Today should be interesting. Yesterday's news said August foreclosures doubled. More than 100,000 homeowners received notices of default last month. Almost 2/3 of them were from California (40,000+) and Florida (26,000). Sound serious? You bet it is. Now the fears are real that our little sub-prime mortgage problem will lead to a recession. From the news I've been reading, there is little doubt the Fed will drop interest rates today.

The decline in housing is now in its second year. With no help having come so far from the Fed, homeowners with adjustable rates have been stuck, frozen in place as their rates adjusted and put monthly paymens out of reach. The rate cut might help if homeowners in over their heads can refinance at more affordable rates.

The problem many will face is that the value of the homes has fallen. That fact may make it difficult for banks to extend loans for the full amount of the original mortgage amount. Remember, the new mantra in real estate lending is caution and conservatism.

Have you seen the Bill Me Later (www.bill-me-later.com so sorry guys, no linkie from me) payment option on any online checkout pages of the retailers you buy from? It's been around for a couple of years. Even way back in 2005 (so long ago...) Business Week appeared to be somewhat taken with the idea.

But you can probably tell from the title and the lack of link love, I'm no big fan.

Their come-on sounds attractive, if you're shopping online at any of their "over 400" participating merchants you can just click the bill-me-later link at checkout time and, just like that, your purchase ships to you. You don't have to pay anything until the bill comes in the mail. Their principal benefit (as they state it): Make your purchase without using your credit or debit card.

It's quite a hook. Evidently the online credit card purchase process is "scary" and cumbersome. The bill me later option only requires the purchaser to enter his or her birthday and the last 4 digits of their SSN to complete the sale.

More and more people these days are in over their heads in debt. I'm seeing and hearing about foreclosures and bankruptcies. Good people who simply let go of the controls a bit too long are struggling under heavy loads of debt.

The burden of debt can never be taken lightly, not when it's excessive. When you're in too far you need a strategy to reduce the load to manageable levels. Here are eight things you can do to reduce and better manage debt:

Maybe it's because it's January and there is this "start the year off on the right foot" thing everyone wants to get in sync with; but I've been seeing a lot of articles and advertising about consolidating your debts and paying them off and - shudder - living without debt.

Living without debt? Can this be true? Yes, there are those who would have you believe you should operate on a cash-only basis. They believe owing others money is a bad thing and that you should do everything in your power to get out of debt and stay out of debt.

They cut up their credit cards, save up and pay cash for cars and pour every extra bit of money into paying off the mortgage.

I don't get this. I think this is a poor way to manage your financial health. Why do I think this way? Here are two reasons:

1. Credit is the means by which we gain access to other people's money to use for our own purposes. In economic terms, this is the process by which resources are allocated to where they can do the most good. Eschewing credit creates inefficiencies, and that's bad for the economy and our way of life.