Tips to Manage Credit Card Debt Unmanageable Situation and Debt Consolidation

When some one is in debts up to eyeballs, it is time to pay attention to personal finances and how they are shaping. In such a situation, only way left is i) to take stock of the situation immediately and ii) take very fast action to prevent the situation from becoming bad to worst like police or court. Very first thing one can do is contact all the creditors one by one and explain them ground reality to find a way out like requesting them lowering the interest rate and waiving the penalties while offering them easy repayment as bait money. Negotiation is the best way to prevent things getting bad to worse. By negotiation you can definitely find some way to getting relief in the situation and I am saying this from my own personal experience.

The main culprit that acts as a catalyst is lack of education regarding interest rates, penalties etc. that credit card and money lending companies levy in case of default. These clauses are always available in their terms and conditions you accept but some times the print is some small that you cannot read. You can take a readable print and understand everything before signing acceptance of terms. Since all the information is easily available on the Internet, you can make a deep research about the credit cards, companies and compare their terms and conditions. In most of the cases it is found that lack of education leads to bad decisions.

Here are few tips that you can use to improve your CREDIT CARD DEBT situation:

The foremost important thing is make a household budget immediately. Contemplate on the household expenditure you feel can be reduced even if it is small bits. The small savings so made can be diverted into other most pressing areas. This way you can inculcate habit of keeping some funds for emergency for future.

Making minimum payment for consistently long period is not a wise thing. His is what the credit card companies want from you. You go on making minimum payments and interest payments and they are happy. But where will you reach? The credit card debt will never liquidate. You need to make some plans to increase payment amount by cutting or saving expenditure from other expenditure heads like entertainments, gas, outings and give preference to credit card bills. This is a good way that will not lead to unnecessary burden and can be implemented easily with little wisdom. Transfer of credit card balance from a higher interest rate to a lower interest rate is good and provides some relief but efforts need to be made to liquidate the debt otherwise in few short months, the same earlier situation can arise

While you are in debts, you can consider doing some part-time job, starting some home based business or work on holidays which can provide some additional income and the same can be straight paid to lenders or credit card companies.

You can engage some reputed credit card debt consolidation agency and take their counseling. They are the best people to consult if you feel that the situation has gone out of control. It is just like buying peace of mind by paying some more on their services for getting relief from debt collectors and their frightening calls.

Make it a habit to reading the credit card statements between the lines. If you find any discrepancy or inflated interest for a particular month, the same needs to be brought to their notice immediately to reverse the charge.

Low Cost and Cheap Debt Consolidation Loans

Once you have a good job or business, taking loans from financial institutions is not difficult at all. When you have good standing every credit card company and financial institution will be running after you to offer you loans at lucrative interest rates. On the other hand sometime we have to overburden ourselves with loans to deal with immediate financial needs. But one has ultimately to pay back all the loans with the all the interest and penalties piled up.

Taking loans and revolving credit becomes very easy. Heavens forbid, for any reason if downturn takes place, it becomes very difficult to manage with different debts like credit card debt, unsecured loan, education loan etc. When such a situation arises, there is always a way to get out of the situation and we can resort to debt consolidation.

The debt consolidation will allow you to pay one monthly payment instead of several payments. Once you have got your debt consolidated and payment starts, the debt collectors cannot harass you any more nor can they make any unsolicited phone calls at your work or home. You just buy peace of mind and regain financial freedom within short of few years.

Main benefits of debt consolidation will have you pay reduced monthly payment with decreased interest, single payment instead of several payments for a no. of different loans, avoid bankruptcy, no dealing with debt collectors and regaining of financial freedom back soon.

Here for debt consolidation also, you have to be cautious. You have to select debt consolidating bank very wisely and understand their terms and conditions carefully. When you find a debt consolidation deal beneficial, you can go ahead.

If You are Suffering from Credit Card Debt and have Loans to Repay, This Article May Help You!

This article is for those persons who are for any reason facing credit card debt crunch and are completely in the hole. This article will work only if you have willingness to put in at least two hours daily and to invest some money, to build online business to get rid of lenders.

If you are facing any kind of financial problems, you have a computer and internet and willing to work, this is the most important article for you.

As you know, there are lot of unique ways, some easy and some difficult, to make money on the internet. If you want to get rid of the credit card debts, set aside some time to work daily in the evening for two hours and start building your online business.

