Debt Consolidation and Personal Finances: Learn the Truth!

An inability to manage credit, growing debt and bankruptcy are all major problems today. On an average day, over 8,000 people file bankruptcy in the United States alone. The Internet is rife with companies that promise help and salvation; to the uninitiated, their words and assurances prey upon those wanting a painless solution.

The January post-holiday credit card bills are often the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back, where families now have to face the problem of how to pay for the holiday gifts and celebrations without sliding further into debt.

Avoiding these problems, and recovering from overwhelming debt, are what Real Life Debt.com is all about: it's a resource site that's dedicated to helping you learn about your options with credit card debt, debit cards, debt management, debt counseling, privacy, deciding about bankruptcy (and the different types of bankruptcy), and more.

Founder Dave Taylor explains "As a private, independent initiative, we're sure that you'll find Real Life Debt.com to be an excellent resource for understanding and managing your own financial issues. To ensure accuracy, the materials on this site are all from the United States government: one goal of Real-Life-Debt.com is to help people find the excellent material produced by the Federal Trade Commission, Federal Reserve, Consumer Information Center, and similar organizations."

In addition, Real Life Debt also features a weblog (a "blog") with postings from different individuals who share their own challenges managing their personal finances, including bankruptcy, credit card penalties, and much more.

Real Life Debt is an unbiased source of credit card, debt management, privacy and bankruptcy information, without commercial sponsors or a sales pitch. To ensure accuracy, much of the material is from U.S. government sites.

Dave Taylor has been involved with the Internet since 1980. He's written sixteen technical and business books including the best-selling "Creating Cool Web Sites", and his most recent projects are startup 101 info and Ask Dave Taylor.

In The News:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories

A pair of specialists work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Dec. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)AP - The stock market is plunging again, diving along with investors' confidence in the economy. Confirmation that the nation is in a recession and reports of only a modest gain in holiday shopping sales have prompted many investors to resume selling after the market's five-session advance.



President-elect Barack Obama, left, stands with Secretary of State-designate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., center, and National Security Adviser-designate Ret. Marine Gen. James Jones, right, at a news conference in Chicago, Dec. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)AP - President-elect Barack Obama picked a national security team headed by former campaign rival Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bush administration holdover Robert Gates on Monday, and said he wants to consult with military commanders before settling on a firm timetable to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq.



A sale sign is posted at jewlery store in Daly City, Calif., Monday, Nov. 24, 2008. The economy took a tumble in the summer that was worse than first thought as American consumers throttled back their spending by the most in 28 years, further proof the country is almost certainly in the throes of a painful recession. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)AP - The U.S. economy has been in a recession since December 2007, the National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday. The NBER — a private, nonprofit research organization — said its group of academic economists who determine business cycles met and decided that the U.S. recession began last December.



Tape covers bullet holes in the windows of the newly-reopened Refresh Cafe in the landmark Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station, in Mumbai, India, Monday Dec. 1, 2008.  This scarred and traumatized city struggled back to its feet Monday, reopening schools and businesses, as residents tried to come to terms with the string of terror attacks that brought bloodshed to the heart of Mumbai. The owner of the cafe said he had little choice but to reopen the fast food restaurant in the station, even though its glass wall is scarred with bullet holes, half his staff refused to come back and his brother is on a ventilator in the intensive care unit after being shot in the abdomen by the attackers. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)AP - India demanded Monday that Pakistan take "strong action" against those behind the deadly Mumbai attacks, and Washington pressured Islamabad to cooperate with the investigation.



Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, center, waves to a crowd during a campaign stop for U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga, Monday, Dec. 1, 2008 in Savannah, Ga. Chambliss and Democratic challenger Jim Martin are   in a Tuesday runoff that will shape Democrats' hold on power in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)AP - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin implored Georgia Republicans to back Sen. Saxby Chambliss in his hotly contested Senate runoff, telling a cheering crowd Monday that the first step in rebuilding the GOP begins with the Southern state. The former vice presidential candidate made her first campaign appearance since the Republican ticket of John McCain and Palin lost on Nov. 4.



British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (L) speaks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (C) as British Foreign Secretary David Miliband looks on, at 10 Downing Street in London. Rice called on Pakistan on Monday to provide AP - Happily contemplating another woman as the top U.S. diplomat, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday she will offer advice, privately, and then get out of the way.



