Continuing with the Ask The Experts Series, today 5 more bloggers answer the question:

There is a lot of information out there on personal finance as a whole, especially the topic of getting out of debt. What is your best advice on getting out of debt? What tools do you use and recommend to accomplish this?

In case you missed it, don’t forget to go back and read Part 1 and Part 2 of the series! And now on to today’s responses:

Name: Robbie Edwards
Website: One Price Taxes
Twitter: @OnePriceTaxes

Name: Jessica Streit 
Website: The Debt Princess
Twitter: @Debt_Princess

When I found myself at my lowest point in life, it was not due to an illness or the break up in my relationship, it was not due to something out of my control. Rather, the lowest point in my life was completely within my doing. I had accumulated so much debt that I could no longer pay even the minimum payments on them.

The tool that has helped me turn my life around has been in receiving an education. I have taken the time to learn as much as I possibly can about finances. I have read countless books, websites and articles about personal finance. I have taken the time to learn about myself and why I was able to get myself into a position of great debt not once, but twice in my lifetime. I have spent a great deal of time learning.

My financial education came later than I would have liked. It was not something I learned until my mid 30s. That is, in my opinion a great travesty. Our society does not typically discuss financial matters. I believe that is a great problem that should be addressed. Educating our children, our young adults and ourselves on all things money related is vital to our success. Financial literacy is something that should be taught to every child before they have left high school. Financial literacy is the greatest gift we can give a young adult before they venture out on their own into the real world.

Name: David Bakke 
Website: Money Crashers
Twitter: @MoneyCrashers

When it comes to the topic of getting out of debt, the Internet is packed with information and tools. Weaving your way through it all can be challenging and time-consuming. However, the best way to solve your personal debt issues is to take advantage of a few personal strategies while also taking advantage of some online tools and technology:

1. Fully Focus On Getting Out of Debt: Several years back, I knew that my finances were in trouble, I just didn’t know how bad. Before I finally woke up and decided to do something about it, I found myself more than $30,000 in debt. The best way to start is to fully commit and focus on getting out of debt. To do so, you need to learn exactly how to make a budget that you can stick with and follow over the long term. It literally should be something that you should think about every day, until you have some solid spending and pay-down strategies in place.

2. Slash Personal Spending: There are two things you need to do to get out of debt as fast as possible. First, cut spending. You should look at every purchase that you make on a daily basis and find a way to eliminate it or reduce it. If you buy a cup of coffee every morning at the convenience store, either quit, or buy yourself a coffee maker and make it from home. If you eat out for lunch every day, consider switching to brown bag lunches. Analyze any and all other purchases to find ways to save. You should also slash your entertainment budget. After all, if you want to get out of debt, it will involve some sacrifices in the short term. Also, note that I did not say that you need toeliminate entertainment. You still want to enjoy life, just on a smaller scale until you’re debt-free. If you’re willing to go far enough, consider making the sacrifice to cancel your cable TV to save money on your monthly bills significantly.

3. Generate Income: The next way to acquire the money you’ll need to become free of debt is income generation. Before we discuss grander topics like starting your own business, try asking for a raise or volunteering for overtime at work. You can also consider talking on a part time job. Another idea is to sell your unused items on the Internet or taking on one of many other awesome side business ideas. If you take this route and find it successful, it can easily develop into small business ownership. There is nothing like creating extra income to help complement your efforts to cut back on spending.

4. Take Advantage of Rewards: From discounts to rewards, there are numerous everyday strategies you can be implementing to save a significant amount on your purchases. For example, many of the best cash back credit cards offer an impressive 5% cash back on all of your purchases. Or if you’re a AAA member, don’t overlook many of the best AAA membership discounts that you should be taking advantage of.

5. Mint: The Mint.com personal finance application is the pioneer in online budgeting tools, and I still think their tool is one of the best. They offer budget creation help, goal-setting opportunities and ways to save money. Best of all, Mint is free. Another neat tool is Credit Sesame, which gives you all the tools you need to take control of your finances. They offer a loan search option to find the best rates for you until you can pay off all debt. They also offer credit monitoring services, and the service is free as well!