The only thing you need to understand is how this affiliate marketing business works. Once you have grasp of it, you can get started. You can just start with a blog.

Read some information about affiliate programs on the internet. Don’t get overwhelmed with the vast information. Read some blogs on how to make money on the internet. Only pick up the articles that are important to you. See we have no time to waste. Just don’t bother about someone asking you pay money for something. Many websites say that you can earn lot of money over night or in few days but to my knowledge there is no such way that can earn you money overnight without doing some work.

Research about some good affiliate marketing websites of successful affiliates and see how they are functioning. You need to model them. If you can model even 10% of their methods, you can be quite successful. Research what people are selling and what people are buying. This sort of research you can do easily on the popular search engines.

Once you have done your research, join some good products with clickbank.com. Registration with them is free and easy. Clickbank has thousands of merchants on its roll. When you have joined some good products, Clickbank will provide you with affiliate urls for the products you join, the unique merchant’s website address related to your name that you will promote on the internet and the merchant can track the sale. When people referred by you purchase stuff referred from your links, you earn commissions. These commissions are on an average 50% per sale or may be more or little less.

Here, it may be mentioned that two things are necessary. One – a web hosting account and a domain and an affiliate link cloaker. I will tell you in a minute why you need these items. You can find a link cloaker for free on the internet. The affiliate links that merchants generally give you are long and look mysterious. To change the links and make them small, you will need this link cloaker. Link cloaker is small software. When you run this software, you fill up some details. With the click of a button the affiliate link changes to the short url of your choice. You can read more about link cloaker on the internet. This link cloaker will also provide you a small html file. You will mention the cloaked link in your blog post. The html file which the link cloaker makes for you is required to be placed in a folder in your hosting account’s public_html folder. Apart from this you do not require anything.

Reason for link cloaker and hosting is that blogging platform would not allow you paste original raw affiliate links in between the blog posts. It only allows the files that end with htm, html or php. The links that merchant provide you end with different numbers like ref?id=3464345 or something like that. So for this reason you would require hosting account, domain name and affiliate link cloaker.

Once you have got hosting account, link cloaker and joined Clickbank products, you join blogger or wordpress and open a blog account. Now you write a very appealing review for the product you have joined and want to promote. Cloak its link and mention the same in your blog post at two-three places. In this way you start adding posts to your blog. Make sure that the headings of the posts you write are very good and persuade people to take action.

After you have made a few posts, you can apply to google for adsense account. You can then easily have adsense ads placed in your blog posts which too will earn you money. One more tip is that you can start blog on any topic of your choice you are expert at. But here the main purpose is earning money. So write articles on money and how your visitors can save money and benefit from your products.

In all probability, in a few days your blog will show up in search engines and start earning money for you which you can pay your lenders and towards credit card debt. The return will be exactly in proportion to your efforts. Therefore, this article does not stipulate that amount of money that you can earn since it is directly related to your skill and knowledge of internet marketing. If you feel like you can devote time and some money, you can try this method to get rid of credit card debts.

Beware of Email Scams Prevalent on the Internet

The author has received several scam emails from different sources. These scam emails contain different subjects - some have selected you to give huge sum of money as reward just for doing nothing, some royal families just want to transfer their million dollars in your bank account. All these emails are a fraud. Their ultimate intention is to take your hard earned money in form of bank transaction fee or parcel or postal fee. They will require you to give them their credit card numbers. So, to deal with these sort of email, only rule of thumb is delete them mercilessly. Second good action you can take is REPORT details about the scam email to authorities like yahoo or gmail or msn from WHICHEVER CLIENT you get scam email.

These scam emails contains very persuasive and attention grabbing headlines. I am repeating one of the email below for your information.

COPY EXCERPTS SCAM EMAIL NO.1

YAHOO NOKIA E-LOTTERY

We are delighted to inform you that your E-mail
has won you 750,000.00 pounds (Seven Hundred And
Fifty Thousand pounds) in our International E-mail
program which was held on January 2009 in UK.

Yahoo collect all the active E-mail users in the
internet including Hotmail, Msn,Gmail, Rediffmail,etc.
and your email was among the lucky winners selected.

Your parcel order number is SNT66774

You are to contact the skynet courier shipping company
for delivery of your winning prize to your door step.

