Articles - Consolidation
1. Credit Card Debt Freedom is Possible
2. Debt consolidation Options for Reducing Credit Card Costs
3. Debt Consolidation Versus Debt Negotiation
1. Credit Card Debt Freedom is Possible
By Joe Duchesne
Credit card debt have you drowning financially? You're not alone. The average American household carries $9,205 in credit card debt, according to CardWeb, an online industry tracker. Not managed properly, this debt can come to eat up all of your disposable income leaving little or nothing for bare necessities. Some people in this situation respond by charging more but that will only get you further in trouble.
Fail to plan and you plan to fail
There is this cliché that states that if you fail to plan you plan to fail. The first thing you need to do is evaluate where you want to be. Do you want freedom from your credit card burden? Is so, you need to develop a different action plan to the one you are currently following. Makes sense doesn't it?
Start by listing all of the debt you currently owe along with a list of what your monthly obligations are for each debt. At the top of the page, list the amount of income available to pay these debts after essentials like food, hydro, etc... are taken out. When listing essentials, it's important to include a certain amount for clothes, medical and entertainment because no matter how good your intentions, you will spend some money in these areas. If you budget ahead for them, you are less likely to just waste it.
Start paying one credit card first
Don't try to pay off all of your credit cards at once. Doing this will take too long and end up discouraging you. You're better off concentrating on getting one card paid off, then putting the money you've freed up from that one card and applying it to the next one and so forth.
Which credit card charges you the highest rate of interest? Start with that one. Pay the minimum due on all of your credit cards expect for the one you have chosen to focus on first. On that card, put as much money as your budget allows onto the card after all of your expenses and debts have been factored in. Keep doing this month after month until the credit card balance goes to zero.
Loose all credit cards except one
Plan to keep one major credit card for unexpected expenses, car rentals and emergencies. Get rid of all your other cards as you pay them off. Most people can't resist the temptation to spend money on a clean card. If this describes you, you're better off without many credit cards than you are to get right back into deep credit card debt.
Follow this plan, and depending on how much you owe, in a year or so, you should have pretty much achieved credit card debt freedom!
Joe Duchesne is the webmaster of Bootdebt.com a website dedicated to helping people with credit card debt, debt consolidation, getting out of debt and becoming financially literate. Reprint freely as long as you keep this resource box and include a live keyword rich link back to my website.
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2. Debt consolidation Options for Reducing Credit Card Costs
By Charles Essmeier
Americans are using credit cards more than at any time in history, and credit card companies are reaping record profits. One of the reasons that the credit card industry is so profitable is that so many of us use our credit cards unwisely.
If you have good credit, you can get a credit card with a reasonable interest rate; say 10% or so. You can keep that rate by paying your bill on time. On the other hand, if you pay your bills late or fail to pay in full, then you will have to pay late fees and interest. Late fees often range between $15 and $29; some card issuers may charge even more. Adding to the pain of paying late fees, however, is the likely change in interest rates on your card if you pay late. A late payment may trigger a substantial increase in the interest rate on your card, and that reasonable interest rate of 10% may suddenly rise to 20% or even 25%!
Its hard to pay off your credit card balance when you have late fees and 25% interest, so this is something you definitely want to avoid. If you usually pay on time, and you pay late once and are charged a late fee, ask your credit company if they will waive the fee. They will often do it once. Some will not do it at all, but it is always worth taking the time to ask. If they are unwilling to help you, then you may be better off shopping around for a better credit card deal elsewhere.
You can often save money by transferring your balance to a lower interest credit card, if you have one. Competition has been fierce during the last few years among credit card companies, and it is fairly common to receive promotional rates of less than 5% if you transfer your balance to another card. Be sure to read the fine print, however. Those low rates usually apply only to transferred balances, and not to new charges placed on the card. There is usually a time limit associated with the promotional rate, and higher rates may apply at the end of the time limit, perhaps even retroactively!
In summary, if you want to minimize your credit card costs, try the following:
· Shop around for a credit card with a low interest rate.
· Pay your bills on time. A good way to do this is to pay online. That way, you wont have to worry about your check being delayed in the mail.
· Transfer balances from high interest rate cards to cards with lower rates.
· Use your cards wisely. If you can pay cash, do it.
A few simple steps can save you a fortune in interest charges and late fees.
©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including End-Your-Debt.com, a site devoted to debt consolidation and credit counseling, and HomeEquityHelp.net, a site devoted to information regarding home equity loans.
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3. Debt Consolidation Versus Debt Negotiation
By Gary Gresham
Debt consolidation versus debt negotiation are two options that are available to you if you need debt assistance. When your monthly bills become too much for you to handle, it makes sense to use debt consolidation or debt negotiation for solving debt and credit problems.
Debt Consolidation
Debt consolidation services have prearranged debt repayment plans with most credit card and collection companies. When you sign up with a debt consolidation company you are offered a lower overall monthly payment based on a lower interest rate they have arranged with the creditor.
This payment is lower than what the credit card companies offer you, saves you money every month and is often the best way to consolidate debt.
One benefit of a debt consolidation repayment plan is it will stop you from getting harassed by your creditors as long as you make the new, lower monthly payments.
The downside of the debt consolidation repayment plan is that you have to cancel all credit cards that you include in the plan. You are also charged your first payment you make toward the program and an additional monthly administration fee. This administration fee ranges from flat fees of $10-$50, while others charge a $5 fee for each creditor. That means you'll pay about $30 a month that doesn't go to paying off your debts.
The debt consolidation program benefits you if you have high interest rates or have higher credit card bills than you can manage. Some people like to make only one payment to one company for all of their debts.
Debt Negotiation
Debt negotiation is sometimes referred to as debt settlement. This is most often offered to people who can't handle a debt consolidation program. If you can't make the minimum payments of a debt consolidation repayment plan or haven't made payments in the past 3 months, a debt negotiation program is the next step for solving debt and credit problems.
One benefit of a debt negotiation program is you stop making payments to your creditors. The debt negotiation company either takes monthly payments from you and keeps it in an account, or lets you keep the money in your own account.
While you are making these monthly payments to the debt negotiation company, they negotiate with your creditors for a lower payoff of around 40-50% of your total amount of debt. Once the negotiated settlement is agreed upon with your creditors, the debt negotiation company makes a one time payment to them.
A downside of the debt negotiation program is it lowers your credit score for as long as you are in the program. However, most debt negotiation companies require the creditor make the credit report show paid in full so it doesn't show up as a negative on your report once your account is settled.
Some debt negotiation companies include a credit repair service that will remove the negative items caused by the debt negotiation program. You pay for this service as part of their program.
Now that you have an idea what debt consolidation versus debt negotiation is choose which one will work best for solving debt and credit problems for you.
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