Understanding Your Credit Score

Understanding Your Credit Score by John Prentice

Most people know that our credit reports have a lot of information about our borrowing history. How credit worthy we are -- how likely we are to pay off our debts (on time or not) -- is also looked at as an indicator of how people are likely to behave in other areas. Employers rely on credit reports to see if we'll be good employees. Landlords pull credit reports to see if we'll be reliable tenants. Auto insurers rely on credit information when deciding what sort of an insurance risk we are. But for years there's been a piece of the credit report the average consumer has been unable to see. YOUR CREDIT SCORE It's called a credit risk score -- and if you have a credit rating you have one. The scores range from 300 to 850, with a higher score being better than a lower one. Fair Isaac, which is the country's pre-eminent producer of credit scores, takes information from your credit report, gives different weights to different pieces of that information and how long ago those things occurred, and comes up with a number for you. Then when a lender is trying to decide whether or not to give you a mortgage, for example, or what rate of interest to charge on your loan, the score is one important factor they consider when making a decision.

DO MOST LENDERS USE THESE SCORES? We know that over 75 percent of home loans are decided with help from -- as they're called in the industry -- FICO (Fair Isaac and Co.) risk scores, and that if you take the 100 largest financial institutions in the country, 70 percent use FICO scores. So they're definitely a big player in the marketplace. HOW DO MOST PEOPLE DO? Not as badly as you might think, considering that bankruptcies are in the headlines so often these days. With the scale ranging from 300 to 850, the average score is about 720.

Below that, you may have problems borrowing. Twenty percent of people score below 620, for example. Since that population includes about half of all people who default on their mortgages, lenders are very wary of extending them credit. The next 20 percent of people score between 620 and 690. A score in this range may not stop you from getting credit, but Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (buyers of mortgages for the secondary market) suggest that lenders probe for more information to understand why there's been a problem before they agree to make a loan. On the high end, anything above 780 is considered elite. Only about one to two percent of consumers score in the 800s.

There are a few factors that make a big difference in your score -- let's talk about them and how you can make changes in them to improve your score:

-Your bill-paying record (This accounts for 35 percent of your score). We all know to pay bills on time. If you always have, you've done well in this category. If you slip up here and there, it can hurt your score a fair amount. The more recent the slip up, the more it hurts your score. And, as in all of these categories, a pattern of bad behavior is worse than one mistake. A string of 30-day late payments is worse than one 60-day late. (The way credit scoring works is to compare your habits to those other individuals who have proven to act in a positive or negative way overall. But there are different groups of patterns, so a seasoned user won't be compared to a new user.)

-How much you owe now (30 percent). The scoring companies look at how much you owe relative to how much credit you have available on your credit cards. The closer you are to maxing-out your cards, the lower you'll score in this area. But owing nothing doesn't prove your ability to handle credit -- owing a little bit is better. For example, being at 80 percent of your limit would be viewed as very high and a negative; 60 percent in most cases is detrimental enough. Having your balances at 20 to 30 percent of your maximum is just fine.

-How long you've managed credit (15 percent). This one is interesting. When people are trying to get their credit cards under control, one of the things they do -- indeed that we advise them to do -- is to make sure they don't have too many tempting cards in their wallet. But when it comes to your credit score, you may not want to cut up that one card you've had the longest. Then the credit scoring companies lose the ability to see just how long you've been managing credit. It may be better to keep that old card even if it's at a high interest rate, use it once a year and pay it off completely rather than cutting it up.

-Mix of credit (10 percent): It's good to show that you can manage different kinds of credit. So having an installment loan (on a home or a car) as well as having a revolving credit account (credit card) is a positive. -Pursuit of new credit (10 percent): The media often exaggerate how much searching for new credit can hurt you. That's because, a few years ago, the scorer's methodology was changed to reflect the idea that it was OK -- indeed smart -- to be shopping around for a loan. So all of your inquiries into a mortgage over a 30-day period now count as one. That said, if you have real credit problems and you're constantly shopping around for new cards or loans, it's going to hurt your score. Moderation is key. If you're out looking for credit every month, it's a minus. Less fre- quently than that, you'll probably be okay.

