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All About Debt Consolidation Loans
Debt consolidation loans can be the answer to a number of financial problems, but before you take the plunge, make sure you're well informed.
What is a debt consolidation loan?
Debt consolidation is when you arrange a single loan to cover a...
Debt Settlement Companies and How to Find the Right One
Debt settlement companies are available to help you reduce the amount of money that you owe to creditors as well as reduce the rate of interest and late charges that you are currently paying on your credit cards. Building credit history is crucial...
Secrets to why debt reduction is so vital for your financial health
Why debt reduction is vital for your financial health Living with debt is never a good idea if you want to make long-term financial plans. Every cent you use to service debt is money that could have been invested in your future. Investment is...
The menace of credit card debt
Credit card debt can often be crippling and lead to a lot of stress. Even students are not immune as people are getting credit cards at an earlier age and falling into debt. With the increased use of credit cards, more and more people are falling...
Why should I get a second mortgage? It's a good way to pay off high interest debt.
Second mortgages are basically any type of home loan that you take out while still making payment on the primary mortgage. This is not an arrangement to be entered lightly because you will end up paying a lot of fees and can rack up a huge debt that...
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Escaping The Debt Spiral
Credit card debt is the ball and chain that hinders many consumers from reaching financial happiness. The biggest problem is that many people who have hefty credit card debts have no idea just how much money they’re paying in interest every month – they’re in a “debt spiral” from which it’s very difficult to recover.
Credit card companies charge borrowers rates that far exceed what you get when you invest your money. For example, if you have a savings account, you are probably earning less than 3% interest on your money. Unfortunately, if you have a credit card, you are likely paying 12%, 15%, 21% or more on the money you’ve borrowed. It’s perfectly legal for creditors to charge those amounts, but it can put you deep in the hole in a hurry.
How about those 0% credit card offers you read about? There are some creditors allowing consumers to make purchases with no interest rates. However, as interest rates have increased over the past two years, the 0% rate has fallen by the wayside. Most are now limited to the first six months of payments on your outstanding debt (called a balance transfer). At that point, a new rate of 17% or more kicks in. To add insult to injury, if you are late on payments, you not only lose the 0% rate, but you can be charged 24 or even 29% on your unpaid balance.
All of these practices – once again, perfectly legal – will send you into a debt spiral. The $3,000 you borrowed can soon cost you $10,000 or more in interest payments over the years. You may be able to make the minimum payment but you are doing little, if anything, to pay off the original $3,000 borrowed. All you are really doing is paying money to cover your interest charges - nothing else.
There are ways to lower your rate. First of all, check your credit card statement and see what the interest rate is being charged to your account. If it is much higher than what you used to pay, you may have had the rate jacked up without your knowledge. Consider calling your credit card provider and asking for a lower rate. If they won’t give you a
lower rate, see if you can get another card where they offer a fixed, lower rate. They may be offering one of those 0% balance transfer rates mentioned earlier. If you pursue this option, make sure that once you get the new card and your balance has been transferred, notify the old credit card provider that you are canceling your now paid off of account.
If you cannot get a new card or transfer your money to a lower paying account, you can start reducing your debt by paying off the biggest amount owed first. For example, if you have three credit card debts of $1,000, $3,000, and $7,000, make the minimum payments on the last two cards, but make much larger payments on the first card - the one with the lowest balance. Once the first card is paid off, then start making larger payments on the second card until it is paid off. Finally, when the second card is paid off, make big payments against the third card. Providing you don’t continue to add to your credit card balances, you’ll be out of debt sooner than you’d expect.
If some of these options are difficult to understand, a trained debt professional can help you. The most important step is to realize that you need to take action on reducing some of those outstanding balances. And the sooner you get out of the debt spiral, the sooner you can begin building wealth and a much happier life.
About the Author: Frank Liz; (c)2005; All Rights Reserved. Frank Liz is the founder and president of http://www.AmericanNoDebt.com. His goal is to help people preserve and control what they have and what they make in the future, but of course it is his nature since he was born in poverty to teach people to make money. "Learn the secrets that most people will never know about getting out of debt fast and building your life savings." Click here to learn how easy it is.
