Tag Archives: Paycheck To Paycheck

Five Ways To Stay Debt-Free

Five Ways To Stay Debt-Free

So if the bills/debt are building up, you’re living paycheck to paycheck, and there is no relief in sight, follow this advice to dig yourself out – one debt at a time.

1. Pay more than the minimum – Many loans are set up so that the minimum payment goes mostly toward the interest. If you can afford it, triple up on those minimum payments. Ex. “if you have $ 10,000 in credit card debt, u r probably paying 15% in interest, and make minimum payments, it will take 25 years to pay off that debt”. You don’t want to be a slave to credit card companies. Good Book: Zero Debt for College Grads author Lynnette Khalfani.

2. Create a credit card payment strategy – One place to start, after making a budget, is to pay off the card with the lowest balance first. If you make a few sacrifies, like skipping happy hour or making one less $ 200 purchase (think gadgets and shoes) per month, those savings can be applied toward the debt.

The same strategy works with lines of credit and personal loans, too. To fight temptation, opt-out of receiving mail-order credit card solicitations by calling 888-5-OPTOUT.

3. Stop spending – NOW!! – As you pay off your credit cards, don’t cancel them. Instead, take all of the credit cards out of your wallet and put them in a jar half full with water. Put jar in the freezer. The idea is to keep the cards out of your pockets and limit impulse shopping. Also, by putting it in the freezer it is not in your pocket, but you have it in a safe place in case you need it in an emergency. While your cards are put away, negotiate with creditors to get better rates. You have to be in good standing to get the most out of this deal, which means continuing to pay your bills on time.

4.

Shop for better rates – When you get a great opportunity for a lower interest rate, go for it. Instead of the 14% or 22% interest rate you’re currently paying, you can transfer to a card that offers you a 6% or 9% rate to save hundreds or thousands over the course of the year. Shop for better rates and take advantage of offers provided by bank, credit union, or other lending institutions that offer low rates for transfer. But don’t bounce around to much because doing so results in too many credit inquiries, which can lower your credit score. Also consider debt consolidation, which is taking several debts and converting them into one monthly payment.

5. Manage your own finances – Whether sharing finances or flying solo, you should always know three things about your debt: (I) How much you have (II) How much it’s costing you, and (III) How to deal with it. If you don’t, it will always cost more than you think and take even longer to pay off. The debt may not go away overnight, but with discipline and by following these few steps, it will shrink a lot sooner.

If you are currently looking for business opportunities or extra income, please go to http://www.obriangroup.org They have a variety of products that may be beneficial. Success comes when we work together.

www.therealcashflowceo.com – Anthony Manganiello, author of the Debt-FREE Millionaire, interviewed by Pat Robertson. He explains that it is possible to become the millionaire you have to potential to become.
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Some Solutions to Dire Debt Problems

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by Blyzz

Some Solutions to Dire Debt Problems

If you are beyond living paycheck to paycheck and having trouble making your payments month after month, you are having severe personal finance problems. You are now in need of some credit card debt solutions. I’d like to concentrate on some solutions that work great if you are behind in your payments are experiencing late fees and other fees. If this sounds like you, you may want to consider these options: credit card debt settlements or debt counseling.

Budget
With all situations you must create a realistic budget. It is the start to all credit card debt solutions. You need to know where your money is going and what you have each month to spend and apply to your goal. You start by categorizing your expenses, figure out your monthly income and sticking to it. It is assumed for these strategies that your expenses are more than your income which means you need to make hard decisions and need to include other income sources (part-time job, selling on eBay or work-at-home incomes).

But, to eliminate the problem you need to establish extra to apply to your debt.

Credit Card Settlement
Another example of good credit card debt solutions is settlement. The extra I was implying to be was decreasing your credit card responsibility. Settlement simple terms means to negotiate a settlement with the credit card companies to get your balance reduced to a manageable amount. The late fees, finance charges and over the limit fees you have accumulated can be negotiated to get them all removed from your account. Typically, these three things will amount to 30-40 percent of the total balance. That will reduce your responsibility and should bring your payments well within your newly established budget.