Now that you have this information, you can use it to your benefit. When you get your report, you can take it and use it to talk to lenders in a preliminary way. You could talk to a mortgage broker and say, "This is my score. How easy will it be for me to get a mortgage?" If you buy the FICO score, you'll also get a guide explaining how the scores work and the top four factors that contributed to deciding your score. Then, if you need to, you can work on your score before you apply for credit. Give yourself a good six months to get it in shape. If you go on the Web and search on "free credit score," what you'll come up with are a number of mortgage lenders and banks who are willing to give it to you. In some cases, you have to actually apply for a loan. There are other scores that aren't FICO scores (even the ones that are legitimate don't have FICO's database). In other cases, providing them with your e-mail address and phone number (so that they can market to you later, one assumes) seems to be sufficient. So if you're willing to give up some personal information, you can get your score for no money. Or you can pay. (Even if you're not up for checking your score, you probably should check your credit report about once a year. If there are problems, you should check all three of the credit bureaus.)

About the Author
John Prentice is a Credit Expert in the Mortgage Industry, he provides credit score repair information and a credit/finance newsletter at his web site: http://www.AccelerateMyCredit.com

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Managing Credit Card Debt - Budgeting

Managing Credit Card Debt - Budgeting by Keith Wallis

Introduction
The most fundamental basic of debt (or money) management is to be in control. To know about every penny that comes in and where every penny goes. Ideally, when you open those envelopes that arrive on the door mat every day there should be no surprises.

If you are in debt and/or having financial difficulties, you need to bring yourself around to a situation where your income exceeds your expenditure - you need to establish a budget and stick to it.

Budgeting and sticking to it are two separate things. In this article I am going to cover setting the budget only, sticking to the budget will follow in a subsequent article.

Before carrying on it is worth noting that the principles outlined below are good for not only reducing debt, but also growing personal wealth overall - effectively an investment for the future.

Establishing Costs and Income
The first thing to do is to recognise that all spending is not equal: that some monthly expenditure is more important than others. For example, not paying your council tax for a few months could land you in jail.

The next thing to recognise is that some outgoings are fixed and others are flexible. With this knowledge you can begin to tackle your flexible monthly expenditure intelligently and make progressive steps to reduce outgoings both immediately and over time.

Additionally, you also need to recognise that even fixed expenditure may be reduced with the right approach.

The next thing to do is to list everything you spend money on over the course of the year.

I have put together a budget planning sheet for the purpose of helping you do this. You can download it by clicking on this budget planning sheet link, or going to http://tips.cars-and-money.co.uk and clicking on budget sheet on the right hand menu.

You will see that the sheet is split into specific sections to provide some guidance on how to breakdown the list. The sheet is also split into columns for yearly, monthly and weekly expenditure so that it is easier to group all like expenditure together even if you pay for it in different ways.

The most critical items are towards the top of the list, i.e.: housing costs; - rates and utilities;

- important household services;

- personal insurances.

With the critical items, the consequences of non payment can either be very high and/or occur very quickly, e.g. loss of house, loss of electric, water or gas supplies, imprisonment etc. It therefore makes sense to attend to these bills first.

The next part of the list is critical in terms of day to day living, but much more discretionary, i.e.:

- motoring expenses;

- food and housekeeping;

- miscellaneous goods and services;

- personal and leisure;

- sundries and emergencies.

This group includes some very fundamental items such as food; however, how food is purchased can have a massive impact on monthly expenses. For example, living on takeaways is obviously much more expensive than shopping carefully in the local price leading supermarket.

While detailing the first section is usually fairly clear cut (just check past bills), this section is fraught with difficulty as most of it can be cash or lumped spending. That is, a figure of £150 charged to a card from the local supermarket says nothing about what was purchased on the final bill - who knows, it might have been £150 of beer and crisps - it can be difficult to recall everything.

If it is just you in the household you have the relatively simple task of being honest with yourself about this sort of expenditure so that you can recognise how much is really being spent on what. If you have a partner, or live in a family group, it can be much tougher. The key word is of course honest. You will have to draw out the truth about what is really being spent and who is doing it. If it is the two of you, you may have to recognise there is a key culprit, or that you are both as bad as each other.

In any event this section is a land of opportunity as far cost reduction is concerned so spend time on it, get out past bank and card statements and go through them line by line. If necessary walk through a typical week, or have everyone involved keep an expenditure diary so that everything is exposed.