Source: www.isnare.com
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| Advertisements Promising Debt Relief May Be Offering Bankruptcy |
| Cautions consumers about ads in newspaper, magazine and telephone directories that offer quick fixes for debt problems. |
| www.ftc.gov |
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| Welcome to Debt Relief International |
| Welcome to the web site of Debt Relief International. |
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| Debt relief steps, your free guide to debt help. |
| Articles on debt relief, and credit management and repair. |
| www.debtsteps.com |
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| Factsheet - Debt Relief Under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries ... |
| The HIPC Initiative is a comprehensive approach to debt reduction for heavily indebted poor countries pursuing IMF- and World Bank-supported adjustment and ... |
| www.imf.org |
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| Special report: debt relief | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited |
| February 6: A year ago the Guardian set out to track the west's promises of action for Africa on aid, trade, health and debt relief. As G8 finance ministers ... |
| www.guardian.co.uk |
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| Debt Relief Options - Findlaw for the Public - |
| Welcome to Debt Relief Options. This section contains information about the ... To begin, select one of the Debt Relief Options topics from the list below ... |
| bankruptcy.findlaw.com |
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| William Brewer |
| The Brewer Law Firm. William E. Brewer, Jr., Attorney at Law Board Certified Consumer Bankruptcy Specialist. 619 N. Person Street Raleigh, NC 27604 ... |
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| Debt Relief - InCharge Debt Solutions |
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| www.incharge.org |
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| Economic Policy and Debt |
| May 2006, IMF And World Bank Support Cameroon’s Completion Point Under The Enhanced HIPC Initiative And The IMF Immediately Grants 100 Percent Debt Relief ... |
| www.worldbank.org |
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| Economic Policy and Debt - The Enhanced HIPC Initiative |
| The Initiative’s debt-burden thresholds were adjusted downward, which enabled a broader group of countries to qualify for larger volumes of debt relief. ... |
| www.worldbank.org |
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| Debt relief - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Debt relief is the partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Debt Analyzer, Debt Reduction Software, Home Page |
| Debt Elimination at its best! Potential savings of hundreds or thousands of dollars! Build debt reduction, timed elimination or consolidation schedules. |
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| Superior Debt Relief |
| We help you get rid of credit card debt much faster than you may believe possible with credit card debt settlement and negotiation tactics, providing debt ... |
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| Debt Relief - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum |
| Aid Inflows, Debt Relief Yet to Translate into Reduced Poverty (March 20, 2006) ... Fearing that the IMF could tie debt relief to economic benchmarks, ... |
| www.globalpolicy.org |
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| Debt Relief - Global Policy Forum - Social and Economic Policy |
| Debt Relief - Global Policy Forum - Social and Economic Policy. The Debt Relief Page Has Been Moved to: ... |
| www.globalpolicy.org |
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| BBC NEWS | Business | Q&A: African debt relief |
| BBC News looks at the progress of international debt reduction efforts, and the sticking points which continue to hamper the process. |
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| Debt Relief Australia - Start Reducing Debt Today! |
| Debt Relief offers Australians in debt assistance with finding the most appropriate debt relief solution. |
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| Debt Consolidation Australia, Debt Relief & Bankruptcy Information |
| Specialising in debt agreements, mortgage refinancing and bankruptcy. Company profile, calculators, solutions, media releases, testimonials and existing ... |
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| Oxfam - Debt and Aid - Debt Relief for Nicaragua: breaking out of ... |
| Oxfam policy paper on relationship between international debt servicing and poverty. Linked to table of contents and also zipped for download. |
| www.oxfam.org.uk |
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| What debt relief means for Africa | csmonitor.com |
| This weekend's $40 billion debt cancellation deal could spark major improvements in the lives of the world's poorest people. |
| www.csmonitor.com |
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