Life after Debt

The most important thing is managing your money. Once you get control of this, you'll be on the road to financial freedom. Look at your finances as a business. This is how businesses stay successful and grow. Businesses are in business to make money. Making money also means keeping it. Wouldn't you like to always have money? Well this is a possibility if you manage what you make.

Look at churches for example. When people tithe, (including the Pastor) that money is supposed to go into some type of account or storage for tough times that church members may run into. Does that happen? Well, that's another blog. I think you get the picture. Budgeting your income annually can really make a difference.

read more

Negotiating With your Lenders

Negotiating your debt is one of the best and quickest ways to reduce what you owe. By doing so you can bring down your current interest rate which in turn will enable you to pay off your debts quicker. This can all be done by you in a very short amount of time. Before you decide to negotiate, remember to outline a budget plan so you'll have some idea of what you can afford monthly. If your pressed for time, have a debt settlement company help you with negotiations. Of course there will be a fee involved with that. The main goal is driving down those interest rates and getting that principal paid off.

read more

Debt Settlement can be a powerful ally

If you can't payoff your debts, try settling for a somewhat smaller amount. Search for a good debt settlement company that will educate you on many options that lending institutions won't tell you about. Often times you can negotiate the amount that you owe.

Collection agencies will often send settlement offers to you in the mail. I urge you to take full advantage of these offers. You can save a lot of money by paying off your debts with these settlement offers.

read more

Clearing up your debt and keeping your identity safe

We all can agree that most victims of crime are victimized by someone they know. It could be a family member a friend or someone you work with. Identity theft is no exception. Here's a couple of Do's and Don'ts to follow. Don't - work on clearing up your credit at work....why? It's their network and they can track your every keystroke. Do - wait until you get home....why? Because you are doing it on your own secured network. Don't - share your passwords with anyone, not even your grandmother....why? Your passwords are your only line of defense on your computer. Do - Have a secured network along with virus protection at home....why? Antivirus programs protect your computer from getting a virus and spyware which can track your every keystroke and you also need an internet security program with current updates. It may cost you but in the long run, it's well worth the spend. Don't - don't throw junk mail away....why? People WILL go through your trash and READ your mail. Do - Invest in a good shredder....why? Shredded mail is nearly impossible to piece together.

So when you truly get ready to begin the tedious work on clearing up your credit, please keep these pointers in mind. Also by doing this yourself, you can help others clear up their credit on their own.

read more

Paying off your debts on your own for free

Anyone who has been denied credit can obtain a free credit report. You must request a credit report within two months of being denied credit. Often times Equifax, Trans Union, and Experian contain different information and often times they contain the same information. All three must be examined closely if one wants to begin an accurate analysis of credit repair. You don't need a credit repair agency to do this. All you need is dedication and time. When you report inaccurate information in your credit reports it will take up to thirty days to be cleared. Once you have all of the inaccuracies out of your report, you can begin paying off your debts one at a time. Remember you can fix all of this for free on your own. Although it can be time consuming, you will be happy of the results in the long run.

read more

Is Bankruptcy the Answer?

How much debt is too much debt? Meaning, when is it time to basically throw in the towel? Many times when debt seems out of control, (not through irresponsibility) there is nothing left but to start over. Sometimes life brings situations that are out of our control. It could be Natural disasters, divorce, death of a loved one, layoffs, and even pay decreases. All of these are causes of financial hardships. I know that there are many debt relief programs out there such as debt consolidation, and credit repair but, if your laid off from work or if the bread winner is no longer a part of the picture, bankruptcy may be the only alternative to getting your life back.

read more

Working with consolidation programs

Consolidating what you owe can put you in the driver's seat of repairing your credit. Although bankruptcy will give you a clean start much faster then debt consolidation, filing a bankruptcy will take you much longer to repair your credit and also the record of a bankruptcy will be in your credit report for seven years. We also have to look at changing our lives. Ex. canceling that cable account, changing your cel phone plan to the minimum etc. Of course these types of plans and ideas will work if you still have substantial income coming in. The three things that we must not forget, 1)shelter, 2)food, and 3)medical care.

read more