I’ve already made some good progress on my items – not a large sum, but still a few hundred to toss towards my debt.

I’m not a frequent user of ebay, but I have used the site enough – both as a buyer and seller – to understand a few of the components that can make for a positive experience:

1. Build your reputation

If you have an old ebay account – hold on to it (again, similar to a credit card with the longest history). If you don’t have an ebay account, sign up for one now – even if you don’t plan on using it right away. Like financial credit, your history and reputation means a lot in ebay, especially if you’re selling things.

A word of advice though, think of a good name that you won’t mind hanging on to for a while. I signed up for my ebay account a really long time ago and my username is pretty silly, but I won’t change it, regardless of how badly I’d like to, since I have a solid reputation tied to that name that has been built over many years, even though I’m not a frequent user.

Once you have your account, the most important thing is to take care of your reputation whether you’re buying or selling. Your rating helps you stand out from the crowd and reassures others that you can be trusted.

2. Know your goal

The Gordon Gekko strategy doesn’t often work here – it’s best to come in with a reasonable purpose. For example, I’m in debt and I never use what I’m putting up for sale. I’m not going to hike the price so high that I discourage bids and I’m willing to hear offers if they’re reasonable (i.e. reduced or no shipping charge).

3. Be real

Write accurate descriptions, and use real pictures when at all possible.  I’ve used pictures off the internet or suggested photos from ebay before and I’m always met with skepticism. Whenever you’re selling something on ebay, always try and think as if you were on the buyers end – how would you perceive you the seller?

To that end, always provide fast and detailed feedback to the other party – again, remember your reputation is the most important thing you have going for you. A positive review goes a long way.

Although I’m not an ebay pro by any means, the three tips mentioned above have worked pretty well for me. Do you have any tips to add?

Lastly, thank you to everyone that submitted an article. Enjoy!

M is for Money submitted a post called Can a Spender Become a Saver?

If you’re reading this post then I’m assuming you want the answer to be yes. It all depends on your mindset going into it – do you really want to climb from debt or do you still crave spending?

The Smarter Wallet submitted a post called Credit Crisis and Subprime Card Traps

Stricter credit card regulation is coming in early February, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t get hurt.  This post goes into some of the credit card options available to those with credit trouble. The deck is stacked against the debtor – I would suggest walking away from the plastic as much as you can, for as long as you can.

Get Rich Slowly submitted a post called Sweating the Big Stuff

An example of cutting larger things from your budget to improve your cash flow (and your life).  Actually a guest post from Sierra at Childwild.com, this story goes beyond the popular “just cut your morning coffee” suggestion that most PF blogs hold as the golden rule.

Financial Highway submitted a post called Basics of Credit Score and Credit Report and How often to Check.

Typically, I check my credit score once, at the beginning of each year, from one of the three reporting agencies.  It’s a good idea to track it – regardless how often though.  This post quickly goes over some of the basics.  My tip: I would never pay for “credit report alerts” or anything else they’re selling – instead, be active and be your own alert.

PT Money submitted a post called 5 Ways to Improve Your Credit Score

Now that you know what to look for in your credit score, here’s 5 ways to improve it.

Budgets Are Sexy submitted a post called Students! Manage Your Debt.

I thought this post was good since my decent in to debt began right after I graduated college.  Having a good (i.e. realistic) understanding of finance and debt management is crucial when you’re starting out – it’s easy to fall behind.

Bargaineering submitted a post called Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover Review.

I’m using the debt snowball technique to attack my debt and I’ve written a post or two on Dave Ramsey, so I found this review of his book and the comment thread to be interesting.

Not all foreign investment is leaving. Foreign companies and sovereign wealth funds are taking stakes in private equity firms and other U.S. companies, but Global Insight economist Nigel Gault says the foreign flight from U.S. securities means in the future credit will be more expensive and Americans will have to rely increasingly on their savings.

Ouch – as if I needed more reason.

Anonymous said…

KC I am ashamed of you, look at all your debt!!! pay some of it down, Kenny Chesney will be there next year… for now pay your bills.. and do you really have to go to the wedding ? come on ! its just a wedding… 4 hours of food and drinks and boring traditions.. just stay home and have them send you a copy of the video.