Name: Jimmy
Website: Deals Planet
Twitter: @DealsPlanet

The best advice to getting out of debt is never to get into debt. However, there are times when it is unavoidable to end up in debt. There are two possible courses of action: Increasing income and/or decrease expenses.

While each individual situation is different, there are multiple ways to increase income. Start by analyzing your current work situation. Should you consider looking for another job that pays more or should you find a second job to sumplement your current income? Are you taking advantage of advancment opportunities at your current job. Are you utilizing education and training offered by your currrent employer?

Many employers will reimburse employees for taking courses at an accredited college and university that correspond to their current job requirements. Check with your HR department if they offer such program / benefit. While this education may not immediately pay off in a promotion or a salary increase, it will help termendously down the road when you might be considered for a promotion or when you are looking for another job.

The second course for attacking debt is to decrease expenses. Start by looking at the major household expenses home and auto. Regardless if you rent or own you can look for ways to save on your housing expenses. Consider negotiating a lower rent if possibe or look around to see if you a comparable place with cheaper rent. Currently, the interest rate is at its historic low levels therefore you should look into refinancing your home to see if you can save money on mortgage.
Beside the obvious main expenses (home and auto) discretionary expenses could be reduced or even illiminated to reduce expenses. Here are few suggestions:

• Look into reducing your cable, internet, and phone bill
• Cut down on dining out
• Consider shopping at discount stores. They offer the same brands at lower prices.
• Don’t buy the latest “flashy” electronics or mobile phones. Most electronics will go down in price within 6 month-1year.
• Pack your own lunch for work. It is usually cheaper and healthier than fast food.
• Check with your employer if it is possible to work from home. Working from home would reduce your commute expenses.
• Check your local newspaper for free social events. You don’t have to stop having fun just because you are cutting down on expenses.
• Buy clothes on sale. Usually clothes go on sale toward the end of the season.

The credit card yearly summary is a great budgeting tool. It lets you see where you spent money by category; merchendise, entertainment, and auto / gas expenses. You would be surprised how those small monthly fees add up to a big year expense. There expenses that you may not be able to reduce or eliminate. However many other discretionary expense could be reduced or even eliminated.

Name: Andrea
Website: Nickel by Nickel
Twitter: @NickelbyNickel

My best advice for getting out of debt doesn’t have so much to do with the actual making-payments-on-your-debt side of things but more with the process of getting to a place where you can begin getting out of debt. I think that once you hit your breaking point and you realize that you have to do something, anything, to get out of the hole the most important part is getting informed:

How much is everything costing me? What do I actually earn? What can I really afford? I had a general idea about my bills and income before I realized I wanted to get out of debt, I had a general outline of expenses throughout the year and I sort-of planned towards them… but really when it came down to it I had no idea how much I actually spent after the fact on various items like clothing, food, fun-money. It’s like buying a train-ticket without knowing your destination, you’re going somewhere..but where? I had no idea if what I was planning was actually working and looking back I realize that what I was doing wasn’t working at all.

I started using a budgeting program (YNAB) at first just to see the cool charts at the end of the month but it really has become a valuable tool to measure how well I’m actually doing in achieving my goals. See, people are good at setting goals… but you need to reach and re-evaluate goals too and doing that can propel you do do even better the next time around.

Stay tuned to tomorrows post in the Ask The Experts Series Part 4 where we talk about Building Wealth.

Today is Part 2 of the Ask The Experts Series on Getting out of Debt. In today’s post, we continue with the question:

There is a lot of information out there on personal finance as a whole, especially the topic of getting out of debt. What is your best advice on getting out of debt? What tools do you use and recommend to accomplish this?

You’ll hear from 4 personal finance bloggers today and in case you missed it, be sure and go back to yesterday’s post to see Part 1 of the Ask The Experts Series on Getting out of Debt.

