Plastic money often tempts us to get extravagant and we spend more than we can afford. When our expenses exceed our income then there is chance of financial crisis and we might get into the trap of debt. This article would share few tips in order to get rid of credit card debt.

Ways to get out of credit card debt:
   
1) Negotiate to pay off your debt:
Negotiate with your creditor so that the payment plan is affordable for your pocket so that you can repay your debt. Choose debt negotiation and show a reasonable excuse to the creditor for being a defaulter. While you negotiate make sure that you not only lower the outstanding balance but also the interest rate. You can threaten him of filing bankruptcy if the creditor does not agree on your terms of settlement. The creditor would be aware that if you file bankruptcy then he might not get a penny. So he might agree on your clauses as he would be hopeful of getting back a partial amount of his money.

2) Pay the outstanding balance and not the minimum:
Make a monthly payment of your debt instead of paying the minimum amounts make sure you pay off the owed amount. If you are only paying off the minimum balance then your debt would keep on piling as the outstanding balance is not being paid along with the interest rate. And you might take a long time to get rid of debt if you only pay the minimum amount.

The credit card company has used the minimum payment plan as a trap for the consumers to ensnare into the maze of debt. But the debt settlement company can help you pay off your debt and you would be able to achieve financial freedom.   

3) Relatives can be of some help:
Pay off your credit card debts by taking loans from your relatives or friends. In order to come out from the trap of debt you can take loans from them as the family member won’t charge you interest on the amount. But ensure that you repay the owed amount other wise they might not be willing to help you next time in your financial crisis.    

4) Budgeting is essential:
If you think of paying back the owed amount then you have to prepare a budget so that you do not spend more than you can afford. You need to pay off you debts immediately and then plan a budget. In order to avoid the labyrinth of debt budgeting is a crucial part of it.  But if you constantly dissuade from your budgeting track then you might land up in severe trouble.   
 
5) Financial advisor can be helpful:
You can easily come out from the debt trap with the help of the financial advisor. The credit counseling services are beneficial for you as it would show you a path for a debt free life. The financial advisors would help you to manage your finance and get you out of this financial doldrums.

These are the few tips to fight debt and secure your financial future.   

The Internet has enabled people to create thousands of websites that we can’t live without today.  From Google, YouTube, Yahoo to your local bank’s website, it’s hard to imagine living without the Internet.  However, there are many successful websites ran by one person that are making a big difference in many people daily lives.  One such site is Khanacademy.org operated solely by Sal Khan.

Khanacademy.org has over 1,600 free 10 to 15 minutes long mini-lectures/tutorials (primarily math, science and finance) all narrated by Khan. His videos are viewed about 70,000 times per day on YouTube and  his website, which is nearly double the student body of Stanford and Harvard combined.  (See video below.)

Khan is a 33 year old Harvard MBA who was a former hedge fund manager.  

Khan started out 4 years ago by helping his cousin in math by recording tutorials and storing them on YouTube.  His videos became popular and started receiving testimonials from students who found his videos helpful. He then decided to quit his job and converted a walk-in closet in his home with a few hundred dollars of video equipment to start filming his tutorials.   Khan receives zero pay, however, he does make some money from advertising via his YouTube videos.

Recently Bill Gates became an admirer of Khan and stated that “This guy is amazing…It is awesome how much he has done with very little in the way of resources.”  Gates stated that his 11 year old son, Rory, began soaking up Kahn’s videos from biology to algebra.

For more information visit khanacademy.org and youtube.com/user/khanacademy

If you are looking to save money you may want to checkout Billy.com.  Billy.com offers members exclusive deals and sales when they become available.  To get the deals and sales, you simply register at the site to join their savings club.

Billy.com also offers a wealth of advice on how to save money on bills we all have to pay, which includes:

• How to Save on Heating Bills
• How to Save on Cooling Bills
• How to Save on Phone Bills
• How to Save on Car Insurance
• How to Find Affordable Life Insurance
• Five Easy Ways to Save on Grocery Bills
• Nine Ways to Save on Cell Phone Bill
• Ten Ways to Save on Clothes (and Still Look Great)
• Eleven Ways to Save Money on Entertainment
• How to Increase Your Fuel Efficiency Without Buying a New Car

The site also offers financial calculators which includes Mortgage and Loan, PayScale Salary and Cash back or low interest.

There is also a blog that is updated frequently with advice on how to save money.

For more information visit Billy.com.

I just got back from a 2 day conference (Affiliate Summit East 2010) in New York City.  It’s a trip I planned over 2 months ago, where I booked my flight and hotel.  However, I didn’t register for conference which initially would have cost me $99 for the cheapest pass.  

To my surprise when I went to purchase the pass the price jumped to $249.  I didn’t realize the price would change and wasn’t too happy about it.  On top of that, the website claimed that there was only 2 more days to purchase the pass.  I also quickly found out via a few blog visits that every year the conference gets sold out so to buy your pass early.