This needs to be applied to you credit card payoff goal. This option for credit card debt solutions will affect your credit rating in the beginning but when you payments are made on time and your debt is reduced you credit rating will reflect the on-timely payments and will increase.

Credit Counseling
If your situation is beyond what you can deal with and you need to create a plan for yourself, this is a great option. They’re many reputable professionals out there for you to choose from. First, find the company that you can work with that has a reputable program. Then, you need to truly commit to what they plan for your situation. This part of your credit card debt solutions will take about an hour and will advise you on managing your money and debts, help you develop a budget, and develop a personalized plan to solve your money problems.

If you decide to work through your debt problem and choose NOT to file for bankruptcy as a solution, these are excellent solutions you will be proud of. Solutions that will build long lasting character with lessons you will not repeat. These lessons are those that build your own being, always feeling good that you chose to deal with your debt and getting out of it, not passing it on to others with bankruptcy; after all you made it, you deal with it. It is hard BUT extremely rewarding as a life long lesson not to be repeated!

I enjoy the challenge in helping with the ever rising credit card debt problem due to these hard times. Click here for more excellent Credit Card Debt Solutions and for a list of helpful articles click here.

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The Principleof A Debt-free Life

The Principleof A Debt-free Life
Most of us dream about being wealthy. Most of us are not. Conventional wisdom and dreams about winning lotteries have not helped us reach this goal.To reach millionaire status, you have to either be aggressive about savings or aggressive about entrepreneurship. Which one do you think you -and much of the worlds population – are most suited for?

The key to ensuring that you are able to save and invest enough money is moderation; be realistic and live below your means. This sounds like a no-brainer, but given the amount of debt many of us have and our abysmal national savings rate, it is not. It is a simple concept but one that requires shifting your priorities and values from spending to saving.Having a great salary does not guarantee wealth. If your income is not sufficient to cover your expenses, you obviously will not have money to save and invest.

The reality many of us do not want to confront is that how much we spend is more important than how much we earn. A person can easily earn a six-figure salary, yet paradoxically be in debt. Americans earn more than most of the worlds population, yet we are also in debt more than most of the planets citizens. It is not hard to spend more than you earn, and if you do, you will get caught in the desperate cycle of living paycheck to paycheck and confronting the specter of mounting debt and braying creditors – which is a black hole that you should avoid at all costs.

Living in debt is more expensive than living debt-free. While there are good debts, such as education or buying a house, most of us are wallowing in bad debt. Going into debt for consumer items is bad debtbecause most consumables depreciate rapidly once you buy them. Furthermore, your debt keeps rising when you finance consumable purchases with a credit card. How? Well, many people get into the trap of paying the minimum amount owed on their credit card, meaning they are basically paying the interest and not the principal (the actual purchase price) of what they are buying. As a result, their debt keeps rising, especially if they get into the habit of buying regularly on credit and not paying the full amount owed each month.

So what do you do when you really need the laptop or 45-inch flat-screen television and you have already spent your paycheck on mortgage repayments, groceries, gas, kids clothes, and various other payments? For an answer, as well as more information on personal finance, savings, debt, credit, and wealth management please read Debt Zero: The Financial Mediterranean Diet by Edward Prados.

Edward has writtenwidely on varied topics. his first foray into finance, is based upon twenty years of living essentially debt-free while pursuing his academic, personal, and professional interests. Debt Zero: The Financial Mediterranean Diet is available at http://www.newgreendream.org

We got hooked onto Dave Ramsey and decided to get crazy and got out of debt. As of 5-5-07 we are officially debt free!! icon smile The Principleof A Debt free Life

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Recognizing That You May Need Debt Relief

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You then wonder how did I charge so much, why am I in the debt situation I am in. You may ask yourself do I need debt relief, well the credit card companies have kept up their end of the deal by giving you all the purchasing power you wanted and the problem is how are you going to pay them back. Getting debt relief may be the only way, the first step towards debt relief is recognizing that you may have a debt problem. What you can do is ask yourself these simple questions below. If you answer yes to even one of them, chances are you may need debt relief. Debt Consolidation may be the answer to this problem

Are you finding that you are draining your savings account in order to support the debts you may have? If yes then you may be spending more than your income can withstand.

