Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Managing Your Debts for Better Living

By Ridwan


Managing your debts for best living. Debts are a common thing. Many people acquire a loan for something important. Mortgage loans are also ordinary, as they enable people to be able to purchase their dream houses.

If you have debts and are looking for the best solution for it, here are good tips to follow so you can manage that debt and continue living life as you do.

  1. Assess your debts. Check all the billing statements sent to you and the amount your creditor is asking in payments. If you see any conflicts or wrong entries, dispute them accordingly. You then make a substantial computation, including interests and other charges.
  2. Make a plan. Decide as to how long you intend to pay your debts. If you can do it in a year or earlier than that, you can choose that scheme because the scheduled interest to pay is relatively lower. But you’ve got to consider your everyday living expenses as well. It wouldn't be good to pay your debts alone and leave nothing for your personal needs.
  3. Budget accordingly. Now that you have arrived at your total debt amount, you now have to budget your expenditures. Determine the exact amount you have to pay monthly, in accordance to the span of time you are supposed to have paid the entire debt. Then make the loan repayment amount the first priority in your budget.
  4. Further reduce your spending. If you find out that your monthly income seems to be less than your projected monthly expenses, try to check which purchases you can put off or cut out entirely. Try to stick to your needs rather than the wants.
  5. Maximize your savings. If you have some money in the bank, try to determine how you can use it best to pay off your debts. Check which of your savings accounts is the lowest interest earner. Maybe you can use that to compensate a loan with a much higher rate of interest.
  6. Search for additional payment sources. You can get a part time job or set up a home business to further augment your financial obligations. There are also government funds that you can possibly get. These are all going to be helpful for you.

Follow these six tips and you are sure to be free of debt in no time. The main idea in managing debts effectively is setting proper priorities. Once you've mastered that, you are bound to be successful.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Tips on Choosing the Best Debt Management Service

By Ridwan

So, you have debt problems and you would like to put an end to it. You are now ready to pick up the phone and call your chosen debt management service provider. But before you do that, please read on because you needed to be guided accordingly as to which debt management service provider to select.

  1. Choose a reputable company. Debt management services are being offered left and right, in and on of the internet. Before you head on and just select out of pure gut and instinct, try to do a simple background check on the service provider. You wanted to be with the people who will genuinely help.
  2. Choose the company which employs the experts. Debt management services are more one on one counseling. You should be dealing with a real expert rather than somebody who just poses to be one. In order for you to be guided accordingly, you have to be with the best people.
  3. Choose the company with a good track record. How many people are actually helped by the company? Are its clients satisfied with the service they got? Are the services effective? These are questions that you might need positive answers to so that you’ll be able select the best company possible.
  4. Choose the company that offers personalized service. There are instances that a certain debt management service is not applicable to you. You have to make sure that the debt management service provider looks deeper into your personal needs and requirements and not just what they wanted for you.
  5. Choose the debt management service provider that will effectively take you towards debt-free living. This is your main goal: to be free of debt for life. You got to be sure that you and your service provider have the same goal. Only through that you will be able to achieve full freedom against debts.
  6. Choose the company that helps more than anything. If your debt management service provider is more into making profit than helping, then that isn't a good mix. The profit and the helping aspect should both be on the same level so that they won’t conflict with each other.

These are the things that you should consider when selecting a debt management service provider. Remember, your chance to be free of debts is in their hands. Both of you should be helping each other.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Find your Hidden Money

By Ridwan

When you sign up for loans, you pay them within a year, 5 years at most. Individual credit unions offer special loan rates that are beneficial to the borrower. A number of people consider signing up for credit union loans.

The features of a credit union loan are:

- The insurance of the loan isn't a direct cost to the eligible borrower

- There is an offer of a repayment protection insurance

- There are no hidden fees or transaction charges whatsoever

- Repayments are calculated depending on the reducing balance of the total loan. Smaller interest repayments are relative on how frequent you repay your loan.

- There is a variety of repayment loans to choose from, depending on the livelihood of the borrower.

- It is so flexible that the borrower can repay the loan before the due or he can make large repayments than what had been agreed on without any penalty whatsoever.

