SNL: Don’t Buy Stuff…
June 17th, 2009This is one of my favorites. Aside from addressing a relevant topic, and in spite of Steve Martin’s poor acting, you can’t beat the common sense or the line, “Yeah, we can put it on our credit card.”
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Debt Elimination Calculators
May 13th, 2009While preparing for a presentation on debt elimination, I discovered two great calculators: one online and the other an Excel template. They are both well worth checking out.
The online debt elimination calculator is found at the Provident Living site among a list of other very useful calculators. You can enter all your debts and calculate the accelerated payoff by focusing on the highest interest rate or the shortest time left for the debt. You can also enter a savings interest rate, and the calculator will show how your your money can grow by saving and investing the money once the debts are paid.
The Excel template is buried on a site about personal finance, provided by BYU’s Marriot School of Business. This template essentially provides the same information as the online calculator, except it’s not nearly as pretty. It can even appear a little overwhelming at first, but it’s not that bad. There are two things I like about it:
- You can save it locally to your computer, so you don’t have to re-enter the info each time you use it.
- On any given month, you can enter custom amounts to be applied toward the principal (the same reason why I like Excel’s loan amortization calculator).
Either one of these will give you great information. However, if this is your first time trying out the debt snowball method (debt elmination acceleration), I recommend starting with the online calculator. It’s more visually interesting, and seeing what your invested money can grow to is exciting.
As odd as it may sound these calculators are fun and motivating. One person who attended the presentation said afterward, “I don’t have any debt, but I’m thinking maybe I should get some so I can play with these fun tools.” We had a good laugh.
So check them out and get going on your debt snowball!
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I'm Michael Crowther, and I'm passionate about sharing the peace of mind that comes from budgeting, saving (including debt elimination), and investing.