Entries from November 2010 ↓

Consolidating Debt Can Bring Credit Card Relief

In debt consolidation, the end goals are always the reduction of outstanding balances and give relief to the customers. There are several options to materialize these goals. But first, why do people face huge credit card debts? Obviously, spending or shopping has never been easy and convenient until the emergence of credit cards. No one can argue the fact that credit cards are very handy and easy to use compared to cash. Instead of lugging around your wallet as you shop, with credit cards all you have to do is to give it to the clerk and they will swipe it in the terminal. After the processing is approved, you can now leave with your purchases.

However, this ease of use has lead to problems especially among the Americans as 50 percent of their current population are facing threats and endless letters from their creditors asking them to settle their accounts as soon as possible if they do not want unnecessary legal actions be taken against them.

Debt Consolidation – Knowing Its Nature

As mentioned earlier, people who want to get out of their debts and experience credit card relief can do debt consolidation. This is usually the term called for the process of eliminating your debts by contacting your creditors and asking them for flexible payment terms compared to what they offer you right now. There are many ways to consolidate debt, and one of which is through debt settlement, which will be discussed in the following paragraphs.

Consolidation – How its processes work?

Debt consolidation can either be initiated by you or by the debt management agency that is if you are seeking their assistance. But if you want to do things your way, the first step is to contact your creditors and it can be done by sending them a formal letter and asking for a meeting.

During the meeting you can request them to give you a lower interest rates and penalty fees. In return, you are going to promise them that you will be religious in following the monthly payments. Most credit card companies do not care about seeing or sending you to jail, they are just concerned with their collection from you.

Debt Settlement – What Is It, Anyway?

This is one way of debt consolidation. Debt settlement involves is an approach in debt reduction that aims to eliminate one’s debt. You can do this by getting an attorney or a debt reduction agency that will assist you in taking this step.

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Want to Know the Possible Options to Settle Tax Debt?

Settling tax debt is never easy especially if you don’t know how. There are several ways for you to be able to settle your tax debt. You just have to consider these options carefully so that you can determine the best way to handle your tax debt according your financial status. If you want to know how to settle tax debt, then this article might be able to help.

It would be best if you settle your tax debt in full. If you have a lot of debts, you will have one less debt to worry about after you settle your tax debt. This would not be a problem if you have enough funds to pay the debt in full. If you don’t have the money, you may want to consider borrowing money from your friends or relatives. Or perhaps you can sell some of the things you have at home that you no longer need.

If it seems that you would need more time to get the money needed to pay the full amount you owe, you can ask for a payment extension. You can get up to 45 days of payment extension. This is the longest time that the IRS can give you. But if you need more time, you can request another 45-day extension after the previous payment extension. However, this may mean additional interests and fees.

If paying your tax debt in full is not possible for you, another way of settling tax debt is by requesting for an installment agreement. An installment agreement may be easier for you as you can settle your tax debt by making monthly payments. If you want to apply for an installment agreement, you just have to fill out the IRS form 9465 or you can fill out the payment agreement application online through the IRS website. You may also want to apply for an offer in compromise. This is an offer you will make with the IRS to lower the total amount you owe and then you would pay it in full. Consider all these options carefully to know which is the most suitable for you.

For more information on how to settle your tax debts, visit SettleTaxDebt.org today.

Understanding Credit Scores

To be able to effectively manage  and improve your credit score, you need to understand what credit scoring is all about and how it is done. There are many people who leave it to chance and they continue to operate with no idea as to what may hurt their credit score or improve it.

The first thing you need to know is what factors are considered when calculating your score and the impact of each factor on your credit which is good for your financial plan. There are some factors that have more weight than others and it is important to know what really makes a difference. The following five aspects are what is used to calculate your score in percentages. Repayment History is the first and most significant factor which constitutes 35% of your score. The next 30% is on outstanding balances, while the duration of credit history takes up 15%. The types of credit used and new applications each have 10% to bring the grand total to 100%.

From this you can clearly see that your repayment history has the biggest impact when calculating your credit score. This means that you should work to always make your payments on or before time as falling behind can really damage your score. Your outstanding balance is the other significant aspect of your credit. To have a good score here you will be required to avoid maxing out on your credit. If you have credit cards and they are always almost maxed out you will be doing you credit score a disservice.

The last three factors combined are equal in percentage to the repayment history. This does not mean that they should be completely ignored. Make sure that you handle each of these areas competently but lay emphasis where it matters most and that is with the first two factors. If you are able to make timely payments and maintain some reasonable balance on your cards, you will find the last three factors will quite easily fall in place and translate to a higher credit score.

