1 commentby Tricia
While surfing the web during a cleaning break, I came across an article written by a Prosper Lender that has some great tips for those about to list a loan with Prosper.
How to Write a Good Prosper Loan Request
If you are thinking of trying Prosper for a loan, I highly suggest reading any suggestions on how to write a good loan request written by Lenders. It can increase your chances of your loan request being funded.
13 commentsby Tricia
This month, I know in advance that it will be a tough month for debt reduction. There are just too many expenses that cannot be avoided and put off to another time. Our home repair just needs to be done and it’s not something we can do ourselves.
Adding to that, my husband will be cutting his hours at work in two weeks. That will give him time to work on other projects. The projects are great and have the potential to provide more income than he currently is making, but it will take a while to get the ball rolling to start receiving revenue.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bummed about all this. We have been doing well, and of course I wanted to keep the momentum going. I want that debt gone so bad that it eats away at me. I just imagine a life without that credit card debt looming and I see much more freedom.
So, taking a dose of my own medicine, I can’t dwell on the problem which is our reduced funds for paying off debt. I have to look for the solution. But what can the solution be?
Here’s a few ideas I’ve come up with:
1.) I need to sell things that we don’t need in our house. I thought about doing this before, but I wasn’t very organized and it didn’t materialize. What I am going to do is turn the other half of my office into an “eBay processing line.” I will line the wall with tables and store things to sell underneath. I will set up areas on the tables to clean items, take pictures and then package. Thanks NCN for letting us know about the free boxes for shipping via USPS. That’s awesome info!
2.) That old truck in the garage has to go. The junkyard once gave me a quote of $100 to haul it away. Since then, there is another place open so I should give them a call as well. I could put a for sale sign on it and try to sell it myself, but I’m not the best at that. I sold my old Plymouth Reliant years ago for $100 and I was fortunate to get that. My for sale posting actually listed everything I knew wrong with it and I spilled all of the beans when people came to look at it. That’s just the way I am. Might as well let the new owners know everything.
3.) Need to increase my income. I guess it’s time to ask for a raise with my one job. It won’t have a huge effect, but it will help. My main problem right now is making my time worth more. One thing that was nice recently was that I was called upon for some help and I was able to name my rate. It almost makes me wonder if I should get my business going. I had started getting things ready for it, but with so much debt it was unwise to be anything other than an employee. Perhaps I could start growing it now and earn some extra income.
4.) Cutting expenses. Now that our car will be paid off this month (yay!), I am considering lowering the insurance away from full coverage. I almost dread to do it because the car is still worth around $5,000. I feel like I would be gambling to remove the coverage but perhaps I will look into a higher deductible. Right now our insurance is almost $100/month.
5.) Putting things I buy to use! I’m guilty of purchasing things that I just sit on. I have three domain names that I thought were great but aren’t doing anything. I think I will go ahead and create some websites and host them through my dreamhost account (you can host unlimited domains with one account). I’m not sure what to do yet, but why just let them sit around? Perhaps they could earn a few dollars here and there. (BTW – if you need website hosting use my code for dreamhost.com “BLOGGINGAWAYDEBT” you save $92 and I make $5).
I think the above will be a great start. One thing I’ve learned is that sometimes if I overload myself with “things to do” I am not the best at getting them done. I’ll work on these for now and when I think of more I’ll be sure to share.
