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Credit cards are a nice convenience. However they are the worst way to borrow money. Credit cards are the most common form of “open ended” or revolving credit. Most people have at least one credit card, and often many more than one. Credit cards are easy to use, they are easy to understand, and they are highly familiar to people.

Credit cards are said to be revolving credit because they charge interest on the money that has been borrowed and not repaid in full at the end of the billing cycle. Credit cards are, for all intents and purposes, revolving credit loans. Credit cards are sometimes simply necessary . Credit cards are not a good option for long-term (greater than six months) borrowing. You only need one card for emergencies and to establish a positive credit history.

Consolidating your credit card debt simply means turning multiple balances into one by transferring all your credit card debts onto one card. Besides giving you the convenience of only having to make one monthly payment instead of several, consolidating credit card debt is really about saving money by finding the best interest rate possible for the sum total of your debts. Consolidation generally reduces the total amount paid out each month, and may also reduce how long you will be in debt. Remember that if you choose a consolidation loan, you should close out all but one credit card account.

Title:  Credit Card Debt Relief – Keeping the weight of credit card debt off
Written by  BankCD Man

Credit Card Debt is suffocating this country.  The best solution is to stay away from credit cards to begin with.  However, there are certain purchases these days that generally require some credit history, so that is difficult.  Here are some methods for managing credit cards and some personal history about knowing your limits.

First, establish a categorized budget.  At a minimum your categories need to include Food and Household,  Auto expenses such as gas, payment, insurance; house expenses such as rent or payment, maintenance, upkeep, insurance, and taxes; phone and internet; school expenses; doctors visits and medicine; entertainment, and miscellaneous (be very careful with this one.  Also, if you believe in tithing or giving to charities make that your first category.  When you are just starting out and trying to build a history, use the credit card to purchase those items you have budgeted for.  After you’ve used the credit card, go home and transfer the funds immediately so there is no balance.  Don’t wait until the end of the month.

I decided to sign up for a rewards type credit card.  I did the above, but didn’t pay it off right away.  Then I forgot and did the same the next month.  It seemed like I had all of this extra money.  I then made purchases of items I didn’t need.  Suddenly, I was in debt.  I learned the hard way that credit cards aren’t a good thing for me.  I didn’t have the real discipline necessary to pay them off each month.  No my budget has a credit card category and less money for entertainment and other things.

I’ve done a few things to get out from under the debt.  First, I alluded to adjusting my budget so I took into account the monthly  payments I know need to make.  Secondly, I took on extra work to pay the credit card debt down faster.  Just making the minimum payments would take years.  Paying extra pays the debt down faster and greatly decreases the actual interest I will be paying down.  Many people seek debt consolidation loans.  But the only way this can work is if you lock up or shred your credit cards.  Most people get the consolidation loan, then run their credit cards up again.  At that point they are in twice as much debt.

Next, create a savings account and be diligent about putting funds in there.  You should save up three to six months of monthly expenses before making major purchases of dream items.  This will give you some Cushion to cover items such as car repairs, broken appliances, etc.  Although, they don’t happen monthly, you need to plan for them.  You know its going to happen, you just don’t know when.  Plan ahead.

Finally, practice wait training.  When you think you have to have something, wait at least thirty-days before purchasing it.  Do some extra research and price hunting and give yourself time to decide if it is truly something you have to have.  Impulse buying is a huge budget killer and ultimately can lead to more debt.

Do your best to not get into debt.  But if you do, follow the above plan.  It will take a few years of discipline, but before you know it, the credit card debt weight will be gone.

Credit Card Benefits, Risks and Debt
Written by Mário Rui Melo

This article aims to show the benefits and risks inherent in the use of credit cards, what are the best ways to deal with them and other tips that may be a great added value to their users.

Every day, the number of people that uses credit cards as a means of acquiring products and (or) services easily and without bureaucracy, increases. It happens that this, it is probably the main reason why the credit card can be as dangerous and can put many families in a financial situation of bankruptcy.

This payment method is very easy to use and perhaps hence, is frightening because of the ease of use we are led to abuse of benefits and, without giving account are full of debts with extremely high interest rates, sometimes the highest in the market.

How can we escape this temptation to spend more money than we can pay?

