ARTICLE: DECLARE YOUR INDEPENDENCE OVER DEBT IN JULY

  While our 2011 Independence weekend holiday (and summer, in general) means families getting together for barbeques and parties, it also is an ideal time for families to come together to discuss their credit and debt in the second half of the year.

  “As the Independence Day holiday marks the halfway point in the year, it is the perfect time for individuals and families to decide want they want to accomplish financially in the second half of 2011,” said Jane McNamara, president and CEO of GreenPath Debt Solutions.

  GreenPath listed some ways that people can take control of their debt and credit and set them on the independent path to financial freedom in 2011.

  Plan Your Future - A financial plan is a tool that helps reduce spending. It's a guide for spending and saving based on a plan drawn up ahead of time. By developing a plan, you will have more financial freedom and ability to get through financial emergencies and to prepare for retirement.

  Estimate Available Income - Determine your total income by taking wages, pensions, public assistance, and investments minus deductions like all taxes, social security, and health insurance premiums. The total amount of money left after subtracting deductions from your total income equals your available income. This will determine how much money you really have.

  Check Your Spending - Compare recent and past spending patterns. This will remove the guesswork from financial planning. Identify your past spending patterns by reviewing cancelled checks, receipts, charge statements, and other useful records of expenses for the past two to three months. Expense categories need to be identified as "fixed" or "flexible." Fixed expenses occur at specific times and rarely change. Flexible expenses fluctuate from month to month and may possibly be altered to balance the plan.

  Prioritize Your Debts - Debts that take first priority are the ones directly related to your ability to survive, such as mortgages or other secured loans like auto loans. If you default on these kinds of loans, you can face foreclosure or repossession. If, for example, your car is repossessed, it may affect your ability to work and adversely affect your income.

  GreenPath recommends prioritizing payments into three categories: high priority (housing, child support, utilities, car loans); medium priority (personal secured loans, student loans, home improvement loans); and low priority (loans for household goods, credit cards, doctor’s bills).

  Set Financial Goals - Before you can create a plan for spending and saving, financial goals must be established. Goals reflect values and provide direction for planning. Establishing goals will help to balance needs and wants.

  Both short-term and long-term goals are important. Short-term goals are things you would like in the next few weeks or next month. Long-term goals, on the other hand, require long-range planning and are not obtained for at least a year or more. Goals change continuously over a lifetime; as goals are reached, new ones should be established.

  Create a Budget - A budget forces you to get your spending under control, to “live below your means,” which is exactly what you’ll need to do to start eliminating your debt. The key is to be realistic: You’ll need to make some sacrifices. Making little adjustments to your lifestyle can add up to big savings. Be sure to give yourself a bit of breathing room in your budget for unexpected expenses.

Use Cash for New Purchases - Unless you pay off the entire balance every month, you are probably paying interest on new purchases from the date of the purchase. If you stop using your credit cards altogether, you will be able to reduce your debt more quickly. Because of compounded daily interest, it is far better to use cash for the things you need and adjust your budget to accommodate those expenses than to use credit cards and then struggle to send large payments.

Review the Plan - The plan will require periodic evaluations. Do not be surprised if in the beginning, actual expenses are quite different from estimated expenses. Your plan will become more realistic as you continue the process. A review should be conducted and changes made every two to three months. If there is a change in your finances such as divorce, death, children beginning or finishing school, or parental care, the plan should be revised.

Involve Your Family - Discuss with those people within your household the things that are important to them. Everyone in your house has a different priority and this will dictate how they feel about money. Values influence your purchasing decisions. For example, one person may prefer to spend money on entertainment, while another would rather buy clothes. Understanding different priorities will allow you to deal effectively with conflicts.

ARTICLE: GREENPATH DEBT SOLUTIONS ANNOUNCES 2011 CLIENTS OF THE YEAR

GreenPath Debt Solutions recently announced its 2011 GreenPath Debt Solutions Clients of the Year.

Jerry and Sue Bailey of Jackson, Michigan, paid off more than $92,000 in credit card debt in a little over five and a half years, through GreenPath’s debt management program. During the plan, they endured physical setbacks, took on additional work to help with their plan and made family sacrifices. Watch a five-minute video: Meet the Baileys.

Dawn and David VanDyke of Buchanan, Michigan, overcame obstacles, including family illness, in paying off more than $48,000 in debt in a little over four and half years through GreenPath’s debt management program. Watch a five-minute video: Meet the VanDykes.

The Baileys: The Blending of Two Families

Jerry moved to Michigan some 20 years ago as a widower, when he met Sue, a single mom of
ten years. They married and brought together a literal “Brady Bunch” family of six kids. Jerry recalls coming home from their honeymoon and seeing six noses pressed up against the living room window, awaiting their arrival.

Jerry said that, at the height of their credit history, they had 17 credit cards in rotation. “It was so easy to get a credit card with a high limit at the time,” he said. Debt started to pile up across the cards. Sue realized, in hindsight, that something might be wrong when Jerry asked her to put their two daughters’ wedding receptions on credit. “That should have been a clue,” she said.