The third section in the budget sheet is entitled 'credit card and other debt': in other words unsecured debt. Unsecured this may be, but non payment still has consequences in terms of your credit worthiness and other debt collection measures - including the use of county court judgements and even bailiffs. The only difference between this debt and many of the more critical fixed costs outlined above is the time it takes for the consequences to bite.

If you are having financial difficulties then the figures that should go in this section are minimum payments only. You will need to stop using all cards until the situation is resolved.

The last section on the budget sheet is for income. That is, income after tax - employable cash.

Make sure all income is included. So, if you do have shares that earn dividends, or bank accounts that earn interest, then these figures need to be included as well as any salary income from yourself, your partner or anyone else in the household that may contribute to the monthly bills.

With all costs and income identified, we are now in a position to look at the overall picture and start developing a plan that will ultimately become our budget.

With everything in place, there can only be three scenarios:

1 - Income exceeds outgoings

2 - Outgoings equal income

3 - Outgoings exceed income

If income is greater than outgoings then you can continue comfortably. Cost reduction, budgeting and careful saving will pay dividends in terms of loan reduction, early mortgage repayment, or even building up savings and personal wealth.

If income equals outgoings, then the situation is a borderline one and action to reduce costs will need to be taken. However, it is unlikely that savings cannot be made and there is a strong likelihood you have caught things on time and can turn it around.

If outgoings exceed income, then this exercise has not come a minute too soon and it is now time to grab the bull by the horns and turn the situation around.

Planning the Budget

In the previous exercise, we have identified all costs and all income and now have a clear picture of the current situation. Using this information, the budget we set will, in effect, be an overview of how we live our lives from this point on. There will be certain rules that we have to stick with, but we will know that sticking to the rules will allow us to achieve our future financial goals.

The next part of the process is a little more painful and certainly more laborious than the last, but nevertheless must be done. Begin with the easy stuff first. This is the middle section on the budget sheet, i.e.:

- motoring expenses; - food and housekeeping;

- miscellaneous goods and services; - personal and leisure;

- sundries and emergencies.

There will be lots of low hanging fruit here (easy savings to be made).

For example, let's say your daily expenditure diary reveals that on your commute to work you buy a newspaper at the railway station and a coffee while you wait for the train. You buy lunch at the deli around the corner, but go to the local pub for a sit down lunch and a drink on a Friday. You have a drink with colleagues after work on average 2 nights a week and buy an evening paper to read on the train on the way back from work. This is what this expenditure looks like over the week:

Morning coffee: 1.50 x 5 = 7.50

Morning paper: 0.60 x 5 = 3.00

Lunch at the deli 2.50 x 4 = 10.00

Bar lunch: 7.50 x 1 = 7.50 After work drinks: 2.80 x 2 = 5.60

Evening paper: 0.50 x 5 = 2.50

Weekly total: 7.50 + 3 + 10 + 7.50 + 5.60 + 2.50 = £36.10

Look at this again. Every single item is discretionary, yet it will cost you £144.40 in a 4 week month.

You may not be able to give everything up on the list, but taking a flask of coffee to work with a packed lunch may be a start. Many newspapers now offer yearly subscriptions that will cut the weekly bill by more than half - if you still need to have a newspaper every morning and every evening (do you?). The pub lunch could be dropped and the drinks with the colleagues after work cut back to one drink one evening a week - still sociable enough for most people.

In this example we might get back something like £130 per month. If there are two of you doing it, it might be more like £260 per month.

You need to do this type of breakdown and cost reduction exercise on each line item. Drop things like takeaways to a once a month treat and (if you do not already) learn to cook and cut out ready meals and other prepared food. You will not only save money, you will find you start living healthier too.

Examine closely how you do your motoring. Could you mange with one car instead of two? Could you get rid of the gas guzzling 4 x 4, which would reduce insurance, maintenance, road tax and fuel bills - all at once? Take a look at a company like Cash Drive (http://www.cash-drive.co.uk) to see if you could buy a smaller car at a sensible rate.

Hopefully you are getting the idea by now.

Once the individual figures have been reviewed and cost reductions identified, you can put the new figures into the budget sheet and we can now start to see the new budget taking shape.

Next we can look at the first section. That is:

-housing costs;

-rates and utilities;

-important household services; -personal insurances.