Name: Carrie Smith
Website: Careful Cents
Twitter: @AppleCSmith

Money is a tool, not an obstacle, so treat it like one. Accumulating debt didn’t happen overnight,  and correcting the problem will take time. The biggest tool I use with my finances is be in control  of the emotions. Impulse buying, investing or saving should be balanced with smart, thoughtful and educated decisions.

How I keep myself educated is by is finding inspiration. Sometimes it’s a blog, a book, a financial show or even a podcast. It’s easy to get discouraged or lose sight of the goal, but it’s important to find things that keep you inspired and motivated. Throughout your personal finance journey, learn to be content. Whatever your situation is, whatever mistakes you’ve made, you should have joy in the journey.

Name: Ginger
Website: Girls Just Wanna Have Funds
Twitter: @Gingerlatte

This is a loaded question that can certainly be seen from many angles and viewed through varied lenses.

In order to get out of debt, I think it’s best to understand why you got into debt in the first place while honing the discipline needed to dig yourself out and stay out. The first reason stems from my background in psychology where I come from the school of thought that we first have to understand why we do something in order to change it. Learning and then unlearning old money habits can be difficult so it’s takes an appreciable amount of time to do this and do it effectively. This lends itself to cultivating the discipline is necessary to make the decision and stick with it. So getting out of debt will require much insight into spending habits while cultivating new money habits which is often underestimated.

Once you’ve achieved understanding the root of old money habits and cultivating the discipline needed to get out of debt, then you’ll need to develop a game plan.

What’s Your Debt Reduction Plan?

What system will you use? The debt snowball method is where you pay down the smallest debts to the largest thereby building momentum to the largest with the increased availability of cash from the smaller debts. Or will you start little by little and pay everything off in chunks? Your plan is important as it develops a framework through which you will operate.

Which Tools Will Help You Work The Plan?

If you’re visual and “techie” like me then you’ll want to invest some time in aggregating all of your financial accounts into a system like Mint or Yodlee. There you can list all of your financial accounts in one place and develop a plan to pay down debt, save for an emergency fund while tracking daily and monthly transactions. I find it easier to see everything in one place while watching my numbers go down (debt) while savings go up (emergency fund)

You may decide that a spreadsheet or notebook is best for you and this is fine as well. Just use something that will help you track your progress because this helps build motivation. Surprisingly, while I love using online tools, my favorite has been updating a spreadsheet with my totals. Manually changing the numbers on my accounts has given the motivation that an online tool doesn’t.

Action Items To Promote Insight and Discipline Needed to Start This Process:

• Identify your “heart,” where you spend most of your money.
• Decide to change your heart from reckless spending to whatever financial goal you have in mind.
• Engage in serious introspection about why you spend the way you do. Are there other psychological needs that spending temporarily meets?
• Divorce yourself from the emotions which enable you to rationalize and accept destructive spending habits.

The rest is history which starts with a decision-made by you!

Name: Suzanne Cramer
Website: A Straight Talk on Debt
Twitter: @ADivorcedMom

If you find yourself drowning in debt, you aren’t alone. Millions of Americans are struggling right along with you and have been in your shoes. Unfortunately, many of us are overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. Filing bankruptcy may seem like the easiest way to become debt free but the reality is it is probably the most difficult and damaging way to go. Knowing your options and researching what will work for you is the first step to debt freedom.

Consider going it alone—with a plan in place…

You have some unsecured debt; credit cards, medical bills, maybe even a few collection accounts, but you are able to keep up with the payments. You may be able to manage your situation on your own. Debt Payment Pro is a FREE tool that can help you pay down your debt. Enter simple information about your debts. Based on your debts Debt Payment Pro will calculate your possible savings. Then follow your personalized repayment schedule to pay off your debt more quickly and save on interest. It can become easy to send just the minimums and not reallocate payments to other creditors. This approach will require discipline and close attention to your payments.

Get some help—lower your interest rates and pay off debt in 3-5 years.

