Let me recall what my 2010 New Year Resolutions were: 1. Saving Money 2. Making Money and 3. Paying Down Credit Card and Personal Debts.

How did I fare on these 3 aspects last year? ^.^

1. Saving Money. As of 31.12.2010, our i) Joint Savings Account for big emergency reached half of the 3 months’ living expenses; ii) E-Fund Account was equivalent to half of the 3 months’ living expenses in Joint Savings Account; and iii) Investment Fund Account had less than RM1,500′s worth of mutual fund and stocks.

2. Making Money. Online income was 100% from blogs. Each month’s online income was more than enough to pay the home loan installment, bank overdraft interest charge and some daily expenses, but still not good enough to let hubby retire from his long-hour teaching job.

3. Paying Down Credit Card and Personal Debts. Debt repayments to AKPK were in time every month and hubby and I were able to pay off some personal debts owed to 3 family members amounting to RM2,100.

What are my resolutions for year 2011? Well, same as above! Keep on saving money, making money and paying down credit card and personal debts.

Okay, be more specific!

1. Saving Money. i) RM10,000 in Joint Savings Account. The existing amount plus year 2011′s rental will be equivalent to about RM8,000, so RM10,000 goal should be attainable; ii) RM10,000 in E-Fund Account. The existing amount plus my monthly school income plus some online income, yup, it is reachable too; iii) Investment Fund Account. To be frank, no idea yet.

2. Making Money. This year I will pay more attention to Amazon Associates Program. Just learned some new tips that can bring in more earnings from its affiliate products. It’s really fun making US dollar; USD$100 is equivalent to RM300, you know.

3. Paying Down Credit Card Debt and Personal Debts. Keep on paying down the debts, of course!

Enough goals for year 2011!

There were a few reasons why I signed up a debt management plan and not any debt consolidation or debt settlement.

First off, the debt repayment plan I enrolled in is FREE. There is no initial fee or monthly service fee charged by the credit counseling and debt management agency.

Yes, it’s a free debt management program that is only available in my country. It’s not available to people in the US, UK, Canada and other countries.

As it’s a free debt relief program and I had come to a point that I couldn’t go on paying the huge amount of minimum payments, I decided to enroll in the debt management program.

But why didn’t I DIY debt management to pay off the credit card debt?

Oh, I did. In April 2007, I started self-help debt reduction to pay down some of my credit card debt before I joined the DMP. Between April 2007 and August 2008, I managed to bring down my credit card debt from RM63,809 ($18,000 in USD) to RM40,334.

Just as I thought my effort of tackling my credit card debt would pay off if I kept on budgeting and curbing my spending habits, bad things kept popping up.

First of all, the expenses always surpassed the income. Due to economy downturn, hubby and I were not making sufficient money to pay all the credit card minimum payments, car and home loan installments, utility bills and daily expenses.

When we failed to make payments on time, you know what will come next, right? Yup, banks and creditors started charging late payment fees, over the limit charges, cash advance fees, retail interest charges into my credit card accounts.

One day in August 2008, I told hubby that I had had enough of my credit card debt, non-stop phone calls from banks and warning notices issued by creditors. I wanted to get rid of them.

So, I am now in the free debt management program.

I must have God to thank for because He answered my prayer.

With hubby having a full time job, this means there is RM1,500 to pay some bills, pay off some personal debts from close friends and save for emergency funds.

Hubby’s current pay is only $1,500 per month because he is only given 15 classes per week to teach. There aren’t enough classes for the time being because it’s middle of the year now.

Although hubby’s salary is RM1,500, he is still considered a full time teacher. You know, he will be entitled to a month’s bonus!

If hubby is sure that he wants to be a discipline master after 2 months, he will have extra RM400.

Next year, it’s expected that hubby’s salary is between RM2,000 and RM2,400.

Let’s look at my current income from my niche blogs and tuition classes. I think they bring roughly RM2,500 per month.

Both of our income adds up to RM4,000! Wow, …

With RM4,000, we can pay my AKPK RM320, hubby’s AKPK DMP RM360, car loan installment RM820, home loan and bank overdraft interest fee charge RM520 and utility bills RM250.

Extra money will then be used for daily expenses and saved for emergency funds.

To make sure that you don’t need any debt relief program or bankruptcy in future, start implementing debt management to properly manage your credit card debt.

Debt management is, simply put, a way of taking control of your debt and finances. You can manage the debt on your own with a little bit of effort without the help from a certified credit counselor.

