Getting Back On Top Financially

Many Americans find themselves caught in a failing economy with mass layoffs and disappearing markets. Reduced incomes have wiped out personal equity balances in savings, real estate holdings, and portfolios. Individuals have been left with a mountain of secured and unsecured debt.

In a previous article titled, "When Everything Goes Wrong," I discussed how to survive day to day when you hit the bottom financially. In this article I'm dealing with the next logical step which is financial recovery.

How does one start the long journey back to fiscal health? Here are 7 steps to financial recovery and prosperity:

1. Get your income up. Negotiating with creditors and even taking their calls is an act in futility without adequate income. It may require both spouses to work and do some extra jobs as well.

2. Establish a financial cushion. You can't live your whole life from crisis to crisis and keep your sanity. Living on the edge is not healthy. It drains you of your energy and creativity. Once you get your income back, this step is necessary to get your mind back.

3. Make deals with your creditors. Many people don't realize it, but creditors will negotiate debts for pennies on the dollar. Some are more negotiable than others, so start your offers low. Take your smallest bill first, and then the next largest, and negotiate the best payoffs you can and eliminate the debts. Starting with the smallest first will speed up the process and give you a feeling of accomplishment. If any are hard nosed and don't want to work with you, put them on the bottom of the stack and come back to them later.

4. Don't forget to pay yourself. Take a portion of what you make and invest it in stocks, bonds, real estate, or other sound investments. Establish a fixed amount such as 10% of each paycheck. You may have to cut back in other areas to be able to do this.

5. Change your spending habits. Learn how to budget and live on less. Make a list of areas that you can economize on such as housing, transportation, and entertainment. You want to make this a permanent recovery by creating as much surplus in your budget as possible.

6. Upgrade your career. This might require finishing your degree or getting technical training. Learn how to build a resume or allow a professional to do it. There are many online employment sites that you can put your resume into so that recruiters can see it. While searching for jobs online, many services allow you to immediately apply on line for the job you are looking at by emailing a resume.

7. Think long term. Upgrade insurance policies. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. Take better care of your health. Lose weight, work out, and improve your diet. Plan ahead for college for your children.

Financial recovery is a process that takes time and discipline. The most important thing to do is to get started on step one today.

Save Money On Vacation

A traditional way that families have saved money on vacations is to visit relatives. The downside of that is that your host may take the initiative to plan your vacation schedule for you. The next thing you know they're mad at you because you rebelled against the schedule. Then there are tensions and you don't send Christmas cards to each other for the next five years, etc., etc.

There must be some better ways to economize on vacation expenses and still have fun. The most costly part of vacationing is the lodging cost. One way that families have pinched pennies on vacation expenses is to go camping. Rather than do an abbreviated description of many different ways to save money, I'll go in depth on the subject of tent camping.

Tent camping is the most economical form of camping and a good family sized tent can be bought for $70 to $300. I've done a lot of tent camping and have actually spent entire summers in a tent when I was single. When choosing a tent style, you will notice that the most common style of tent is the dome tent.

I successfully used dome tents for many years until I was camping with a group of men on an island one night and the wind kicked up pretty strong. One of the guys had an old garden variety Sears cabin tent. When both of the fiberglass poles on my dome tent snapped in the middle of the night, all the guys in my dome tent piled in with the guys in the old ugly cabin tent. Did I mention it was raining? That night I slept a little closer to other guys than I'm naturally comfortable with. What happens on the island stays on the island. My next tent was a Sears cabin tent and I still have it after many years of happy camping.

Tents have to be re-waterproofed every few years. The 3M company has an excellent spray that is easy to apply and is available in most outdoor departments.

You can save money on your tent purchase by buying a slightly used one on Ebay. You'd be surprised how many people use a tent once and then never again. Garage sales and estate sales can also be good sources. There are web sites that specialize in selling new and used gear. One company that I have bought from for many years is Campmor. They have great sales and specials all year long.

There are many types of campgrounds to choose from. There are campgrounds with all the modern amenities like pools, electric, running water, and entertainment. One such campground is the one at Disney World and they have a special section for tents. There are some larger campgrounds outside of Disney that are more economical.

National and State campgrounds tend to be a little more woodsy. Some have electric and water. Others are called "primitive campsites," meaning no conveniences except maybe an outhouse and a water outlet you can walk to. One of my favorite sites is a primitive site on the shore of a beautiful lake that costs just $4 per night. The road that leads there is unpaved for about 5 miles. The downside is that my wife went once and decided she didn't like primitive camping.

Another type of tent camping that I've used is backpacking. You can get to places unaccessible by a car and unspoiled by humans. One of my most memorable vacations was a week-long backpacking trip in the Smoky Mountain National Park. Some pre-planning is required because you have to check in with the forest rangers and get a permit detailing where you will camp each night. My favorite campsite was next to a waterfall. When we washed our dinner plates in the stream, baby trout came up and nibbled at the scraps.

Tents used for backpacking should be in the weight range of 3-6 pounds. The trend is toward ultra-light equipment and less of it. The lighter your pack, the more you will enjoy your trip. Don't economize on your initial investment of backpacking equipment. When you're in back country your very survival may depend on your equipment's quality.

Vacations don't have to be expensive. Many have found tent camping a viable alternative to high cost lodging. Happy Camping!