Do you pay only the minimum on your credit card bills each month? If the minimum monthly payment is all you can afford then you are most definitely in over your head and debt relief is what you need. Debt Consolidation may be your answer to your financial situation you may be in. One low monthly payment with low interest charges may be able to help you.

Are you over your credit limit or nearing the credit limit on your credit cards? To spend money is is not a bad thing, but remember you may have high interest rates and have to pay off the debts you accumulated on the credit cards if you don’t pay off them monthly.

Do you find that you often bounce or float checks?This means you issue a check in hopes that you will have the funds to cover the payment by the time the check is cashed. Floating or bouncing checks can mean that you are having some financial problems and are living paycheck to paycheck.

Are you depending on taking out cash advances to pay your credit card debt? This issue is a serious one. This may mean your current income may not be enough to handle your spending habits. This is a pattern that can send you spiraling out of control and ending up in serious debt. Getting debt relief via our debt consolidation program may be your only hope to assist you with the debt problems you may have.

First thing is recognizing that you may be in a financial situation that you can not handle. Charging on credit cards can be like an illness. Your first step is to recognize your symptoms and try to find an immediate cure…Debt Relief Via Debt Consolidation. The longer you wait, the worse your financial condition will become. Be smart and responsible.

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Alabama Debt Relief

Alabama Debt Relief

With the ever larger debt loads faced by Alabaman borrowers, its no wonder that so many of the citizens of our fair state have begun to examine the various alternatives to paying back their mortgages and credit card bills through more than traditional means. After all, considering that our current national financial struggles show no signs of improving over the coming years and more and more consumers find themselves out of work, there are increasing levels of desperation felt from all sectors of the economy, and borrowers are drawn to all aspects of debt relief. This modern world, its the easiest thing possible to wake up and realize youve somehow accumulated financial burdens nearly impossible to repay through traditional measures. With credit cards now so freely available to nearly every Alabaman that can sign their name and a topsy turvy financial structure that effectively enables spending more than our citizens earn as a cornerstone of expansionary economic periods, buying absent regret has become almost an instinct for our countrymen, and so many consumers land themselves in a revolving continuum of paycheck to paycheck cycles propelled by the very lenders theyre so desperate to pay that they fall prey to the most predatory of schemes.

Within this sort of economy, even the smallest life change can lead to grave repercussions. From marital problems to illness to a change of employment, any number of the seemingly inevitable consequences of modern life may impact your household budget beyond capacity, and this style of plate spinning domestic finance engenders desperate foolhardy solutions patched together at the last minute and fueled by purposeful ignorance on the behalf of the borrowers. Jumping from check to check with no room for error, unable to pay anything toward savings, ever harried by ceaseless payment due dates and expanding minimum obligations, the Alabama debtor attempting to carve out a life upon the turn of the twenty first century too often finds him or herself without hope and tragically susceptible to confidence schemes that, however technically legitimate the business and glossy the surrounding spiel, inevitably scavenge the debt relief wishes of those that can least afford false promises. Five years ago, for example, the Alabama legislature legalized the so-called payday loan services, but, even though this usurious practice has been made lawful throughout the state, this could only be considered debt relief in the most tragic sense. Ever since Alabama representatives passed that 2003 law distinguishing payday loans as a justifiable practice, people from all corners of Alabama have been misled into (searching from some short term assistance with minimum payments or sudden household needs) believing that the service may be some sort of debt relief when, in actuality, it only worsens the existing debt problems. Actual management of debts will be a long and difficult process that, while it may indeed require the help of external authorities such as debt settlement companies, demands exploration on the part of the borrower and a general understanding about the unspoken rules of debt relief.

