Archive for June 16th, 2007

Consumer Credit Counseling or Debt Settlement - Which is the Right Choice?

Are you losing sleep at night due to financial concerns? If so, theres a very good chance that youre trying to determine the best path to assist you in becoming debt-free so that you can put your money worries behind you. As a matter of fact, youve likely spent many hours searching the Internet trying to find a solution, but continue to be unsure of whether you should enter a Consumer Credit Counseling program or instead choose to eliminate your debt through debt settlement.

Only your individual financial situation is important when determining the most fitting choice to become free from debt. If youre considering Consumer Credit Counseling, this may be a good choice for you if your debt isnt extremely high, and youre able to commit to a long term repayment arrangement with your creditors. The Consumer Credit Counseling agency you hire will contact your creditors to negotiate reduced interest rates on your accounts, and set you up with a reasonable monthly payment, which they will distribute to your various creditors. Under normal circumstances, the entire process will leave you with no further money owed by the end of approximately five years or so. By going this route, youll still be required to pay some interest, as well as the full balance on each of your accounts, but as was stated previously, the end result will leave you with no further debt.

Its important to remember that Consumer Credit Counseling doesnt work for everybody. As a matter of fact, I recently talked with an individual who had been enrolled in Consumer Credit Counseling for almost two years, continually paying out nearly $1,700 per month, and wasnt seeing any significant reduction in their debt. Whats worse is that this particular program wasnt scheduled to end and finally bring this person out of debt for at least another three years. This scenario is understandable due to the fact that the Consumer Credit Counseling Agency was only able to negotiate the interest rates on this persons accounts down to 16%. Obviously, in this situation, Debt Settlement may be the right way to go. You see, based on the amount of money still owed, this person could be free from debt in less than 18 months if they choose to attempt negotiating with their creditors for a reduced payoff amount (debt settlement). So, as you can see, if Consumer Credit Counseling is not a good option for you, Debt Settlement may be your best option if you can afford to accumulate sufficient funds on a monthly basis, or if you have funds available through a 401K or home equity line of credit. If one or more of these sources is available to you, you may want to consider Debt Settlement as a viable path to become free from debt.

Whatever you choose, whats most important is that you eliminate high interest credit card debt quickly, because it could take you in excess of 30 years to pay off your debt if you continue making your required minimum monthly payments.

Add comment June 16th, 2007

Debt Relief - Become Debt Free With the Help of Jam Jars

A few months ago a friend of mine who we will call Frank, decided he wanted to become debt free and be able to handle his money better than he currently was. His debt was around $9,700 which is above the average American average. So five months in he has cleared a massive $2,000 off of that debt and here is one of the methods he is using to reduce that debt.

One of the important things to do when you decide to become debt free is to make sure that you get completely clear is a budget so you know exactly what you have to spend every week. So with this in mind you need to get rid of your cards, credit and debit, put them in an envelope and sign the seal then give them to a relative. You don’t even have to tell them what is in the envelope or why they are looking after it if you trust them it won’t matter.

With no cards you now have to visit your bank in order to get money, this is where our title comes into play, “Become Debt Free Using your Old Jars!” I hear people say “Turner you have lost the plot!” Hear me out its a great method and one that will help you start your recovery. OK so you get a number of jars and on one of the jars you place a label and you write FOOD. Then on the next you write TRAVEL the subjects you will need are:

  • Food
  • Bills
  • Travel
  • Entertainment

Now if you have done your budgeting properly you will have around $65 a week per person in your household for food. Your bills well they need paying but if you have your bills for the past 12 months you will know how much they are (you might want to look at the current deals you are getting and negotiate lower rates where possible but that is another part of the plan). Travel you can keep this to an absolute minimum if you think about where you travel and if you really need to get the bus two stops or take the car to the shop that is within walking distance. Entertainment well this is down to you but personally I feel that $7.50 per person is more than enough especially if you are serious about your quest to become debt free.

Go to the bank at the start of the week and get that money out from the teller. When you get home put it in the jars. When you need to use some take it from the jars. Make a list when you go shopping and when you tick off that you have collected that item write down how much it costs, this way you will know how much you need to take with you to do the shopping each week. Have a journal and write in it everything that you spend and within no time you will see the savings and notice you are well on your way to become debt free.

This is the jar technique that my friend Frank is using to become debt free, it does work and I am now using the technique in my house, my wife loves it because we know we have a budget that is optimized to what we need. If you use this you will reduce what you spend and what you geel the need to spend this is a huge hurdle to overcome in your ability to become debt free.

Add comment June 16th, 2007

Debt Relief - Becoming Credit Card Debt Free

A big factor in becoming debt free is having the ability to get rid of you credit cards and become Credit Card Debt Free. A lot of people feel if they give up their credit cards then they will be giving up their independence. Well this just isn’t the case and in this article we are going to look at how you become debt free is much easier when you become credit card debt free.Lets take a look at the different meanings behind the two.

To become debt free you are getting rid of all of your debts you are paying back your friend who you borrowed $100 from, you are paying back the money you borrowed to pay for your car and you are paying off any outstanding money that you owe on items you picked up on a buy now pay later deal. Removing all of these from your monthly outgoings means that you will become debt free.

To become credit card debt free is pretty much what it says you have absolutely no credit card debt. Using your credit cards while you are in debt will end up getting you in more debt than you currently are. If you are serious about becoming credit card debt free then you need to look at consolidating what you owe on your credit cards into a single monthly payment. This is much easier than a lot of people realize.

There are many companies that will help people get out of debt, lots of organizations that offer fantastic services that deal with people reducing their debt. Remember your credit card company wants you to keep spending, if you keep spending they keep charging you interest on what you purchase meaning you end up paying more on every product. Would you pay a bill for your weekly shopping if it has a 27.5% tip for the girl who rang up your items? NO but you will give that to the credit card over the next 12 months if you don’t pay off what you spend.

Become credit card debt free by starting today and getting rid of your credit cards. If you feel that you can not survive without a credit card then you are in a situation where you are probably spending more than you are earning. If this is the case then you would benefit from seeing a debt counselor to help you budget properly so you can become credit card debt free sooner than you will if you continue to use the cards on a daily basis.

Being in debt is not a good experience and one to be avoided if you can. To become credit card debt free is something that many people dream about but it is more than a possibility you just need to talk to the right people.

Add comment June 16th, 2007


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