Will you agree with me if I tell you that, the key to financial success is to live within your means? This is an old belief that modern day income earners have completely forgotten. This is because it is now extremely easy to get into financial trouble. Credit card, store cards and other loans are easy to acquire. However, you will agree with me when I say that they are very hard to pay, you may end up living a paycheck-to-paycheck kind of life if you will not fix the situation immediately.
Consolidation debt may save your sinking credit standing. However, you need to be careful if you need a consolidation debt. Many debt consolidation companies may offer their services when you need a consolidation debt. This may be helpful but it is more advisable if you try to make a realistic personal assessment of your financial condition before deciding on acquiring a consolidation debt.
First, you need to consider the ultimate reason why you think a consolidation debt may be your only way out. Does interest rate burden you that even you pay your dues; your obligation remains that same. If this is so, then may be a consolidation debt can be your best bet. If you need to reduce your monthly payments to only one in order to avoid sacrificing other debtors in favor of another, then this may also be a reason for acquiring consolidation debt. Additionally, proper handling of a consolidation debt may speed up repair of your credit standing. This may be a very good benefit you will get from acquiring a consolidation debt.
When you finally decide base on your personal assessment that really, consolidation debt is a good way to help take back your credit standing and credit worthiness, then you need to decide on the next issue. Do you want to negotiate for your consolidation debt or would you need a credit counselor? You may try to negotiate personally but this proves to be too tedious and that there may be technical terms you are not familiar to. Let us hope you do not fall prey to loan sharks that will apply unrealistically high interest rates on the consolidation debt you will acquire. It may be a good recommendation to get the services of a reputable and respectable lending institution to negotiate for your consolidation debt. There are benefits you may get from debt consolidation companies that you may not provide for yourself. Since, they are in the business of providing debt consolidation services, they may be able to negotiate better and may lessen your debt, lessen the interest rates and even lessen the late payment charges. This is going to be very beneficial. However, you need to be smart in choosing a debt consolidation company to represent you in your consolidation debt application. Because there are some who may take advantage of you. Get references and find resources that may help you in assessing the best lending institution to represent you.
Finally, a good recommendation for acquiring a consolidation debt is to get
as many proposals as you can. From there, you assess which offers the most
flexible terms. Consider the monthly payments you need to set aside. You may
also need to consider the length of the payment terms and the charges of the
debt consolidation company for the services in acquiring your consolidation
debt. After all these get the most advantageous offer and start from there.
Take back your life and your credit standing. Avoid headaches and sleepless
nights due to bugging creditors. When you finally get a consolidation debt,
pay diligently, this is the best way for you.
The Fed Proposes a Rules to Limit Credit Card Fees
The Federal Reserve has proposed a rule that would limit penalty credit card fees - those fees that are imposed when you default on your credit card, e.g. miss a payment. Right now, credit card companies are charging the maximum penalty fee to the majority of their customers. If it's passed by Congress, the new rule could end that practice.
The rule would stop credit card companies from charing fees that are more than the violation. For example, if you go over your limit by $5, your maximum over-the-limit fee would be $5. The rule would stop inactivity fees and prevent cardholders from being charged multiple times for one violation.
You can let the Federal Reserve know what you think about the proposed rule by commenting at their website. Make sure you leave a comment for R-1584.
The Fed Proposes a Rules to Limit Credit Card Fees originally appeared on About.com Credit / Debt Management on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 02:10:52.
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...(more)Watch Out for Unauthorized Charges From iTunes
Note: This news story came out last year, but many readers are still facing problems with fraudulent charges from iTunes.
A MyFox New York story warns about fraudulent credit card and check card charges that appear to be from iTunes. The first signs of the fraud include charges or pending authorizations from a APL*ITUNES business for $1.00 which might seem to be accurate or an email for gift card receipts that were purchased with your account. The fraud is happening to a wide-variety of people who may or may not have an iTunes account. From the news story:
The high-tech scam has claimed victims from New York to California. At the heart of it all is Apple's wildly popular iTunes. Victims say it starts with an unexpected e-mail for purchases they never made. That's how Rachel Katz from Manhattan found out, "I got two emails thanking me for my purchase."
But by the time victims get the e-mail receipt it's usually too late. The receipts appear to be legitimate, and come from Apple, generated by the user's iTunes account. The receipts show purchases for iTunes electronic gift certificates and charges that hit checking accounts, credit cards or PayPal depending on what the user has linked to his or her iTunes account.
Some of the thieves wait for the $1.00 charge to complete before hitting the account with even higher charges. Sending an initial small charge through first allows the thief to determine whether the account is legitimate.
Many victims of the fraud are having trouble fixing the situation. Neither the banks nor Paypal nor Apple accept ownership. Meanwhile, victims are left without hundreds, even thousands of dollars.
Brett Larson with MyFox recommends deleting your credit card information from iTunes. Instead, he suggests you fund your account with an iTunes gift card. The cards can be purchased from many retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, and Best Buy. Or, you can make iTunes purchases with single-use credit card number available from your credit card company.
I just deleted my credit card information from iTunes by going to Store --> View My Account. I clicked on Edit Payment information and next to "Credit Card" I selected the radio button next to "None."
If you notice an authorization or charges from Apl*itunes, contact your bank immediately. Here are some Tips to Avoid Credit Card Scams and information about disputing inaccurate credit card charges.
via Consumerist
Watch Out for Unauthorized Charges From iTunes originally appeared on About.com Credit / Debt Management on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 02:05:33.
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...(more)Are Some Creditors Trying to Hide the True Cost of Credit?
Credit card issuers are now required to include credit card repayment time and cost on the front of your billing statement, but they may be trying to skirt that new requirement.
Credit card issuers are now required to give a minimum payment warning letting you know just how much you'll end up paying in interest if you make the minimum payment on your credit card. They also have to clearly state late payment penalties including late fees and penalty rates. Both these disclosures are supposed to be printed on the front of your billing statement.
The rule applies to printed statements and if you check your billing statement online, you might not see the warnings unless you download the PDF version of your statement. Could this be the real reason why some private-label credit card issuers started charging consumers a dollar to receive paper statements?
CreditCards.com reports that back in December of 2009, retailers who issue through Alliance Data Systems gave cardholders the option to get their statements online or pay $1 for paper statements. Of course, there'll be some customers to pay the fee because they can't or won't check their accounts online. The ones who opt for online statements could miss out on vital information about how much they're paying for credit.
Are Some Creditors Trying to Hide the True Cost of Credit? originally appeared on About.com Credit / Debt Management on Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at 02:42:48.
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...(more)Credit card skimming is a type of credit card theft that allows thieves to steal your credit card information without stealing your credit card. After being hidden in ATMs and other credit card machines, credit card skimmers collect your data in what would have been a legitimate transaction. Waiters, retail clerks, and other customer service representatives can hold skimmers in their hands and swipe when you're not paying attention. Learn more about credit card skimming, how to recognize a skimmer, and how to avoid the theft.
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Beware Credit Card Skimming originally appeared on About.com Credit / Debt Management on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 00:18:06.
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...(more)5 Ways to Spend Your Tax Refund
It's tax season and for many taxpayers that means a tax refund is due. If you know you're getting a refund, you've probably already started thinking about how you're going to spend it. Buying consumer goods would stimulate the economy, but paying off some credit card debt would stimulate your get-out-of-debt plan. See 5 Ways to Spend Your Tax Refund for some ideas on what you can do with this year's income tax refund.
5 Ways to Spend Your Tax Refund originally appeared on About.com Credit / Debt Management on Saturday, February 27th, 2010 at 00:18:53.
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