Getting rid of debt is never easy. Some take the slow and steady approach, and some get aggressive. Most people will find the aggressive approach impossible or unattractive, but it's worth seeing how it can be done.

A recent graduate of the Harvard Business School recently paid off $90,000 in student loans over the past seven months. How? By going to extraordinary measures: practicing extreme frugality, getting a second job, and getting a few extra bucks by sharing his home.

Granted, most readers will say that they don't earn as much as this guy and they're not willing to break the law (by carrying around a flask of alcohol). Fair enough, but maybe you don't pay off your debt as quickly as he did -- you can still find creative ways to aggressively eliminate debt. If you can pay your 25 year loans off in seven years (instead of the seven months in this story), you're coming out ahead.

While Mr. Mihalic is a undoubtedly a fortunate individual who was able to attend Harvard, he also went above and beyond what most of us would do to wipe out debt.

ING Direct now allows customers to deposit checks with a computer or wireless device. The bank was once a pioneer in online banking, but it took them a while to get this service up and running -- a little too long, if you ask me. Now ING Direct products are once again just as competitive as other internet bank accounts.

I've been using another bank's remote deposit service to deposit checks from home lateley, and I have to say I love it. The process takes about two minutes. There's no need to mess with envelopes, deposit slips, or stamps.

ING Direct's CheckMate looks like it can keep up with any other bank's remote check deposit service. In fact, I think it has a nice feature: in addition to wireless devices, you can use a plain-old computer and scanner to deposit checks. Most banks and credit unions only allow you to make deposits with an iPhone, iPad, or certain Android devices.

Further reading:

• ING Direct: Image Upload Basics
• How Remote Deposit Capture Works

Banks are increasingly targeting poor consumers; consumer advocates say the main motivation for doing so is the extremely high fees that low-income customers generate.

Banks argue that they're helping the "unbanked," but the services they're using don't look very different from what the unbanked would otherwise use (payday loans, prepaid debit cards with high fees, etc).  In some cases, customers would benefit from the bank's simple checking account, but employees highlight more expensive products instead.

The New York Times describes how low-income consumers have become a hot commodity for banks. In a strange twist, banks seem to be moving in on payday lenders' territory: offering the same services, and even designing storefronts to look just like payday loan shops.

If you're looking for banking services, look beyond the pitches and advertisements you see -- they might not be the best products. Find out what all the options are at a bank before opening an account or getting a loan. Asking for more information (especially if you are a low-income consumer) may save you a lot of money. You can also improve your chances by working with banks and credit unions that are honest with you from the get-go.

[via TheFinancialBrand.com]

When you think of your credit, you probably assume that it's just about any loans that you've used. By now, you know that your job and income are not part of a credit score calculation.

However, the bills you pay (or don't pay) can find their way into your credit history and do major damage -- holding up a mortgage refinancing, or making it impossible to get a loan. Those bills may be anything from your share of medical care, parking tickets, and other small expenses that have slipped through the cracks.

If somebody thinks you owe money, they can have a debt collector come after you for the funds, and that can negatively affect your credit. Even medical bills of $200 can result in serious problems with your credit.

Make sure you know who you owe, and make sure everything gets closed out properly. It's worth your while to follow up and verify that you have zero balances, even though you shouldn't have to. Another approach is to check your credit reports regularly (especially before getting a large loan).

Further reading:

• Basics of Credit Scores