These are largely fixed costs, but there are opportunities here too. Housing costs such as rent or mortgages can be reduced. Mortgage deals can be switched to take advantage of new lender deals, or fixed rate schemes taken on if interest rates look like rising in the near future. The term of the loan can be extended or (if things are really tight) payments dropped to interest only for a while. You need to ask the question.

If you are renting, could you manage with a smaller property, or a one in a less fashionable area? Could you move closer to work at the same time and reduce daily travelling costs?

Take a look at what seems to be fixed costs such as personal, or household, insurances and compare rates and benefits. Deals in this area change literally every week.

Gas and electric costs can be reduced by switching supplier or, better still, turning down the heating and switching off lights and appliances when they are not being used. Focus on this for a while and you might be pleasantly surprised at the difference it will make.

And so on.

The last cost section is the credit card and unsecured debt one. Much like insurances this may be a more flexible area than you think. If your credit rating is good then you have lots of room here to take on new cards and deals with 0% interest rates. Make sure when you do this that you close down the accounts you are transferring from. That is, you do not increase your overall indebtedness, or availability of debt.

If your credit rating is already poor, or bad, this may not be an option for you, so you will have to find other ways to reduce your repayments. One thing that creditors like to see is that their debtors are in control of the situation. A well put together budget sheet like the one we are in the process of outlining here can be a huge help.

Using the budget sheet you can identify all income and expenditure that needs to be made before handling your unsecured debt. This will leave you a set amount that can be used to negotiate reduced payments to your creditors.

This is a separate subject in its own right, but showing you are in control of your own finances may allow you to negotiate a reduced payment plan with the companies concerned.

Any other thing you can do in this area to consolidate debt and reduce overall interest payments needs to be examined closely.

However, you need to resist the temptation to make any loan consolidations that involve using your property for security. There is probably another way, so explore the other ways first.

The last section is income. You may have been tough with yourself in the cost section, but the other dimension to the budget is of course income. The more you increase your income, the less you need to cut back (or the bigger the benefit if you do).

Whilst writing 'increase your income' is very easy for me to do, in reality it is much harder to do. However, there may be opportunities you had not considered which may be worth exploring such as overtime, weekend shifts, unsociable shifts, additional responsibilities that could be taken on, or even a second job. Switching jobs could also be an option as could be starting a completely new career.

In other words increasing income is not always about getting further up the greasy pole, sometimes it is about taking a sideways move into any area you had not considered before.

One last point on income: while you have the budget sheet in front of you it is worth evaluating the cost of work. In other words, when you add up travel, parking, fuel, dry cleaning, child care, work wear etc then subtract it from your income - that will give you a true figure of what you earn.

Finalising the Budget

The above represents a substantial investment in time and effort. The end result will be a budget sheet which is accurate, personally optimised and which puts you in control of your own finances.

Having made this effort, you should now have identified specific allowances for each item and you now need to be sure that money is allocated each month to cover those items whether they occur weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly.

It is unlikely that you will be able to reduce all of your costs, move house, change jobs, etc, all at once, so you may have recognised already that this budgeting exercise can be a progressive thing that happens over time.

Therefore, to begin with, you will need to ensure that costs are under control and, as a minimum, outgoings equal income. Over time you will look for cost savings and income increasing opportunities and, once taken advantage of, you can then revisit the budget sheet, put in the new figures and move on.

One completely free benefit to all of this is that, once it is all complete and you are sticking to it, you get a full night's sleep whenever you want.

About the Author
Keith Wallis is a freelance writer on personal finance, loans and debt management in the UK

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Manage Credit Card Bills by Settling Debts

Manage Credit Card Bills by Settling Debts

By: Marjorie Salada

Have you started receiving credit card debt settlement notices in the mail? Have you been receiving collection calls? If this is the case, you have probably been in debt and been dealing with financial difficulties for quite some time.

Creditors are sometimes willing to settle the account for a lesser amount if the credit card account is seriously delinquent or has been written off. This creditor will usually accept the settled amount in one payment and the payment has to be made within a short period of time.

Now you may wonder why a creditor would settle for less than what is owed. Your credit card issuer is trying to reduce their losses and they have concerns about you paying this debt. Your credit issuer feels that recovering some of their money is better than not getting any of it back. Keep in mind that accepting a settlement may affect your borrowing ability in the future with this creditor, but it is a better option than bankruptcy or doing nothing at all.