AP - Last warning: Asthma inhalers go "green" on Dec. 31, forcing patients still using the old-fashioned kind to make a pricey and even confusing switch. The medicine inside these rescue inhalers — the albuterol that quickly opens airways during an asthma attack — isn't changing. But the chemicals used to puff that drug into your lungs are.

In this Oct. 29, 2007 file photo, socialite Ivana Trump and Rossano Rubicondi attend the 2007 G&P Foundation 10th Annual Angel Ball in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)AP - Ivana Trump has issued a statement confirming reports of marital discord with Italian entrepreneur Rossano Rubicondi. Trump, who married Rubicondi in April, says she filed a legal separation agreement three months ago. Trump says she kept quiet about it because she didn't want to ruin Rubicondi's chances as a contestant on the Italian edition of the reality TV show "Survivor."



AP - A man who rammed his truck into a woman's vehicle on a highway early Friday told authorities he crashed into her while going more than 100 mph because God told him "she needed to be taken off the road."

New York Giants' Plaxico Burress, right, arrives at Manhattan Supreme Court for arraignment with an unidentified man on Monday, Dec. 1, 2008 in New York. Burress accidentally shot himself at a Manhattan nightclub Friday evening and was treated at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He was released Saturday.  (AP Photo/David Karp)AP - Plaxico Burress was led out of a police precinct in handcuffs Monday after surrendering on a weapons possession charge, and authorities said that teammate Antonio Pierce is being investigated over his role in an accidental shooting at a Manhattan nightclub.



President-elect Barack Obama introduces his national security team as Secretary of State nominee Sen. Hillary Clinton and National Security Adviser nominee retired Marine General James Jones look on during a news conference in Chicago, December 1, 2008. (Jeff Haynes/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama named former rival Hillary Clinton as secretary of state on Monday and said Robert Gates would remain defense secretary in a national security team charged with recasting America's leadership role in the world.



A trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, November 13, 2008. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)Reuters - Stocks tumbled on Monday as economic reports showing further evidence of the worsening global economic climate were backed up in comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.



Members of ZAKA, Israel's non-governmental rescue-and-recovery organization which specializes in collecting human remains to ensure a proper Jewish burial, speak with policemen after performing religious rituals in front of Nariman House in Mumbai's Colaba area, December 1, 2008. (Jayanta Shaw/Reuters)Reuters - India demanded Pakistan take decisive action over deadly attacks in Mumbai it said were carried out by militants from its nuclear-armed rival, while the West urged cooperation to ease tension.



President Bush and first lady Laura Bush walk to make a statement on the attacks in Mumbai on the South Lawn of the White House, November 29, 2008. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)Reuters - President George W. Bush said the biggest regret of his presidency was flawed intelligence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and told ABC "World News" in an interview airing on Monday that he was unprepared for war when he took office.



A woman watches as people shop in the Time's Square Toys 'R' Us store on 'Black Friday' in New York, November 28, 2008. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)Reuters - The U.S. economy has slumped into a recession, the nation's business cycle arbiter declared on Monday, while European leaders clashed over how much public money to spend tackling a deepening downturn.



Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi speaks during a news conference in the U.S. Capitol in Washington November 21, 2008. (Molly Riley/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi met leading governors on Monday to discuss the size and shape of an economic stimulus package that one Democratic aide said was likely to cost around $500 billion.



An anti-government demonstrator chases after a suspected pro-government supporter in Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport on December 1, 2008. (Kerek Wongsa =/Reuters)Reuters - Thai protesters prepared to end their three-month occupation of the Prime Minister's office on Monday to consolidate their grip on the main airport ahead of a court verdict that could dissolve the elected government.



Birmingham Mayor Larry P. Langford in an undated photo. (Handout/Reuters)Reuters - Federal authorities arrested the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, on Monday in a corruption probe surrounding a massive sewer bond debt that has forced Jefferson County to the brink of bankruptcy.



US President-elect Barack Obama (L) nominates Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY, as US Secretary of State during a press conference in Chicago, Illinios. Obama on Monday nominated Hillary Clinton to be his AFP - Barack Obama on Monday nominated Hillary Clinton to be his "tough," "smart" secretary of state and his former foe vowed to give her all to steer America through a perfect storm of global crises.



A Federal Bureau of Investagation (FBI) official leaves the police headquarters in Mumbai. India has formally accused AFP - India on Monday formally accused "elements" in Pakistan of being behind the devastating Islamic militant attacks in Mumbai and demanded that Islamabad take "strong action".




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