Money Matters Now

Times are tough and it can be difficult for us to make our paychecks stretch at times. For this reason, any of us have gotten in trouble with our credit because we have started to use our credit cards to pay for the necessities of life, such as gasoline or groceries. If you are in need of credit repair, there are certain things that you should do right away in order to bring your numbers up quickly. This can help you to get out of the hole and to get yourself on the road to better credit, overall. Here are four different things that you can do in order to ensure proper credit repair.

Pay Your Bills – If you have been paying your bills late, you’re hurting your credit score. Always make sure that you pay your bills on time and if you are unable to pay them on the day that they are due, never let it go more than 30 days before they are paid. Most companies will allow you a 30 day grace period before the late payment is reported to the credit agency. Although I don’t recommend using this grace period to your all of the time, it is there in case you need it.

Pay Extra – Your credit report is a wealth of information for a lending institution. They are even able to see how much you are paying on your credit cards consistently. You should make sure that you are paying more than the minimum amount due as this is a part of any good credit repair program. It is not always necessary for you to pay a lot more than what the minimum due is but always make sure that you are not just paying the minimum.

Stay under 50 – Another thing that is important as far as credit repair is concerned is that you stay under 50% of your credit limit on your various cards and loans. If you go over 50% of your credit limit, your credit score is going to be lowered considerably. It may take a little bit of time for you to get your bills down to where they are under the 50% level but you’re going to notice a difference in your credit rating overall by doing so.

Consolidate – Here is something that many people are able to do but it may be a little bit difficult if you already have a low credit score. If you have a lot of small credit cards that you’re paying and your interest rate tends to be rather high, consolidating all of them into a single loan is going to benefit you immensely. This is a great way for you to approach your credit repair because it is going to allow you to pay your bills consistently and on time. Although it may be difficult for you to find somebody that is going to loan you the money, it will be well worth the effort if you’re able to do so.

By: Faranak Groves

About the Author:

How does owing less to your credit card companies seem? I bet you think it seems pretty great. You might also think that is seems unrealistic. We are often told to be careful of debt relief scams. While of course you want to protect your good name and your finances, but know that you really can eliminate a percentage of your debt and this percentage can be a pretty high figure.

So how can you go about making a settlement deal with your creditors?

Start by determining how soon you want to get out of debt. Now, it is important to be realistic with this figure. I know that you want to see debt relief tomorrow, but that isn’t going to happen. It takes most individuals at least one year to be debt-free. If you owe $50,000 or more, it could reasonably take you a few years. So set a good goal.

Now, you have a goal in mind. For example, you want to be debt-free in 5 years. Now, how much money can you put towards paying off your debt? Before coming up with this figure, be sure to do a few steps first. Most importantly, go through and familiarize yourself with how your money is spent each month. Free up as much money as possible by eliminating unnecessary purchases or trimming your monthly expenses when possible.

So right now you have a figure that you can afford to pay each month. In five years, you will encounter 60 months. Take that amount you can afford to pay each month and times that by 60. Right there is the very most your settlement offer should be. Generally speaking, you should ask for no less than to have 50% of your debt eliminated.

Whether you decide to go with 50% of your debt reduced or if you decide to use the above mentioned calculations, you are now ready to contact your creditors. Remember that your goal is to seek debt relief. This means hold your ground. State you want X amount of your debt eliminated and this is why. If after a little bit of negotiating they don’t agree, lower your total a little bit. It isn’t recommended that you automatically go with the figure they give you because it likely isn’t good enough.

Please note that this article focused on seeking debt relief through settlement by dealing with your creditors yourself. If you don’t want to do all the hard work and negotiating, you don’t have to. There is still a great way for you to get some of your debt eliminated. You can do this by enrolling in a debt relief program, namely one that has a focus on debt reduction, elimination, or settlement.

By: Ryan Worthington

About the Author:

A surprisingly large number of people with debt will simply pay the bare minimum payment amounts they’re told to pay. Sadly, when you’re over-burdened with debt it’s often difficult to see a clear place to start!

Here’s an easy plan to help reduce your debts.

1) Add It Up

Before you can get to your destination, you need to know your starting point. This means adding up everything you owe to everyone. Write it all down in a list, putting the name of the company alongside each debt figure.

When you know your total debt figure and how much you owe each person or company, we’re ready to move to step 2).

2) Prioritize

From your list above, figure out which company is charging the highest interest rate. Check your statements if you’re not sure. Write down how much you’re being charged each month in the column beside the debt figure.

3) Payments

List down how much you’re currently paying off each bill. It really adds up – but don’t worry too much about this figure for now. We are still figuring out your starting point so that we can create a strong plan to get rid of it all

4) Negotiate

Ring each company and see if they’re willing to negotiate on fees or rates. Even a small cut in either the fees or rates will see your monthly repayments drop a bit. This will help! Write on your list the new repayment amounts.

5) Change Frequency

Just because your bill says “$100 per month” – that doesn’t mean you need to pay it exactly monthly. As long as the company has $100 by the end of the month, it’s fine to pay $25 per week instead. The company is happy because they’re still getting the same money – but your credit score will improve, and you’ll really be paying off your debt faster than you think.

The reason for this is that interest on debt is charged daily and shown on your statements monthly. So if you’re reducing the amount of debt every week, the amount of interest the lender can charge you goes down a little bit each week too.

Over time you will notice that you’re paying off debt faster than you thought just by cutting out some of the compounding interest.

6) Create Your Plan

By now you should know which is the most expensive bill outstanding. Any money you saved in previous tips should now be put toward the bill with the highest interest rate. Pay more frequently and round up any odd amounts (e.g. if your bill is $24.50 per week, round up to $25 per week). It’s not much, but it really adds up over the long term.

7) Action

Once you’ve started reducing the amount of debt on the highest bill, you should see a ‘snowball’ effect’ happening. Don’t give in and don’t buy more things on credit. Keep paying down your debt until it’s gone.

Once you’ve paid off the first debt, you should be able to put that SAME money onto the next debt. (e.g. if you’ve been paying $25 per week off the first debt, when it’s cleared ADD that $25 to the amount you were paying on the next debt in line).

If you stick to this, you’ll find your debt levels dropping in no time!

By: Bianca Raven

About the Author:

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