Credit card consolidation: Few tips to eliminate your credit card debt

Filed under: Debt Management Add Comment

The plastic money has severely affected millions of consumers in the US after the recent economic meltdown. Americans do not use their cards wisely and continuously buy things on credit cards. These consumers end up incurring insurmountable amount of debt. The debt stricken consumers who are struggling to get out of debt can enroll in a debt consolidation program to end their financial troubles. Here are a few ways to consolidate your debts so that you can regain your financial situation.

  1. Prepare a list of the debts that owe to the credit card company along with the interest rate on each debt. Make sure that you create a list in descending order of the interest rate so that the high interest debts are on the top of the list. You can estimate the total amount that you owe to the creditors so that you can design your repayment plan.
  2. Negotiate with the creditors to lower the interest rate on the outstanding balance so that it is affordable to pay off. You can provide evidence of your downturn financial situation so that the creditors agree to lower the interest rate. Once you lower the interest rate then you can consolidate your debt into a single monthly payment to pay off the owed amount.
  3. You can apply for a new credit card with Zero percent interest rate or with introductory rate offer. You can transfer your balance to the new card. Your monthly payment along with the interest rate will be reduced and it will be easier for you to pay off. But ensure that you pay off the debts with the introductory rate otherwise the interest rate will jump back to it original rate.
  4. You can prepare a stringent budget plan so that you can track your expenses. When you prepare a budget then you can avoid splurging you hard earned money. You can design your monthly budget so that you can save considerable amount of money and use it for consolidating your debts.

Therefore, these are the four effective ways to pay off your debts to regain control over your financial situation. Consolidation helps to eliminate your financial woes without blemishing your credit report.

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Outsmarting the crafty debt collectors – Smart tips to handle them and stay out of the sand

Filed under: News & Updates, Personal Finance

Receiving harassing calls from the debt collectors – this is something most debtors dread! When you fall back on the minimum monthly payments of your multiple credit cards, it is most likely that the credit card companies will go through the list of collection agencies and hand over your account to one such company. Selling off your account to a debt collection agency is the beginning of all your financial worries. You may start getting harassing calls from the collection agents and this may soon become an annoying and a frustrating experience. The debt collectors, the state regulators and the credit counselors all believe that ignoring and avoiding the calls of the debt collectors is always a bad idea. But how long are the debtors to tolerate the misbehavior and the threats practiced by them? Well, read on to know about some tactics that you may adopt in order to handle the credit card debt collection calls.

1. Avoid debt collection: Your credit card accounts are only handed over to the collection agencies when you have fallen behind on the monthly payments of your credit cards. Just don’t let this situation arise altogether. Try your best to manage your personal finances, live within your means, remember the due dates and make the payments on the right time so as to avoid falling back. Leave no stone unturned to repay your debts before they’re handed over to the third-party debt collector.

2. Get to know about the consumer rights: The FTC has passed several publications that have been designed to educate the consumers about their rights and the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act). Harassing calls during any point of the day, abusive language, threats and contacting your family and friends for your debt amount are all illegal and must immediately be reported to the FTC or the Federal Trade Commission. If you’re being subject to such phone calls, contact your State Attorney General and take the needed steps.

3. Ask for debt validation: They may send you letters or notices regarding your debt accounts and if you’re ignoring them, stop doing so. As per the FDCPA laws, the consumers are allowed to send written requests for debt validation. Debt validation is nothing but making sure that the debt that you’re being accounted for is actually yours. Don’t even bother to take any step towards your debt if you see that the debt account is not yours.

4. Safeguard all your bank accounts: If you really owe a particular debt amount to a credit card company and you have not paid it, the debt collectors can freeze your savings and checking accounts as this is one of the court-ordered options for debt collection. Sudden debiting of a lump sum amount from your checking account may become hazardous for your family budget. Therefore, you must safeguard your checking account and savings account so that you may come to know about any action that is taken against you.

5. Record your conversation: If abusive language is used against you, you must immediately record such conversations so that you have enough proof when you file a complaint with the FTC. Don’t tolerate anything that is not in regards to the FDCPA law as this is plainly illegal.

6. Get help from a professional company: Last but not the least, you can get help from a professional company like the non-profit debt counselors so that you start making your credit card payments through that company and the debt collectors stop harassing you thereby. Contact a debt counselor and get yourself enrolled within a debt management program so that you can breathe easy.

Before your credit card company glances through a list of collection agencies and sells off your credit card account to one of them, take the needed to steps to avoid such calls altogether. Manage your money so that you can repay your debts on time and avoid the harassment from the credit card debt collectors.

Get Equity Release Calculator to Ensure a Steady Future

Filed under: Personal Finance

As days are progressing, pensioners are getting reduced in numbers and therefore retirees are landing up in troubles. However, the option of equity release has brought a sigh of relief for many retirees with the assurance of lifetime security and steady financial assistance. Once you access the sites, you will come to know everything about equity release. But what about an equity release calculator? Well, it’s the basic device with which your hired agent will make the appropriate estimation of your monthly earnings.

Equity release calculators are not only meant for calculating the monthly payments you are about to receive but about all the possibilities whether your estimated property value can get you any gain or not. The first and foremost job for you is to look for a professional equity release agent. He will first examine your property conditions and accordingly estimate the monthly payouts you will receive. With the help of an equity release calculator, the agent will check as to how much portion of your property’s equity can be converted to cash.

Try to go for an advanced equity release calculator . The benefits are certainly much more with an advanced one. Now, you just can’t make use of the equity release calculator like a normal calculator. You need to know several facts so that you can have an idea whether you will be able to benefit something from the policy of equity release. For calculating the monthly equity release, you should know the present value of your property as well as outstanding mortgage if any. Well, these are crucial facts one should know while calculating the monthly equity releases. Remember, if you are not able to know your current property value, you have to call up a property appraiser so that he can appraise your property.

Jack cage is a full-time writer on equity release  and love to write on  personal finance and to live a debt free life  .He is a frequent contributor at http://www.therightequityrelease.co.uk/