A common way people get into more debt than they can handle is by falling prey to tricky marketing tactics, which cause them to owe more than they bargained for.

Let us use an example of Zero Percent Interest until July 2008 for an item purchased in July 2007. Many people purchase expensive items under these conditions, believing they get the item virtually free for 12 months, and can then start making payments in July 2008.

Note the offer carefully. The borrower is usually required to make at least minimum payments throughout the no interest period; and while it may be true that no interest is attached to that minimum payment, interest charges will accrue for that entire 12 months. In July 2008, if the bill is not paid in full, the balance due or total debt will be for the cost of the item plus 12 months worth of deferred finance charges; on top of which more interest will accrue.

The same holds true for No Payments Until offers. No payments are due, but if the debt is not paid off entirely by the until date, all of the accumulated interest will then be added to the amount due, and additional interest will accrue on the total balance. People will often purchase items under these conditions with the mindset that they have x months to come up with the money. It may seem manageable at the time of purchase, but without a dedicated pay off plan during the offer period, borrowers may find themselves with a hefty balance owed at the end of the offer period.

Take the example of a couple that purchases a new couch for $1300 on a 12-month no payments offer. They could expect interest rates in excess of 20% through the store financing and therefore should anticipate interest due of $250 or more by the end of the 12-month period. Unless the $1300 is paid off before the due date, the debt balance will become $1550 instead of the original $1300. On top of that, the 20% interest will now be charged on any outstanding monthly balance.

The only way to truly have zero percent interest on either offer, would be to pay off the item completely before the until date, but it is still a risk that should be carefully considered if not altogether avoided.

About the Author:Marie Spaulding is the founder of Debt Pay Off Plan. Through the use of its debt pay off calculator and custom month-by-month payment plans, the company helps people strategically get out of debt, cut years off their payments and save thousands of dollars that would otherwise go to banks in interest payments. http://www.debtpayoffplan.com

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To live debt free: is it even possible, in this modern age of convenience and buying with plastic?

You bet it is! More and more people are doing it, too, as they become fed up with the crushing burden of credit card debt - not to mention the unfair practices of the credit card companies they must deal with.

Why live debt free, you might ask? After all, you’re getting by OK as it is, making your credit card payments and buying most things on credit, like most Americans.

If that is the case, perhaps the question is: Wouldn’t you like your life to be better than it is? Wouldn’t you like to do more than just “get by”?

Think about all the money being wasted on interest payments on those credit cards. That’s money down the drain, a complete loss - and why? Because you wanted to buy the new high-definition TV before you could afford to pay cash for it, or because you wanted to take a vacation now and pay for it later.

Well, you’re paying for it all right - paying twice its actual value, once you factor in finance charges and interest. The thought of all that money being wasted should be enough to make you want to live debt free.

Consider also the stress that goes along with being in debt. Right now, you may feel the crushing weight of debt, which sits squarely on your shoulders at all times.

You have to make those credit card payments every single month. If you miss a month, you’re charged late fees and your interest rate skyrockets, which means you owe even MORE money.

If you are like most consumers, you probably have several credit cards you’re paying on. What if you lost your job? What if there was a health crisis that made you unable to work? All that debt will still be there, and guess what: The credit card companies DON’T CARE about your personal circumstances.

Now think about the peace of mind you’ll have knowing you don’t owe anyone - anything - anymore.

All of those ridiculous credit card offers you get in the mail every week? You can throw them away and breathe a sigh of relief as you realize you’re no longer caught up in the debt trap.

And if by chance there should be some setback in your financial situation, you won’t have to worry about making credit card payments. You’ll be able to concentrate on what really matters: your health, your family, and on the task at hand. Without debt, you are in a much better position to thoughtfully respond to challenges that you are faced with.

To live debt free is to live a life with much less stress and anxiety about your finances. Don’t you want that for yourself? Well, you can have it. Get started today.