A creditor will not usually settle on an account that is current. Normally, the account has to be at least 90 days delinquent before they will talk settlement and many credit card companies will wait longer than that. Here are a few things you should be aware of before agreeing to a settlement.

1. Your settlement payment may not completely satisfy the debt. There is a possibility that the uncollected portion of the debt could be turned over to another collection agency for further collection activity, but this is not the norm.

2. The IRS considers the amount of the debt that has not been satisfied as income. Any amount that exceeds $600 will be report on a 1099, to the IRS, by your creditors. You will be required to pay taxes on this amount.

3. Know what's on your credit report. If the debt is not on their at all, it is not recommended that you do anything with this debt. If it is showing as being "charged off," this is negative note on your credit report. If you settle, it will be noted as "settled for a lesser amount" which as also somewhat negative, but not as bad as doing nothing about it at all.

The best thing to do is to try to deal with the original creditor. Communicate with them in writing. If they will not deal with you, contact the collection agency in writing. If at all possible, try to negotiate a repayment plan on the balance. If you decide to settle the debt, get the terms of the settlement in writing to avoid problems on down the road. Once you have paid the debt, ask for a “release of debt” as proof that the company has agreed that the debt has been satisfied.

The best thing that you can do for yourself is to examine the curcumstances that caused your debt to get to this point and to put a plan in place that will prevent you from ending up there again.

Marjorie Salada is the owner of debtmanagement1.com, a website that contains information on getting and staying out of debt. If you are looking for information on debt consolidation, debt settlement, debt counseling or how to manage credit card debt this site is an excellent resource.

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The Right Way to Manage Credit Card Debts

The Right Way to Manage Credit Card Debts by Terence Young

You may or may not be in the midst of a debt crisis but no matter what your situation is, it is critical that you know the right way to manage your debts. Let's say that you are in a deep debt situation. What do you need to do to start managing your debts today? First of all - and this is most important - stop incurring any further debt. Now this can strike a panic attack in some of us who are use to reaching for our weapon of choice, the credit card, each time we have an emergency. This battle plan of using your credit card for every emergency is losing your personal debt war. You must stop now.

You must look at what money is coming in and rank your obligations. Sorry credit card companies. You go at the bottom of the list. Why? Because you are unsecured debt and because we can usually negotiate with you a little. Don't pay your gas and electric utility bill and see what happens. They will immediately pull the plug on you.

Here is what we do though. We take the cash we have as income and pay the credit cards first. Then we have to use the credit cards to pay for gas, groceries, and utilities and the cycle continues and we get deeper in debt.

Look, everyone wants their money. And when you are in a bad debt situation they credit card companies will not hesitate to let you know. But you have to eat and you have to put gas in your auto to get to work or the credit card companies won't get a dime if you lose your job or starve. So be tough and let things run their course but prioritize your debt into the necessities for life first and then at the very end pay the unsecured debts.

Don't underestimate your ability to handle debt matters yourself. Look, you can pay a debt counselor or the fees to a debt consolidation agency but you are throwing away money that quite frankly would be better off getting put into an emergency savings fund. When you are going through a debt crisis there will be all kinds of hounds out there who try to convince you that you are doomed with them. Ignore them. They won't go away at first but you have to be tougher than them. And it is highly inadvisable that you take unsecured debt you can't pay and move it to secured debt by means of a home equity loan that you won't be able to pay either except then you can lose your house. It doesn't make sense does it?

This is the information age. There is not much you cannot find out on the internet or at your local library. You can find out how to file your taxes, how to start a business, and how to manage your debt. You do not need waste your money on "expert" advice when most of debt management is really simple when you take an objective look at it.

Carefully come up with a plan to change your spending habits and cut out the useless expenditures. Take the money you save by doing this and split it between paying of your debt and saving. Remember, it was the spending that got you in trouble so by cutting the spending you are well on your way to an effective debt management program.

About the Author
For more resources on managing your debt visit the author at: http://www.debtconsolidatecenter.com/

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Manage Credit Card Spending with a Credit Card Wallet

Manage Credit Card Spending with a Credit Card Wallet by Jimmy Roos

What is a credit card wallet? Well a credit card wallet is a separate wallet that you can use to put your credit card in. They are especially useful if you have more than one credit card.

