Does Debt Counseling Deliver?

Filed in archive Debt Consolidation on June 8, 2010

© paalia
There are many advertisements going around about debt counseling services. Many of these are for scams of various types and really will not help you accomplish what you need to do. Here is a brief overview of debt counseling services and how you can avoid phony agencies that are out to separate you from your money.

The Consumer Affairs Website provides some excellent tips about choosing a consumer credit counseling service if you should ever need one. The first thing it advises is to not use any debt credit counseling service that sends you an ad or contacts you by phone or spam.

They also advise that you should use an agency that is a member of the National Foundation of Credit Counseling (NFCC). This agency has been around for 50 years and is very strict about its members.

Consumer Affairs also suggests that you should not have to pay more than $20. More than this indicates it may be a scam, or that you are paying more than you need to. "Reputable agencies," they say, "do not keep the first month's payment, demand a contribution or charge high fees."

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What Should You Avoid When Raising Your Credit Score?

Filed in archive Debt Consolidation on June 7, 2010

© stuartpilbrow
When you have a bad credit score, establishing a good credit score is important. This is especially true if you want to get some new credit soon. If you are in a hurry to raise your credit score, however, then you also may be prone to make mistakes that could actually "reward" you with an even lower score. Here are a couple of things you want to avoid while you work to raise your credit score.

One mistake that you want to avoid is to open a number of new credit cards in order to lower your debt-to-credit ratio. The problem with this is that it will easily be seen on your credit report and will most likely raise some flags.

A similar strategy often used is to close some credit cards. While this will limit the amount of credit you do have, it can easily work against you. MyFICO states that credit scores are affected by the longevity of your credit history. If you take the longer existing accounts and close them, the result will show a shorter credit history and give you a lower credit score.

The best way to raise credit score, says MyFICO, is to simply pay down the debt. While doing so, you want to make sure of two things. The first is to always pay on time, and the second thing is to always pay at least the minimum amount.

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Seen that? - What Does Debt Consolidation Involve?

Filed in archive Best of on June 4, 2010

What Does Debt Consolidation Involve? Debt Consolidation Weblog

Pogo Going into debt is often caused by having to pay back high interest rate levels on credit cards. While it may be convenient when you first get the card, this can add up later. After a lot of debt is accumulated and the much larger bills need to be paid monthly, then people begin to feel the pressure. The main goal of debt consolidation is two-fold: 1. [...] Read More

More About Debt Consolidation Loans Debt Consolidation Weblog

When it comes time to simplify life and consolidate bills, you want to take a second look at the idea. While it may be the only option that some people have - if they are too deeply in debt and can't do anything else about it - it is not the best option available. A major concern about a debt credit consolidation, is the time frame involved in the [...] Read More

Avoid Creating Another Need for Debt Consolidation Debt Consolidation Weblog

Media If you have been through a recent credit card consolidation, you know that it really was not fun. Most likely, if you think about it, you hope you do not have to do it again. Credit card companies lost a lot of money last year due to the debt that they had to write off. Many people were out of jobs or had their income reduced to where [...] Read More

Tax Mistake #6 - Not Reporting Debt Consolidations Tax Preparation Weblog

The IRS has always been particularly about making sure that you report all your income on 1040 taxes. Sometimes, though, it is possible that some things are not recognized as being income. If you have had a debt consolidation in the past year, then you may be responsible to report it as income. According to Steve Bucci, at Finance.yahoo.com, "IRS rules state that if more than $600 is knocked [...] Read More

Debt Consolidation - a safer way to repay loans coupdegras

and the sysop During post recession period, number of Americans had been struggling with debt and many voices had risen up to help them. One of such ways to help the debt striven people is debt consolidation. Debt consolidation services simply denote a single loan that is capable to pay off other loans. This unique method can easily simplify better interest rate than before. One of the great risks of [...] Read More

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