Richard Gorham is the founder and President of Leadership-Tools, Inc. His web site, http://www.leadership-tools.com is dedicated to providing free tools and resources for today’s aspiring leaders. Offering high-quality tools in the areas of Business Planning, Leadership Development, Customer Service, Sales Management and Team Building.

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If you’re one of the millions having financial difficulty you’re not alone. Sixty-five

percent of Americans are in serious debt and need a viable and safe debt relief

solution. That’s why many consumers turn to attorney debt negotiation professional

debt help.

What is attorney debt negotiation? It is an aggressive approach to consumer debt reduction. And it may be appropriate for consumers with serious amounts of unsecured debt and are experiencing legitimate financial hardships. It also may be appropriate if you cannot afford to repay or get out of debt by making minimum payments to creditors and also want to avoid filing Chapter 7 and 13 bankruptcy.

Attorney debt negotiation is an ethical debt relief service that allows consumers to reduce unsecured debt such as credit card debt, unsecured debt, medical bills or accounts in collections through proven legal processes. Debt reduction has helped thousands of debtors to get out of debt safely and is backed by U.S. Federal Laws.

How effective is your debt negotiation program? To date, the debt reduction techniques the Law Firm uses to negotiate your unsecured creditor debts has worked 100% of the time.

Attorney debt negotiation is so successful because the settlement attorneys use special legal techniques that only attorneys know how to use. These attorneys use powerful and complex Federal and State consumer statutes such as the Fair Credit Billing Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Truth In Lending Act.

if you want safe, legal, & proven debt reduction, you have a solution.

For more information, visit http://www.ConsumerDebtLaw.com

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There is a right and wrong way to pay a debt, and it can make a difference when you start trying to get dings removed from your report.

First, don’t ever let them know where you work, or where you bank. They have no right to this information, and you have no obligation to give it to them. The only reason they want it is to make it easier on them to collect if they decide to proceed with legal action against you. So just say, “no comment”, or “I’m prefer not to reveal that information”.

Second, don’t use personal checks to pay. It gives the creditor a world of information about where you live, your banking information, and in some cases your drivers license number. Get a POSTAL money order, or buy one from an institution not associated with your bank. If I buy a money order from Wells Fargo, I probably bank at Wells Fargo.

Make a copy of the cashiers check or money order and put it in your file. Make sure you keep it accessible and safe. Collection agencies are known for keeping lousy records - and if YOU can’t prove it, you didn’t do it. You don’t want it to come down to nothing but a your word against theirs scenario.

Some collection agencies engage in the unscrupulous practice of accepting an offer for payment in full, only to reassign the balance of the debt to a new collection agency with which you have no such agreement. This is not legal in most states - of course, that doesn’t keep them from trying!

THIS IS IMPORTANT. The states where it is blatantly illegal for the creditor to modify the terms are:

Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington & Wyoming.

Some states have made modifications to this law. When the credit deposits a check intended as full payment of a debt, they can explicitly retain their right to sue you by writing the EXACT words - “under protest or without prejudice” on the check with the endorsement. Those exact words must be used. Anything else will not work. This applies in the states of Alabama, Delaware, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia & Wisconsin

In California there is a seeming contradiction in the law that works as a loophole.

In California, the collector can make an arrangement, and then cross out any language pertaining to full payment. But California also has a different law that allows debtors to circumvent the first law.

Since not everyone lives in California, I’ll write a separate posting on the blog to explain how this works there.

Ted Batron is a financial expert who specializes in debt counseling and custom debt elimination plans. He has developed a short eCourse that’s a great primer for those who are want to learn how to negotiate, eliminate and settle credit card debt at a 30-70% discount and become debt free. If you would like to know more about Ted Batrons “5 Debt Settlement Secrets You Should Know” eCourse, visit http://www.No-Debt.net

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Firstly, you will have to accept that communicating with your creditors is the key, so try not to hide from your creditors telephone calls, as a lack of contact with them can be more damaging to your situation in the long run.

