Consumer debt is the kind of debt you put on credit cards and other types of revolving retail accounts.

What makes this kind of debt so odious is: There are no fixed minimum payments. And there is no fixed term in which to clear the debt. You could be making (mostly interest) payments for decades.

It’s not that hard to rack up large amounts of consumer debt shopping at malls, retail stores, and department stores. Twenty dollars here, twenty dollars there… next thing you know you’ve got some serious financial obligations.

My wife stumbled on a show last night called Clean House: Search for the Messiest Home in the Country. This show shines a light on families who have shopping, hoarding, and cleanliness/organization problems.

Sharon Baglien: Shopaholic in Denial

Last night was a re-run of the third episode of Clean House in which the crew tackled Sharon Baglien’s home in Cincinnati, Ohio. From the first scene, I could not believe what I was seeing. Baglien’s house, garage, attic, basement, and an off-site storage unit were crammed floor-to-ceiling with junk.

I say “junk” because not much of it was getting any use. But the truth is, most of the junk was brand new — still in the box, tags intact!

There was so much stuff in the attic that the ceiling was cracking. There was nowhere to sit for meals. And when the house was finally emptied, it took 400 50-gallon plastic containers, 75 large packing boxes, and 300 large garbage bags to hold everything.

The show’s crew then had to rent a 7,000 sq ft space for the “yard sale” to sell all of Sharon Baglien’s stuff. I was truly stunned.

But what stunned me more than anything else was Sharon’s persistent denial. She repeatedly denied being a shopaholic. She repeatedly excused her own behavior by saying that it was “just 30 years’ worth of accumulation” — as if the amount of time that had passed made everything okay!

If I accumulated for 30 years straight, I wouldn’t have had even a fifth of what this woman had in her house.

Anyway, with such an addiction to shopping and hoarding (she had been paying monthly rent for a storage unit for decades), I have to imagine that Sharon is also facing some substantial consumer debt. And while her situation is extreme, it paints a vivid cautionary picture.

The Problem with Consumer Debt

The problem with consumer debt is that it must be paid off by the sweat of your brow. Clothes and food and dishes and kitchen gadgets and “stuff” all depreciate rapidly. In most cases, you’d be lucky to get pennies on the dollar when you tried to resell your stuff, even if it was barely used.

Cars depreciate, too, but not nearly as fast as consumer goods.

This is a unique quality of consumer debt when compared to secured debt. Debt that is secured can usually be cleared by simply selling whatever was used to secure the debt.

Consumer debt, on the other hand, cannot be cleared by selling the items you purchased. Unfortunately, you will have to work off the debt — or settle it, or declare bankruptcy. And none of those is much fun.

Secured vs. Consumer Debt Ratio

As you take stock of your own finances, pay close attention to the ratio between your consumer debt and secured debt. If you have debt, it’s better to have secured debt.

There was a time not that long ago when the majority of my debt was consumer debt. Now that has changed. I mostly have secured debt now. Which means that in a pinch I could liquidate a few items and clear my debts quickly.

(Of course, being debt free is best of all, but I’m not there yet.)

Another option that I recommend is consolidating consumer debt into a Prosper loan. I did this at one point and it worked really well for me.

What’s nice about a Prosper loan is that there is a fixed monthly payment and there is a fixed pay-off date. You’re not making payments for the rest of your life. The whole point is to pay off the loan. (This is in contrast to credit card companies who want you to carry balances forever.)

Remember: Consumer debt can be ugly. So stay away from it as much as you possibly can. And if you have consumer debt, develop a plan for how and when you’re going to pay it off.

This week my debt articles were featured in two different carnivals.

My post about American credit card debt was featured in the Carnival of Personal Finance – Dollar Doodles Edition. (There are pictures of dollar bills with interesting artistic modifications peppered throughout the carnival.)

And my post on how to become debt free was featured in the Carnival of Debt Reduction on Mr. Credit Card.

If you’re looking for more personal finance posts to read, these carnivals with link you up with some quality blogs.

Tax debt relief is rare, but is sometimes awarded to individuals who’ve overextended themselves and are unable to pay their taxes by the time they are due.

Unfortunately, getting Uncle Sam to cut you a break is not easy. That’s because all the laws are written to favor the federal government.

Sure, the government provides bankruptcy laws. But going through bankruptcy does NOT discharge your tax obligations!

In other words, the government will forgive your debts to others, but will not forgive the tax debts you owe to them.

If you think this is a hypocritical double-standard, you’d be right. Nevertheless, it’s just the way it is, and we have to play by the rules our legislators make.

Tax Installment Plan

The most common kind of relief the government will offer you is some kind of installment plan. They may allow you to make four or five equal payments over four or five months. Or they may spread out your payments over 60 months.

Every situation is unique. Different terms are offered to different people.

If you have a huge tax obligation, an installment plan will at least break down the payments so they are somewhat more manageable (although certainly no less painful).

Offer in Compromise

Although it is extremely rare, the IRS may offer you what’s called an Offer in Compromise. This is basically the same thing as settling a debt.

If you owed $20,000, the IRS may evaluate your situation and decide you will never be able to repay that tax debt. And so they may allow you to make a single lump sum payment for less than what you owe.

By making this reduced lump sum payment, the IRS then agrees to wipe out the entire tax debt.

In a perfect world, an Offer in Compromise would be more common. But the federal government is quite greedy, so this kind of settlement is very rare.

How to Seek Tax Debt Relief

Anytime you face a tax obligation that you cannot pay, then your best course of action is to contact the IRS and talk to somebody. Do not try to hide from the IRS; be transparent with them.

Many times you will be able to negotiate some kind of installment plan. In fact, there are four different kinds of installment plans depending on how much you owe and your past history of filing your taxes.

