News & Tips

Debt Elimination Tips

cgisme — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:13:52 +0000

Keep a tally of the money you’ve saved each month. It should still be in your possession! Add this amount to the minimum payment on one particularly bothersome credit card. Now, you begin to eliminate debt, rather than increasing it. More …

Tags: General, Financial, Debt

Credit Counseling At A Glance

auposter — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:25:03 +0000

Recently new bankruptcy laws have come into effect that require debtors to attain consumer credit counseling first, and reach an agreement with creditors without having to involve the lawyers and courts. Bankruptcy is final and drastic; it stays on your credit record for ten years, and legally, you can file every seven years if you want to, though I wouldn’t recommend it. It is possible to get credit again with some type of secured loan or credit card, but it doesn’t come any where near repairing the damage that has been done to your credit. Everyone needs to check out your credit score for some reason or another, examples of this: renting or buying a home, buying a vehicle, attaining employment, being approved for a security clearance required for some types of positions, applying for any type of loan or credit card, or even opening a bank account with an overdraft protection feature.

Tags: Wealth, Financial, Credit, Debt

Why Bad Credit Personal Loans Can Be The Financial Solution

auposter — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:07:40 +0000

The first step in repairing bad personal credit is of course identifying that you in fact have it and more importantly, why. So a good place to start is with a credit report. There are a number of websites today that offer credit reports. While some of these sites are somewhat dubious, others can provide some valuable insights into your credit history, explaining why you might have bad personal credit. Some good examples of credit report companies include Equifax and Experian. See our 3 Major Credit Bureaus page for further details.

Often times when you get a credit report you’ll see that your bad personal credit is due simply to a forgotten bill or two you never paid. Many businesses trying to collect on a late bill will turn to collection agencies, which will in turn wreak havoc on your credit rating until you pay up. Although these collection agencies are always supposed to contact you first, they don’t always succeed in reaching you if you move around a lot and so you may have been a target for one of these companies without ever knowing it.

Tags: Wealth, Financial, Credit, Debt

Reporting Identity Theft to Credit Bureaus

auposter — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:02:41 +0000

Get Your Equifax Credit Report Now!

TO CALL EQUIFAX
For general concerns - call 1-800-685-1111
To report or investigate fraud - call 1-800-525-6285

TO WRITE
To send snail mail correspondence - write to:
PO Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374

Experian – www.experian.com – Experian also offers products and services to protect against fraud, to check 3-credit bureau reports, to check vehicle history (with a report), and to get further educated—understanding your credit and heeding customer alerts (such as those on Experian’s Katrina victims help pages and how to beware of phishing).

Tags: Wealth, Financial, Credit, Debt

Beware The Sudden Rate Hike

lc07 — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 05:29:34 +0000

There are some credit card lenders out there who are trying to scam you. They’ll offer you a good interest rate, wait for you to spend a lot of money, and then suddenly jack up the interest through the roof. Suddenly you’re screwed, with nowhere to go.

Is That Legal?

Well, it shouldn’t be, and in most countries it isn’t. Suddenly increasing your interest rate is generally associated with loan sharking and usury (the practice of lending money at illegally high interest rates) – it isn’t fair to raise the rate once you already owe the money, is it? Unfortunately, in the credit card world of ‘revolving’ debt, the distinction isn’t so clear cut…

Read more in Beware The Sudden Rate Hike

Tags: Wisdom, Financial, Credit, Debt

Steps To Get Out Of Debt

tomagogame — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:51:41 +0000

The good news is that there are steps you can take to get out of debt and it won’t take nearly as long as you think. The first thing you need to do is take action. Don’t wait another year or even another month. Once you decide that you need to make a plan, do it before your old habits overwhelm you.

Get Out Of Debt

tomagogame — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 17:06:16 +0000

Have you ever felt like the bills are weighing you down? Maybe those common expenses are getting out of hand. Are you maxing out credit cards just to keep up? Well, if this sounds all too familiar, then you’re not alone. Many of us struggle with the hardships of finances and debt. This doesn’t have to be the rain cloud putting a damper on your life. There are ways to get out of debt. It’s time to hop online and do a little research before those bill collectors start breathing down your neck.

Way To Eliminate Credit Card Debt

tomagogame — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 16:41:15 +0000

Sure, we all want to know the fastest way to eliminate credit card debt. That’s a given. The major question is; how do we get started? This is a tricky question for some, but not for me. I think the most prudent thing to do at this point is to examine how many credit cards you have and the interest rate for each of them. Write it all down. Now, how bad does it all look? Okay, it’s time to get online. This is a great asset to have when you’re striving to eliminate credit card debt once and for all. Pop open your Google search engine. It’s time to find the best routes to consolidation. What you ideally want to do is consolidate your credit cards and end up with only one low monthly payment. The key here is in the interest rate. You want the lowest one you can possibly find. Maybe this will involve a loan or maybe it will involve acquiring a new credit card and doing a balance transfer. It’s all about that APR. The last thing you want is a crappy percentage rate that bleeds you dry month after month. No one wants to lose all that additional cash to nothing. You want to pay off your debt and be done.

Read more about Eliminate Credit Card Debt

Tags: Financial, Credit, Debt