Have you ever gotten those mailings that have two tickets in them for you to come to a hotel and sit through a seminar on how to make money, reduce your debt, buy real estate or the like? It appears one person had a question about them.

Q: I’m wondering what you think about those debt reduction courses that are offered through seminars or online, and claim that you can be debt free in under 7 years, including your mortgage?

A: I would say that you can find the same information through books in the library and searching online for things that you need answers to.

It may be appealing to plunk down some money and think you are getting all the answers in one shot, but I think you will find that searching online, not only saves you money that can go toward your debt, but you will also learn at a pace that allows everything to sink in.

I think you will find that most ‘œgurus’ end up advocating the following steps in varying order:

1. Stop using credit cards
2. Write down your debt, what you owe and what you bring in
3. Live below your means
4. Sell stuff to make extra money and help pay down debt
5. Get a second job if you have run out of things to sell.
6. Save money for emergencies

The gurus make the money on expanding these ideas, I believe you can find the information for free and in the end become your own guru.

Though if you would like some place to start you can look at the library for Dave Ramsey, Mary Hunt or just cruise the 332.0 section of your library for personal finance books.

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Dawn C. is site owner of Frugalforlife.com where this is a repost from: Debt Reduction Seminars. Dawn is residing in Colorado with her spouse, Teri, of 11 years.