January can be a tough time financially, especially if holiday spending leaves you with some debt. If you’re struggling financially following the holiday season, you’re not alone.

Eastgate resident, Atiana Anderson said she’s focusing on improving her financial fitness in 2025.

“My financial resolution this year is to save money. I’m hoping to save about 10 grand by the end of the year,” she said.

She said she plans to cut back on frivolous spending and pay off her credit card debt, but trying to build savings in today’s economy is no easy feat. Wilmington mother, Lindsay Clepper agrees.

“I’m a single mother, so I only have one income in the house, so it’s been really, really rough this year,” she said. “We’ve been in financial ruin. I’m just staying afloat.”

I went to financial wellness coach, Al Riddick to help find a solution. Here’s some of his advice for getting out of debt this year.

Start an emergency savings

Riddick said before you start paying down debt, you should set aside some money for emergencies.

“Hopefully people can set up an account where they can put at least $1,000 to the side,” he said. “Because something is always going to happen that’s going to impact cash flow that you don’t expect.”

Start with the smallest debt

Credit card debt can feel overwhelming. Regardless of interest rate, Riddick recommends paying down the debt with the smallest balance first.

“Because as human beings, we want to experience success as fast as possible, right? So, if you can attack that small debt, get rid of it as quickly as possible just by human nature, your self-esteem is going to go up,” Riddick said. “Your commitment to the process is going to go up as well, and the probability that you will consistently implement these behaviors is going to continue in the future.”

Keep track of your money

Riddick said it’s important to know how much money is coming in and out each month.

“A lot of people don’t even know what they get paid on a weekly or biweekly basis,” Riddick said. “Most people have no idea regarding how much their monthly expenses are because we don’t count money anymore. Everything is on direct deposit or automatic draft.”

Riddick said automatic payments do not mean you should ignore them. He said there’s no way to create an effective plan to get out of debt if you don’t understand where your money is going each month.

“When you implement a budget every month, you can almost see where you will be a year from now, five years from now, or even 10 years from now because it is really that simple,” Riddick said.

Once you determine your budget, you may decide the need for a secondary source of income. To better her finances this year, in addition to her current job, Lindsay Clepper said she’s considering enrolling in night school. “To start something else on the side, just to make the extra money to be able to get debt-free,” she said.

Pay your bill frequently

Riddick said you can take control of your finances by paying your credit card bill regularly.

“You know, there’s nothing wrong with paying your bill every week. You don’t have to wait, like, 30 days until the company sends you the bill,” Riddick said. “If you pay your bill every week, what that typically does, it heightens your level of awareness regarding what you’re doing with your money.”

When you’re paying more attention to your money, you start to notice trends or habits you may have otherwise missed.

“When you are paying more attention, more than likely, you’re like, wait a minute. I didn’t know I was spending that much money eating out or having food delivered to my home or paying this type of money on all these various subscription services,” he said. “But you know, at the end of the day, you are in control of every aspect of your financial life, but this is a power that only works when you unleash it.”

Plan for next year

Instead of repeating the cycle each year, Riddick said you should plan and save for the 2025 holiday season now.

“We know that on December 25, what’s going to happen, Christmas is coming, right?” he said.

He recommends setting up an automatic transfer from your checking to a savings account. He said for example, if you set aside $100 every month, you will have $1,200 by December set aside for holiday spending.

“Doing it that way is a lot easier than waiting around until November and then trying to come up with $1,200 that you don’t have, and that’s how people end up getting into debt,” he said. “If we know a certain event is coming up in the future, why not do yourself a favor and go ahead and plan in advance.”

Atiana Anderson had some words of encouragement for anyone experiencing credit card debt.

“Don’t be intimidated. Everything will work out for the best, even if you are struggling financially,” she said. “If you get a game plan, write it down in the notebook, and discuss it with financial planners, family members or an organization. Believe that you will get out of credit card debt or whatever situations that you have.”

“Don’t Waste Your Money” is a registered trademark of Scripps Media, Inc. (“Scripps”).

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01/13/2025 – 05:00 PM

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
KBRA assigns a rating of BBB to Blue Owl Technology Finance Corp. (“OTF” or “the company”) $650 million, 6.100% senior unsecured notes due March 15, 2028. The rating Outlook is Stable.

Key Credit Considerations

OTF benefits from its ties to the $128.4 billion Blue Owl Credit platform, with approximately $27 billion deployed into the technology strategy across all funds since inception. The experienced management team that has decades of experience working in the private markets has built a high credit quality direct lending platform to finance mainly sponsor-backed portfolio companies in the upper middle market.

