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The Best 101 Debt Busting Posts of 2009 (from 101 Frugal Bloggers)

There were a lot of great “frugal-minded” posts in 2009! We compiled the best of the best for your convenience and present you with the top debt busting posts of 2009!

We love busting debt. That's why we read so many personal finance and frugality blogs! Not only do we find fresh, surprising frugality tips to apply in our own lives, but we sometimes even discover ideas to pass along to our clients. We hope that this collection of the Best 101 Debt Busting Posts of 2009 inspires you to change your habits for the betterment of yourself, your family and ultimately for your community.

We also hope that this collection inspires you to share with others! Tweet it, email it, blog it, whatever it takes to spread the collective wisdom of 101 of the web's most frugal bloggers. And if you're mentioned here be sure to grab a badge from the bottom of the page - you earned it.

We organized the best 101 posts into 12 categories. Here is the index:

So Many Ways to Save (23 Posts)
Make More Money (6 Posts)
Debt Busting (14 Posts)
Personal Finance Tools (4 Posts)
Motivation for Busting Debt (14 Posts)
Money and Relationships (6 Posts)
Your Kids and Money (7 Posts)
Emergency Fund (3 Posts)
Eating for Less (8 Posts)
Free is a Good Price (8 Posts)
Death, Money and Recognizing What's Important (5 Posts)
Taking Frugal Too Far? (3 Posts)

Enjoy! And if you have any further nominations for best debt busting posts of 2009 we welcome them in the comments below :)

So Many Ways to Save (23 Posts) piggy bank
image by alancleaver_2000
Getting - and staying - out of debt requires you to either make more money or spend less. This section contains 24 blog posts that contain ideas for saving money in your day to day life. Add them up - there are nearly 500 ideas for saving money in this section!

01. 112 Ways To Save Money

02. 107 Things That Make Good Financial Cents

03. 95+ Money Saving Tips – From the readers!

04. 41 Bloggers Share Their Best Money Advice

05. 10 Tips to Declutter Your Finances

06. 11 Ways to Save Money This Month

07. 20 Ways To Reduce Your Household Energy Use

08. 5 Steps to Take Now in Preparation for Double Digit Inflation

09. 40 Most Useful Travel Websites That Can Save You a Fortune

10. 22 Creative Ways to Use Plastic Grocery Bags

11. 10 Things To Do Before Creating Your Next Budget

12. The 2009 Personal Finance "How to" Roundup

13. How I Successfully Negotiated Lower Rent

14. Does Waiting a Few Days Before Making a Purchase actually Save you Money?

15. Keeping up with hobbies when you’re on a budget

16. Tips for Loving Your Weekend, Even Without a Road Trip

17. Lazy Budgeting: Planning $500+ Purchases Ahead of Time

18. How To Lower Your Property Taxes – Adventures In Assessor Land

19. Shopping For Low Gas Prices Is A Losing Proposition

20. What to Buy and When: Shop Year-Round and Save Money

21. Frugalize Your Routine

22. Smoking a Pack a Day Can Cost You Millions

23. Money Saving Tips: 122 Ways To Trim Your Budget

Make More Money (6 Posts)
image by AMagill
Busting your debt requires you to either spend less money... or make more. This section focuses on ways you can add extra income. Below you'll find everything from negotiating for a higher salary at work to more than 200 ideas for businesses and side jobs that can earn you extra cash in your free time. There's plenty of opportunity out there for you! These posts will help you take the next steps towards growing your cash flow.

24. 102 Ways To Generate Extra Cash

25. 52 Ways to Make Extra Money

26. 50 Side Businesses You Can Start On Your Own

27. Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1,000 a Minute

28. Trying to Earn More Money? Stop Wasting Your Time

29. On Being Your Own Financial Planner

Debt Busting (14 Posts)
image by Andres Rueda
Debt is complicated. As part of a well-balanced financial diet it can really help you along your way to happiness and security. When abused it leads to ruin. This section provides tips on busting debt, as well as thoughts on deciding when debt is worth taking on.