I wasn’t happy about paying the $249, because last year I attended free by winning a pass.  So I began to search the internet to see if I could find a free or discounted pass.  I was able to find a coupon code that took 10% off, so that would drop the price to $224.  I still wasn’t happy and started to search forums and tweets (at Twitter.com) for anyone willing to sell their pass or had an extra pass they wouldn’t mind giving to me for free (yea right)!

I was able for find a couple of people on Twitter who was giving away extra passes they had, but I was too late.  I also found a few people on Digital Point forum who wanted to sell me a pass.  But I didn’t have to pay for a pass because I ended up getting one for free!

How did I get it for free you ask?  One tactic I decided to try was to call the company and simply ask very nicely to buy the pass for $99.  I’d tell them I’m in a financial crunch and didn’t realize the price of the ticket would more than double.  It didn’t work, however, during the conversation, the lady told me to enter their sweepstakes to win a pass.  She mentioned for the next several days, they’d give away 1 free pass everyday.  The same sweepstakes she mentioned I had entered several months before and of course I didn’t win.  So I decided to enter the sweepstakes again.  After a trip to the gym to release my frustration, I was greeted by an email that I a won a pass.  This was a more expensive pass valued at $549.  That made my day!

So the lesson to this story is to always try for a discount before paying full price.  I’ve been surprised on several occasions to get a discount on purchases just by asking.  Additionally, many times I’ve searched the Internet for coupons / discount codes to save on purchases.  

I recently read an article about saving money by watching movies/TV via the Internet.  I decided to look further into this.  

After a little research I decided to purchase the Roku HD-XR box.  This small simple device allows you to connect your TV and high-speed Internet to access video content via the Internet.  You control the unit via a remote control.

Roku offers 3 different models (Roku SD ($70), Roku HD ($90), and Roku HD-SR ($120).  I decide to purchase the Roku HD-SR because I have a HD TV and I wanted to connect to my router wirelessly.  The other 2 models do not include wireless connection to your router.  Connecting the device is extremely easy.  I just plugged the power in and plugged the HDMI cord into the Roku box and TV.

Roku claims you can setup the unit in 5 minutes.  This took me longer because I couldn’t get the unit to connect to my router.  It took me a few minutes to figure it out, but once I got it working, I was very impressed.  For one I was surprised that the videos streamed with no hesitation (or buffering).  When starting a video it does take several seconds to load, but once the video starts to run, there is absolutely no hesitation.

I currently have AT&T FastAccess DSL Xtreme service which claims download speeds up to 3 Mbps.  However, download speed in reality averages about low 2+ Mbps. This seems to be fast enough to watch HD videos with no hesitations.  When I watch HD videos on my laptop, sometimes there is hesitation (buffering) but with the Roku box, there is none which was surprising.

When initially viewing a video on the Roku it will state video quality from 1 to 4.  Most of the time my video quality is 4, sometimes 3 but rarely 2.  A video quality of 2 or 1 isn’t good.  One occasion when video quality was 2 I unplugged the router and modem to reset the connection and video quality jumped to a 4.

As far as HD is concerned, HD is only for 720p.  There are no 1080p HD videos available it seems.  So if you have a 1080p HD TV, watching 720p HD videos will not be as sharp.

I also decided to try Netflix free 2 week offer which includes watching videos via the Roku box. For $9 per month, I think this is a great deal.  You have access to many movies online and DVDs by mail.  The newer movies are still by mail, but there are quit a few movies/TV shows available online.  Again I was impressed with the video quality and streaming with Netflix.

Purchasing the Roku Box included a $10 credit from Amazon Video on Demand (AVOD).  However, when I tried watching HD movies on AVOD it kept telling me I wasn’t setup to watch HD movies because my speeds was too slow.  However, the movies streamed well and the video quality was acceptable.  I’m not certain if HD videos from AVOD come in 1080p but if you don’t have fast enough speed it drops to 720p.

The Roku box also allows you to access numerous channels if you don’t sign up for Netflix or AVOD.  

So in conclusion, I highly recommend the Roku boxes and Netflix service to watch videos and movies via the Internet.  This can save you tons of money my reducing or eliminating your cable/satellite service.

Roku is currently offering 10% off their players. 

Groupon is a service that provides daily deals that save customers money. Every day they feature a new deal at deeply discounted prices.  However, you will only get the deal if enough people take the offer.  See the video below for a detailed description of how the service works.

Citibank is currently offering a $50 credit with their “back-to-school” promotion (ends 9/30/10) for College Students.  Customers receive the $50 credit in addition to standard card features for the Citi Dividend Platinum Select Card, the Citi Forward Card, and the Citi mtvU Platinum Select Card.

The Citi mtvU and Citi Forward cards offers 5x rewards on bookstores (includes Amazon.com), movies, music, and restaurants, which amounts to 3.45% cash back or 5% gift card credit from certain retailers.

The mtvU appears better if you get good grades and are willing to send/fax in a transcript every semester, while the Forward card has a better sign-up bonus and ongoing rewards for simply paying your balances on time.

Card features include:

• $50 statement credit when you make $50 in purchases within 90 days.
• No annual fee.
• No cosigner required.
• 0% intro APR on purchases for 7 months.
• $0 liability on fraudulent charges (as with other credit cards).