If you have not notified your creditors of your financial difficulties beforehand, the first contact you will probably receive from them will be from one of their recovery team or late payments department.

Their reasons for calling you are generally to find out why your payment did not arrive when it was supposed to, and to apply some pressure to you to make a payment immediately.

Creditors will vary their tactics, dependent on how much you owe them.

Strangely enough, it can be the creditor to whom you owe the least money, that may give you the most pressure.

If you imagine yourself in the creditor’s shoes for a moment, you can see that if a person in financial difficulties owed you 30,000, it is unlikely that they will be able to repay you any more quickly just because you apply threatening behavior towards them, whereas if somebody owed you 200, you maybe able to influence that person to maintain at least some level of payments by threatening the person with legal action should they stop paying.

It is not a certainty that you will receive calls regularly, indeed, some creditors may not call at all, but when they do call, the type of telephone calls you can expect from them can vary immensely, from a courteous call and a gentle reminder, to the threat of legal action against you should you continue to be unwilling to make a payment.

Here are the golden rules that you need to assist you when your creditors call.

• Be polite and stay calm, even if the person on the other end of the phone is being rude to you.
• Take the name of the caller and the name of the creditor they represent. Take notes and keep a date and time log of your conversations, and what was said as this may become very useful to you later on.
• Keep your manner courteous, short and, above all, to the point. Try to avoid being engaged into a conversation about your repayments.
• Do not promise to make a payment and then break the promise. Even though promising to make a payment will end the call, I can assure you this action can make the calls even more difficult later on.
• Try to keep control of the call. Remember, you are the still customer.

Then, depending on your situation :

• If you are entering into an IVA: Give the name, address and telephone number of your insolvency practitioner to the creditor, and explain to them that you are in the process of proposing an IVA. Ask them to contact your insolvency practitioner, as they are dealing with all your finances and have instructed you to refrain from making any payments to your creditors at all.
• If you are entering into a debt management programme: Give the name, address and telephone number of your debt management company to the creditor, and explain to them that you are in the process of proposing a debt management programme. Ask them to contact your debt management company, as they are dealing with all your finances and have instructed you to refrain from making any payments to your creditors at all.
• If you have decided to declare yourself bankrupt: Explain to the creditor that you are unable to make any further payments and you will be contacting your local county court with the intention of petitioning for your own bankruptcy.

If at any time, you are losing control of the call, explain that now is not a good time to discuss your personal circumstances with them, and ask them to call back at a more convenient time, and then end the call.

If you are unable decided which debt solution would be in your best interests, then take professional debt advice as soon as possible.

The chances are there will be several solutions available to you which will help you to deal with the situation, but remember, ignoring the problem will only increase the pressure you are under, and your debts and your creditors are not likely go away without a resolution.

Being in debt can tear a person apart. In my years as a professional debt adviser I have heard thousands of peoples debt stories, and as unique as each story is, there is one common point that just keeps repeating itself. Each person felt so much relief when they had made the call to ask for help.

My name is Iain Wrenshall. If you have a debt problem and need to discuss it with a debt professional, in the strictest confidence, I invite you to call me, for free, on 0800 088 7503, anytime. If I am not available to speak to you in person, one of my team of debt specialists will guide you through all your available options and help you to understand each, therefore allowing you to make an informed decision on how to handle your personal debt situation.

You may also wish to visit our Debt Help website, where you can find plenty of useful debt help tips and advice.

Take this link if you would like more information on some of the Debt Solutions I’ve mentioned above.

Or you could ask The Debt Detective, our online calculator, to help you find the most suitable debt solution for you.

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The number of people who are consistently in debt they can’t pay off is in the millions. Though some are lucky to climb to the top of the mountain of their debt, others are often faced with having to declare bankruptcy to find salvation. However, they should realize that credit card debt help is out there for them and it is just around the corner if they only make an effort to find the numerous options available.

