Go Banking Rates’ Jennifer Calonia Reveals Secrets for Achieving Dave Ramsey’s First Baby Step

PRLog (Press Release) - Dec. 6, 2012 - For those who are trying to get out of debt, paying down credit cards, mortgages and student loans often starts with making the maximum payment possible every month, in hopes hacking down remaining balances to zero.

But Dave Ramsey’s debt reduction plan encourages followers of his “Baby Steps” to start paying off their debt by saving money toward an emergency fund first and foremost.

The Importance of an Emergency Fund

In the feature, Ms. Calonia (https://twitter.com/go_jenn) alludes to a financial hardship she faced after skipping past the critical step of building a starter emergency fund. She prioritized paying down a credit card debt, instead of building a rainy day fund, and was caught financially unprepared when her car broke down.

“Last year, I admittedly tried to take the fast-track approach to Dave Ramsey’s debt plan by skipping straight to step two… my problem was paying down my debt, not saving money,” Ms. Calonia says.

“Two months later, I regretted it. My 16-year-old car, which I heavily relied on for my daily commute of 66 mile s, gave out on me. I still only had a $100 emergency savings fund…”

How to Save Up Emergency Savings

To help Baby Step program followers reach the $1,000 starting emergency fund goal, Ms. Calonia shares five ways savers can cut costs and earn more money each month.

Recommendations include cost reductions, like cancelling pricey fitness memberships and dropping TV cable subscriptions.

But Ms. Calonia takes her advice a step further by explaining a helpful way readers can determine which expenses constitute tapping into emergency savings funds, using the highly popularized Covey-Quadrant method.

Click here to see the full story. (http://www.gobankingrates.com/breaking-up-with-debt/dave-...)

About Go Banking Rates

Go Banking Rates (GoBankingRates.com) a national website dedicated to connecting readers with the best interest rates on financial services nationwide, as well as informative personal finance content, news and tools. Go Banking Rates collects interest rate information from more than 4,000 U.S. banks and credit unions, making it the only online rates aggregator with the ability to provide the most comprehensive and authentic local interest rate information. Go Banking Rates also regularly publishes expert advice from personal finance professionals.

GoBankingRates.com belongs to a network of more than 1500 finance websites, including GoInsuranceRates.com and GoFreeCredit.com. These sites receive more than 2 million visits each month.

For questions or comments, please contact:

Jaime Catmull, Director of Public Relations
www.GoBankingRates.com
JaimeC@GoBankingRates.com
310.297.9233 x261

Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/12037486/1