OTF maintains a $6.4 billion diversified investment portfolio with a majority consisting of first lien senior secured loans (69.6%) in technology focused portfolio companies. The company’s traditional financing portfolio, which represented 75.1% of total investments, had a weighted average EBITDA of $201 million and enterprise value of $3.98 billion. OTF’s growth capital portfolio represents 23.9% of its total portfolio and had a weighted average annual revenue of $724 million and enterprise value of $14.80 billion. As of 3Q24, the top three sector exposures by end market were Systems Software (23.9%), Health Care Technology (16.0%), and Application Software (14.0%).

The company has diversified funding sources including a bank revolving credit facility, SPV asset facilities, CLOs, and unsecured notes. Post 3Q24 quarter-end, the SPV Asset Facility was upsized to $700 million from $600 million and the SPV Asset Facility II was upsized to $400 million from $300 million. Gross and Net leverage was 0.84x and 0.78x, respectively, below the target leverage range of 0.9x to 1.25x, which is appropriate given the company’s asset mix with relatively high exposure (approximately 20%) to preferred and common equity, which are more volatile. Asset coverage was 218%, providing a solid cushion. As of 3Q24, the company had adequate liquidity, with ~$763.5 million in available bank lines and $186.5 million in cash set against $605.7 million of unfunded commitments along with $1.2 billion of unsecured notes due within two years. A portion of the unfunded commitments are tied to covenants and transactions and are not expected to be drawn and the issuance will further increase liquidly along with the post 3Q24 quarter end increases in bank credit lines.

Following the Pluralsight LLC restructuring, credit quality is solid with only one portfolio company on non-accrual comprising 0.1% and 0.3% of total investments at FV and cost as of September 30, 2024.

The credit strengths are counterbalanced by the relatively illiquid investments and retained earnings constraints as a RIC. The potential for increased non-accruals with a more uncertain economic environment with high base rates, inflation, and geopolitical risk.

On November 13, 2024, Blue Owl Technology Finance Corp. and Blue Owl Technology Finance Corp. II announced that they entered into a definitive merger agreement, with OTF as the surviving company. The combined company will have approximately $15.8 billion of total assets at FV once all capital is called and the company reaches its target leverage of 0.9x to 1.25x. The expected close of the merger is 2Q25.

Formed in July 2018 as a Maryland Corporation, Blue Owl Technology Finance Corp. (“OTF” or “the company”) is a $6.4 billion (total investments at FV) private, non-diversified, externally managed business development company (“BDC”) operating under the Investment Company Act of 1940 that has elected to be treated as an RIC for tax purposes. OTF is externally managed by Blue Owl Technology Credit Advisors LLC (“the Adviser”). The Adviser is an indirect subsidiary of Blue Owl Capital (NYSE: OWL), a global alternative asset manager with $235 billion of AUM.

Rating Sensitivities

In the intermediate future, a rating upgrade is not expected. A rating downgrade and/or Outlook change to Negative could be considered if there is a significant downturn in the U.S. economy with negative impact on OTF’s earnings performance, asset quality, and leverage. A significant change in senior management and/or risk management policies could also lead to negative rating action.

To access ratings and relevant documents, click here.

Methodologies

Disclosures

A description of all substantially material sources that were used to prepare the credit rating and information on the methodology(ies) (inclusive of any material models and sensitivity analyses of the relevant key rating assumptions, as applicable) used in determining the credit rating is available in the Information Disclosure Form(s) located here.

Information on the meaning of each rating category can be located here.

Further disclosures relating to this rating action are available in the Information Disclosure Form(s) referenced above. Additional information regarding KBRA policies, methodologies, rating scales and disclosures are available at www.kbra.com.

About KBRA

Kroll Bond Rating Agency, LLC (KBRA) is a full-service credit rating agency registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an NRSRO. Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited is registered as a CRA with the European Securities and Markets Authority. Kroll Bond Rating Agency UK Limited is registered as a CRA with the UK Financial Conduct Authority. In addition, KBRA is designated as a designated rating organization by the Ontario Securities Commission for issuers of asset-backed securities to file a short form prospectus or shelf prospectus. KBRA is also recognized by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as a Credit Rating Provider.

Doc ID: 1007536

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250113850636/en/

Analytical Contacts

Teri Seelig, Managing Director (Lead Analyst)

+1 646-731-2386

teri.seelig@kbra.com

Kevin Kent, Director

+1 301-960-7045

kevin.kent@kbra.com

Business Development Contact

Constantine Schidlovsky, Senior Director

+1 646-731-1338

constantine.schidlovsky@kbra.com

Source: Kroll Bond Rating Agency, LLC

It’s a big week for investors. One of the big things is inflation data, including the December PPI and CPI reports. There are also a slew of bank earnings from the likes JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Citigroup (C).

Yahoo Finance Reporter Josh Schaefer joins Seana Smith and Brad Smith on Morning Brief to preview the key points investors should be watching.

To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Morning Brief here.

This post was written by Josh Lynch