Maybe you are realizing your debt is becoming overwhelming and you can’t keep up with the minimums or have fallen behind. As a result your creditors have increased your interest rates and the likelihood of you continuing to manage your debt on your own has become too much for you to handle. You may want to consider entering a Debt Management Plan. Debt Management Plans, which are often called DMPs, are plans that allow debt relief providers to work directly with creditors to negotiate new terms for the repayment of your debt such as, reduced interest rates, lower monthly payments, and waived fees such as late fees and over the limit fees. With a DMP you will make one payment to a debt relief provider who will then disperse the funds to your creditors each month. A debt management plan is a great option for those who just need better term to repay 100% of their debt.

Settle your debt for less than what you owe—avoid bankruptcy.

If you find yourself scraping to just pay the essential rent, food, and utilities and have no money left to pay your creditors but want to avoid filing bankruptcy, you may want to consider a Debt Settlement Plan. Debt Settlement is an attractive alternative to bankruptcy for those who want to pay back at least a portion of their debt, but cannot afford the Debt Management Plan payment, and may have stopped paying their unsecured creditors. With Debt Settlement, you make monthly deposits to a Settlement deposit account in an amount you can afford. You do not make monthly payments to your creditors, and your provider works to negotiate with your creditors for a less-than-full repayment. When settlements are reached with creditors, settlement payments are paid from the Settlement deposit account. There are definitely pros and cons to using Debt Settlement to pay off your debt so it is important to understand what to expect.

If you decide to seek help make sure the provider is on the up and up by asking the important questions.

Name: Gary Foreman
Website: The Dollar Stretcher
Twitter: @Gary_Foreman

Getting out of debt requires a variety of skills and tools, but I’d say that 3 are the foundation for a successful attempt to get out of debt.

First, don’t expect immediate results. It will probably take you as long to dig out of debt as it took you to get into it. If you’ve been spending more than you’re making for 5 years don’t expect to get out of debt in 1. You’ll only be disappointed when a year passes and you still have a long way to go. Being realistic helps you prepare for a long haul. That’s the type of mindset that you need to see your goal accomplished.

Second, it’s essential to have a plan. “I’m going to pay down my debts” is not a plan. Knowing which debt you’ll attack first and how much you’ll be applying to that debt each month is important. Not only will that eliminate indecisiveness, but it will also allow you to track your progress against expected results.

Finally, don’t forget to reward yourself as you achieve smaller goals along the way. Treat yourself to a nice dinner when you’ve paid off the MasterCard or your auto loan. Celebrate the victories along the way. Those celebrations are an important motivator to keep you on the path to final victory over debt!

 Stay tuned to tomorrows post for Part 3 of the Ask the Experts Series on Getting out of Debt.

As 2011 comes to a close, I thought a fun way to end the year would be for you to hear from other personal finance bloggers out there. So I posed a question to my personal finance blogger friends and got tons of answers on two different questions. The first part of this series answers this question:

There is a lot of information out there on personal finance as a whole, especially the topic of getting out of debt. What is your best advice on getting out of debt? What tools do you use and recommend to accomplish this?

You’ll hear from 4 personal finance bloggers today and a few more over the next few days. Then you’ll get to hear from bloggers who answered the second question about building wealth. I hope you enjoy hearing from these bloggers as much as I did!

Name: Emily Hunter
Website: Million Ways to Save
Twitter: @BecomeAwesome

The best advice that I have to get out of debt is to ask yourself a single question before each purchase.

Why?

This technique is effective for online purchases as well as trips to the grocery store. Putting the item under the magnifying glass has saved me countless dollars (that I put toward my debt) and countless regrets. Frivolous purchases usually get caught in the net and put back on the shelves. If the item is necessary, I look for ways to save on that item, so I’m not caught paying full price.

This mindfulness extends to the debt reduction efforts that I employ. With each dollar that I put toward reducing my credit card debt, I know that I am one step closer to becoming free of my financial obligations. I try to push for the long game, knowing that the debt is temporary and that it’s a yoke that I need to put down.

I love the spending graphs available at Mint.com, but I believe that the truest form of debt relief rests within the mind.