Usually the problem with credit cards is the lack of management of our money and not the lack of it. Behold, some tips for survive the use of credit card:

• Always try to pay all the things you buy or pay in money. Use the credit card only in case of extreme necessity.
• Pay the card debt on time because interest rates are the highest in the market.
• Be sure you have money to pay the credit card debt, in the end of the month.

This type of payment must always to be used with great responsibility because it may jeopardize the financial future of any person and, in some cases, whole families. Remember that the credit card only allows to make purchases and payments with money that may not be available at the time, but that will be later, or until the date of payment of credit card accounts, that money must be available.

If you spend more than you earn, certainly you will have problems and accounts to pay that, with your financial liquidity, will be impossible to pay.

According to the latest statistics, about two thirds of people who have credit cards must pay every month of the financial burden resulting from its use. In recent years, there was a change of cards with fixed rate to floating rate cards, when interest rates began to rise, there are currently about two thirds of all cards with variable rates. Interest rates of this type of credit have been rising, increasingly, and the effects of this rise fall, mainly on the working classes and families of middle income.

When you enter a situation of debt with credit cards which you can not quit, never ask a credit to pay this debt because that only will make things more difficult and complicated. The first thing to do is to save money. Try saving on everything you can, try to walk more, don’t spend money in restaurants, mobile phones, cinema, Also save on food, on the phone, the cable TV and all you can. Finally, try to re-educate yourself up when it comes to shopping and all kinds of expenses. Think always very well before buying anything. Do you really need what you’re thinking to buy?

Good luck and remember, reduce the costs and get used to leave the credit card at home.

Preventing and Overcoming Credit Card Debt
Written by Prasad Khose

I was so happy when I got my first credit card. Many friends suggested me, not to take a credit card and I have successfully turned down all bank offers for some time, but somehow one day I failed.

Life was so easy after credit card, new clothes no problem, lot of shopping no problem, diamond ring for wife, sure. Then the day came, I got the credit card statement, it was shocking. I don’t know when I spent this much money only in one month.

This is the story of every credit card holder, some managed to pay their bills & try to keep control on future bills. Unfortunately some people can’t even pay minimum due amount of the bill and there starts credit card debt. It’s very easy to fall in credit card debt and very difficult to get out of it.

I would like to give some suggestions to avoid credit card debt and how to pay off your credit card debt.

1. Use your card sensibly, I know everyone does that, want to do that. However there are times, when we don’t think about credit card statement. Use your card as you are paying by cash or check.

2. Try to pay your monthly bills on time, some credit cards have very high interest amount. It gets quite difficult to pay off the balance with high interest. At least try to pay minimum due amount of the bill.

3. Almost all credit card companies allow to pay using EMI, take the benefit of it. Clear all the pending amount and try not to use card till all amount is paid.

4. Use your savings to pay off, I know it’s hard to do but if you compare the interest rates on savings & credit card, you will come to know why I am suggesting this.

5. Friends and family is there to dig you out of it, make sure you pay them back and don’t loose trust which is really important.

6. Try to negotiate with your credit card company. Let them know your situation, let them know you may have to declare bankruptcy if there is no other way. If they come to know that you want to pay and they might loose all amount because of bankruptcy, they will try to help you. Request for a lower interest rate, lower repayment schedule. This may work and you will be saved.

7. There are some organizations who will help you to repay, like americandebtcontrol, cleardebtsolution, freedomdebtrelief. Google for more. But these organizations have their terms, you can not just go there and say reduce my debt, try to find out more about it.

8. File bankruptcy, not too good suggestion but if situation demands, we can’t help. Remember your credit record will contain this information for 10 years, so before doing this try everything you can do to pay off all amount.

While paying off the bills $50 savings per month also does make difference.

1. Watch movies at home instead of going out.
2. Bring your lunch from home, stop eating out.
3. Use coupons, discounts for groceries.

Remember to use your card sensibly, it will help you to avoid all future financial problem and unnecessary trouble.

The Cons of Individual Voluntary arrangements as a remedy for insolvency in the UK
Written by Don Ace

The following article has be written based on my own research, if you are in such a situation where IVA’s are an option, I urge you to seek advice from the Citizens advice bureau or your own solicitor.