SKYNET COURIER EXPRESS CONTACT

COPY EXCERPTS SCAM EMAIL NO.2

Dear Customer!
Kindly contact the delivery department (FedEx Delivery Post) with the
details given below:
FedEx Delivery Post
Contact Person: Frank Christ
Email: fedex-delivery08@hotmail.com
Tel: :+2347033035013

Reasons:This is due to the fact that a friend of yours left a parcel
containing a Bank Draft of $1,050,000.00 and A Letter for you.You are to
act fast by providing the information requested below to enable us make
the delivery ASAP......
This will help you avoid any form of query from the Monetary Authority of
your country.However, you will have to pay a sum of $200.70 to the FedEx
Delivery Department being full payment for the Security Keeping Fee of the
FedEx company as stated in our privacy terms & condition page

To be continued in the next post.

So PLEASE BE AWARE OF THESE SCAM EMAILS AND NEVER PAY ANY HEAD TO WHATEVER THEY SAY.

Want to Participate and Earn in FOREX Trading?

The FOREX market is all about trading between different countries, in currencies of those countries and the timing of investing in certain currencies. The FX market is trading between counties, usually completed with a broker or a financial company. Countless people throughout the world are trading in forex, which is just like business of stock market. FX trading is completed on a much larger overall scale. Much of the trading does take place between banks, governments, brokers. Small amount of trades take place in retail settings where the average person involved in trading is known as a spectator. Forex market trade goes up and down everyday with financial market and financial conditions. Millions are traded on a daily basis between many of the largest countries and this is going to include some amount of trading in smaller countries as well.

From the studies over the years, most trades in the forex market are done between banks and this is called interbank. Banks make up about 50 percent of the trading in the forex market. So, if banks are widely using this method to make money for stock holders and for their own bettering of business, the money must be there for the smaller investor, the fund mangers to use to increase the amount of interest paid to accounts. Banks trade money daily to increase the amount of their money holding. A bank may invest millions overnight in forex markets, and the next day make that money is available to the public in their savings, checking accounts and etc.

Commercial companies are also trading more often in the forex markets. The commercial companies such as Deutsche bank, UBS, Citigroup, and others such as HSBC, Braclays, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan Chase, and still others such as Goldman Sachs, ABN Amro, Morgan Stanley are actively trading in the forex markets to increase wealth of stock holders. Many smaller companies may not be involved in the forex markets as extensively as some large companies are but the options are still there.

Central banks are the banks that have international roles in the foreign markets. The supply of money, availability of money, and interest rates are controlled by central banks. Central banks play a bigger role in the forex trading, and are located in Tokyo, New York and in London. These are not the only central locations for forex trading but these are among the very largest involved in this market strategy. Sometimes banks, commercial investors and the central banks will have large losses, and this in turn is passed on to investors. At times, the investors and banks will have huge gains.

All said, it is advisable that since forex involves investment of money, you may want to learn everything before diving into Forex trading. As anything in life, some risks are inherent in forex trading which one has to take into account before switching to forex trading.

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Before You Buy a New Credit Card Read the Fine Print

While selecting a credit card, a user may want to take into consideration various elements like annual fee, transaction charges, late fee charges, over-limit (amount withdrawn over and above the limit of approved credit card limit) charges etc. While credit cards have their own benefit, they warrant greater responsibility also.

At the time of issuing a credit card, the credit card issuing banks, or their agents (who are sometimes commission based and out-sourced) seem to be very sweet. At this time they are even ready to ignore some of their conditions in a hurry to grab the customer and to issue the credit card. They even ignore prospective customers’ financial standing

You have got a credit card and you are happy. But this happiness is likely to turn soon into nightmare once you find it difficult to either in repaying in whole or in making regular minimum payment. Indian consumers are not at all happy the way banks authorized third party debt collectors and settlement agencies are working.

Credit card interest rates add up to more than 30 percent and in many cases, goes up to 50 percent where late payment and interest is added up. Although Reserve Bank has from time to time issued notifications for fair practice, banks swear by them but practically they do not seem to following up the RBI directions in letter and spirit.

Mr. C. V. Giddappa, general secretary of the Credit Card Holders’ Association of India (a very important organization which looks into the interests of credit card holders in Bangalore), pointed out that “These banks are cheating the public”. Mr. Giddappa’s organization estimates that Indian consumers are paying 16.4 million rupees a day (more than $406,000) in unfair charges, and is agitating for a debt-free India by 2020.

Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTP), Government of India has started an investigation of card-selling practices of banks including Citigroup, HSBC and the local banks ICICI and HDFC.

