Good morning!  Thanks for stopping by, and I hope and pray that you and your family have a blessed Christmas.

Welcome to this week’s Carnival of Debt Reduction! A number of good articles this week, so let’s get started.

• Some of my friends have consolidated their debt with a home equity loan. There are pros and cons to doing this — as there are with just about anything. The Industry Report goes through an example of some of the calculations to determine whether rolling your debt into a home equity loan makes sense just from a dollars standpoint.
• Home prices have not been doing pretty things in many parts of the country, and the fear of losing one’s home under the pressure of rising payments with an adjustable rate mortgage may push homeowners to look for help. FYI About warns of some “sell and buy back” schemes that prey on desperate homeowners and discusses what to consider when pursuing these kinds of arrangements.
• Bankruptcy can clear the slate of many debts if things get serious enough, but it’s not the only way out. Care on Credit runs through several different techniques to try before filing for bankruptcy, ranging from calling your creditors to refinancing to initiating balance transfers. The aim here is to try to reduce the debt before taking the more painful step of legally wiping it out.
• Free Money Finance’s submission this week investigates why or why not you might want to consolidate your loans. Credit card consolidation is not a cure-all; the consolidation has to be accompanied by reformed spending habits or the person consolidating will be in worse financial shape than before the consolidation.
• Debt reduction involves not only reduction of current debt but prevention of getting in worse debt. The Baglady’s post might serve well as a word to the wise. If you own a condo, check your purchase agreement for any wording that gives the homeowners’ association broad rights to levy special fees to condo owners, and plan accordingly, because if you’re not in debt trouble now, you could well be after getting hit with tens of thousands of dollars in special fees. (And if you’re planning to buy real estate, look for this wording in advance.)
• Nothing stirs the cockles of one’s heart like painting half of your face blue, the other half orange, standing on your chair, pounding your fists to your chest like Tarzan, and screaming at the top of your lungs: “I will not surrender to the night! I will boldly embrace the music of my youth, ugly haircuts and all! I will fight the good fight, create all men equally . . . and BUURRRRRN with a fervent desire to RID MYSELF OF DEBT!” (Maybe DebtFREE-Revolution will post that picture she sent me of her with blue and orange face paint. Or maybe I’m just making this all up.)
• Journey to Financial Freedom tackles two extremely challenging problems: Dealing with your spouse and getting out of debt. Next week, J2FF will show how to debug Windows Vista and restore the ozone layer. But seriously, it makes your debt reduction job that much easier if your spouse is on board with you, and here are some good tips as to being doing that.
• Following the steps of those before you is a good start for any endeavor.  Toxic Money (!) details a seven-step process for getting out of debt that worked for them, in the hopes that it might work for you if you need to get out of debt.  Good, straightforward advice.
• The reason debt reduction can be so hard is the interest charges.  Reduce those, and your job is easier.  Me vs. Debt lists seven ways to reduce your finance charges, some of which involve dealing directly with your lenders.

Short and sweet this week, so you can get back to the festivities.  Thanks very much for visiting, and Merry Christmas!

• Debt Reduction Success Story: Debt Hater A five-digit credit card balance is a lot to carry. Staring at that figure can be a bit overwhelming, and even if you know that the debt has to be paid off, the goal of a zero balance seems so far off that it's difficult to focus on the steps......
• Flashback: Work your debt reduction plan Waaaaaay back in Carnival of Debt Reduction #1, No Credit Needed was still in debt. His post for the premiere installment outlined his debt reduction strategies. His strategies were pretty simple: Collect your debt information and list the balances, annual percentage rates (APRs), and minimum payments. Go through your budget......

• Late night TV and debt reduction I have essentially the equivalent of expanded cable in my hotel room out on the West Coast.  This is more than we have at home.  I don't miss it, but cop shows can be entertaining. ;)A majority of the ads this late at night (the ones that weren't for performance......
• Debt Reduction is more Important than Your Credit Score If you are a baby boomer with a pile of consumer debt, you are not alone.  Many economists and members of the younger generations are blaming us for the dramatic rise in the use of consumer credit.  We baby boomers are also accused of inflating then collapsing the housing bubble.......