IVA’s main aim is to ‘provide an alternative and beneficial process to that of bankruptcy for those individuals who found themselves in a position of the most serious financial difficulties.’[1]

It can be argued that the root of IVA’s is held in the old 19th century method of deeds of arrangements.[2] Both of the methods hold the same key ideology or makeup, the main difference though is that a voluntary agreement is binding where as a deed of agreement could be rendered void by a bankruptcy procedure.[3]

IVA’s have a number of areas that’s end result could be a detriment to the debtor. The first of being regarding the requirement of 75% majority approval of the creditors[4]. If the proposal is rejected (or due to the arrangement being challenged[5]) by the creditors the fee for the Insolvency practitioner (IP) still stands and this cost ranging from about £1,200 is another burden on an already bankrupt individual, as well as leaving them under threat of court action[6].

Also if successful with the application and the IVA is accepted the extra fees for the IP (or nominee) are still applicable and must be paid first before any repayments are made to creditors, therefore if at a later date the IVA should fail, the debtor may be at the same or worse position as when he started.

A further problem may arise if the individual who made it is not an IP but another ‘authorised[7]‘ personal.[8] Which is most cases are private companies such as Loan Direct etc.

‘…the IVA procedure is reliant on the skill and judgement of the professional individual fulfilling the roles of nominee and, usually thereafter, supervisor.’[9]

The problem being therefore that a lot of these private firms who run these IVA’s ’sell’ the process as a miracle cure for individuals in debt and according to research[10]has resulted in an increase of IVA’s taken up (up to 28% of all bankrupts take this route), the problem being though that due to the business like nature of this professions with the individuals profiteering from the method, the question therefore must be put whether when creating these IVA arrangement do these nominee’s have the debtors best interest in heart, i.e. does it have a chance of succeeding or are they looking at their own bottom line and risk a high amount of failure[11].

Concluding then on the individual voluntary arrangements the time frame in which it occurs (up to five years) is in equal to other procedure though a lot longer than a default bankruptcy discharge though its benefit[12] arguably justifies the extra time. On the negative side though the extra expenditure in doing an IVA is great especially when an initial deposit is required and become an extra burden if it fails.

[1]Green, M (November 2002) Individual Voluntary Arrangements — Over-indebtedness and the Insolvency Regime, Short Form Report, http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/insolvencyprofessionandlegislation/policychange/ivapolicyresearch/ivapolicyresearch.htm — last accessed 14 April 2008.

[2] Tolley’s Insolvency Law and Practice, (1998) Vol 14, No 4 IL&P 230, 1 July 1998, The release of co-debtors under individual voluntary arrangements, Rick Munro Lamport Bassitt, discussing the judgment in Johnson v Davis.

[3]Page 79 Corporate and personal insolvency law.

[4] Consumer debt: causes and cures of financial distress by Sue Morgan. Ibid.

[5] S 262 IA1986 or s6 Sched A1 Para28 in the case of CVA’s

[6] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1245757.stm

[7] Under s389A  IA 2000

[8] Page 87 corporate and personal insolvency. Ibid.

[9] Page 321 of Insolvency legislation, annotations and commentary 2007ed. By L. Doyle and A. Keay.

[10] Consumer debt: causes and cures of financial distress by Sue Morgan. Ibid.

[11] Tolley’s Insolvency Law and Practice (2002) Vol 18, No 1 IL&P 9 1 January 2002New rules and new roles for the individual voluntary arrangement by Keith Pond

[12] 17% better realization of assets as compared to bankruptcy, ibid.

Appreciating Enough
written by Lightening

When my husband and I were first married, we were forced to live on quite a small wage. At the time he was working on the family farm and being paid a pittance for his time. During this period of time I felt we were somewhat hard done by and didn’t appreciate the struggle. Now that I have the hindsight of time, I can see that this period of struggle taught us many things which we’d find helpful in later life.

I remember sitting down and contemplating how much we would need in retirement. We plucked a figure from the air and decided that if we could retire on the equivalent of $30,000 in the current days figures, that would be a VERY comfortable way to live.

$30,000 sounds like SO much money when you’re attempting to live off around $15,000.

As time went on, my husbands wage improved little by little. Within a couple of years our income surpassed our $30,000 “dream wage” and yet for some reason we still seemed to struggle to have “enough”.

It seemed that the more we earned, the more we spent. In fact, we started to spend around 10% more than our income at the time. What had seemed like such a wonderful income to us only a couple of years earlier just didn’t seem to be enough.