Eventually your life will be overrun with stress. It appears in in the form of collection calls, notices in the mail, etc.. catching up with skyrocketing interest rates is almost impossible for anyone to do, the higher the total debt we have accumulated the harder it is to climb out of the financial hole we have dug for ourselves because of a missed payment.

Obviously, you need to stop using your credit cards. I strongly recommend keeping the accounts open to maintain your credit profile. If you want to start using them again and do this cleansing exercise every couple of years then that’s your choice. If you have that kind of self control then personal finances will be easy for you. But there is a practical and effective way to wipe out debt and it begins with putting the cards away.

And I’ll be honest, this is the first and hardest step. It’s an addiction for some people, and a necessity for other. The way credit card companies work is that as long as you pay the minimum payment they will keep raising your credit limit. Need more room? No problem, they will give you another $1,000 to spend that you cannot afford.

The key is to start off with smaller, more affordable programs that you can try yourself. Don’t run out and hire a professional debt relief service just because it’s the only idea you have. Statistics show that most people who use these services in the beginning end up in more debt than when you started!

From my personal experience with escaping debt, I honestly suggest you visit Debt Relief America. Learning the techniques found there was the turning point for me, and I think it will be the same for you.

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A debt diet is a debt management plan that helps you control your debts and helps you get control of your finances. There are a number of different steps you will need to take, as suggested by financial consultants and advisors, to help you get rid of all your bad debts.

Here is the step-by-step process that is practiced while following a debt diet plan. The steps you will take are:

• Step #1: Know What You Owe and Beyond
• Step #2: Cut Your Expenses
• Step #3: Find an Extra Source of Income
• Step #4: Prioritize Your Debts and Pay Them Off
• Step #5: Take Action

Let’s get into exactly what you need to do for each step right now…

Step #1: Know What You Owe and Beyond

It is very important that you know how much you owe. But just as important, you need to know the total outstanding debt of your entire family. In all likelihood you are not aware of the debts your spouse or children have, which may ultimately get added to your responsibility.

Therefore it is essential that you discuss your plan of going on a debt diet with your family and analyze the actual figures of your debt, including the interest. Categorize your debt according to its type, such as debt owing to meeting dayto-day expenses, investments, education, etc.

Step #2: Cut Your Expenses

If you owe a debt that costs your day-to-day expenses, work out plan to pay it down as soon as possible. As you probably already know, it is not a good idea to manage your daily life on credit cards or personal loans.

Either you need to find some other sources of income or work out drastic cost-controlling steps to get out of the risky life style of borrowing money to live day-to-day.

- Follow the Debt Diet By Cutting Expenses

When you are on your debt diet, you may have to restrain from a lot of the temptations and “little luxuries” out there that people in debt fall for on a daily basis.

I know it is difficult when you first start your debt diet to do this, but once you have given up those little indulgences that you really do not need, you will start to see your savings account rise and your credit card balances decrease. That will make the short-term sacrifices well worth the effort.

- Get Extreme: Cutting as Much as Possible

If your current debt situation is extreme, you might have to get extreme with your debt diet. Let me explain.

Taking the above step one step further, you should try to put off all possible expenses. You should not think of spending a penny for anything that is not a necessity for you. Prioritize your needs as the most important, important and less important.

Meet all the “most important” needs, compromise on certain “important” needs, and ignore the “less important” completely. Try this “Extreme Debt Diet” for one or two months and you will quickly get back on the right track.

Step #3: Find an Extra Source of Income

This is an important step to reduce your debts. Every family can work out an alternate source of income, either from a part-time job or by a running a small business.

You may opt for working as a tutor on a part-time basis or work as an agent to sell some financial products. These kinds of job do not require any additional investments, and the best part is that these type of jobs are flexible in terms of time. By that I mean you schedule when you work (and how often you want to work).

