Debt forming habit’s that you need to break
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The credit card serves to bring money that you don’t actually have to your finger tips. Credit card companies along with banks have developed ingenious methods of placing these virtual monies in your hand.
In order to break this debt cycle here are a few steps that you can follow.
Interest Rates
As I have said before the credit card companies have devised ingenious methods of encouraging us to accept their cards and thereby putting ourselves further into debt. In this context it’s something called teaser rates. The
Negotiation may help lower your credit card payments
High-interest credit card debt is one of the most common types of balances consumers carry. Its also one of the most expensive and financially damaging, because heavy interest charges make it more difficult for cash-strapped individuals to eliminate their balances, even when they are doing everything right.
Consumers who are following a strict budget and paying more than the minimum payment, but still find themselves unable to make a dent in their credit card balances, have other options. One of the lesser-known actions borrowers should consider is contacting their card issuer and negotiating their credit card rate. The credit card industry is a competitive market and more lenders are open to extending better terms and conditions in order to retain customers. Many lenders are more willing to help consumers chip away at their debt than they may initially seem, but few adults are aware that they have the right to negotiate their rate. Read more…
Europe’s Economy – Which Prediction Should You Believe?
Over in the UK, the people feel justified in getting behind Prime Minister David Cameron after his recent decision to vote against any treaty change across the EU as part of a rescue arrangement for the Euro single currency within the European Union. Previous to that you’ve seen Greece struggle financially and it is no secret that Spain and Italy have serious financial worries. France was just downgraded by one of the international financial credit agencies, so David Cameron appears to have taken the right stance as the UK looks to have the best financial position in Europe at present; but is this true?
The UK’s public sector debt has gone past £1 trillion recently. That is the first time they have reached this mark. It is an equivalent of 64% of GDP. You can look at the figures several ways, but it equals around 2 billion tablet computers costing £500. Or tw
Shoppers risk financial security for Christmas
Although stores have been forced to start their sales early this year to persuade shoppers to part with their money, nearly a third of people in the UK will go into debt over Christmas.
Fifty-eight percent of this group will put more spending than usual on credit cards and thirty-nine per cent will go overdrawn to fund Christmas according to a survey carried out by YouGov on behalf of banking software company Intelligent Environments.
Others will take out personal loans or borrow money from friends and family.
The survey of 2,015 adults found that 11 per cent of people in the UK will lose track of spending over the festive period and people between the ages of 25 and 34 were found to struggle the most with money.
Sixty-four per cent of this group expect to incur debts or arrears of some kind as a result of Christmas expenses.
Is 25 Credit Cards Too Many?
A big topic in the personal finance blogging world is often credit cards vs. debit cards. Another, somewhat related topic is how many credit cards should a person have? This is not a one-answer-fits-all sort of question, but I feel pretty certain that most people would agree that 25 credit cards is a bit much.
Meet Pete DArruda, not only does he have 25 credit cards with a total available credit limit of $300,000, but hes proud of it!
The crazy thing is hes a personal finance consultant!
Why would anyone, much less a finance consult, think so many credit cards is a good thing? Well, its about the almighty credit score. See, one of the major factors in determining your credit score is whats known as your debt-to-available-credit ratio (or utilization rate). This is simply a ratio of how much you currently owe to your total available credit.