The first step of debt management is to become familiar with your debt. Make a list of all your credit card accounts – how much is owed on each card and the amount of monthly payment.

Next, make a list of all your expenses and figure out where you can cut down and save money. There is also a need for you to keep track of your daily expenses so that you know where your money is going and see whether you can reduce the expenses in this area. Spending money without realizing what you are spending on and where your money is going to is the main reason you are knee deep in debt.

The next step is the most important and practical step – start making payments. Take the account with the smallest balance and pay as much as you can towards the balance each month while paying the minimum payments on all of your other accounts until the first account is paid off.

When the account is paid off, take the second lowest balance and repeat the process adding the amount that you paid towards the first account to the payment of the next account. You will repeat this process until you have all of your credit card accounts paid off.

Credit card debt management is not rocket science. It’s a simple process that requires discipline and determination in order to pay off credit card debt without having to enroll in a debt management program or declare bankruptcy.

In my opinion, people who don’t possess strong discipline and determination tend to end up enrolling themselves in debt management programs.

To be honest, I am a credit card debt woman who doesn’t have very strong discipline and determination. This explains why I am in need of a free debt management program to help me stop using credit cards totally and pay off my debt without harassment.

Stop worrying! Let God help me find enough income and money to make all the necessary payments like my AKPK debt management repayment, hubby’s AKPK debt management repayment, home and car loan repayments, bank overdraft interest charge, utility bills, and daily expenses.

YOU took care of my bills and income collection last month. May YOU take care of the bills I need to pay in March, too.

Payments to be made in March:

1. My AKPK debt management repayment – RM320 (26.03.2009)

2. Hubby’s AKPK debt management repayment – RM360 (26.03.2009)

3. First half car loan repayment – RM420 (18.03.2009)

4. Utility bills – RM280 (18.03.2009)

5. Home loan interest charge – RM374 (30.03.2009)

6. Bank overdraft interest fee – RM180 (30.03.2009)

7. Second half car loan installment – RM400 (07.04.2009)

Income to be collected in March:

1. Biweekly online assignments – RM520++

2. Tuition fee – RM440, RM160, RM280

3. Biweekly online assignment income – RM950++

4. Foot biz – RM100

5. Money returned by a buddy – RM500

She thinks of having a part-time job so in case she is put layoff one day, she still has a part-time hour job to pay her credit card bills, home mortgage installments, car loan repayments, gas and electricity bills or daily expenses.

After much discussion, she has narrowed down the scope of jobs to sales jobs, finance jobs, payroll jobs, tutoring jobs, secretarial jobs, computer jobs, receptionist jobs and customer service jobs.

As a women who has two school-going kids, she needs a flexible job that she can make changes of time and schedule easily.

Tutoring is the best part time job. By being a private tutor, she can have tutoring classes at home and at her convenient time.

I don’t know about your country, but in my country, Malaysia, parents put emphasis on children’s education very much.

Parents can live below their means and save money on everything, except kids’ children.

Children education is the top priority. No matter how poor the parents are, they will do their best to provide the kids good education.

This explains why tuition classes are still fully packed during bad economy and recession. Tuition or tutoring jobs are considered recession proof jobs.

Maths tutors, science tutors and English tutors have been top tutors wanted by tutoring agencies for many years and will still be even in times of economy crisis and depression.

I went back to giving tuition again in December since parents had asked me a few times in 2008. After quitting teaching for one year, I feel good teaching those kids again.

My tutoring income is almost one-third of my online income now. Oh, must really work hard to increase my online income in year 2009 too.

This Christmas is totally different. I am now under AKPK’s debt management programme (DMP). Not only do I have extra cash to buy Christmas gifts, I also have extra money to donate to a charity called Tze Chi Foundation. I stopped donating to this charity when my income was not even enough to cover my credit card minimum payments after deducting daily expenses, groceries, and car and home loan installments.

Although there is extra money in hand for Christmas gifts and money donation, hubby and I are not buying Xmas gifts for each other. We have agreed to put the money we would have spent on each other towards Tze Chi Foundation again starting this year.

Giving doesn’t necessarily mean handing over cash, there are other ways to donate your resources. Volunteering at a hospital, making dinner for a sick person, or working in a soup kitchen, to name a few here.

Other than paying off credit card debt and making more money online, another New Year resolution of mine for year 2009 is to give regularly.

How much debt is considered to be too much debt? To know if you are carrying too much debt, check out 4 signs here.