After a couple of years of spending several thousand dollars a year more than we were earning, we started to contemplate the idea of returning to a two income family. With the justification of the expense of having children AND rising costs of living, my staying home until our children were at least 5 started to feel like an unrealistic dream.

It was at this point that we decided to sit down and take a long hard look at where our money was going. We’d always been good at formulating a budget but were rather poor when it came to keeping any kind of record as to whether or not we were actually STICKING to a budget.

In essence our budget was USELESS. A few scribbles on a piece of paper that at the end of the day meant NOTHING.

I started to record where our money was going. At first I just recorded our grocery spending. Without knowing WHERE the money was going, we were powerless to make changes.

The power that I felt in actually KNOWING how much we were spending on groceries inspired me to begin tracking other areas of our spending. The tracking alone seemed to slow down our spending somewhat. Having to be accountable, even if it was only to a piece of paper, seemed to reduce the urge to spend.

From there I started working on babysteps toward decreasing our spending in some areas. I found a wealth of information on the internet that gave me ideas for ways to achieve the same end with less dollars spent.

Within the first 6 months I had reduced our spending by $7,000. Enough to curb our ever rising deficit AND help us to catch up on money that had been spent BEFORE we earnt it.

So, what had happened to us? We had gotten caught in the trap of ENOUGH being “just a little bit more”….

You may be familiar with the saying that has made it’s way around in various forms where a rich person is asked the question “how much is enough?” And the response given goes along the lines of “just a little bit more”.

“Enough” isn’t a figure. It’s a mindset.

It’s about learning to live within your means rather than accumulating credit card debt in a bid to fulfill some kind of unspoken urge for more.

Lightening is the author of the Blog Lightening Online where she writes on a variety of topics including money management and frugality as well as a comprehensive series on Reducing the Grocery Budget.

What is Your Credit Scar?
Written by Rich Hill

In 1987 one of the most popular movies was “Wall Street.” The main character, Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, proclaimed the famous passionate announcement, “GREED IS GOOD !”

Well, as popular as that movie was, and even though it would be easy to fall in the trap to believe Mr. Gekko, we all REALLY know that is not true, as evinced as the outcome of the movie.

Well I have another one for you, and this one is actually true. “CREDIT IS EVIL !”

Our grand parents, those who lived through the Great Depression, and parents that had to scrape to make a subsistence living for their family, did not believe in credit. A mortgage for a farm or home might have been acceptable to them, but the idea of paying banks and other lending institutions usury rates for the mere sake of borrowing on advanced earnings to support childish and selfish habits, would have been totally out of the question.

If you were born in the time period since World War II, and most of you were, then you have lived through a time of fabulous opportunities and have witnessed a phenomenal growth in technology. The me me me generation that has to have everything RIGHT NOW has come to a rude awakening. CREDIT IS EVIL!

You have been assaulted by the buy it now, pay later, no money down, interest free for six months, low monthly interest rate, adjustable mortgages, and other advertisements that have been in your face from first thing in the morning until the last thing at night.

Your peers and you play a great game of keeping up with each other and you are both named Jones. It is a whirlwind of gotta have it, and gotta have it now, that is so easy to get caught up in.

The information here is taught each and every day by a man that is respected by millions of followers all over the country. Mr. Dave Ramsey is the man I’m referring to and the title of this article, “What is Your Credit Scar?” is a statement that he discusses constantly. Dave Ramsey is brilliant! He puts things in perspective and can show you exactly why you need to take some Baby Steps to get out of the debilitating mess that you have gotten yourself into.

I started listening to Dave Ramsey on satellite radio about three years ago and I only wish I had found him much sooner in my life. He speaks common sense and truth. Dave’s theory is that you must rid yourself of ALL debt! It is his opinion that each and every one of you are able to rescue yourselves and kick the habit that makes banks and credit card companies earn billions and billions of dollars off the backs of the enslaved minions.

When you listen to any of Dave Ramesy’s radio broadcasts you will hear callers scream out in family unison, “I’m Debt Free !” The pickle that many of these families have been in is just exactly what most of you readers currently find yourselves in. You have been taught to make sure you have a good credit score (Credit Scar as Dave says,) and that you must pay at least your current minimum balance on all of your bills. Well that is just a bunch of hooey!