Step #4: Prioritize Your Debts and Pay Them Off

The earlier you reach to this level, the better. Once you work out your debt diet plan, start paying off your debts immediately.

You should give priority to the debts that cost you the most. This usually means your credit card debts.

Try to follow innovative debt reduction options such as consolidation of the debts and refinancing your mortgage, etc. These type of options will help you rapidly get out of debt.

Before refinancing your debts or taking drastic actions, you should meet with a qualified financial advisor. They can guide and help you, as well as make sure that you are not making any major financial mistakes.

Step #5: Take Action

Now that you know the basics of going on a debt diet, you only have one more thing to do - Take Action!

Fabio Marciano is the author of The Secrets of Wealth and president of The Wealthy Pauper, a company whose mission it is to help educate people about investing, getting out of bad debt and personal development.

Get your hands on free debt diet resources designed to help you go on a debt diet at: http://www.payoffallyourdebt.com/free

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Debt is considered to be a disease that is circulating throughout the USA today and everyone is suffering from it in one way or another. Although not everyone is in a situation where their home is going to be foreclosed and bankruptcy appears to be the only escape, many people are in this situation but there is action you can take to make sure your financial situation does not reach these extremes. Getting out of debt takes a great deal of commitment and self discipline but it is possible and while you are striving to regain your financial independence you are also learning how to prevent these problems in the future with better money management skills.

First and foremost you want to make a list of all the bills you have to pay each month, including your loan payments, etc. By writing down each and every bill you are required to pay each month, you begin to see just how much money you owe in many different areas. You want to include details like how much your minimal payments are, what the interest rates you are paying are at and what the total owing for each credit loan is currently at. You always want to pay off the highest interest rate debt first to save yourself money in the long run.

It is important to mention that credit card debt affects over 30% of your overall credit score and if you have a great deal of credit card debt this should be a priority as well. As you can see it takes a great deal of planning, budgeting and organizing in order to get out of debt but taking the steps in the right direction is all you need to start making some ground. From here you need to honestly look at the monthly income you receive and conduct the proper calculations to figure out if you can afford to pay all your monthly bills and how much you will have left over.

Getting out of debt requires you to live frugally for a short time in order to use every dollar to invest towards your debt; otherwise you will be in debt for years and spending thousands of dollars a year to pay off pure interest rates. You want to take the money you have left over and put it towards your highest interest debt which is almost always a credit card. If you find that you do not have enough to pay each of the bills in a month than it is time to consider options such as debt and bill consolidation. You want to take the time to find this out well before your bills are due because if you are already in a great deal of debt, the last thing you want on your credit report or late payments.

Debt is a vicious cycle we all get into at one time or another, but by choosing to take these steps above, you are taking control of this debt and not letting it control your life.

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There are many debt reduction options to choose from when seeking out ways to improve your financial situation. Not all options are equal, however. What works for one person, may not help the next.

The first, rather obvious way to lower your debt load is simply to pay down your debts. It may seem impossible, but one method helps to make it more feasible. This method, named the snowball method by finance expert Dave Ramsey, has been proven to work wonders for people.

The snowball technique is quite simple. You begin by ordering your debts from lowest to highest. Then, you pay the minimum required amounts on all of the monthly debts. After that, you should put whatever money is left towards paying off the smallest debt. So, the smallest debt will get paid off first. You can then move onto the next smallest debt, etc. You should repeat this process until you are in the financial situation that you wish to be in.

The advantages to this method include visible progress in reducing your debts on a regular basis. You will begin to see results very quickly, solving your problems more quickly than you would expect. As debts get paid off, you will have more free income to put towards the larger debts, further speeding up the process.

Once you get to a more comfortable point, you can feel more free to reward yourself with spending some of the money on fun things (but don’t get any farther into debt by doing so).

When you see progress and reward yourself, you will have psychological motivation to continue. The main drawback to the snowball method is that because of compounding interest, it will take more time any money overall to pay off your debts.

