So today I’m participating in No Debt Plan’s Subscriber Swap Saturday. And may I say, for the record, this was an ingenious idea and I’ve found a lot of great content from this venture. I hope the readers here at MYC will be as equally impressed with Kevin as Jonathan and I have been. That said, let’s learn a little about Kevin and how he can help you get out of debt!

No Debt Plan is about getting and staying out of debt with a plan. Kevin, the author, is passionate about budgeting, saving for the future, and using goals to reach financial freedom. You can subscribe to his blog by RSS or email.

This interview is part of a new feature he’s developed called Subscriber Swap Saturday. The basic idea is to get the subscribers of one blog to subscribe to the other blog for at least a week, just to try it out. After a week if you don’t find that blogger’s content enticing, drop it. The hope is that over time you will find several writers that you weren’t familiar with who provide meaningful content to you. You can read more about Subscriber Swap Saturday at his blog, and you can read his interview with me here.

MYC: From your blog title and posts, it’s clear you don’t like debt. Can you tell me a little more about your “No Debt Plan,” and what inspired you to create it?

NDP: Simply put I always found myself talking to my friends and family about finances. I joined personal finance forums to offer advice. At the same time I am extremely interested in technology and blogging. It seemed like a natural fit. And it’s been a lot of fun.

MYC: As personal finance bloggers, we’re often looked to as a source of information and with that comes certain expectations of “leading by example.” However, we’re human, too. What’s one thing you do that isn’t necessarily in your best interests financially?

NDP: It took me a while to come up with something, which I suppose is a good thing. I go back and forth on really wanting a HDTV and then realizing I don’t need it. I might slip up on that one day. Additionally I eat out a lot due to my work — and get reimbursed. However when I don’t have a lunch scheduled I usually end up still eating out. That’s dumb.

MYC: Would you say that you prefer to spend less than you earn, or earn more than you spend? I realize at first glance, that sounds as if I’ve gone daft and said the same thing. What I mean is, does your focus tend to be on increasing your income or cutting your expenses.

NDP: Both! Spending less than you earn is critical to just about everyone. If you can’t master that skill then it doesn’t matter how much money you make.

That having been said, earning additional income is also a great tactic. I’m now earning a side income from blogging which is fantastic. But it is just that — a side income. Any additional income I earn at work (better commissions or bonuses) just go straight into the savings plan.

To answer the question, we focus on keeping our expenses in line with our budget. Our budget is set to a relatively low expectation of my fluctuating income. If we can keep our expenses in line with the budget, we’ll be fine financially. That additional income just adds to our savings.

MYC: How do you feel about the current rate with which Americans are now saving? Do you feel we’ve effectively learned our lesson, or will we revert to our “shop ’til you drop” mindset once the economy levels off?

NDP: I’m trying not to sound like too much of a pessimist here, but I sincerely doubt Americans will ever learn to save significant amounts of money. That makes me sad, but we are a consumer spending based economy. The saddest thing is saving and budgeting are really simple concepts that people seem to just be afraid of.

MYC: If you could offer Obama’s economic administration one piece of advice on the national budget, what would it by, and why?

NDP: Spend. Less. Than. You. Earn (in taxes).

It would be absolutely great if government could learn to “live” off of last year’s income. We do this with our monthly expenses by living off of last month’s income. Imagine if the government set up this year’s budget based on the taxes we collected last year. No more deficits! Surplus refund checks! World peace!

…I’m not holding my breath.

And there you have it! Be sure to visit Kevin’s site and subscribe to his feed as he has a lot of great content, not to mention an interesting point of view.

Happy Saturday to all!

Related posts:

1. Creating a Financial Emergency Plan
2. Do It Yourself Debt Settlement Plan
3. 5 Goofy Reasons to Rack Up Credit Card Debt
4. 20 Ways I Plan to Keep My New Year’s Resolutions
5. Mega Guide: How to Get Out (and stay out) of Credit Card Debt