Collection Agencies
July 6, 2008
I have been religiously paying for my credit card balance these past few months. However, last June, due to unavoidable circumstances, I have not been able to pay but I have noted to myself that I will resume paying again as soon as I get my paycheck.
After that, I have been receiving calls again from collection agencies. They once again resumed calling my office, which is useless because I rarely go there because I work from home. They also call at home and started threatening me again. I calmly spoke with them and explained the situation. They made me feel like I was running away from my financial obligations and even wanted me to pay the full amount at a specified date. There was no way I can do that and if only I have the money, I would have paid the credit card company a long time ago so as not to incur additional charges and for me to experience all of the hassle.
When our conversation ended, I explained that I have already made payment arrangements and it was just unfortunate that I failed to pay for June. I just told them that I’ll pay as soon as I have money. Sigh. It was really a hassle and I promised myself that after I pay off my balance, I’d never get a credit card again. Ever.
On The Road To Being Debt-Free
June 17, 2008
When I was still single, I maintained two credit cards. It was easy then to pay for it and I was able to manage my finances. Later on, I have to admit that my credit cards ruled over me. It gave me a sense of power every time I swiped my card and bought things or ate out even if my paycheck was far from coming. Honestly, I thought of it before as as a well. One that is bottomless.
Here’s when the problem started. I transferred to another company and it was a struggle at first because we got paid by the hour and our hours were reduced resulting to a lower paycheck. I had bills and credit cards to pay and my salary wasn’t enough to cover for all. I decided to do convert my balance into installment with low interest rate. This worked at first but when accountables outnumber the receivables, it’s difficult to make ends meet.
I started paying just the minimum due which I knew would cause me problems in the future because the actual balance is just piling up along with the accumulated interest. There even came a time when I was not able to pay for months because I simply can’t accommodate it anymore in my budget and I had to make sacrifices.
The demand letters to pay came along with calls from collection agencies. I entered into a bargain and I told upfront how much I can only pay for in a month. It’s still a long way to go to eventually being credit card debt-free. It wil take years but I’m slowly getting there. I don’t have a single credit card now. When I don’t have money, I stay at home. If I need to buy something, I wait for the next paycheck and see if I can squeeze it in the budget. I learned my lesson. It was the hard way indeed but I’ll overcome this and hope that I will come out a wise spender.
Creditors Are Evil
May 30, 2008
Check this out… I’m not a bad citizen. I pay what I need to. I do my best with stuff. But, we also all know that the economy is going straight into a hole. So, sometimes, when you get charged 25% interest it’s hard to pay the card.
Do you know, that credit companies are now calling me at my home office? That’s right… I’m expecting calls from students, and the phone starts ringing at 7:00 in the morning… and won’t stop until 10:00 at night. So, because of my aggravation, I wanted you all to know how illegal this is and to let you know that there are restrictions on credit card companies harassing you. Basically, there things is to set you on a psychological imbalance so that you pay them your life savings. However, they actually don’t have that right. If you are dealing with credit companies…here’s their restrictions.
1. They can’t call you during office hours.
2. They can’t call your office. AT ALL.
3. They can’t call anyone else in your home, such as family or relatives.
4. They can’t call you before the hours of 8 AM or after the hours of 10 PM.
5. You don’t have to promise them anything if they do call, meaning a ‘payment plan’ or even a debt settlement.
That’s right. It’s basically a harassment line. And, if they call you, you have every right to sick ‘em. And, I would do it on all levels. The only way that creditors are going to stop trying to run over everyone’s lives and keep them in a point of submission is if everyone starts learning the rules and doesn’t get trapped by their corporate decision to leave all of the poor people in turmoil and strife.
In the years ahead, this is definitely one of the areas that U.S. citizens are going to have to start to battle… if the credit card companies don’t completely fall on their own from the harassment, you can expect some rebellion will start… or at least I suggest it does.
