MyTenSense.com

Naturally, money is tight in this deep recession, but some of us still want to be financially responsible and are wondering what is the best approach to saving money and managing credit card debt and student loans.
So financial advice expert Suze Orman offered solutions during her recent appearance on The Today Show. Of course, if you watch Orman’s weekly show on CNBC, you already know she thinks everybody should save eight months worth of living expenses, which is easier said than done when you have limited money and loads of credit card debt and student loans.
During her Today Show appearance, Orman responded to four questions:
1) Should you build an 8-month savings reserve or pay off credit card debt?
2) Should you contribute to your job’s 401K or pay off your credit cards?
3) Should you focus on paying off student loans or credit card debt?
4) Should you focus on retirement savings or savings for your children’s college?
These are all tricky questions for Orman because she always says never carry credit card debt, pay off student loans and of course, build that eight-month reserve. So how does she choose which is the most important? By tackling them two at a time.
Orman said it’s more important to save eight months worth of expenses in this tough economy than to pay off credit cards. She suggested to only make the minimum credit card payment until you have that reserve and then work toward paying off all credit card debt. She said you should only contribute to your job’s 401K if your employer makes a matching contribution, and if your employer does not contribute, you should focus on paying off your credit card debt rather than invest in your 401K. She also said student loans and credit card debt are equally important and should be paid off after securing that eight-month reserve. And finally, she said it is more important to save for your retirement than for your kids’ college fund. She said the kids can always get student loans to pay for college.
And a couple days later, Orman had an email read aloud on her Suze Orman Show that asked if you should take a vacation if you’re only halfway toward an eight-month reserve. Orman’s advice is to hold off on vacation until you have the eight-month reserve because you should be prepared in case you become unemployed in this deep recession.

By Teneshia LaFaye
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Being that we’re in desperate times, people are desperate to make money, especially salespeople.
I’m a salesperson, so I should know, but I have a conscience, and I cannot sell something to someone knowing that I wouldn’t buy it myself or that the person cannot really afford it. So it’s amazing that I’m the No. 1 producer for my insurance company.
But many salespeople don’t mind coaxing you into buying something you shouldn’t. Have you ever bought a car that you wish you could take back? Have you ever bought perfume you wouldn’t spray on your dog? Have you bought an expensive piece of clothing because the salesperson gave you such a great compliment?
I have. I bought a luxury sports car, but I returned it when I thought about how foolish I would be to pay $67,000 over the course of a six-year loan for a $39,000 car. Being a top insurance agent, I make enough to make the payments, but it would just be a foolish way to spend money in a recession.
In these times, you need to restrain yourself from needless purchases because the salespeople certainly won’t stop you.
I laugh when I think of how the finance guy assured me that the dealership operates so ethically and that he would speak up if he thought a person should not purchase a car. He sure didn’t speak up when I expressed reservations about buying the sports car in the first place. But he was gracious enough to take the car back, almost two weeks later with over 2,000 miles on it, and my credit was left in excellent condition.
I’m so glad to see car companies, such as GM and Hyundai, that don’t just give lip service.  GM offers a program that will make your car payments for up to a year if you lose your job, and Hyundai allows you to return a car anytime during the first year of purchase if you become unemployed or physically disabled.
Now, let me brag about my interior decorator Donna Stanton of Providence Homes in Jacksonville, FL. Even though I’m building my first house, she did not take advantage and try to sell me upgrades. In fact, when I wanted to add granite floors and Korean countertops, she advised me to have them installed later when I can pay cash instead of getting them now and having to pay for the upgraded floors and countertops for the life of my mortgage. I also wanted to add an intercom system, but she advised me to buy a wireless home phone system with intercom capabilities to save thousands of dollars.
However, the security salesman was more than willing to let me order an entertainment system and an intercom system. He told me that I could just add the cost to my mortgage. Thankfully, I had the sense to only purchase a security system to protect my family.
In these tough economic times, you’ve got to use your common sense and just say “no” when someone tries to sell you something you don’t really need or cannot afford.
By Teneshia LaFaye

If you were sitting on the sidelines of the housing boom, like me, before the housing industry crashed, I’m here to tell you it’s safe to get in the game now.

Now that we’re in a recession, home prices are down and interest rates are at their lowest in nearly a half century. Plus, there are first-time buyer incentives, such as a $8,000 tax credit toward a home purchase.

I’ve tested the waters, and I’ve got a very low fixed interest rate and a great price to build my first house on a prime lot in a highly-valued Jacksonville community.

I’m so glad I waited on home prices to fall before applying for a mortgage. I almost got sucked into getting an adjustable rate mortgage for a $300,000 house three years ago. I also was looking at a $200,000 townhouse. This was before the current recession when investors were flipping houses and buyers were more than willing to get adjustable rate mortgages to buy their McMansion dream houses.

Now, the $300K house I was looking at before is going for $100,000 less and the townhome is down by $80,000. And now I’m building a house for far less than I would have three years ago on a big lot.

My strategy was to wait until prices fell into a reasonable range because we all know what goes up must come down and I just thought houses weren’t worth as much as advertised. Plus, waiting enabled me to boost my credit from the 500s to my current 722 FICO score.

So if you’ve been waiting, like me, for the right time to buy a house, now is the right time to get a great deal.

By Teneshia LaFaye