What usually happens is this. You to the mall to buy something specific or even just go window shopping. However once you get there you see lots of goodies at "special prices" and since you have your credit card with you, you start spending. The problem that most people who own credit cards have is this. They find it difficult to resist temptation, which is exactly what the store owners want. Because the more you buy the more profit they make. They don't care whether you buy with a credit card or whether you'll be able to repay the money you spend.

So the onus is on you to control your spending, no matter how tempting something it may seem. If you are unable to, then a credit card wallet may be your answer.

If you have a credit card wallet, you don't have to take your credit card with you wherever you go. This will help you if you are an impulsive spender who can't resist "special offers" and have to spend all the time. Whenever you are faced with these neon signs that say "Buy Now" you will be safe in the knowledge that no matter how much you want to, you don't have the means. Because remember, your credit card is safely at home.

We are better able to take sound and logical decisions when we are calm and are not put under pressure to buy something within a specific period of time. By having your credit card in a separate wallet, you cannot take it along accidentally, e.g. because you need the other things that are in the wallet. That means in order for you to take your credit card wallet with you, you must make a conscious decision without any pressure in the comfort of your home.

Many people buy things they don't need with credit cards and regret it afterwards. This is because they are always carrying their credit cards in one wallet with everything else.

By putting your cards in a separate credit card wallet, you are able to make better choices. You can choose when to take it and when not to take it. And by doing this you save money in the process, because it prevents you from buying things you otherwise might have bought. It is therefore something that I think every person should consider having, especially if you have a problem saying no!

About the Author
For more information on credit cards, including how to find the best deals please visit CREDIT CARD CENTRE now.

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Manage Credit Card Debt with These 8 Important Strategies to Raise Your Credit Score

Manage Credit Card Debt with These 8 Important Strategies to Raise Your Credit Score by VMT Singuillo

Many of us know what credit cards are for - basically to be able to purchase goods through credit and not directly by cash. But have you heard about building your credit history? If you do, do you know that significance of it?

If you have had the chance to buy a car or a new house, lenders will look at your credit history, before you can purchase any of these through credit. You will be able to build up a good credit history only if you are able to manage your credit accounts well. For your information, lenders usually look at your credit scores as follows:

a. Scores of 700 and above: excellent; eligible for the best criteria

b. Scores of 680 - 700: very good

c. Scores of 640 - 680: generally acceptable

d. Scores of 620 - 660: marginal

e. Scores below 620: cautious review is required. In this case, a borrower may not be able to obtain the best loans and terms available.

To improve your credit score, allow me to list 8 important strategies that you can do:

1. Repair any errors on your credit report.

2. Close those accounts that you will no longer use. It is best to request that a remark "closed at consumer's request" be posted on your report.

3. Pay all bills on time. A single late payment in the past 24 months will lower your FICO score.

4. Always pay each of your bills with at least the minimum amount required.

5. Reduce your debt levels. Potential lenders usually compare your total debt to your income.

6. Never maximize the use of your credit card accounts. If one of your credit cards allows you $500 for your use, never use the whole amount.

7. Update your current address by making your creditors aware of any changes. Mismatch of addresses in your report could slow down any loan applications.

8. Never issue a bouncing check. A single bounced check you wrote, once reported to a credit bureau, is likely to stay on your credit report for seven years. It is important to note therefore, that before you close any checking account, every check you have issued have been cleared.

Now, before you buy a house or car through credit, make sure that you know your credit score. Good luck.

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Manage Credit Card Debts - Credit Card Debt Consolidation Loans

Manage Credit Card Debts - Credit Card Debt Consolidation Loans

By: IsabellaNelson

Credit card is just another form of instant cash and it is a useful source of finance, in which there is no need to carry cash all the time for incurring expenses. Along with financial assistance, credit cards also carries two obligation with it; firstly, to pay high interest on it and secondly, to make timely payments of credit cards bill. It is possible that the person may get delay in making payments of credit card bills as there are so many bills pending, which emerges as hurdle in making timely payments. And, if he makes delay then this will make him pay huge fines and penalties. As the result of this whole process finally the person gets in the trap of debts. Generally it is seen that most of the people uses credit cards while incurring expenses, so this is the reason that why the credit card debts are common these days. In order to handle and control credit card debts, it’s recommended to avail credit card debt consolidation loan.

