Are You an Average American?
Did you know that the average American household has 13 credit, debit and store cards? It’s no wonder. Most US households receive at least one offer of credit a week. They always sound like the perfect answer to your problems, too. Transfer your debt from that really big-balance card to this new one, and you won’t have to pay any interest on it for six months! You’ll have that debt paid off before then, right? And there’s only a little balance transfer fee.

Of course, that other one will now have a zero balance. Doesn’t that sound great? You’ll want to use it for any new purchases, because you don’t want to add to that big balance you just transferred over to the new card. And if it turns out you can’t pay it off, well, by then you’ll probably get another balance-transfer offer from someone else. It seems like this strategy could work forever. You might wonder, “Why doesn’t everyone do it?”

The sad truth is this: The credit card industry collected 43 billion dollars in late-payment, over-limit, and balance-transfer fees in 2004. They aren’t very consumer-friendly. They exist to make money from you.

If this situation is starting to sound familiar to you, and you’re getting a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach, you don’t need to feel alone. A Federal Reserve study showed that 43% of US families spend more than they earn. The only way to do that is to use credit. And it’s pretty obvious that if you use credit to spend more than you earn, you are going to be in debt.

When Minimum Turns Into Maximum
Of course, as long as you make the minimum payment every month on all your cards, your credit report will look OK. You will probably be able to get even more cards! But is that actually good news?

Sorry about that. The answer is No.
Did you know that if you made the minimum payment on a $4,800 balance on a card with a 17% interest rate, it would take you 39 years and 7 months to pay it off? You’d pay a total of $15,619, and two-thirds of that would be interest. You’d be paying interest on restaurant meals you ate decades ago, clothes you’ve donated to Goodwill, and electronics from the stone age!

It’s Not Always Your Fault
A 2004 research study showed that most credit card debt incurred by older Americans was due to the high cost of healthcare and prescription medications. In the same vein, anyone with a costly medical condition or emergency can find themselves deep in debt. Health insurance has caps on spending, and even if the caps aren’t reached, a 20% co-pay is common in many policies. There are deductibles and supplies and drugs that aren’t covered. A serious illness can be devastating to the average family’s finances.

Another debt problem beginning to hit Americans this year is that the rates on their A.R.M.s (adjustable rate mortgages) are beginning to reset. With the federal reserve interest rates climbing, many people’s mortgage payments have increased by 25%. If your mortgage payment is $1200, that would mean it would readjust to $1500.

So What’s a Debtor to Do?
Some people take equity loans on their homes to pay off credit card debt. Of course, that means you have to pay back the equity loan-usually by increasing your mortgage payment-and if you sell your house, you’ll make less profit because the equity loan will have to be satisfied. And one other thing-the interest on equity loans is higher than it is on a regular mortgage.

Others turn to one of the many credit counseling agencies advertised on TV and all over the Internet, only to find that many are simply not ethical. With mandatory counseling laws put in place for people considering bankruptcy, the industry is overwhelmed. On top of that, IRS investigations into 41 “non-profit” credit counseling agencies in May of 2006 revealed that they were not acting in the interest of the consumer and were motivated by the money they could make. They lost their tax-exempt status, and investigations into other agencies are continuing.

Bankruptcy used to be a last-ditch resort for people stuck in a bottomless pit of debt. Most bankruptcies are not the result of overspending, but occur because of huge medical bills, job loss, or divorce. In 2005, Congress passed laws that made it much more difficult to declare bankruptcy. Credit counseling is mandatory but difficult to get. Bankruptcy attorneys’ fees have increased; filing fees have increased. More money than before must be paid back to creditors.

Is There a Reasonable Solution?
Yes, and it’s quite simple:

To get out of debt, you need to make more money.
You need a second source of income that you can generate when and where you want to. A job that will fit in with your family obligations and won’t interfere with the things you love to do. If you’re determined to change your financial circumstances, a home-based business could very well be your way out of debt. After you’ve got the debt monkey off your back, you will probably find that running your own business is so easy and so financially satisfying, you’ll want to keep at it, running your personal wealth steadily higher. You might decide to quit your “day job.” Other people just like you are making everywhere from modest incomes to fortunes, and the only equipment they need is a computer and a telephone.

It’s an idea whose time is definitely now. If you’re ready to say goodbye to the worries of escalating debt-ready to take charge of your life in a way you never dreamed was possible-just fill out the form on the main page to receive free information.

We hear it all the time: “You must be willing to fail in order to win.” Sadly, most are not. They fear what others may think…which brings me to an incredibly important message…

I came across some very powerful information last week that I’m happy to share with you this week. Short and sweet but very, very powerful.

Let’s dive in…

Most people are blinded by their goals. By their own internal measures, they judge themselves a success or failure. But failure cannot happen to you — you do it to yourself. When you miss the mark, you can choose to call what you got feedback. You fail only when you give up believing in yourself. There is no other failure in the world.

A breakthrough strategy was developed at the Palo Alto Brief Therapy Clinic by Dr. Paul Watzlawick for life-long learning that makes subsequent goal achievement surprisingly simple.

Pay close attention…

Although your actions may not always accomplish your goals, they always produce an outcome. If you know how to accept what your actions produce, you can use every outcome you produce to guide you toward your goal. “Whatever course of action you take,” says Dr. Watzlawick, “I am going to ask that you report any small concrete indicator of success, any movement in the direction of your goal.”

When you observe the effects of your actions, you open yourself to pereceiving progress toward and away from your goals. Therefore, the only feedback is — “I have not arrived yet.”

The point of this strategy is to recognize movement. We experience success in the direction of our goals without having to achieve the goal just yet. When we take the pressure off ourselves, we maintain our balance, enjoy the journey, and keep learning all the time.

Here is the ultimate lesson…

If you value and integrate the feedback from your actions, ALL outcomes you produce can lead to learning — NOT frustration like it does for those who do not know what you now do…

This may be one of the most important lessons I’ve seen in some time. I train literally hundred of Entrepreneurs and Home Business Owners week in and week out in the Direct Sales and Marketing industry and many of them are frustrated…

…frustrated for exactly the reasons mentioned here — they often view their actions as failures instead of feedback along the way to their destination.

Read this again and again. Print it out. Don’t take it lightly.