The banks want you to be subservient to them. Suddenly the low interest rate card that you were so proud of and even consolidated all of your bills into, has jumped from low interest, or no interest, to the maximum allowed, which is somewhere up around 28% compounded! If a mobster loaned you money at these rates he would be eligible for arrest and imprisonment! The banks and lending institutions are allowed by the government to get away with it under the guise of handling charges, late fees, service charges, and other cockamamie phrases that are just plain stupid. Dave calls these idiotic payments a “Stupid Tax.”

It is time to put your life in order. Lean back and look at your situation. Listen to Dave Ramsey and take some baby steps. I am not able to articulate or describe in detail exactly how best to do it but Dave is a genius at it. You must find his radio program and start listening to it faithfully. After about a week or so, you will begin to understand exactly how easy it is and how you can get control of your life and be proud of your accomplishments in doing so.

Some of the ways that he will tell you over and over again are really absurdly simple. Take care of your immediate needs first. Food, Shelter, Utilities, and put ALL credit payments on hold, except your mortgage, until you are able to have a $1,000.00 Emergency Fund in a savings account, and do NOT touch it, other than for emergencies.

Dave will tell you exactly how to keep the illegal threatening bill collectors off your back and get them out of your life permanently. Once you have some breathing room things will start to come together much better for you.

Read any of the many books that you can either purchase at very fair prices or borrow from your local library. I have never read a Dave Ramsey book I didn’t like. If you are in or near any of the cities that Dave will be speaking at, then you MUST attend. Your life will change for ever, and it will be for the good!

There also is Dave’s famous Financial Peace University, and he also offers strong skill building programs that he calls EntreLeadership. If you want to succeed in life it will absolutely be able to be accomplished by following Dave Ramsey.

You owe it to yourself and family to visit www.daveramsey.com. Life, Money Hope!

Take Control of Your Credit Card Debt – Get Out and Stay Out of Debt
Written by Jason From Best Premium Card

My family hasn’t had any credit card debt in a long time. My dad always said that the only thing worse than paying bills is not being able to pay them. My grandfather said the same thing.

Credit cards can be great for convenience, and certain cards offer excellent rewards and benefits. But you need to pay your balance in full every month, and you shouldn’t let rewards cards entice you to spend more. If you’re not paying off your balance in full, your debts are slowly building up interest that make them harder and harder to pay off. If you continue on this path, your credit card debt will eventually come back to bite you in the rear.

That said, having credit card debt isn’t the absolute end of the world. I can’t find the exact statistics, but the average American IS in debt because of excessive spending on credit cards. There are a few steps you can take to slowly get rid of your credit card debt and then make sure you don’t fall back in the trap of not paying your balance in full. I’m not a financial expert and haven’t had any experience with credit card debt—this is just what I would do.

• Figure out how much money you’re currently spending each month and what you’re spending it on.
• Try to cut expenses so you can pay more than the minimum balance on your credit card/s each month. How much more you pay than the minimum depends on how much you can afford to pay, and how fast you want to get your debt paid off.
• Make sure to pay each bill promptly; your debt accumulates every day that it’s not paid off.
• Quit spending money on cards with high annual interest rates.

There are other things you can do such as consolidate your cards or take out a home equity line of credit to pay off your debt. But I don’t have any experience with these things, so I’d recommend you do a lot of research before going down this path.

Once you decide to make a change and eliminate credit card debt from your life, you’ll have to change your mindset and how you think about credit. People who manage their finances wisely see credit cards as short-term loans that should be paid off at the end of each month. If you’re using credit cards as a way to shop while not feeling like you’re spending any money, this is the wrong mindset. Take control of your credit card debt today and start making improvements one step at a time.

When you have your credit card debt under control, and are looking for a new card, there are a variety of cards with great rewards to choose one. If you’re looking for one without an annual fee, I recommend the Chase Freedom Visa Signature Card. This card gives you a $50 cash bonus after your first purchase and you can choose between cash back and points rewards—and switch between the two whenever you want. You also get triple rewards for purchases in your top 3 categories each month. No need to worry about figuring out what those categories are—Chase figures it out for you automatically.

If you’d like to read more about credit card rewards and experiences visit Best Premium Card’s Blog (http://www.bestpremiumcard.com/blog). But only after you have your credit card debt under control.