Most of the banks and financial institutions provide credit card debt consolidation loan to the person drowned in the deep sea of credit card debts. Credit card debt consolidation loan simplifies the payment structure of paying debts. The lender providing credit card debt consolidation loan merges or consolidates all the credit card debts and enables the person to pay single payment rather than paying number of credit card bills.

The benefit of availing credit card debt consolidation loan is that the person will be obliged to pay low rate of interest. Credit card carries very high rate of interest as compared to the interest rate in credit card debt consolidation loan. The presence of number of lenders also makes the interest rates of credit card debt consolidation loan more competitive.

Along with providing credit card debt consolidation loan, the lender also provides counseling session in which he discuss the problem, prepare a budget and makes plans accordingly, so that further these credit card debts doesn’t arises.

Credit card debt consolidation loan can also be applied through online, which further saves time, effort and money of the person. Only required thing is to fill an application form which asks for certain personal and financial details. And, if the lender gets satisfied then he calls back to the person for further process.

Financial market has made available this credit card debt consolidation loan to everyone that is; either he is homeowner, tenant, student, employed or unemployed etc. So, the person needs not to worry regarding his status while availing loan. In other words, credit card debt consolidation serves to all and helps them in leading a debt free life.

Isabella Nelson is an expert in finance , having completed her Master of Commerce in Finance from Brisbane University. To find Credit card debt consolidation loan,student loans debt consolidation,personal debt consolidation loans,bad credit debt consolidation loan at cheap rates , you need to visit www.lendersdebtconsolidation.com

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Manage Credit Card Debt to Shed Your Debt Burden

Shed Debt Burden Through Free Credit Card Debt Management

By: Aldrich Chappel

Because of uncontrolled habit of spending for every purchase through credit cards, debt accumulation on credit card has become huge problem for large number of the card holders. Free credit card debt management comes to the rescue of these people in a big way as it provides much needed services for debt management free of cost.

Free credit card debt management counseling services give you free advice on dealing with the credit card debts in an effective way. These service providing agencies can negotiate with creditors for a lower interest rate and lower monthly repayments which lessens the debt burden of credit card holder.

Free credit card debt management agencies can help you in finding required funds so that you repay debts of higher interest rate immediately. These agencies also see if you have tax refunds, extra refunds which are good resource of repayments of debts.

Free credit card debt management is usually done when you approach to the debt management agencies on the internet. These agencies are in loan business and when a likely borrower asks for advice to manage credit card debt, he is given the management tips free of cost. All you have to do is to fill a simple application format online after locating the agency on its website.

Credit card debt management enables credit card holders in effective management of expenditure through credit cards. The management helps in repaying debts in time also. If you think you can not personally manage the debts then take help of reputed consultants. They will guide you in bringing back spending on right track.

There are many ways for managing credit card debts at comfortable level. The agencies may advice that you should never put in use all of your credit cards as this way you will only spend more and number of debts increases. One effective solution is to use debit card instead of credit card which has high interest rates. Debt card spending is limited by the amount in your bank account and you can not exceed the spending. In case you have to pay number of credit card bills then better take debt consolidation loans for immediate pay off the debts.

Free credit card debt management is a free of cost way of keeping the debts at manageable level. Before the debts turn into financial crises for you better go for free credit card debt management advice. If you are advised to take debt consolidation loan better take it immediately for early clearing of the debts.

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Aldrich Chappel has been associated with Credit Card Debt Management, since its inception.To find Free Credit Card Debt Management,credit card debt risk management,credit card debt management UK,consolidate credit card debt management,professional credit card debt management visit www.credit-card-debt-management.net

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A smart way to manage credit card debt

A smart way to manage credit cards

By: Bob Benson

Credit cards are a great way to help you to control your finances. It’s true that occasionally we may make poor decisions with our money, while other times the events in our life can take us beyond what we want and we are sadly left holding the bill. If you have found that to be the case for you, you may want to consider this great way to manage your credit card debt.

If you are faced with several large credit card bills, a UK secured loan is one choice for you to consider. Many people are selecting a UK secured loan to add to their financial portfolio and you might want to consider using one to deal with those credit card bills. Here's how.

