|
Max Size 750X75 Banner or Text |
|
|
|
|
|
Week of September 29, 2008This is an OPT-IN list ONLY! If you feel that you have received this message in error, please follow the directions at the bottom of this email to unsubscribe. Thank you.Click Here to view this newsletter online. Navigate This ColumnGrandpa Terry's Update Welcome to The Budget Stretcher! A very special welcome if
you are a new subscriber. Sponsor Advertisement
Grandpa Terry's Tip of the WeekBeginner's Guide To Budgeting Email CoursePart 6 - How To Manage Big Money Problems! Welcome again. We are almost there. Only two more parts to go. Thanks for sticking in there. EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE MONEY PROBLEMS READ THIS PART! You may just learn how you can avoid them. There probably isn't a more frustrating and humiliating feeling than being hounded by creditors that you can't pay. This part of the course is designed to give you some ideas about what you can do and what rights you have with regard to your creditors. The first thing I want to say is that you are not alone. About 1.5 million people in this country file bankruptcy each year and several million have to resort to Credit Counseling Services. This ought to tell you that it isn't that hard to get into trouble. One of the biggest mistakes people make when they find that they can't pay their bills is to hide from the creditors. They avoid phone calls and don't respond to written correspondence. This alone will get your creditors more fired up to get their money and start their harassment techniques than anything else. Your best course of action is to be the one to contact them when you first discover you can't make your payment. You may be pleasantly surprised to find that many of them will be able to help and will actually give you some ideas of what you can do. Of course there will always be the Dorks! The guys that want their payment no matter what you have to do to get it. These people will be willing to contact your work or your friends or anyone else just to harass you. There are ways of taking care of these people that I will explain later. You will want to find out how you got into the situation you are currently in. This isn't for the purpose of placing blame. It is absolutely necessary to determine how you can make changes to stop that process and start reversing it to work your way out of the problem. Your next step is to set your priorities. If you don't have the money to pay everything then you need to decide what is the most important and deal with the others as you can. I wrote an article on setting your priorities that will explain just what you need to pay first. You can see the article by clicking on the link below: Setting Your Financial Priorities http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/articles/priorities.html After you have your priorities set up there are some other things that you can do to help. Here are just a few:
--See if your family or church can help. Even if it's not with money, normally a family will provide free babysitting or transportation to look for work. --Consider selling anything you have of value. It may be hard to part with that second car or a boat, but you need the money. --Have a yard sale. Most of us have enough stuff to put together a pretty good sale. --Keep your creditors informed of any progress you are making toward paying them. --Cut your expenses as much as possible. --If you can't work because of an injury or illness, contact the Social Security Administration about possible disability benefits. You can visit their web site at http://www.ssa.gov --Visit American Consumer Credit Counseling online at http://www.consumercredit.com. They are a non profit organization that provides individuals experiencing financial hardships with workable solutions to your financial problems. After you enroll in their program, many creditors elect to reduce or eliminate interest charges and late fees. Their service can also help you avoid legal actions such as garnishment of wages or lawsuits. --Contact the Department of Social Services in your area for help. In the meantime your bills are going to start getting further and further behind. With this comes the harassing phone calls I mentioned before. There are things that your creditors can't do that you need to know about. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) applies to personal, family, and household debts. This includes money owed for the purchase of a car, for medical care, or for charge accounts. The FDCPA prohibits debt collectors from engaging in unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices while collecting these debts. Your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act:
--Debt collectors may not contact you at work if they know your employer disapproves. --Debt collectors may not harass, oppress, or abuse you. --Debt collectors may not lie when collecting debts, such as falsely implying that you have committed a crime. --Debt collectors must identify themselves to you on the phone. --Debt collectors must stop contacting you if you ask them to in writing. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/crdright.htm Filing bankruptcy is always the last resort and should only be considered when all other alternatives of resolving your debt problems have been exhausted. When you file bankruptcy most or all of your debts are eliminated or you can file for a court established payment schedule lasting between 3 and 5 years depending on the chapter you file under. To avoid any misunderstands on the topic of bankruptcy I do not give advice one way or the other. You need to find out as much information as you can and contact a competent bankruptcy attorney before making a final decision. I can provide you with a few links that will help you make this decision. If you are considering bankruptcy you will find the information at the below links helpful: When in debt, bankruptcy may be your best option http://moneycentral.msn.com/articles/smartbuy/debt/4955.asp Questions and Answers http://moneycentral.msn.com/quickref/quickref.asp?Cat=4&SelCat=4&RefType=0&Topic=2&Sub=0 The Bankruptcy Center at LawDog.com http://www.lawdog.com/bkrcy/Bkcd1.htm Serious money problems can put a strain on the relationships you have with your family, even the kids. Take the time to let your entire family know what is going on and what you are doing about it. Your homework for Part 7 - Paying Off Your Debt is to make a list of who you owe, what the payment is and how much you owe them. We will be working on methods you can use to start paying these bills off. Sponsor Advertisement
Grandpa Terry's EmailCan You Help this Subscriber?Hi Ref: J. K. Harris I wanted to know if anyone has had any experience with this company, good or bad. I am looking at signing up with them to help me with a back tax problem. I googled the company and actually wanted to maybe get input from someone who has used their services. Thanks Tammy My Response: Hi Tammy, I only know J K Harris by name but don't really know much about them. You may want to check out the comments at the below page before deciding anything: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/jk_harris.html I'll put this in the newsletter next week and forward any comments to you. All the best, Terry Well, ironically, you're email came a couple hours after I closed my Providian (WaMu) credit card account. I called to ask why they raised my interest from 12.9% to 22.94%. The gal on the phone (not helpful at all) kept repeating the same mantra that they periodically review accounts and make adjusts 'per protocol'. I argued to no avail. Then she suggested if I didn't like the new terms I could close my account. After 13 years, I decided that I didn't want to give my business to a company that worked liked that. Unfortunately I have a high balance and I will be forced to work with them until I can figure something else out. Very frustrating that in this day and age that loyalty and good payment history is worth nothing. TG My Response: Hi TG, I hate to hear about this type of antics from credit card companies. I just figured it out and on a balance of $10,000 your monthly interest went from $107.50 to $191.20, over $84 a month. I'm not a big fan of new government regulations but something has to be done about this. Did you ask to talk to a supervisor? I've found that sometimes this helps especially if you threaten to transfer the balance to another company. I'm not sure if you are in a position to do so but if you are I would dump these people as soon as you can if they don't lower your rate. I would also make a point of calling them and letting them know why. I doubt if it will help but it may make you feel better. Thanks for writing. This is the info that all of our subscribers need to see. All the best, Grandpa Terry I enjoy your newsletter and have learned a ton of savings tips. Here's one for you. My son in law taught me that if you need a phone number while you are out and don't have access to a phone book, send a text message to google. Just type in the numbers on your phone that correspond to the word "google", then in the message portion of your text, type in the place you need the phone number for--business or personal. In just a few seconds, it will send you a response with the phone number! Thanks, Gina Kingston, Tennessee |
|
Copyright © 2000-2008 Budget Stretcher All rights Reserved.
Page design by B a s i c T e m p l a t e s . c o m. |