Understanding how the credit scores are calculated and what has more weight will put you in a better financial position and guide you in making financially sound decisions. A poor credit score will normally reduce your chances of getting financing and even where you are able to secure it, you will find yourself paying higher interest as compared to those who have a better score.

Best Secured Homeowner Loans

With low rates and low prices many people who still have the means are looking to buy a home and get a mortgage. If you are one of those that can qualify for a loan there are some really great deals out there. Here are a few ways to maximize that great deal.

The first thing you want to look for in the best secured homeowner loans is a fixed rate. Too many people got in trouble with adjustable loans in recent times. Many people got into these adjustable rate mortgages either not knowing that they were going to go up, or assuming that they could refinance before they did. The problem was the economy went bad and there were no more mortgages to be had and people couldn’t afford the payment based on the new rate. It’s best to look for a fixed rate for the entire length of the loan. Even if you have to pay a little higher rate it’s better to know what you have then to get burned by surprises later.

Another thing to look at is the length of your new mortgage. Many people assume that the only option is a 30 year mortgage. This is not the case, just like even the cheapest unsecured loans,  you can get a mortgage for any number of years that a lender will qualify you for. 15 and 30 year mortgages are the most common but anything from 5 to 40 are out there. This is important because most times the shorter the terms the lower the rate. This will save you money because you are paying less interest per month, and paying interest for less months!

One other area to look at is bi-monthly payments. This can save you money because if you pay every two weeks instead of once a month you will actually make 13 payments a year and not 12 which will save you tons of interest over the life of the loan. Just make sure you aren’t charged a fee to participate in a program like this. Remember you are basically just making one extra payment. So if you are going to be charged a fee, just save up on your own and make the extra payment at the end of the year on your own.

So if you have the means an want to buy a new home now is definitely the time. There are some really great deals out there. Just be smart and really look over the find print to make sure you are getting the best deal you can.

Unsecured vs. Secured Loans

It’s been a challenge for most of us if we are running out of budget in time for our emergency situation and this has been a big problem where to find cash where we can easily pay and can get out of our debt. This time, let your worries free because there are so many available cash loans today where you can borrow certain amount to pay for your emergency needs. There are several direct lenders and brokers online to help you get loans.

One example of available loans online is the cheap unsecured personal loans. It is called unsecured for the reason that, you can apply for a certain amount of cash without putting or asking from the borrowers any pledged property as part of security. This is also a type of instant cash loans because the verification and approval of loan can be done in the least possible time. More or less it will take 2 hours before the amount will transfer or wired to your personal bank account. Due to immediate process of loan, there is no time for the lenders to do a credit check on the borrower’s credit history. That is why in unsecured loans, even if you have a bad credit score, an equal opportunity is given to all in securing such loans.

Most types of loans only differ in their requirements, if loans that are unsecured have no credit check, in secured loans there is. Most secured loans cannot be done instantly since there is some sort of credit investigation on borrower’s part before the loan gets approved.

If your need of cash is not immediate, secured loans are the cheapest ones when it comes to the imposed interest rate. The applied interest rates in secured loans are lower compared to unsecured.

If you do not need for fast cash, go and find for the cheapest secured loans online and apply now.

Eliminate Credit Card Debt with Consolidation

If you owe huge amounts from different credit cards, now is the right time to get credit consolidation help. Managing one debt is already difficult, how much more if you have several credit card bills that need to be settled soon?

If you want to finally, once and for all settle your debts, you can choose to do it on your own or contact your creditors. No matter which option you choose, you are guaranteed that you will find the right method that will work for you.

Consolidating debts on your own

You can eliminate credit card debt on your own by contacting you creditors and asking for a formal meeting. From there, you together with your creditors will be able to draft a payment plan that will help you in eliminating your bills.

Contrary to what most people think, your creditors will not send you to jail the moment that you are not able to pay your bills. As a matter of fact, these credit card companies are well versed when it comes to situations like this. Long before, they are prepared to deal with this situations thus this is the reason why they have financial counselors.

One good thing about dealing with debts on your own is that you need not worry about additional charges to your debts compared with getting the services of debt management companies. The only drawback is that it can be very time consuming if you are to deal with your creditors since negotiating involves a lot of phone calls and meetings.

Consolidating debts with a debt relief agency

Another option available for people who want to eliminate their debts is to get the services of debt relief companies. These financial experts can handle your account and at the same time talk with your creditors. They can either ask your creditors to give you lower interest rates or to completely eliminate it temporarily so that you will not have a hard time paying for your bills. One reason why many people tend to fail in reducing their debts is because of the high interest charges and penalties that they get if they are not able to pay their debts on time.

Credit consolidation help is made available for you and for people who want to be freed from their debts. Thus if you think that you really need to get the services of debt relief companies as soon as possible then do not hesitate further.