Credit

4 Keys To Freeing Yourself From Debt

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Debt is a way of life for many Americans. We owe money on our homes, our cars, our possessions (from furniture to clothes), and our education. Many Americans are so mired in debt they aren’t even sure just how much they owe and to whom — even worse they sometimes don’t even remember just what caused their debt.

Some debt is good for you. For example, what you owe on your home can provide a nice way to balance out your income tax. A little debt is not a bad thing either as making regular payments to various creditors helps build your credit rating which makes it easier for you to obtain loans at good rates. However the truth is that most Americans have more than a little debt — and many owe far too much money and are already, or soon will be, in financial trouble as a result.

Finding yourself owing a lot of money is not the end of the road and you can stop your cycle of debt by taking four positive steps to break the cycle.

First, attack your high-cost debts. This likely includes credit cards where you may be paying high minimum payments and high interest rates. Pay off the balances on credit cards carrying the highest interest rates first. Continue making your minimum payments for lower-interest cards but concentrate on paying off the highest interest. When the high-cost cards are paid off then work to eliminate the balances on your other cards.

Second, reach out to your creditors. If you are going to be late or have difficulty paying your minimum payments then contact the credit card company. Even if you can make all your payments in a timely fashion there are two benefits you can reap from contacting the card issuer. First, you may be able to negotiate lower rates or more favorable terms. Second, they might be able to recommend alternatives that can minimize damage to your credit rating.

Third, consolidate your debts as much as possible. You can accomplish this a number of ways. One possibility is simply transferring balances from one credit card to another with a lower rate, but be aware of transfer fees before choosing this option. Another possibility, if you own your own home, is to take out a home-equity loan or line of credit which should have a lower interest rate than most credit cards can offer as well as offering tax deductions. Finally, you can also consider a secured loan offering the value in another form of property, your vehicle for example.

Fourth, don’t sacrifice your retirement savings. Obviously paying off your debt should be a high financial priority but cutting what you save for retirement to do so may not be the wisest course — especially if that becomes a long term habit or if you are losing out on your employer’s matching funds as a result. Perhaps you may be able to borrow against (or from) your retirement funds at a lower interest rate which will allow you to continue to save for retirement while also getting out from under your debt.

While owing money may well be the American way it can also be a tremendous burden to bear. You can shed the weight of your load or at least trim it down to a more manageable level by taking these four steps.

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Handing the Debt Off

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The credit card business is one of the most competitive industries there is. You can tell that because you no doubt get dozens of invitations for new credit cards every week. That is because the only way a credit card company can continue to grow new business is to steal the business away from another credit card company. It isn’t really a business where there are a lot of new customers coming into the market. The types of accounts the credit card companies want are people who are carrying a lot of debt, who continue to pay on the debt but never pay it off and who have no history of defaulting on their loans. If that describes you, then you are on the A list for a potential customer for a credit card company.

If you have a lot of credit card debt, it really isn’t that flattering that other credit card companies want your business. Even more infuriating is when a credit card company who already has you in debt sends you offers for still more credit cards. But there may be a glimmer of light in this tough situation. You might be able to leverage you’re “A list” position with the credit world to find a way to manage your credit card debt more successfully.

Typically, if you have three or four or more credit accounts, the credit ceiling on those accounts probably have gotten pretty high. That is because, as we just reviewed, if you carry debt but pay on it, that sets a cycle in motion for the credit card companies to offer you as much debt as they think you might use so you can owe them even more money. Again, while this seems cruel and heartless, that is how these folks make their living so they have to find some way of attracting the debt of the A list customers.

But another method they also use is to offer you an attractive rate of interest to either start a new account or transfer debt from an account you have to your existing account. A common “come on” is to offer you zero percent financing which seems wonderful because in theory you could transfer all of most of your debt to the generous company and not pay any interest which would greatly speed your pay off.

Transferring balances has its good side and its negative side and you need to be smart about both. Read every word of the offer, even the small print on the back of the page because you must understand any hidden fees you might face if you accept their generosity. Almost always the zero percent or low percentage rate is for a very limited time of perhaps three or four months. In credit card land, this is a heartbeat. Then once they have your account balance of your debt built up, they can jack your rates up and you are right back where you started.

So be smart about using these kinds of offers. A great tactics is simply to transfer a fairly small amount of your debt to the zero percent offer. Transfer $1000 and then pay it off over the three to four mouth period. You win because you paid no interest and they lose because they can’t sting you with a high interest rate at the end. Also be aware of any transfer fees or membership fees if you are taking out a new card. These fees can amount to additional interest and negate much of the benefit. But if you are smart and use these offers shrewdly, they can be terrific ways for you to drive down your credit card debt surfing “come ons” from the credit cards companies in a clever fashion.

5 Easy and Quick Ways to Improve your Credit Score

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5 Easy and Quick Ways to Improve your Credit Score

 

Your Credit Score is one of your biggest financial assets. If your credit score is high, your borrowing rates will be low and therefore save you hundreds of dollars. The big mystery is how to maintain a high credit score. Well if you want to either maintain or repair your credit score, you are in luck, it can take as little as two months to raise your credit rating.

Your credit score is based on a few prime factors, there is no particular order in which I will discuss them (Some of them have higher weights in regards to the score). Repayment history, current debt owed, recent credit checks, and registered income (there are other factors as well). In order to repair or raise your score you may follow a few of the steps provided below.

1.) Pay off all revolving credit cards. Revolving credit cards are like Discover card or any other monthly credit cards. Even though you might pay before the deadline, credit card companies report the debt owed on a monthly basis which may be before the deadline. On your credit score it will not show as bad debt, but it will decrease your overall score. The standard recommendations are as follows. If you have one credit card, pay it off before the months end. Second, if you have two credit cards, pay the minimum on both of them and work on paying in full one of them first.

2.) Registered Income. This is your official salary from work. Basically the numbers they crunch are matched with what you earn. If you debt is larger than what you earn, your credit score is lowered. So, if you are an independent contractor or your income is just a little too low get a part time job. This will rise your potential earnings and increase your ability to repay your debt and therefore increase your credit score.

3.) Check your credit score online with one of the official companies to see what or why your credit score is the level it is. This will help you determine what you can really do to increase your credit score.

4.) Do not apply for every car, credit card, and home that you are looking at as an eager consumer. Because every time you try to purchase a home, car, or get a new credit card your credit score is checked and the crediting agencies lower your score if you have had two or three credit checks withing a few months of each other.

5.) Lastly, open a savings account and budget your money accordingly that you will always have extra cash to help in times of need.

Protect your credit score because it can mean everything when buying a home or trying to get some capital for whatever purpose you need it for. It is not hard to raise your credit score, it is hard to maintain it. If you can purchase a credit score monitoring service, it will protect you from fraud and help inform you of ways to increase your credit score when needed.

For more credit repair advices, please visit <a href=”http://www.credit-repair-advices.com/”>Credit Repair Advices</a>

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