Yes, I realize that in order to achieve any goal – especially one as important and daunting as escaping major debt – you have to make sacrifices. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone to the concert, maybe I shouldn’t have gone to the wedding. But really, I can’t go about this goal by punishing myself, my friends and my family. Yes, I have to do a MUCH better job of living within my means, but going to that concert was the highlight of my girlfriend’s year so I don’t regret it. And getting married is a monumental event in someone’s life and I feel honored to have been made a part of it.

Jay said…

You want to get out of debt and you still have a credit card you are using? HA! You aren’t serious about this yet.

CUT IT UP and close the account.

You’ll never get out of debt while you still have one and keep charging to it.

I agree. As of this morning I shredded my remaining credit cards – all eight of them (3 mastercards, 2 visas, 2 amex, and a discover). It’s clear to me that I have an impulse buying problem. So here’s my plan:

Now without credit I will have to seriously consider whether I what I want to spend my $200 per pay check spending allocation on in order to make the money last. I have an emergency fund of about $1,200 – not even one paycheck, but it’s still growing and hopefully I won’t have to tap into it anytime soon. As for Christmas spending, I’ve been putting some money aside every month to prepare. If I ever feel that I need to use a credit card for something I can contact the company saying that I need a replacement card. This will give me 7-10 days, while I wait for it to be delivered, to decide whether I really need to use it and if there is another – better – way to get it done.

Thanks for the comments! Whether it’s support or critique it shows that people care and I really appreciate it.

I have been extremely busy with the new job and as a result my blogging had dropped off. Unfortunately, along with the blogging went the tracking of my progress or lack thereof.

I’m going to try to re-commit myself to my goal. Re-focus my approach and establish milestones as I have been thinking that erasing all debt is a very intimidating thought when you are starting from scratch and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and discouraged. But hopefully, by setting short-term goals and milestones I will be able to attack this debt little by little and move on with my life.

I hope I haven’t lost everybody – as I will need the help.
Thanks for caring.

Please let me know if you have any recent news or tips to help me re-start.

Sincerely,
KC

The obvious solution was to begin contributions to my Roth IRA that I hadn’t been contributing to in the past year or so. However, I have been thinking about this situation in the back of my mind since making my last post and then it occurred to me. What would be the best use for this “extra” money? Right then it jumped at me: It’s the Debt, Stupid!

How many articles have I read about whether it’s better to contribute to a retirement plan (i.e. 401(k), Roth, others) or pay down debt.

The rule is to follow the percentages.

If you’re gaining 8% – 12% on your plan and your massive amount of debt is at an 8%+ interest rate then you have a leak that will prevent you from really making any sort of progress. Thinking back, I think it’s the reason that I stopped Roth IRA contributions in the first place. The 401(k) was at least supplying me with a company match – which made it worth adding to.

So, my plan for the next year is to increase my debt payments even more – that way by the time my 401(k) actually does kick in maybe I’ll be in a position where I can contribute even more than my 10% goal in an effort to play catch up on a year lost.

So the question now is, how much is enough? My “contribution” will be post-tax so I wonder if I can still make the 10% or not. We’ll have to see. I’ll try forwarding 10% of my pay to debt on my next paycheck and we’ll see if that effects my budget at all.

In my job I’m constantly traveling to meetings, edit sessions and photo shoots (not really as glamorous as you would assume) and each time I do something like that it’s about $20-$30 bucks for parking, etc…

The expense report turnaround where I work is painfully slow and since I don’t want it to dent my monthly cash availability I use a credit card.

This is just a rant and there’s really no point other than to say I hate being forced to use my credit card – it just makes paying down the debt seem that much tougher.

Oh well…

So – the lapse in paying down my credit cards is due to my impulse Red Sox ticket purchase – but again, seeing “Dice-K” complete the sweep of the Yankees on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball was well worth it…I think.

Oh well. A couple percentage points at a time and soon enough I’ll get there. Slow and steady wins the race and blah, blah, blah…

Honestly though, it does feel really good each month to see my progress or even areas where I need to work harder/better at. It makes debt reduction tangible and allows me to focus on areas that are important to my overall goal.

Don’t Buy Stuff You Can’t Afford