Among these companies, probably the most well known sort of debt relief business for Alabama and the rest of the United States of America would be the Consumer Credit Counseling alternative. As most Alabama borrowers likely know by now, thanks to the industrys seemingly never ending stream of commercials and advertisements, the Consumer Credit Counseling companies consolidate all unsecured debt (that is; debts not already attached to collateral liable for repossession or foreclosure or similar fates) in order to attempt to lower the accumulated interest rates toward something far lower. Alongside this clear benefit, which (for reasons we shall soon explain) can almost be guaranteed for near every Alabama borrower, the Consumer Credit Counseling professionals are also likely to clear away the former fees charged by the credit card companies for payments that arrived past their due date (twenty five bucks for a days postal delay) or accounts that were charged past their limit (thirty dollars for a few cents miscalculation), and, in what has become the Consumer Credit Counseling companies greatest motivating sales gambit, the new payments shall be far below the combined minimums of what the debtors had previously been striving to eke together each month. Its an attractive debt relief presentation that the Consumer Credit Counseling specialists have put together, no small wonder that the industry has gained so much momentum through the last few years, but there are any number of drawbacks that their television commercials do not even dare to mention.

When entering one of the Consumer Credit Counseling storefronts which, by this point, have popped up near every Alabama town and city of any size you will be explicitly told about all of the benefits this service may indeed have to offer. One could hardly complain about lower interest rates or waived fees, after all; this is debt relief in its most superficial sense. However, the lowered payments end up for too many borrowers resembling a bittersweet privilege. For all of the temporary assistance recalculated payment schedules may bring Alabama households, the smart borrower should also realize that the lower the payment, the longer the eventual term of the overall loan and the more that they shall inevitably pay in compound interest. What use halving the actual rates when youll just up spending even more through terms that last twice as long? Further, the negative impact upon your FICO score and credit report is almost as bad as what you would see following declaration of a Chapter 7 debt elimination bankruptcy even though the debts remain with the Consumer Credit Counseling decision, and youll end up spending a pretty penny for the companies services before everythings said and done. Actually, not only will you pay through the nose for the assistance of Consumer Credit Counseling professionals, but the debt relief specialists you work with will also request payment from the credit card companies as well. Remember, the conglomerates behind your credit card bills live in fear that the ordinary consumer might try their hand at bankruptcy protection however disruptive recent congressional fiat has rendered that debt relief choice; any Alabama head of household that earns more the forty thousand a year probably would no longer even qualify for Chapter 7 debt elimination and they want to make sure that their clients are locked in to an achingly slow system of debt relief that effectively forces the continual repayment of interest until the consumers death.

Now, debt settlement companies superficially quite similar to the Consumer Credit Counseling debt relief alternative; both, after all, consolidate all unsecured revolving credit card accounts with an eye to eventual reduction of debt burdens also maintain their own set of disadvantages. While less destructive to credit ratings, Alabama debtors that go through the program shall still see their FICO scores take a slight dip, and, once they are part of the debt settlement program, borrowers shall no longer be able to use past accounts nor take advantage of any new credit card opportunities sent in the mail or telemarketed or even offered from a trusted lending institution. Alas, much like the Consumer Credit Counseling option, debt settlement professionals do not work pro bono. They have their own fees that youll have to worry about though, as with Consumer Credit Counseling, the brunt of the expense shall be extended over the course of the consolidation but debt settlement companies do not ask additional money from the credit card companies that they have expressly pretended to be working against. Instead, the debt settlement professionals assume a combative posture from their first talks with representatives of the credit card companies and do whatevers necessary to ensure that your credit account balances are reduced. Alabama consumers that we have spoken with in the past year have reported that experienced debt settlement negotiators have eliminated as much as fifty percent of their overall balances through a mixture of carrot (sped up payment schedules that typically last less than five years) and stick (the still effective threat of personal bankruptcy which reps of the credit card companies are taught to avoid at all costs).

Now, much as we thoroughly recommend every Alabama borrower at least takes a close look at the debt settlement alternative, we cannot promise it shall be the right fit for each family. So much, after all, depends upon what your family can and cannot pay each month. Income, household expenses, the type and the complete amount of debts held (and even the specific corporation that holds each debt; some still refuse to negotiate debt settlement regardless of technique) mean so much when deciding upon a particular debt relief plan. After all, debt settlement does mean you will still have to repay the majority of your current credit obligations within a limited time period, and, we understand, thats just not possible for all Alabama families. Furthermore, you will still have those secured debts, like car loans and home mortgages (not to mention tax liens or any governmentally assessed bills like alimony or child support) to deal with. The responsibility for effective debt relief still lands with the

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