make home ▪ contact us ▪ privacy ▪ webmasters

Payday loans Home equity loans Refinance loans Mortgages Credit cards
Debt Consolidation Foreclosures Taxes Personal finance Car donation Credit repair Credit reports Credit monitoring

Pay Off Debt Now: 5 steps to getting your finances in order
by Drew Harris

In our world of dizzying change, nothing is more true than the time honored statement that circumstances always change.

No where is this more true than with financial issues.

Have you ever borrowed money, or charged up the VISA card at Christmas, all the while telling yourself that you would pay everything off with a coming tax refund or bonus?

Sound familiar. And then what happens when the bonus money arrives?

Let me guess….circumstances changed, the car needed brakes (or the kids needed braces, etc), and the VISA debt and interest charges keeps piling up.

Unless you have a plan, you will always be caught in the unpredictable grip of "changing circumstances".

This is a slippery slope that can very quickly become serious financial stress. Consider the fact that Americans are declaring bankruptcy at record rates. One in every 100 families is affected by a bankruptcy.

I was on this slope 10 years ago. Declaring personal bankruptcy and filing for divorce went hand in hand.

One of the most insightful moments of the process was preparing a written log for the trustee of all of our spending for the 5 years leading up to bankruptcy.

While all of the individual decisions made sense in the moments that they were made, they looked totally foolish in the context of the "bigger picture".

In other words, constantly changing circumstances drove us off our financial roadmap.

Consider this five step plan for getting on, and staying with, your financial roadmap.

Step No. 1: Make a list of what you owe & prioritize: Put all your bills in a pile. Then list your debts in order, starting with the largest balance first. Then prioritize your repayments (ie paying down the highest interest rate first).

Step No. 2: Eliminate credit cards and don't roll over balances. Once paid off, notify the company that you want to close the account.

Step No. 3: Make a spending plan. Change your free-spending ways. Track the money that's coming in and going out. Use a debit card instead of your credit card. Download your bank transactions into a computer program for easy categorizing.

Step No. 4: Be careful about the equity in your home. Billions of dollars worth of equity has been withdrawn from millions of homes in the last few years. But many people pay down credit cards only to charge them up again - and then you don't have the safety net of the equity in your home.

Step No. 5: Get help. For some people, the problem of overspending is a psychological one. Spending can become a habit that's as difficult to kick as alcohol, drugs or gambling. Sometimes, it's due to circumstances they truly could not avoid: medical bills or divorce or loss of a job.

You can talk with a credit counselor on a private basis. It only appears on your credit report if you enter their debt repayment program.

During this holiday season, as you consider your finances, remember that Americans are now carrying $683 billion in revolving credit card debt. 47% of the people who paid less than the full amount on their credit card bills in a recent month, made only the minimum payment due.

The good news is that planning and professional help will definitely help you turn things around.

Case in point: I went from bankrupt with zero assets living in a boarding house, to gainfully employed, running my own home based business, with 2 houses and excellent re-established credit.

In other words, it can be done.

Debt Consolidation
by Brian Hunter

There are many reasons why people get into debt - some of them self inflicted and some of them way outside of our control. Losing a job, illness or accidents, all of these can suddenly plunge one into unexpected expenditure, and often the only way to deal with the emergency is to use debt. There is a tendency, however, to keep on borrowing once you start. This is because the process becomes so easy - credit card companies and banks seem keen to throw cash at you, and the interest payments, when regarded individually, often seem insignificant. Before you know it, you are deep in debt, owing money to several institutions and card companies, and the bills are mounting. This is the stage when one starts to notice infomercials and TV ads for 'debt consolidation'.

Put simply, debt consolidation involves replacing a number of smaller debts at varying rates and conditions with one single 'super' debt at a single (often lower) interest rate and set of conditions. For some people, consolidating debt may be a good thing - for other people it may be bad. It all depends on an individual's circumstances. To explore this, lets look at the types of debt.

Some debts are 'good'. Mortgages and student loans are good debts because firstly they have funded the purchase of a valuable asset (a home or education) and secondly because they are usually tax-deductible. Aside from loan-sharking (which you should, of course, NEVER consider!) running up debts on credit cards is the worst form of borrowing, as the interest rates are frankly usurious, and the card companies actively try to encourage you only to make the minimum payment, thus keeping you in debt for longer, and maximizing the amount of interest they suck from you.

So is debt consolidation a good deal? It depends. If you are really under pressure, and need a breather, sometimes consolidation can be the only way to get yourself some space in which to sort out your life and finances. The downside is that the consolidation payments, while appearing to be smaller than the sum of your previous debts, usually last for a longer term, meaning that you effectively pay more over the life of the loan. And this, of course, is how the consolidation companies make their money - they have to profit in some way, otherwise why would they bother?! One VERY important point to note is that your debt consolidation company must allow you to 'overpay' - pay more than the standard monthly payment if you wish. You may have a sudden windfall, or a payrise, and paying down the debt makes perfect financial sense. If they WON'T let you overpay, look elsewhere - there are plenty of debt consolidation firms out there who want your business!

Having acheived a consolidation, you will still need to make some fundamental changes to your life. You have to get back on the track of spending less than you earn. Only when you have done this will you be able to increase your repayments, and get the size of the debt down. Getting spending down is not actually as hard as it sounds. For example, many people think nothing of spending $4 or $5 on a Starbucks coffee and bun first thing in the morning. Why? They are 'treating' themselves because it is such a struggle going to work! Try waiting till you reach the office, and drink the free coffee there. Granted, it doesn't come in a fancy cup, or have a caramel splash, but it's F-R-E-E. And forgoing a single $5 coffee every day will save you $100 a month. That's $1200 a year, ignoring interest! Think about it, and you will start to see MANY opportunities to scale back spending. Make your own sandwiches, and take them to work - far cheaper and much healthier than a McDoodah's!

So how do you choose a debt consolidation company? Ask your friends and family. Don't be embarrassed, many people end up in debt thru no fault of their own, and your family will probably be supportive. Never go with a company that wants your paycheck, and then sends you on a much smaller check - you are effectively handing over control to a third party here, and getting into control of your debt is an empowerment strategy, not a wimp out clause. Never agree to anything over the phone, and ALWAYS get the paperwork checked, even if just by your partner or sibling. They may spot something you missed. Stick with the big companies - even though their deals may look slightly less attractive, they won't try to screw you. There are a range of well regarded debt consolidation companies over at http://www.nodebtever.com.

If you can follow these simple debt consolidation tips, you can quickly get your debt problem under control and get back on the path to a debt free life!