30. What Is A Good Credit Score?

31. 9 Rules To Get Out Of Debt

32. Build savings or pay off debt?

33. Paying extra towards your loans now, goes a long way later!

34. 10 steps I used to get out of Debt

35. Debt Reduction Methods and Philosophies: Snowball, Avalanche and More

36. Debt is Squalor

37. Guilt and Debt: How to Take Control of It

38. Debt Tsunami: The Ultimate Method To Pay Off Debt

39. Good vs. Bad Credit: When to and When not to Borrow

40. Paying Too Much for Credit? 7 Ways to Avoid Credit Card Costs

41. Five Ways To Ruin Your Financial Life

42. An Experiment: Paying With Cash

43. Thoughts on Paying Extra Towards Mortgage Principal

Personal Finance Tools (3 Posts)
image by SqueakyMarmot
These free tools help you to better manage your financial life. Put it into perspective using spreadsheets, online calculators or some of the more automated, web 2.0 personal finance tools that have emerged in recent years.

44. 101 Debt Reduction Calculators

45. FREE Online Money Management Tools

46. Free Excel Spreadsheets for Managing Your Personal Finances

47. Free Balance Sheet

Motivation for Busting Debt (14 Posts)
image by me and the sysop
Busting free from debt takes time - and it definitely requires motivators and remotivators. We filled this section with ideas, advice, tips and new perspectives that will renew your sense of motivation. If you feel your debt-busting resolve slipping come back and read one of these articles immediately!

48. How To Be Successful in the New Year

49. Motivation and Your Financial Plan

50. 5 Debt Reduction Motivational Tips

51. 9 Budgeting Myths

52. 25 Traits Of The Not So Well To Do

53. The Modern Marketing Machine: 6 reasons it’s Us vs. Them and how to win

54. Follow Through on Financial Goals

55. Break your big money goal into chunks

56. What would you do with 3 financial do-overs?

57. Sunk Cost Fallacy

58. Artist couple survives on $6,000 per year in San Francisco

59. The 12 Best Songs About Money. EVER.

60. Mint's Best Financial Infographics of 2009

61. 20 questions that your financially unprepared friends are afraid of

Money and Relationships (6 Posts)
image by dave.wolanski
Every year marriage counselors release studies that show how toxic debt tears relationships apart. Don't let that happen to you! The money and relationships section shares tips on how to discuss money, how to structure your bank accounts and cash flow, and even some frugal tips for keeping the sizzle going.

62. Using a Monthly Report to Discuss Money With Your Spouse

63. Money and Relationships

64. How We Budget, Part 1: Account Flow

65. Why We have Joint AND Separate Accounts

66. One Year’s Worth of Weekly Cheap Dates

67. Frugal lovin’ tips – bringing frugal sexy back

Your Kids and Money (7 Posts)
image by woodleywonderworks
Start teaching your children about money... TODAY! Education doesn't have to be expensive though - just read through these resources and you'll shape a strong financial future for your kids. You might even learn a thing or two yourself along the way ;)

68. Take Advantage of Teachable Moments

69. 6 Money Skills & Habits to Teach Your Kids Before College

70. 23 ways for teens to make money (and maybe adults too!)

71. Teaching Money Management to the 12 and Under Set

72. Personal Finance 101: What Should Be Taught In High School?

73. Spoiled Children are not Frugal!

74. Financial Tips For Upcoming High School Graduates

Emergency Fund (3 Posts)
image by frankh
In our work we often find that toxic debt starts in times of accident, injury and repair. You can't plan for everything, and that's what makes an emergency fund vital to healthy finances. Many personal finances even recommend building an emergency fund before all your debts are paid off! These posts explain the importance of an emergency fund and provide tips on getting one started for yourself.

75. Emergency Fund

76. Emergency Fund Strategies

77. how to: 3 steps to make an emergency fund

Eating for Less (8 Posts)
image by phil_g
How much do you spend on food every month? Spend ten minutes reading through this section and you'll save yourself hundreds of dollars over the course of a year! With tips on everything from reducing grocery costs (without coupons!) to 50 frugal chicken recipes, this section really puts the money back in your pocket.

