Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

The Smell of Napalm

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Napalm is a sticky, flammable substance that was invented in the 40’s, and used in several wars.  Because of it’s stickiness, it attaches itself to everything, then burns at somewhere over 800 degrees.  When it’s done, there’s no more jungle.  No more enemies walking around.  It’s vile enough, that it’s use on concentrations of civilians was declared a war crime by the UN in 1980.

By now, you’re probably wondering why a site about personal finance is discussing Napalm. Well.  Here’s the thing.  Debt is a funny thing.  Most of us have it.  Some of us have quite a bit.  And most of us would like to get rid of it.  In fact, most of us would just love to Napalm our debt.  One fell swoop.  Drop some sticky burning substance on it and have it gone in a few short minutes.  We’d like that so much that we buy lottery tickets, raffle tickets, and buy books and products that promise some get rich quick scheme.  People with debt are always looking for the debt Napalm.

We like to fantasize about what we would do if we won a couple million in the lottery and set our debt on flames.  Erasing it, with one fell swoop, while getting rich at the same time.  Much like Kilgore in Apocalypse Now, we love the “smell of [debt] napalm in the morning.”

Napalm: War on debt Crime

Instead, we’re given the “debt snowball“, or the “debt avalanche.”

The truth is that debt is so easily gained, we want to find a solution to it that is just as quick.  An afternoon with a credit card and a shopping mall can add thousands to the total. Thousands that could take us years to pay off.  We wish we could find the Napalm to incinerate our debt.

Some people think that bankruptcy is that Napalm.  But, as quickly as a bankruptcy can eradicate your debt, it doesn’t leave you without any scars.  For many years afterwards, you, and your credit score, will suffer the consequences of the bankruptcy.  Credit will be nearly impossible to attain.  Prospective landlords and employers are even running credit checks before renting or hiring people.

We need to stop looking for the Napalm.  We need to stop assuming that all is lost.  We need to take some responsibility, find ways to make more money, save more money, and pay down more debt.  We need to stop adding more debt.

If you want to get rid of your debt, it’s a slow burn, not a Napalm strike.  Even in the world of personal finance, Napalm is a war crime.

Original image credit: korea by the U.S. Army, on Flickr

Paying Down Student Loans with Smarterbank

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There’s little question that student loans can be one of the more difficult debt burdens that a person can have.  The cost of tuition is rising each year, and the rates seem to be following suit.  Many college graduates are finding themselves with a degree that cost as much as their first house is likely to.  It goes to reason, then, that finding any means available to help pay that debt off is probably a good idea.

What is Smarterbank?

I was recently introduced to a product offering called Smarterbank.  It’s an online checking account that’s run by The Bancorp Bank.  It’s fully FDIC insured to $250,000 and, for most purposes, operates just like any other online checking account.  Much like some other online banks, Smarterbank has some perks attached to their accounts.

In the case of Smarterbank, they give a “cashback” that goes directly to your student loans.  For purchases under $100, they apply .5% of the purchase to your Smarterbucks account.  For purchases over $100, the first $100 gets you the same .5%, and everything over $100 gets you 1%.

Smarterbank Fees

One of the nice perks of Smarterbank is that it’s a relatively fee free account.  There’s a monthly “inactivity” fee if you don’t use the account at least once in a month of $4.50, otherwise, if you’re a smart user, you’ll never hit a fee.  And, by smart user, I mean you don’t overdraft, or do something else silly.  They’ve got fees that are associated with things like statement research, etc, but those are pretty standard and you’re pretty unlikely to ever use those services.  You also get access to over 40,000 ATMs in the STAR ATM network.

The Smarterbucks Program

As I mentioned above, the “cashback” goes into your Smarterbucks account.  So, you’re probably wondering what the heck that is.  Smarterbucks is a rewards program.  Not unlike programs like Swagbucks, it rewards you for certain actions.  Things like shopping through their portal (“Smarterbucks Marketplace”) earn you cash back that is credited to your account.  You can also ask others to contribute to your account.  That option could be pretty cool to use as an alternative for people to give to you for birthdays, Christmas, or special events.

Once your Smarterbucks account reaches $15, they send a payment for that amount to your student loan.  At first, that might not seem like much, and, really, it isn’t.  But, every little bit helps.  And every $1 you pay off early is $1 that you aren’t accruing interest on for the life of the loan.  And that can add up in a hurry.

Would you switch to an account like Smarterbank for an offer like this?  Is the offer strong enough to make it worth the time?  What other offers have you seen that help with student loan payback?

See all the details on Smarterbank.

Living on What We Earn: A Learning Process

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For the last three years, my husband and I have had a very low income, well under the median income level of the average American family.  This was a result of my decision to launch a freelance writing career and my husband finishing his Ph.D.

We live in the suburbs of Chicago, so living expenses aren’t low.  Simply put, we couldn’t live on what we earned the last three years, which is why we incurred credit card and student loan debt and went through our $12,000 emergency fund.

Things Should Be Looking Up, But. . .

Now, however, the tide is changing, and our income is increasing.  My husband has a post-doc position, and my freelance business is growing.

We now are almost at the median income level of the American family in 2009, which was $60,088 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  While this should afford us some comfort financially, it doesn’t because we are still cleaning up the financial mess from the past.

Preet Banerjee, author of the website, Where Does All My Money Go, in a recent speaking engagement, classified the ability to incur debt as the bank allowing you to borrow money from your future self.  As he says, “One day you will be your future self, and you won’t be happy.”

This is where we are at.  Three years ago when we took on student loan debt and credit card debt, we were borrowing from our future selves.  The selves we are now, and as Banerjee says, we aren’t happy.

Avoiding Mistakes of the Past

My husband and I both feel that we are in an important phase of our financial life.  If we can get through this period of paying down debt and growing our income without incurring any more debt, we should be in a comfortable financial position a few years from now, ideally debt free and with an even greater income.

However, that means a few more years of struggling now.

For instance, we are facing $2,000 in car repairs, and we just don’t have the money now.  A few years ago we would have put the expense on our credit card, but we refuse to go that route anymore.  Instead, we are scrimping and saving for the repairs, and meanwhile, I’m trying to walk rather than drive to buy us more time until we need to make the repairs.

I find it a bit humorous that credit card use allows people to fool themselves into thinking they have more money than they do.

Using credit cards now would help us float through for another year or so until our income increases greatly, but we won’t do that again.  We are living on what we earn and paying down debt even though it isn’t a comfortable process.  We are done borrowing from our future selves.

Banerjee puts it succinctly when he says, ” Think of borrowing money today as negotiating a pay cut with your future self.”  He also asks, “How much money do you want to pay to spend your earnings earlier?” i.e. pay interest on borrowed money?

Our answer is clear.  We aren’t going to negotiate any pay cuts with our future selves.  We are struggling now, so our future selves can have a more comfortable life.