support payments be considered separate maintenance payments or alimony.

I've tried to scratch the surface on the important tax issues surrounding a separation or divorce, but I cannot reiterate strongly enough the need to consult with a tax advisor experienced in divorce tax planning. A good tax advisor can identify the material weaknesses in the preliminary agreements with one to two hours of review time. Failing to plan in a divorce is tantamount to planning to fail and, thus, further encumber your ability to recover financially from this significant life event.

After bankruptcy, bad credit auto financing can be a bit complicated if you have just been discharged from a bankruptcy. Can it get worse? Yep. If you choose the wrong lender they could end up pounding you with a high interest rate, so you discover your worse off than you were prior to you filed for bankruptcy. I'll share with you some tips for getting an after bankruptcy, bad credit auto financing loan and how to go about finding the best deals.

Be truthful from the get go. If you've filed bankruptcy you don't have to be hush-hush about it as any lender can see it on your credit report. With that said, it's essential that when you first apply for bad credit auto financing, that you can explain the circumstances that lead to your situation. Typically a short explanation will do with the facts about your past debt, etc. let them know why you failed to stay current on your loans. Maybe you lost your job or have fell ill just be honest.

Finding after bankruptcy, bad credit auto financing is a quick and easy process. The best place to find after bankruptcy auto loans is the internet. I say it's the best because with the financial system plummeting in the past few years, lots of folks have had to file for bankruptcy and lenders have turned to the internet to catch the attention of these new after bankruptcy customers.

These bad credit auto financing companies focus on lending to folks who have filed for bankruptcy, so your odds of being accepted for an auto loan are very good. This is not to say it's a for sure thing, there's not a lender on the face of the earth that can guarantee 100% approval. But starting online is your best bet of finding an after bankruptcy car loan. When you search online however, just make sure you know what the interest rate is before signing for any auto loan.

After bankruptcy, you'll be susceptible to lofty interest rates, of course because you just emerged from a bankruptcy and are considered a risk to the lenders. You are now considered sub-prime, (meaning you have less then perfect credit) and won't be able to get access to interest rates that people with good credit do. That doesn't mean you should roll over and play dead. Remember this; it's in your best interest to finance a vehicle that is within your means to pay back.

OK so you can't get the car you really want after bankruptcy, but a less luxurious vehicle will give you a better chance to get the bad credit auto financing you need to start repairing your credit. You see the method of finding after bankruptcy, bad credit auto financing is not dreadfully complex. Just keep an open mind when you're online and don't be afraid of being turned down after bankruptcy because folks get approved everyday that are in the same situation as you.

Following the sudden passing of pop superstar Michael Jackson, many people around the world are reminiscing about his music and mystique. However, as a financial advisor, I can't help but focus my attention on Michael Jackson's finances.

As the stories about his financial situation come to light, it appears that Jackson had serious money problems. Despite a lifetime of achievement, Jackson's final curtain call revealed foreclosures, failed ventures and financial chaos. At the end of the day, the 'King of Pop' was just another person who suffered the consequences of ignoring the principles of money success.

After coaching hundreds of clients, I have discovered that whether you earn millions of dollars or minimum wages, once you break the rules that govern money, you're going to pay a heavy price. Here are some of the lessons that have been highlighted in the Michael Jackson saga:

No Matter How Much You Make, You Can't Spend More Than You Earn

If I earned a hundred dollars every time I heard someone sincerely say, "If I got a million dollars today, I'd never be broke again," I would be well on the way to creating a similar fortune for myself. The reality is that many people show an amazing propensity to increase their spending in excess of their income.

Unfortunately, Jackson was no different. Although his musical genius made him millions - his 1982 hit album Thriller is still the world's best-selling album of all time - Jackson lived an excessive lifestyle that usurped his earning power. In a 2003 court case, it was revealed that Jackson was spending US$20 million to US$30 million more each year than he earned. (Take comfort if you're only $10,000 over budget every month!)

Living within your means is a simple principle that is perfectly expressed by this ditty, "If your outgo is greater than your income, then your upkeep will be your downfall."

You Can't Borrow Your Way Out Of Financial Difficulties

Financing a budget shortfall by borrowing is a perfect blueprint for financial disaster. The only way to cure this common consumption problem is to trim unnecessary spending and/or earn more to pay your bills. Borrowing to make ends meet will only increase your monthly obligations and your money distress.

Lavish lifestyles, pricey properties and costly court cases all reportedly contributed to Jackson's money problems. In an attempt to rebalance his financial position, Jackson used his assets to secure loans totalling US$200 million from the Bank of America.

Repaying this loan probably created more cash flow problems, as Jackson also had to turn to wealthy friends to bail him out.

Two money principles that can help you to manage debt are: never borrow to finance your lifestyle, and if you're in debt, you can't borrow your way out of it.

Don't Leave Your Family In Confusion When You Die

As reports continue to roll in about the circumstances surrounding Jackson's death, it appears that there is uncertainty about his final wishes. The Jackson family lawyer has commented that there were stories about the existence of a will, "but none has been presented to the family at this time".

Amid speculations that it could be a lengthy and complex process to settle Jackson's estate, there is hope that he had the foresight to set up a trust that would help to cushion his beneficiaries from having to pay out millions in probate fees.

It's never too early for you to institute this important financial rule: make proper provisions while you are alive to take care of your family and assets when you die.