You can find out what you qualify for by searching the IRS web site or calling an IRS agent directly.

If you are facing a genuine hardship involving a disabled child or insurmountable medical bills, the IRS may be willing to forgive a portion of your debt through an Offer in Compromise.

But in order to see if you qualify for such an offer, the IRS would need to thoroughly evaluate your financial situation.

Remember: Tax debt relief comes in many forms. Don’t procrastinate and try to hide from the IRS. Call them and work something out. You will feel less stress and you’ll be happier when you resolve your tax debt as quickly as possible.

Everybody wants to be earning extra money since the recession hit. Many people around the country are struggling to pay their bills, and they want to know what they can do to make up the difference.

Well, I’ve by no means cornered the market on ideas for earning extra money. But I have been working from home for nearly 5 years now, so I’ve got some experience.

Plus, many of my clients are doing well financially — and I’ve gotten to peek inside their businesses. So I know which methods work and which ones don’t.

With that in mind, I offer the following 5 fool-proof methods for earning extra money:

Method #1: Mystery Shopping

One popular way to make extra money is to become a mystery shopper — somebody who gets paid to shop certain stores and report on their experiences.

Companies will often pay for mystery shoppers to shop their own stores because they want to know that the shopping experience is a good one. In a way, it is a form of covert quality assurance.

While I’ve not done this personally, I do know a woman who has quite a bit of experience in the field. Her name is Cathy Stucker. You might want to look her up if you’re interested in mystery shopping. She has a how-to guide available.

Method #2: Sell Products on Ebay

Do you know how to find and buy a certain line of products at or below wholesale prices? Or do you think you could?

Then you may have what it takes to sell products on Ebay.

I have a good friend who has made significant profits (to the tune of $15,000 in a year) by reselling used books on Ebay.

The trick here is to have a consistent supply of products you can buy at a low price. Your profit is based on the difference between your cost and your sale price.

Not all products sell well on Ebay. And it’s not always easy to find a good product supplier. But if you think creatively and do some research, this may be a good option for you.

Method #3: Get Paid to Write Sales Copy

I’m a freelance copywriter. I write direct response sales copy for a living: ads, sales letters, emails, etc.

If you have writing ability, and you like the idea of persuading people to buy products through the written word, then this may be a good avenue for you to explore.

I personally worked as a copywriter for 3 years before going freelance. And I also took the AWAI Six-Figure Copywriting course before striking out on my own.

No doubt, your path will be different than mine. You can research the course I named above. You can also check out classic copywriting books like Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins and The Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan Kennedy.

Or you can check out two online products I have: Copywriting Code (to learn how to write sales copy) and Get Clients Report (to learn how to get copywriting clients).

Method #4: Write an Ad-Funded Blog

If you like to write and think you could write articles about a particular hobby you have, then you might consider starting a blog.

How will you make money?

Simple. Through ads that you place on your blog. You can make money through Adsense blogging, affiliate links, text links, etc. There are actually quite a few ways to monetize your blog writing.

As with any worthwhile endeavor, blogging does take work. And you have to be consistent to attract and retain readers. So keep that in mind before you start a blog.

Method #5: Create & Sell Your Own Digital Product

A fifth and final way for earning extra money is to create your own digital product and sell it. You can write an ebook, record an interview, or make a video.

Then you can sell that product through Clickbank. Or sell it on your own and collect money through PayPal. Or get your own merchant account and shopping cart and collect the money that way instead.

The beauty of a digital product is that it can sell consistently for years. And with the right product and the right traffic to your offer, you can easily make $50 to $250 extra per month. This is conservative.

Earning Extra Money Doesn’t Have to Be Hard

When you use your creativity and start researching your options, you’ll find that earning extra money is much easier than you might have thought.

Even better, you can design your new income stream around the lifestyle you want. You can make money from home or you can choose to do something that gets you out of the house and talking with people.

The key is to just get started earning extra money. Once you’re moving in a certain direction, then you can course-correct along the way. Good luck!

Selling gold jewelry has become quite a big business recently. I’m sure you’ve seen the TV ads encouraging you to call and pawn off your gold jewelry for some cash.

It’s tempting, for sure. After all, gold has been sitting at more than $1,000 an ounce for a long time now.

Most of the sales pitches rest on a couple key points. The first key point is that you might need cash fast. Selling your gold jewelry could quickly raise funds.

The second key point is a suggestion that gold prices might fall. This creates some urgency for the potential seller: “How long will gold prices stay above $1,000 an ounce? I better sell now while I still can.”

Where Is Gold Headed?

The reason gold seems to be increasing in value is because the dollar is declining in value. So gold is a hedge against the dollar. It is a way to preserve your wealth.

By getting out of gold and getting into dollars, you’re moving out of an asset that is appreciating and getting into an “asset” (the dollar) that is depreciating.

My opinion is that gold is headed higher. I would not be surprised if we see it surpass $5,000 an ounce by 2012.

Of course, I have no magic ball, so I have no idea what the future holds. But generally speaking, I expect the price of gold to continue to go up — not go down.

Selling Gold Jewelry – Timing the Market

You can never know for sure when the price of something has peaked. So your decision to sell your gold jewelry has to be based on your own in-depth research and the urgency of your need for cash.

For the time being (early 2010), I would personally wait to pawn off my gold jewelry. I would attempt to sell other things first: furniture, electronics, appliances, cars, etc.

Again, my logic is based on the simple fact that I believe gold will continue to appreciate. Other possessions like cars, gadgets, and so forth will continue to depreciate.

It’s almost always better to sell something that is losing value instead of something that is gaining value. With that in mind, my personal belief is that selling gold jewelry may be a bit premature at this point.