78. How to Save Money on Groceries – 45 Ways to Reduce Your Grocery Bill

79. 7 Ways to Save Money On Your Next Grocery Trip

80. Save Money at the Grocery Store with These Tips, No Coupons Needed

81. 5 Tips to Reducing Recipe Costs

82. The Cheapest Fruits and Vegetables Month-By-Month

83. An Illustrated Frugal Lunch

84. Stockpiling Food and Toiletries for Savings

85. 50 Chicken Breast Recipes – Cheap Eats With A Quick Fix

Free is a Good Price (8 Posts)
image by jking89
There's no such thing as a free lunch? WRONG! This section features freebies from around the web. Everything from movies to music to financial courses... even food :) If money is tight - or you decided to make it tight - check out this section for awesome free stuff.

86. 26 fabulous freebies

87. Stop Paying: 15 Free Services

88. Five Things You Should Get for Free

89. 17 Cool Sites To Listen To Radio On The Internet For Free.

90. 20 Free Online Finance Courses – Take Money Classes From the Comfort of Your Home

91. 25 Ways to Eat For Free (Really): Get Free Food!

92. Best sites online to watch movies for free

93. Good Cents Column: Birthday Freebies

Preparing for Death While Recognizing What's Important (5 Posts)
image by sridgway
Nothing can prepare you emotionally for the loss of a loved one. However, there is quite a bit you can do to prepare yourself financially in the event of an unexpected (or even expected) loss. These resources not only guide you on things like wills, but remind you about enjoying what's truly important in life.

94. What You Need To Do Before You Go

95. When Life Puts Things Back in Perspective

96. 5 Financial Lessons to Learn from Celebrity Deaths

97. Financial Truths I’ve Learned From Losing A Parent

98. What is "True Wealth"

Taking Frugal Too Far? (3 Posts)
image by paalia
Can saving money go too far? Can you become TOO frugal? This section explores the darker side of frugality. Sometimes saving money can cost you far more than you think.

99. When does frugality go too far?

100. Our Frugal Friend is Happy and Very Wealthy But is it Balanced?

101. The Pitfalls of Saving Money by DIY

2009 Most Frugal Blogger Award Badges

If you're on this list then you're one of 2009's most frugal bloggers. Go ahead and toot your horn... you earned it! Add this code to your blog!

CESI Debt Solutions' 2009 Most Frugal Blogger Award
<a href="http://www.cesidebtsolutions.org/CESI/blog/175/" alt="CESI Debt Solutions: 2009 Most Frugal Blogger Award"><img src="http://www.cesidebtsolutions.org/images/CESISmallBadge.gif"></a>

Comments

On 01/13 at 11:20 AM,

Dave said:

Thanks for including my article - Debt is Squalor. I’m honored to be included in your year end round-up!

Dave Ozment

Do You Dave Ramsey
http://DoYouDaveRamsey.com

On 01/13 at 02:33 PM,

Matt Jabs said:

This list is a solid resource… I wonder how long it’s going to take me to read through all this? Well… I guess I won’t be short on solid reading material for 2010!

On 01/13 at 07:01 PM,

Single Guy Money said:

Thanks for adding my post to such a great list of posts. I’ve tip’d the article and added the badge to my website.

On 01/13 at 09:02 PM,

Adam@RabbitFunds said:

Thanks for the include! This is a great resource.

On 01/15 at 08:37 PM,

Cheapskate Sandy said:

One year, I’ll make that list! I have to start writing better Finance 101 articles.

On 01/16 at 10:43 PM,

Kelly Whalen said:

Thanks for including my post!
What a through list, I will have to find some time to read all these great posts.

On 06/17 at 01:50 AM,

square peg web said:

However, there is quite a bit you can do to prepare yourself, financially, in the event that something unexpected happens.

Add Your Comment

About the Author

Nicole Plescher
I am CESI's Web Administrator. While this may sound like somewhat of a geeky title, I do a lot more than program! I get to interact with clients and our counselors to help them reach their financial goals through internet support. I am 25, newly married, just purchased my first home, and I LOVE my job!

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