Name: Travis Pizel
Blog Name:  Our Journey To Zero
Twitter: @Debtchronicles

I personally am paying off my debt by utilizing a debt management program through CareOne Debt Relief Services. When I enrolled in my program, CareOne negotiated a monthly payment and reduced interest rate with each of my creditors. As long as I do not violate the terms of my program, my monthly payment and interest rate will not change until my debt is completely paid off.

But a debt management program is certainly not the only solution out there. There are countless programs available to help people get out of debt. The “best” one is dependent upon a person’s financial situation, as well as their personal style. There is no “one size fits all” debt solution, there is no magic pill. My advice to anyone in debt looking to take action is to research your options. Look into things you can do yourself such as cutting costs and budgeting better. Investigate debt relief programs such as debt management plans, debt settlement plans, and even bankruptcy. Load up with information on debt consolidation loans, and well publicized programs such as Dave Ramsey’s. Compare and contrast as many options as you can and make an informed decision as to your next step. It may even be a combination of solutions.

Whatever method is used to rid yourself of debt, I believe that it has to be paired with education to fix the underlying behavior that caused the debt to begin with. There are certainly ways to incur a large amount of debt by no fault of your own, such as a medical emergency. However, the rest of us need to learn self control and proper budgeting techniques. Those, and other financial skills combined with a debt elimination program can help a person eliminate debt from their lives forever.

Name: Bridghet
Website: 3 Kids Here
Twitter: @3kidshere

My best advice is whatever the method on personal finance, it should be something that you can do yourself if you really had to. There is no special gadget or plan that gets someone out of debt without effort from that individual. It’s a decision by the individual and then there are many ‘TOOLS’ that may assist with an individual’s plan, but nothing that will do it for you.

After deciding that you want to get control of your financial situation, including reducing & eliminating debt, then you need to find the right method & tools that fit within your lifestyle or belief system.

For me, I like Dave Ramsey because he tells it like it is and has a stable christian belief system that keeps him in check. I like one of Dave’s suggestions that you cannot meet your goals of being debt-free until you GET MAD about your situation and tell yourself you aren’t going to take it anymore.

I also have a financial background so I fall back on that as another tool to keep my spirits up and my goals in check. Having this background means that I also have many friends that have worked in the industry or there are a few more resources to pull from then the average person. However, I know if a person doesn’t have a finance background, success can still occur. Talking and finding support with friends, family and even strangers (like Twitter) can be a huge ally when you are just looking for raw information on a process or support to know that others have the same struggles. A person doesn’t have to pour his/her heart out to easily find other people who are making financial decisions every day. Once you are in-tune with the process, information appears in the strangest places.

Best of Luck, but more importantly, Best of Intentions!

Name: Dr. Jason Cabler
Website: Celebrating Financial Freedom
Twitter: @DrCabler

The overall best advice I can give is also the simplest:  Live on less than you make.  Sounds simple and it is… if you go about it in the right way.  It’s very difficult to live on less than you make if you just go about using your money day in and day out without a plan.  Lack of a plan is the reason most people end up in debt in the first place.

But when you actually make plans as to how to use your money every day, every month, and take action to stick to that plan, getting out of debt becomes much more easy to do.

First you’ve gotta have a written budget.  You can work out your budget for the month in a budgeting software program like Quickbooks or another, but I prefer the simplicity of pencil and paper because if I make a mistake I can more easily make corrections, notes, etc.  When you figure it out in your own head and write it down on paper instead of letting a computer do it for you, I believe you understand it better and you’re more likely to make it work.

The other tool in arsenal should be a written, progressive get out of debt plan such as the debt snowball.  In my Celebrating Financial Freedom course I call it the “Debt Rocket” because it starts out slowly, but gathers speed quickly and launches you into the blue sky of debt freedom.  If you have this kind of written plan and you stick to it, it becomes easier to change your habits with money and you get out of debt much quicker than if you have no written plan at all.

I believe getting out of debt is all about behavior change.  When you learn to do things differently, work diligently, and happen to your money instead of letting your money happen to you, then you can get out of debt, stay out of debt, and begin winning financially.

Stay tuned for tomorrows post to see Part 2 of the getting out of debt series.