Years went by and Jerry found himself at his local credit union, looking for financial assistance to get his debt under control. After discussing different options, including bankruptcy, it was suggested that the Bailey’s reach out to GreenPath for assistance. “We felt that bankruptcy was not an option, as it was our Christian duty to pay back our debts,” Jerry said.

A plan put in place

Once they met their counselor, a five-year plan was established. The couple recalls that the first few years of the plan were difficult, as the decision was made to take on more work to pay back their debts. Jerry got a second job at a local hospital and put off fixing a second family car, to stay on track. Part way through their debt management plan, Sue required extensive foot surgery and was unable to work, which caused their income to drop severely, even with Jerry working a second job. “We went to our GreenPath counselor, who worked with our creditors in getting our payments adjusted for a few months, while Sue healed and got back to work,” Jerry recalled. “That extra bit of help from GreenPath really made the difference.”

After about five years, the Baileys received the phone call that their debt management plan was completed and they paid off more than $92,000 in debt. “I was floored to get that call,” said Jerry. “I had to ask them to repeat that we were truly done.”

Sue summed up their GreenPath experience by saying “GreenPath saved our lives financially, and gave our lives back to us.”

The VanDykes: Living The American Way

When David and Dawn were first married, they lived in a small converted schoolhouse in Niles, Michigan. After they welcomed their son, Jacob, now 9, they moved into a larger house in Buchanan, Michigan, where their financial problems began.

“In owning a new, larger house, we ran up credit card bills quickly,” recalled Dawn. “Originally, I convinced myself that this was the American way, getting a bigger house and using more credit, but I soon realized things were getting out of hand. The collection calls started and we were juggling month to month as to who we were going to pay.”

She reached out to the GreenPath office in South Bend, Indiana, a short drive over the Michigan border. “We brought a mountain of paperwork to our first meeting,” David explained. “We felt embarrassed not being able to pay off our debt, but when we saw a huge plastic water jug filled with cut up credit cards, we realized we weren’t alone.” But once their debt was added up to more than $48,000, they knew something had to be done. The VanDykes signed up for a GreenPath debt management program.

A Family Setback

Shortly after their first appointment with GreenPath, their son, Jacob, suffered a seizure and was diagnosed with epilepsy. “From that day forward he was in the hospital 13 times in six months,” Dawn said. Furthermore, in order to care for Jacob, Dawn and David made the decision that she would resign from her job for six months. Despite the setback, the couple continued their debt management program.

Dawn remembers that the first year on the debt management program showed slow, but steady, progress. They made the monthly payment their priority payment.  Each year, on the anniversary of their first visit to GreenPath, they would meet with their counselor to monitor their progress.  “It was great to see the total drop,” said David. “Once we got under $10,000, we really felt that we were going to make it.”

Amanda Walker, GreenPath’s South Bend group manager, recalled that there were times when the VanDykes came up with extra money and would make the 25-minute drive to present the money in person to pay down their debt even quicker. “They were very serious about keeping up with payments and put any extra money they could towards paying off their debt,” said Walker.

Looking Back – Asking For Help Is the First Step

Last July, the VanDykes made the final payment on their debt management plan. They drove to GreenPath’s office in Mishawaka, Indiana, to watch their debt numbers be zeroed out. “We did a big cheer on that day,” Dawn said.

The couple stresses how important it is for people in debt to be honest with themselves and not be afraid to ask for help. “GreenPath helped us with paying all our bills each month, it took a lot of pressure off us,” David explained. “Today, being debt free, we feel we can pay off anything.”

Now, the couple is working on other debts. Today, they take what was their monthly GreenPath payment and have paid off David’s truck. “Now we are going to work on paying down our home equity and then we’ll tackle school bills next,” said Dawn, with a smile.

ARTICLE: 100-YEAR-OLD SHARES FINANCIAL ADVICE AND 1913 BANKBOOK

A recent Associated Press story featured an Ohio woman, who recently turned 100 years old, taking customer loyalty to the extreme. She's still using a bank savings account that's been around since the year before World War I.

June Gregg recently mentioned to a friend that her account is the same one her father opened for her in January 1913, when she wasn't even a year-and-a-half old.

She still has the little blue passbook from when the account was opened with an initial deposit of $6.11. Her father, a farmer who grew corn, wheat and hay, was a Savings Bank customer and wanted his only daughter to learn thrift.

June shared financial wisdom for the ages when she remarked, "That's what he always taught us: to stay out of debt and save our money and not buy anything until we had the money to pay for it.”

Those money-saving lessons are the same ones shared everyday by GreenPath counselors and clients.

Link for story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43270808/ns/business-personal_finance/t/woman-has-bank-account-dating/

ARTICLE: GREENPATH UNIVERSITY GIVES ONE CLICK TO FINANCIAL EDUCATION

GreenPath is proud to announce an all-new way to learn about your finances. We have created GreenPath University, a comprehensive educational website that includes over 250 personal finance articles, educational videos, interactive calculators, fun games, interactive e-courses, and useful worksheets. 

Our online educational website was created to provide you with high-quality, friendly, and free financial information.  Every article was written by GreenPath financial counselors, and the site contains our best advice and links to resources.  Come learn more about credit scoring, budgeting, buying a car, refinancing, and much more! Log on to www.greenpath.com/university.