- The additional lump sum repayments the borrower has paid will be accepted without penalty.

Credit Unions are like banks but the former has some unique characteristics. It is often mistaken as banks when in fact , an educated customer would take advantage of the best deal that is offered at Credit Unions and not at banks.

First and foremost, credit unions are owned by the customers. This is as opposed to banks where the possible clients are the customers. Banks prioritize profit and the shareholders usually own the bank.

On the other hand, credit unions are organizations that are non-profit. Their goal is to provide service over profitability.

One might ask, if the bank has shareholders who run the management of the institute, then who runs the credit union?

The upper management is composed of board directors deciding on the operations of the credit union. These are elected volunteers. They don’t do it for the salary. They are the members who want their opinion to be heard on how the institute should be run.

One can be a Credit Union member if they share a common bond. These are people of the same geographic community, a workplace or a religion.

That’s why credit unions are different to banks. That’s because their offer is limited to their members. But it’s harder for them to achieve credibility because if a credit union isn't able to limit membership, then they lose their status as a credit union.

That’s why there’s hidden money to credit unions. Credit unions offer the same services and products as the larger banks do but the credit unions don't have the same amount of volume as the banks.

Small credit unions can challenge banks when it comes to the income they generate. Credit unions have the tendency to focus on service over profit, that’s why the rate is always better at the credit union.

Don’t worry. Your money will be as safe in credit unions as it will be in bank deposits. As explained above, because of the cheaper down payment a member gives to a credit union, compared to the bank, there is hidden money for him.

Another direction you could look at is hidden money on home equity loans. As a homeowner, home equity loans allow to use your equity as the collateral. Equity is the funds you have that you could use to the property in order to invest it.

The hidden money here is that since it is a debt on your property that is in your possession which secures your debt loan. If the creditor wants his money back, then it can be sold. A home equity loan can either have a fixed rate mortgage or an adjustable rate mortgage.

The expenses that make a home equity loan useful are medical bills, debt consolidation and home repairs. The tax benefit for families who have home equity loans can enjoy a home equity rate loan that is charged as tax deductible. Its because the loan is used for primary functions. All these means lower monthly payment rate – making you save more.

It’s always practical to save on your expenses. That is why as much as possible we suggest that you look up credit unions as opposed to banks and you sign up for home equity loan than the home mortgage. If you write it on a piece of paper, you’ll discover that you can actually save more with credit unions and home equity rates.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Business Debt Consolidation

By Ridwan

Business debts are different from personal debts. For one, business debts are sure to be much higher in amount and in interest. And the good new is that there are companies which offer debt consolidation services exclusively for business entities and purposes alone.

But how does it really work? Does business debt consolidation work like personal debt consolidation? For you to be guided accordingly here is more information.

  1. Business debt consolidation companies have the ability to include your revolving, term, and equipment loan debts in their refinance process. Included in the plan is to show you how to effectively configure your mode of payment in accordance to your business income
  2. like personal debt consolidation, it also gives you the ability to reduce the number of your lenders. Instead, you only have to pay one company, once a month. This would eventually help you manage your business better.
  3. Business debt consolidation companies have the ability to accommodate debts as much as $150 million. That is a big amount when compared to a personal debt consolidation plan that extends to only as much as a hundred thousand.
  4. Business debt consolidation companies can help you be free of debts without declaring bankruptcy. These companies use effective techniques to ensure that you are on the best path towards pushing your business upwards. And being debt-free the first major step of it all.
  5. Some business debt consolidation companies help businesses maintain and ensure good working relationships between their creditors, suppliers, and vendors. With their system in place, they would make sure that the harmony between these players is fully sustained.
  6. Business debt consolidation companies propose a good solution to all your financial problems. They also have the ability to provide the answer to troubles that would otherwise need to be settled in courts. These companies have an out-of-court resolution technique as a part of their services.
  7. Business debt consolidation restructures your debts effectively it can even assure you of good business cash flow amidst the payments you make to your different creditors. The firm devises a system where in both creditors and debtors would benefit.


These are ways on how a business debt consolidation company works. They are specifically handling commercial establishments to handle their debt problems. This is because they have the system, the expertise, and the resources to help even the big players in the economy today.