To much to handle……
May 10, 2008
Credit cards are great as long as you are aware that the more you have the more you spend. Personally I have been in debt over my head and managed to escape it with some rather unsatisfying decisions that could not be avoided. The plastic is fun while it lasts but eventually you find yourself in need of help. I am famous for robbing peter to pay paul. Recently my families finances went to pot. We have established a new goal. If you can pay out six hundred dollars a month in credit card debt then you should of been able to buy the stuff (with cash) that you put on the dang card, right? This is right but thinking to yourself you’ll just keep your cash and put it on a card is the worst decision I have ever made. I just loved all these companies giving me credit cards, I could buy whatever I wanted, right? Well sure until the card is maxed out and you are still paying a monthly bill on stuff that is over 2 years old. Now any extra money you have goes to the credit card bill and not towards anything new you want because your card is maxed out and your money has to pay the bill on that. UGH!!!! As the PROUD owner of ten different credit cards, not to count the personal loans taken to try and pay them off only to run them up again, take it from me if you cannot pay for it with cash don’t buy it. Save then buy. Plastic is not perfect!
Avoid College Financing with Credit Cards
May 1, 2008
As a college student, you will find that many credit card companies are willing to give you pre-approved credit cards. In fact, some will give you credit cards with a large credit amount. Other cards will have you make no payments until after you graduate or complete your course work. Sounds tempting? There are some pitfalls that you should be aware of.
Charging books, clothing, occasional tanks of gas and so forth during college can be very tempting. But if you finance your college through credit cards, you are going to have some huge bills when you graduate. Worse yet; many are at extremely high interest rates.
Avoid college financing with credit cards and you will learn to budget. You will have significantly less credit debt when you graduate from college. Plan, optimize and think smart with your money while you are in college.
Be Aware of Pre-Approved Credit Cards
May 1, 2008
I cannot tell you how many pre-approved credit cards show up in my mailbox daily. They are simply amazing. It is a challenge to meet all my bills now. My credit isn’t even really that good. But, I still receive numerous monthly offers for pre-approved credit cards. Here are a few things that I have learned.
Most of the pre-approved credit cards are for a very low credit amount. This means that if I don’t have that type of cash on hand; I probably shouldn’t be using a credit card to pay for it anyway.
The majority of the pre-approved credit cards offers that I receive have horrible interest rates. You would be amazed at how high some of them are!
The membership fees for the pre-approved credit cards are out the roof. If they want to give me a credit card, why are they charging me membership fees? Obviously, they looked at my credit record; right?
Some of the pre-approved credit cards aren’t pre-approved at all. You have to deposit what you want your credit limit to be. If I had the money on hand, why would I need the card to begin with?
If You Can’t Get Out
April 24, 2008
If you have a credit card that you can’t pay, keep to a minimum or that is accumulating interest, you may feel like you are getting swamped by the world of debt. However, despite the hardships you may be going through and the massive calls you may be getting from credit card collectors, there is a way out.
Because of the large amount of bad credit, there are now programs that are designed to get you out of debt without putting you in further. One of the well known options is Specialized Funding. This operation is created with getting you out of the credit card debt system within two years, no matter what situation you are in.
The way that this program works is you sign a contract stating your situation and what is happening to put you in debt. You give the information of all of your debt collectors that are with small debt. (Not with loans such as mortgages or cars). As soon as this happens, the responsibility transfers over to the funding program. They will set you up with a consolidated debt program where you pay a certain amount to a bank once a month.
The beauty of this program is that it stops the creditors from being creditors in the modern sense. The interest is completely cut off of the credit cards. The creditors are re-directed to specialized funding so they will stop calling you. And, you can get your payments cut by up to 40 - 50%. This allows you to get out of debt completely with these cards in a matter of two years.
Of course, if you use a program like this, you want to make sure that it fits you and that you don’t have another alternative. This is for individuals who are far behind on their credit, can’t catch up with minimum payments and are being harassed by creditors. These are like debt settlement programs, but the system is designed to not be a hassle and to get you out as quickly as possible.
If you feel like there is no way out of your credit card problem, there is still a way out. Finding the right program to cut out the high interest and other creditor problems is always available - right around the corner.
Legislation to keep kids away from credit fails in Tennessee
April 18, 2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The proposal failed 3-3 along party lines in the Republican-controlled Senate Education Committee on Wednesday.
Opponents of the bill say students aren’t targeted. But if a card is obtained, they say credit limits are in place to help students avoid debt.
This bill is not drastic, it does not say college kids cannot have credit cards. The proposal was to give students an opportunity to opt out of receiving offers. I think that it’s sad that students cannot choose to opt out of solicitations. They’re not denying the students actual credit cards, just giving them the option to not have it in front of them all the time.