Gather together all of your credit card bills and add up the amount that you owe. Factor in the extra expenses you haven't heard on your credit cards since you receive those bills. Add to that about ten or twenty per cent, which is the "whoops, I forgot about that" factor. Then, with that figure, start shopping around. There are many UK secured loan institutions that want to do business with you.

Get the loan and pay off your credit card bills. If you think that you may still use your credit cards or, you may want to hide them away so that you reduce the temptation to use them.

Now, instead of having several credit card bills at a high interest rate due by the end of the month, you now have one bill that is due once a month at a lower rate. This is called consolidation. At first glance it may not seem obvious why you'd want to do this but there are two reasons:

The first reason is that you will save a lot of money on interest rates. In fact, some UK secured loan interest rates might be as much as half of regular credit card interest rates.

The second reason is that you will get one bill with a fixed amount due every month rather than several bills with several amounts due throughout the month. This will help you budget.

Credit cards can be an excellent tool to help you manage your finances and by the things you want or need. But when things go a ride and your bills get out of hand, which happens to be even the best of us, choosing a UK secured loan as a way to consolidate those bills will help you reduce your interest rates and set up a fixed amount of payment. Reduced interest rates will ultimately increase the amount of money you keep and a fixed amount due every month will help you plan your budget.

Jeff Lakie is the owner of www.home-improvement-lender.co.uk providing Uk homeowners with a free loan quote service. Visit us today for a free no obligation quote.

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How to eliminate your debt

Want To Lose Your Debt?

By: Nocita Carter

Copyright 2006 Nocita Carter

I’m sure your answer is yes to this question. Yeah, you may want to loose your debt, but aren’t sure exactly how to do this. Did you know that there are a lot of people in the United States who are in more debt today than we’ve ever been? We’re also saving much less! That’s right. Even though we make more money we’re saving a lot less than our grandparents did! I know you’re saying, things cost much more these days. Yes, I know, but we’re still spending more, which keeps us from saving the money we should for a rainy day.

In fact, the interest rates that are currently being charged on credit cards average eighteen percent and upward. Ouch! That’s a lot of interest to pay for a credit card especially if you don’t pay off your balance each month. Of course, your credit card company would like you to keep a balance on your credit card so they can collect interest from you! Remember you’re charged interest on your unpaid balance, that’s how the credit card companies make lots of money. You say to yourself, what can I do to reduce or eliminate my debt? Well, here are some tips to help you begin your path to financial freedom by reducing and eventually eliminating your debt:

1) Review all of your current billing statements to determine how much you owe your creditors. By doing this, you’ll know exactly where you stand with your bills and exactly how much you owe.

2) Look at the highest interest rates you are paying and the balances of these particular credit cards. Based on those balances, attempt to start paying off the credit cards with the highest interest rates first. This will assist you in reducing the amount of interest you are paying to your creditors sooner.

3) Pay more than the minimum amount due on your credit cards! You want to get your debt reduced and eventually eliminated by paying over the minimum balance that the credit card company is requiring you to pay. Remember debt elimination is your goal, so this will help you to work towards that!

4) Make sure to pay your bill on time in order to avoid late fees and extra interest charges added to your credit balances. You definitely don’t want to pay your credit card company any more money than you need to! Remember, the more money you keep for yourself, the more you have to save.

5) Don’t use your credit cards! That’s right, you’re trying to become debt free, so you’ll need to eliminate or reduce your spending on your credit cards. Yes, I know you’ll need one for emergencies. But, that’s just it, emergencies only! So don’t use your credit card for anything else other that a true legitimate emergency. Your goal is to stay out of debt and to become debt free.

6) You may want to take money from your savings or money market account to pay off your credit cards so you can become debt free or reduce your debt. If you decide to do this, make sure you keep some money in your savings for an emergency or a rainy day!

7) If you think you need debt counseling, then you may want to seek professional help to assist you with reducing or eliminating your debt. Just do some research via the internet to locate a company that specializes in this.

These tips should help you get started on your way to becoming debt free for the future. You’ll be glad that you decided to take this crucial step in taking control of your personal finances by losing your debt! Remember, it’s important for your future.

Nocita Carter is a writer and web designer that creates websites providing informative tips on various subject matter including personal finance tips on your personal finances at www.personal-finance-tips-for-you.com

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