It is very important that before getting into the world of credit card full understand its terms and conditions, hidden and open. You may want to understand your needs. Do you really need a credit card or you are just buying it to boost social status.

Reserve Bank of India keeps an eye on the credit card issuing banks that they strictly follow best practices in issuing the credit cards, debt collection and other related services. To protect consumers rights, Reserve Bank of India issues Notifications from time to time and oversees its implementation. You can click this for more information.

At the end of the day, the mantra is buy a credit card only when you feel it absolutely necessary to have it. Otherwise, debit cards are good enough. If you keep your needs and wants within limit, there will never be any need for a credit card. Avoid as far as possible.

Credit cards And Identity Theft Protection

Credit cards have occupied a significant place in our lives. Credit cards have become a necessity for every person. When 2-3 credit cards and cash cards are in pocket, and we are away from home, they are very useful. Whenever some emergency cash need arises, we can handle the situation. But with the power of credit card, comes responsibility. Money withdrawn from ATM needs to be paid back within time or to avoid heavy interest rates.

We need to be very alert and cautious while handling credit cards. Before starting use of credit cards, information relating to terms fees and charges, interest rate, cash limits etc is to be understood thoroughly.

Benefits

In many cases there is 100% cash limit and ATMs can be accessed from hundreds of visa/master/plus ATMs spread all over the country. They can be used at hundreds of merchant outlets. Free insurance is provided in many cases and flexibility of payment is already available.

Credit Card Safety Tips

Sign on the reverse of the credit card with dark ink to avoid misuse.

Credit card should not be handed over to any other person, under any circumstances; howsoever close he or she may be.

While making online transaction, it should be ensured that the merchant with which you are dealing has a secure payment system. This is will protect your identify and credit card number.

In case of loss or identity theft, matter should be reported without loss of time to the card issuing authority and at the helpline phone provided to cardholder to avoid fraudulent withdrawals.

Personal Identification Number (PIN) should not be disclosed under any circumstances. Sometimes people write their PIN number on the card, which is a dangerous practice.

In case when you have reasonable belief that your PIN has been leaked, immediate steps should be taken to report to Credit Card Company and new PIN should be got issued.

Credit Card and PIN number should not ever be kept together.

These are simple tips but can go a long way in inculcating the habit of keeping and using the credit cards with responsibility.

8-Tips for Personal Finance and Money Management

One of the highest favor a person can do to him/herself is managing personal finances wisely especially when one is in job. It hadly matters whether one is on a small post or big post. One is forced to spend according to status. High status carries high responsibilities and high expenditue in management too. You needs to manage personal expenses to avoid going them out of your control.

In the present economic scenario, it has become all the more critical to manage finances. It becomes personal responsibility of everyone to spend money as wisely as possible. While tons of complex information and software is available on the internet to teach how to manage personal finances, the ACTION starts from you only. Unless you take action, nothing can happen.

This is what you can easily do and manage at your own level:

1. Set a convenient level of monthly saving say 10 per cent, or 5 per cent, whatever convenient according to your situation and stick to it.

2. Next tip is use crdit card wisely and rarely to avoid credit card debt. That too, only when you are sure that you can esily repay the balance within the prescribed period. Once you use a credit card, make sure to repay the amount within prescribed time limit. At the same time, resist the habit of keeping too many credit cards. Two cards should suffice.

3.Instead of frequenting grocery store every now and then, we can stock things of everyday use for two to three months, barring perishable items.This way we get lot of discount and save lot of money.

4. We can put a tab on monthly pesonal expenses and adhere to that limit at the same time avoiding the temptation of credit card use.


5. Avoid the habit of driving to small distances where we can walk easily. This way we can inculcate the habit of walking and benefit from the same.

6. Avoid the habit of impulse purchase for instant gratification. This habit is very dangerous. While you are ready to make an impulse buy, immediately postpone it to the next day.

7. Think at home before going to bed whether acquisition of such an article, was absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, you can acquire it next day.

Note: I also used to buy on impulse and temptation and amassed large number of books, CDs and toys. Now I finding a way to dispose them off.

8. The greatest mantra is never buy a thing unless it is absolutely necessary to buy for yourself or family.

This is very important that you take control of your money now and make a budget right today. Once you have a tab over your spending habits, bad economy can never impact you.

There is no doubt that when financial worry is there, several health problems also creep in. With budget control, you and your family will always remain happy and healthy.