Passive Income Keeps Paying Even When You Stop Working

The Jackson drama isn't all bad news. Thanks to his incredible talent and prolific production of great music, Jackson's income will only increase after his death. Already, the entertainer's untimely demise has led to record-breaking sales of his albums and music videos. Jackson "may be worth more dead than alive," opined Jerry Reisman, general counsel for the recording studio in which Thriller was produced.

Although most of us will never attain Jackson's earning ability, this scenario is a perfect example of the power of passive income. If you really want to be wealthy, you have to create opportunities to earn money even when you are not physically working. Some options include: royalties from music or book sales, Internet sales, network marketing, and franchising a business idea.

You Really Can't Have It All

Although he had fortune and fame at his fingertips, Jackson was reportedly a lonely, isolated man. Some people believe that getting more money will solve all their problems; we can see that didn't work for Jackson. Despite all his wealth, he never seemed to achieve true happiness.

Remember these principles: there is more to financial success than just the accumulation of wealth; your money should help to enrich your life and that of others; and when your time on earth comes to an end, you can't carry it with you.

Copyright © 2009 Cherryl Hanson Simpson.

A lot of people associate credit cards with just personal credit card which an individual posses and uses for shopping etc. However, there is another category of credit cards and that is called small business credit cards. As suggested by the name itself, the small business credit cards are meant for small businesses or people running small businesses.

So how does the small business credit card differ from the other credit cards in general?

The very obvious difference is that small business credit cards have the credit account in the name of the small business and not any individual, though the benefits indirectly accrue to the business owner. The other difference is with the terms and conditions that come with the small business credit cards. Finally, there are some subtle benefits with small business credit cards which would not be applicable to personal credit cards. Let's check all these things one by one.

We know that the credit cards provide a lot of convenience and security for an individual and a lot of other benefits too. Most of the benefits related to personal credit cards apply here too. What is interesting here is the indirect benefits that ensue from using a small business credit card.

The indirect benefits associated with small business credit cards are so great that it makes them almost indispensable. The most important benefit is that you can easily segregate your business and personal expenses. So if you have been wasting a lot of time keeping track of your business bills and trying to keep them separate from personal bills, small business credit cards could help. You just need to ensure that you always make all your business payments using your small business credit card. When the credit card bill comes at the month end, you will have itemized account of all the business expenses as a single document. Thus small business cards reduce (and in some cases completely remove) the need for bookkeeping for a small business. The credit card company does that for you for free, although indirectly.

Another important benefit comes from rolling credit. If you have to pay for your purchases upfront and still invoice your clients later (a situation faced very often with small businesses), you can roll the credit, you are providing your client with, to your credit card. Moreover, since these purchases are mostly urgent, arranging for money immediately can sometimes be a problem. In such cases, the small business credit card is the one which can bail you out. Well, if you are thinking that your personal credit card could do the same for you, you are a bit off the track on two fronts. Firstly, you want to keep your business expenses separate from your personal expenses and secondly, the APR on business cards is generally lower as compared to personal credit cards. A lot of the small business credit cards don't require you to pay an annual fee even.

So if you run a small business but haven't got a small business credit card yet, it's about time that you considered this wonderful option.

No matter your current financial situation, there are plenty of ways you can begin paying down debt, building up a necessary emergency cash reserve, and even setting aside money for investing.

It's not easy living paycheck to paycheck, and it's no doubt causing plenty of stress. The bills eat up all of your income, namely those pesky credit card bills, and leave you little money to get ahead, to set money aside and to invest for the future. The good news is that the situation is not hopeless.

Every consumer has a way out, and in as little as six months, your financial picture could be looking a heck of a lot brighter. It just takes some sacrifice to get the ball rolling. Just as credit debt seems to grow and multiply exponentially, so too do the rewards of paying it down in larger and larger chunks each month and eventually getting out from under it entirely.

The problem many consumers have is that they try to save and invest money while still being saddled with a mountain of debt. This concept just doesn't make any sense. Why would you put your valuable money into low paying investments when that money could be used to pay off your high interest loans?

There's some comfort in having money invested, and many consumers feel justified in doing so when they feel they're at an acceptable debt level, but even so, this is simply ludicrous thinking. There is no acceptable level of debt when you have the power to pay it off or pay it down. We've been beaten to death with the notion that debt is O.K that we now gladly accept it even when it isn't necessary, as if it's some badge of honor. There's no reason to be in debt, and not being in debt doesn't mean you should spend more to put yourself in debt.

The first goal in paying down your debt is of course to start with the highest interest debts first. This can be accomplished either by directly paying them off or by transferring their balances to lower interest paying cards, or taking out a lower interest rate loan to pay them off. Don't take interest rates lightly. Even a reduction of just 1% in your net interest rate could save you thousands of dollars in the months and years to come.

By the same token don't get lazy with payments just because the majority of your debts are in lower interest rate accounts. This is absolutely something credit companies count on, and why they're willing to offer low interest loans to reduce credit card debt. The slower you pay back a loan, the more money they make over the long haul. Believe it or not they only want you to make the minimum payment, and they love it when your cards are maxed out. You should also consider canceling each of your credit accounts the moment they're paid off to avoid the temptation of using them further.

You won't be able to solve your cash problems over night, but by taking a proactive approach to paying off your debt, with the goal of being debt free, and not getting caught in the credit companies' concept of acceptable debt, you'll set yourself up to be much better off in the future, with more long-term money at your disposal than any lines of credit could offer you.