“We think we run a responsible program,” said Hank Dye, spokesman for the University of Tennessee, one of the bill’s main opponents. “We start out with a modest credit limit … of about $300. There are safeguards in place.”
The credit limits only cover what you can spend. A card can easily go over the limit in late fees, overlimit fees, and interest fees. Once you max out one of these $300 cards the interest can put you overlimit, you don’t have a job so you’re going to incur a late fee, and then next month the same thing will happen. One $300 limit credit card can easily go over $1000 in a matter of months from just a little reckless spending up front.
The article goes on to say that of the 2,100 University of Tennesee students only 1.2 percent defaulted on the card last year. What about the rest of them? Did they ask how many had to ask their parents for help? How much in total late fees and overlimit fees were charged to these kids that don’t even have a grasp of bills or money yet?
Of course not. Having statistics like that would not look good for the credit card issuers. It’s a shame to give college-age children the power to make decisions that can really start them on a downward spiral of credit problems that can be lifelong.
Full story available from the Houston Chronicle…
Before You Get Credit
April 14, 2008
With the economy shifts, the problems with getting enough to sustain us and other money problems is what most would think is an easy solution - put it on plastic. Even though most of us are trying to build our credit and are using credit cards as a means of survival, you may want to start thinking before you spend and start driving your debt up.
The number one rule that anyone who is spending money on a credit card should know is related to the ability to pay. Credit cards may seem convenient enough with the capacity to make a minimum payment on the budget that you are on. However, you never want to make just the minimum payment. This is designed to only let you pay off the interest of the card, which will always be rising and will never allow you to actually pay off the card. If you have a minimum payment box, pay at least twice as much as what it says. This way, you are actually paying something off instead of paying the creditors for giving you the bill.
If you want to keep your credit on the good side, don’t get into a credit card that you can’t handle. This always is related to APR. I’ve seen some APRs as high as 25%. Even 7-10% is a little too high. If you start falling behind, it can kill your pocket book, cause the minimum payment to raise, and put you in a complete hole, where you can’t pay off the debt. If you have to get a credit card, make sure the APR is extremely low.
Even more than this, check out the hidden fees. They are always there and are always being tagged on. Even though credit cards come with a ten page manual, all in fine print, read it all before you get involved. Not doing so can be detrimental in the long run, especially if you are trying to build credit on your record. There are hundreds of ways that credit card companies are trying to get your money. If you are going to be paying them, make sure you know what for and why.
The sound advice is to make sure you know exactly what you are going to be using before you do, otherwise it is a lot of money down the drain. With almost any credit card, the design is to keep you paying for 10 - 20 years on various things that are detrimental to you in order to have convenience of being able to get what you need. The motto to follow is, before you swipe, know what you sign.
Eliminate Credit Card Debt Easily
April 7, 2008
Making the decision to improve your credit status is a huge step. Having excessive credit card debt can not only ruin your financial happiness, but it can also cause tons of unwanted stress. Most Americans that experience this type of hardship have a hard time getting out from under this burden. Some think it is best to ignore the problem and pretend as though it’s not here, while others just figure it’s unimportant. Consumers that take steps to control their credit card debt realize that having an unhealthy financial future could minimize their progress.
Make a list- Take the time to write down each and every credit card debt that you have. Not only will this help you identify your problems, but it will also give you the chance to face them as well. List the complete balance, the minimum payment requirement, and the percentage of interest for each credit card debt. Usually, you can locate this information on your credit card statement.
Place in order- Once you have added all of your credit card balances to the list, prioritize them according to interest rate percentages. Place the highest one first and then the others in descending order. Doing this will help when it comes time to make your full payments of each one. You can start with the highest and then eventually work your way down to the least amount.
Create a payment budget- Plan out your financial payments each month. Determine the amount of money you can afford to pay each month. Instead of just making the minimum balance payments each month, try to cut unnecessary expenses for higher payments. The more you pay, the faster you can get rid of unwanted credit card debt. Although you don’t think you can afford it at first, it’s always a good idea to go beyond the minimum.
The best way to free yourself from credit card debt is to face the challenge head on. Cut frivolous spending and start paying off these credit balances. Doing this will increase your credit score and secure your financial freedom. Not facing the fact that your previous spending habits are what got you into this issue would be a large mistake. It may be a slow process, but it will definitely be worth it in the end.
