First, Pay High-Interest Debt

Dear Ann Landers: I am a 29-year-old mother of three young daughters. My husband and I live in a middle-income suburb. Many of our friends and neighbors are struggling, living hand to mouth, buried under mountains of debt and declaring bankruptcy to get out from under. You could help people in this situation by printing my letter.

In January 1995, my husband and I made a resolution to save money for our children’s education. This was going to be a stretch since my husband had just suffered another pay cut and we were trying to make up the difference by getting cash advances on credit cards. I knew we were digging ourselves into a big hole.

We decided to take 10 percent out of every paycheck, put it in the bank and live off the rest.

We saved a few thousand dollars last year, which was the beginning. This year, we will add to that amount. We are finally starting to feel like we are in control of our lives again.

Please tell your readers it’s not how much money you make that counts but how much you save. Four years ago, we made twice as much and saved nothing. If we had practiced the simple formula of banking 10 percent of our income four years ago, come rain or shine, we would be in a much stronger financial position today. - Gina in Etiwanda, Calif.

Dear Gina: I was just about to give you three cheers when, after the second cheer, it occurred to me that perhaps I had better check with someone who knows more about money than I do. So I phoned Warren Buffett in Omaha. Buffett has for several years been cited by Forbes magazine as being near the top of the list of the wealthiest people in the United States.

Warren Buffett did not put his stamp of approval on your approach. He pointed out that you are being charged at least 18 percent interest on the cash advances from your credit cards while you are putting money in the bank. Meanwhile, the interest clock keeps ticking away. Buffett recommends that you put as much money as you can toward your debt and get rid of that financial albatross.

Here’s a P.S. from me: Deep-six the plastic immediately. It’s usually what gets people into trouble.

Dear Ann Landers: Your “Longtime L.A. Reader” asked, “Is there something in the water in North Carolina that causes high-profile people to talk nonsense?” Maybe it’s not the water, Ann, but something is affecting several of North Carolina’s politicians. Perhaps licking litmus paper does it.

First, there was State Rep. Henry Aldridge of Pitt County, who said rape victims don’t get pregnant “because the juices don’t flow, the body functions don’t work, during a ‘real rape.”’ Then there was Sen. Jesse Helms saying AIDS is caught through “deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct.” Now there is U.S. Rep. Frederick K. Heineman who recently told a Raleigh News and Observer reporter that middle-class families “are those whose income is between $300,000 and $700,000 per year.” What’s with these folks? - Expatriate

Dear Ex.: Don’t judge North Carolina by all of those. It is one of the most beautiful states in the union and has a world-class medical center at Duke University. North Carolina has a lot to be proud of.

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