Sign No. 1. A High Debt-To-Income Ratio. To get the debt-to-income ratio, simply divide your monthly debt payments (excluding mortgage or rent) by your monthly income. According to many credit counselors, a debt-to-income ratio of 15% to 20% is a sign of debt trouble. If your debt-to-income ratio is higher, that means you already have too much debt.

Sign No. 2. No Savings. You have no savings at all after making minimum payments for your credit cards, home and car loan installments, and daily expenses. Many credit experts are of the opinion that while meeting your debt obligations, it’s important for you to save money in a 401(k) or other retirement account, an emergency fund or even a general savings account.

Sign No. 3. Over The Limit. If you are struggling to make minimum payments or pay down your credit card balances or constantly maxing out your credit card limits, then you are really in debt trouble.

Sign No. 4. Worrying About Debt Most Of The Time. If you are stressed out over paying bills and making minimum payments on your debt, it’s clear you have a problem. Or you feel suffocated by the card bills, warning notices from banks or haunting calls from your creditors, yes, your debt has reached an unmanageable level.

Are you really carrying too much debt, especially credit card debt? If so, you must start tackling your credit card debt trouble and getting out of debt using debt reduction tips available free.

Getting debt free help from credit counseling services is your next practical step if the minimum payments, finance charges and late payment fees become simply unbearable. Debt relief options such as debt consolidation loans, debt repayment plans, debt management programs or debt settlement plans are available to help you consolidate or restructure your multiple debt into one debt that allows you to make one lower payment every month.

Get debt free help now to eliminate your debt, especially credit card debt.

But if you are thinking of applying for your very first credit card, be cautious! There are many credit card scams available on the market, and the tiny fine prints of terms and conditions can be very confusing to you as a new credit card holder.

To make your credit card application easy and pleasant, there are 4 things you need to know before you apply for your very first credit card.

1. Credit Card Limit. As a first-timer, it’s better for you to apply for a credit card through the bank where you have a checking or savings account. If the bank sees that you are a good client, the bank will consider giving you a higher credit limit. Don’t expect to be given a huge credit limit since you don’t have much credit history.

2. Interest Rate. As a new credit card holder, you should expect your APR (Annual Percentage Rate) to be somewhere between 12.99% and 19.99%. The lowest interest rates are only eligible to credit card holders who have had credit scores of 720 and higher.

You need time to build up a good credit score in order to secure better credit card deals in future.

3. Fees and Penalties. Beware of credit cards that target first-time credit card holders! These credit card offers to first-timers tend to be given low limits and high interest rates. There are also annual or even monthly membership fees charged.

If there are account setup fees and periodic finance charges added, then you may need to consider if they are still considered good deals. Try to compare as many cards as possible to choose one credit card that doesn’t charge you membership fees.

Also, pay attention to the penalty fees charged. It’s important because if you make a late payment, you’ll be charged the penalty fee.

It’s advisable to always make your payments timely, or else you could be stuck with a 30% interest rate on your purchases.

4. Rewards and Incentives. Look for credit cards that reward you points or rebates for your purchases. Some reward cards have higher interest rates than regular credit cards, so be sure to pay your balance in full each month so that your cash back incentives don’t get eaten up by interest rates.

Choosing your first credit card is not as daunting as you think. Make sure you are clear with the credit limits, interest rate charges, fees, penalties and rewards offered. Remember — always read the tiny fine print of terms and conditions in any credit cardholder agreement before you sign on the dotted line.

According to the best consolidation debt info available online, debt consoldation loan is an excellent solution if you want to get your credit card debt under control, without the need to file bankruptcy or fall behind on your bills.

Each time when my online income is only sufficient for me to pay daily expenses, groceries, car and home loan installments, and a small portion of credit card minimum payments; or when various creditors start haunting me with calls and warning notices, I will start feeling suffocated and stressed out, and thinking if I should just consolidate all my loans or liabilities into one loan.

There are two types of debt consolidation loans: secured debt consolidation loans and unsecured debt consolidation loans.

Under secured debt consolidation loan you need to pledge some of your asset which may be a house, a car or any valuable as a security to the lender against the loan amount. It comes with a low rate of interest and has a long repayment term from 10 to 25 years.

While, for unsecured debt consolidation loan you need not to pledge your collateral. It contains a bit higher rate of interest. The repayment of the borrowed amount has to be met within the period of 1 to 10 years.

Debt consolidation reduction loan allows you to breathe freely without tension because you pay once a month and are answerable to one lender instead of loads of them. No more phone calls and mails from the lenders and paying to different persons at the same time on different dates every month.