For example, if you pay off a $1,000 debt, a $2,000 debt and a $10,000 debt they may all have the same rate of interest. But, if you pay the lowest amount first you have to pay more in interest because you are paying interest on the highest amounts of debt for longer periods of time.

Paying the highest debt first will save you money because you are lowering the amount of interest that you must pay. So, this method is more cost effective, but it takes a lot of discipline to stick to because the largest debt is being slowly reduced. Results are seen less quickly. It takes a lot of willpower to pay high monthly payments when it seems like not much is happening to lower your debt. For some they look for various low balance transfer credit cards for a consolidation loan as their way out!

Lack of willpower can easily get you into debt, and it can make it hard to get out of it. You must find the desire to work through the difficult times. The snowball method can help with this, even though you will pay a larger amount over time. You will fill financially successful as you make progress.

We’ve created the perfect resource for you on the topic of low interest credit card consolidation. Find out why beginners and experts choose us as their source for information at http://www.everlife.com/balancetransfercard.php

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Strictly speaking, his advice was preceded by another Heinlein maxim as well. “Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity.” Today, that advice gets abused eight ways to Sunday, as the average household is currently carrying credit card debt to the tune of over $10,000. Assuming an interest rate of 18%, this works out to about 150 bucks a month going to the credit card company. Thats money NOT available for things like fresh flowers on your desk… new skis… upgrading to gourmet coffees and wines for daily consumption, or dinner out (including tips and babysitter).

Luxury item #1: Get out of consumer debt

Being debt-free is an incredible luxury! There are a ton of books and articles out there already on how to budget and avoid debt, so I won’t hold forth on how to do it. The important issue is WHY to do it. And the answer is simple. Peace of mind is the ultimate luxury!

Luxury item #2: Make some time to make a wish list!

While putting the wheels in motion on reducing debt, there’s a happier issue to think through as well: What is it you really want out of life? Peace of mind (and of household) starts with asking these Really Big Questions!

More importantly (assuming you actually care about your relationship), what is it your partner craves? If you don’t know, well… it can be fun finding out. Too many financial planning exercises are painful, which is why not enough people do them. This exercise, finding out what really matters to you both, isn’t.

What are the things in life that really feel like luxury to you? Now is the time to identify them, and separate out the smaller, less satisfying things youre paying for that keep you from getting what you really want.

To keep to the spirit of fun, Ive found it’s useful to agree to some simple ground rules:

Being realistic, there will, of course, be a price tag associated with the wish list. Also being realistic, not all luxuries cost an arm and a leg, either. If you have the iron will to make a strict budget and do without so that you can go hang out in Tuscany for a month next fall, good for you (and yours!) If you’re like me, though, it may make sense to make do with lesser luxuries.

Luxury item #3: Keep looking until you find reasonably-priced luxuries that really make your life more worth living, then revel in them!

That’s all it takes. If you get this far, you’ve done a few extremely healthy things. For starters, you’ve actually talked to your sweetie about money, without it being a crisis! You’ve spent some time dreaming together. You’ve examined your debt and thought about what it’s costing you. And with any luck, you’ve found at least one thing you can enjoy without feeling guilty about what it’s costing you… because it’s an investment in your piece of mind.

–

Print and Internet publication rights are granted, free of charge, for this article, provided the credit paragraph and copyright remain intact.

If you use this article in HTML form, please set resource link as a hyperlink. Please e-mail me the URL of any place the article is posted, or a copy of any electronic newsletter or eZine, etc. A copy of any printed publication using this article would be greatly appreciated (contact me via e-mail for mailing address!)

About The Author

Andy White, budget guy for Coudy Coffee - because life is too short for mediocre coffee. For gourmet coffee and espresso; coffee gifts, information and resources, visit http://www.coudycoffee.com.

andy@coudycoffee.com

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