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This reader story comes from long-time reader and commenter Bill McFadin, aka Cybergeezer, who commented that he had submitted a story months ago that never ran. We asked if he would resubmit the article, which he kindly did — and then he submitted another one! Some reader stories contain general advice; others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial success or failure. These stories feature folks with all levels of financial maturity and income. Want to submit your own reader story? Here’s how.

I maintain that the best way for you to pay off your debts may be just a matter of your personality. My own experience with getting out of debt goes back about 25 years. I didn’t get a particularly early start; I’m 68 now and attacked my debt in my early 40s.

Watching every penny is the starting point for getting rich slowly. But there are also big moves you can make that will earn or save you a lot of money. Big wins include refinancing your mortgage, negotiating your salary, improving your credit score or evaluating your car insurance. Your car insurance probably comes up for renewal every six months. When was the last time you compared insurance carriers or revised your policy to see if you could save a few hundred dollars? I thought so.

Des Toups, senior managing editor of Insurance.com (a QuinStreet site, like GetRichSlowly.org), has a lot of good information and statistics about car insurance that we wanted him to share with the GRS community. So, here’s Des!

Car insurance has only one real purpose: To stand between you and financial disaster.

This article is by staff writer William Cowie.

Retirement, that magic day you’ve had in your sights for decades, is finally coming into view. You may be in your 40s or 50s, and the big day may be next month or in a few years. Whatever your age and whenever the day, the time is coming for the big question:

What do you do now?

I faced that question a few years ago, and I remember it well. My first reaction was terror. This is so final — you can’t turn back the clock and you don’t get any do-overs. (How many times I wished for just one!) All my bad decisions had grown up around me (or not grown, to be more accurate). Now, I was faced with two pretty large questions:

• What income will I live from?
• What will I do with my time?

What will you do in retirement?

This article is by editor Linda Vergon.

Gina Bean wrote in about her friend’s credit situation. Her friend has a car loan with a $936 balance. She doesn’t have a credit card – because she only earns $21,000 a year and doesn’t want to go into debt. But she’s frustrated because she recently checked her credit score and it was 583. She recognizes that the late payment she made on the car loan would bring down her credit score, but she was surprised to learn that it was also lowered because she doesn’t have a credit card.

“… honestly, I have NO DESIRE to have a credit card!!! So any advice would be very much helpful. I am at a loss right now! Do you have any advice for people with bad or no credit scores and how to function in society? [Are there] any resources to address this topic?”