Credit - DollarVersity

A (Slightly) Different Approach to Paying Down Debt

Filed under Personal Finance by Eric J. Nisall on October 19, 2011 at 8:55 am {23 comments}

DollarVersity - Try Taking A Different Approach to Paying Down Debt

There are generally two schools of thought when it comes to paying down debt: pay off the highest balances first and pay off the balances with the highest interest rates first. But neither of these methods addresses the true issue on their own, which is minimizing interest payments in order to pay down the principal balances more quickly and eliminate the debt. That’s why I prefer to combine the two theories into one comprehensive method that reduces the debt while also minimizing the amount of interest that will be charged along the way.

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Are Credit Issuers to Blame For the Nation’s Problems?

Filed under Personal Finance by Eric J. Nisall on October 7, 2011 at 6:34 am {27 comments}

Credit is always a hot-button issue. There are many pundits who fault credit issuers for charging late fees and high interest rates while also blaming them for consumers getting into debt. These people believe that credit is evil, the bane of society, the cause of all that is wrong with the county, etc. While I am being a bit sarcastic in that last statement, it’s not far from the truth. It’s true that there are some people who have a real addiction to shopping, but that’s a totally different animal. I strongly believe that the credit issuers are not totally at fault, and that every person who has ever found themselves in debt needs to take a good long look at the person in the mirror and claim responsibility for where they are.

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Financial Advice Is Not A One Size Fits All Proposition

Filed under Personal Finance by Eric J. Nisall on September 16, 2011 at 11:04 am {19 comments}

I’ve been reading on various blogs where people leave comments preaching that everyone should avoid using credit. I have also noticed several titles in the bookstores as well, such as “The Last Book on…You’ll Ever Need” or “The Only Book on…You’ll Ever have to Read”, “The …% Solution”. To be honest, none of it makes any kind of sense. Finances, and therefore financial advice is not like a baseball hat that is “one size fits all”. No, it needs to be tailored to fit each person as an individual, and to conform to their individual goals and situations.

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An Open Letter To The Credit Industry

Filed under Rants, Raves & Reviews by Eric J. Nisall on September 7, 2011 at 8:31 pm {12 comments}

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge proponent of the ideas that: a) credit, when used properly can be a tremendous financial tool and b) people (and companies) would be best served learning to take responsibility for their own actions and the resulting consequences. That being said, I am a little tired of the consumers taking all of the heat for the mess that they are in. Yes, I have said it myself that people need to be held accountable for where they end up, but at the same time, the companies that seduce them and make it too tempting for some of these people to resist getting in over their heads to “live the dream” need to bear some of the brunt of the backlash. Not all of the blame mind you, since everyone has the ability to make their own decisions of course, but both parties need to take responsibility. The following is my line of questioning for the credit industry as I wonder where they come up with some of their practices.

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You Better Sweat The Small Stuff Before It Is Too Late

Filed under Business/Entrepreneurship, Personal Finance by Eric J. Nisall on July 14, 2011 at 7:29 am {2 comments}

“Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff…And It’s All Small Stuff” was a book written in 1996 by Richard Carlson, Ph.D which became sort of a phenomenon. It was written about how people allow little things to cause stress and take joy out of their lives, and some other mumbo jumbo psychological double-speak. Sure, that’s all fine and dandy in theory: ignore the small things, concentrate on things that make you happy, and you’ll be stress free and floating on clouds all of the time. There’s one big problem with the whole premise of the book, it’s title, and the movement that came with it…if you ignore the small stuff, it usually becomes a monster before you know it. This is particularly true in the world of personal finance.

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Credit is Not the Enemy, You Are!

Filed under Personal Finance by Eric J. Nisall on July 12, 2011 at 5:04 pm {6 comments}

Cars, prescription drugs, food, power tools, information. You may be asking yourself what they have to do with credit: absolutely nothing, at least directly. But, indirectly they all have something very important in common with credit: responsibility. Each one of those items, used responsibly can be of great benefit, but once the line is crossed toward irresponsibility, irreparable damage may occur. The same may be said of misusing credit, which like the previously mentioned items, can be a very powerful tool if used properly. However, people need to stop placing the blame on others, including credit issuers, and recognize that they are their own worst enemy.

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