Is a credit card company allowed to lower your credit limit?  A credit card company is allowed to lower your credit limit without warning if they see fit.  The credit crisis has many credit card companies in a real bind.  Many credit card companies just can’t pay their credit card bills and are defaulting on their credit cards.  The credit card companies want to beat you to the punch and don’t want to extend themselves any further than is necessary.

My Credit Limit Has Been Lowered, Why? Continue Reading »

Your credit card company may have lowered your available credit, but why?  If you have been watching the news lately, most of the major headlines revolve around the credit crunch and foreclosures.  Banks and lenders do not want to leave themselves exposed to unecessary losses.  A few months ago Washingotn Mutual lowered my home equity line over 75%.  I had never even used the thing.  The banks are worried that when times get tough, people are going to tap into their equity lines and then default.  The bank just wants to hedge their bet and cover their losses by removing excess credit from people.  This is done in the form of closing credit cards, cancelling home equity lines and lower available credit for credit cards. Continue Reading »

People in this country are in debt.  I get asked questions all the time about negotiating credit card debt.  Now I am getting questions about negotiating on a car loan.  For starters you can negotiate with credit card companies once your are behind on the bill.  Credit card debt is unsecured debt.  Car loans are different.  A car loan is secured by the asset, the car.  If you quit paying on your car loan, the repo man will come and get it.  My suspicions are that they are getting more car repossessions now more than ever. Continue Reading »

This Christmas season use cash to pay for your holiday gift purchases.  Using credit cards to buy your holiday gifts can be a trap.  There is a lot of social pressure to buy gifts for people.  My motto if you want to stay debt free over the holidays give up worrying about what people are thinking.  They are not going to help you pay your credit card bills when they come.  Buying gifts for people is not worth it if you cannot afford to.  Going into debt to buy gifts just because you think you should is not a good enough reason to do so.  Suffering over money is a terrible thing.  It is not worth it, so do not worry about what people are think.

If you do not have the money do not buy it.  Try using a debit card this holiday season or just carry cash with you.

How to use your credit cards responsibly. What you do not know about your credit cards will hurt you.

1. If you use your credit cards overseas, do not be surprised by and extra fee added to each transaction that you make. If you can use your ATM card to access your bank account. Continue Reading »

Your credit card company is not your friend. They have one goal in mind and that is to make money off of you. You will probably not find any sympathy from them if you are unable to make your credit card bill.

How will my credit card try and trick me? Continue Reading »

What will happen if I stop paying my bills? It is important to know what will happen if you are unable to pay your monthly debt obligations. The first 30 day late that you have your credit score is going to drop like a rock. I have seen credit scores drop as much as 100 points just for one 30 day late. Your interest rates will probably go up as well. You credit card contract has a provision call the universal default rate. This is the rate they can charge you when you do not make a payment. Continue Reading »

What debt guru has a better method for getting out of debt?  If you were to match Suze Orman up against Dave Ramsey and their debt free plans, who would win?

How does Suze Orman tell you to get out of debt? Continue Reading »

Will a credit card company really negotiate with me? If you are current on your credit card bills and have a good payment history it is unlikely that a credit card company will negotiate the amount of principal that you will have to pay back. Think about it, if you are current and have been paying on time, why would they want to take less from you. The credit card business is a cash flow business anyway. They will only start to care about their repayment if you stop paying on your balances.

You can only negotiate with a creditor once your are behind or are in collections

A creditor will be more interested in settling with you once your are behind or are in collections. Keep in mind that if you file bankruptcy the creditor will not get any more money out of you. It would be in their best interest to take something rather than them get nothing.

Bankruptcy Questions

If you do not get anywhere with your debt negotiations you may actually want to consider bankruptcy. If the creditor knows that you are serious they may just take your offer. I would start out low and see what you can get. If you do not like dealing with creditors and collection agencies you could always hire and attorney or debt settlement firm.

This information is of general interest and is not legal advice. If you need legal advice seek the services or a professional or attorney

How do you use a credit card? The credit card industry has changed the way we buy consumables. You see Visa, Master Card, Discover and American Express logos everywhere now. You can even buy your hamburgers at McDonalds with a credit card. It is now convenient to make purchases even if you don’t have the money. Anyone who survived the depression would probably cringe. Back then if you didn’t have the money you didn’t buy it. Bank loans were tough to come by. So if you couldn’t afford something you just made do. Now you can go buy something an hope to figure out how to pay for it later. This type of thinking has made us a nation of debtors. At no point in our history have we seen such an abundance of debt and financial issues facing people. Bankruptcies in our country are at an all time high with no relief in sight. Continue Reading »

What is the best debt consolidation company? I think it might be better to ask what can I do to get out of debt other than signing up for credit counseling or a debt consolidation loan? If own a home and have equity in it, you have the ability to do a refinance and pull money out to pay off your bills. Continue Reading »

The universal default rate is the highest interest rate a credit card company can charge you if you are late or default on your credit card. If you read the fine print it is in the contract that you sign with your credit card company. Some credit card companies can charge you as much as 30% interest once you miss a payment. Make sure that you have a plan to pay your credit cards on time every month. A missed credit card payment can be a costly exercise.

Remember to use your credit wisely. Being in debt is no fun and it is not a great way to live. Live by your needs and not your wants and you will always be happy.

How Does Debt Consolidation Work?

This article is about the advantages of doing a debt consolidation program. You may not be aware of this but debt consolidation, CCCS, credit counseling and consumer credit counseling are basically the same thing. Doing a debt consolidation plan is different than doing a debt settlement program. In debt settlement you are reducing the amount of principal that you will pay back and in credit counseling you are negotiating the amount of interest you will pay back. In consumer credit counseling you will pay all of the principal back plus some interest. Continue Reading »

Debt Settlement vs. a Home Equity Line to pay of your Credit Card debt

Getting yourself into debt can be a scary as well as a frustrating experience. Getting hounded by debt collectors night and day can be exhausting as well as emotionally draining. But there are options that you can take to take care of the problem quickly. The two that we are going to discuss in the article are refinancing your home to pay off the debt or doing a debt negotiation program. Continue Reading »