credit card

How to get rid of credit card debt

It is too easy to accumulate credit card debts, but the difficult comes when you are trying to pay the entire amount or at least making an effort to reduce the high interest rates that are often in double-digits. So, How to get rid of credit card debt?

How to get rid of credit card debt

Fortunately there are good solutions for this huge problem; you can get rid of credit card debt by getting organized and following an inexpensive life style, if you really want to take action to reduce your interest rates. With all this you will establish a positive financial habit, and eliminate your credit card debt.

Stop shopping

First you should stop using your credit card until your bill is paid off. If you feel some temptations while you are visiting the mall, then hide all the cards you owe and stick to “real” cash only while you are paying your debts, and consider to buy just the most necessary things.

If it’s possible, try to move or change some of your high interest balances to a card with a lower interest rate, but after you need to read the fine print or bank conditions because sometimes the offers of low interest rates are only for short periods of time.

Look what you owe

Search your credit card statements and write a list with all the interest rates and balances for each one. This will help you to know how much you are paying for the shops you made and which card has better interest rates.

Free up some cash

Your goal must be to pay a monthly amount considerably more than the minimum. You can start by getting rid of a smaller debt first or the biggest one, it is your decision, all depends on your possibilities.

If you’ve made a budget, you can determine where you could cut back in order to put more cash to pay your debts.

Commend yourself

Like we said before, having your debt under control is not easy; nonetheless the final payoff is totally sweet. So, you can lastly stop taking your savings to make the interest payments toward something important, and you really care about, like your own future.

Credit Cards

by Ryan Kendall

A credit card is basically a payment card which is used by the customers to pay off for the things they purchase even when they don’t have the cash with them. The banks and financial institutions provide credit cards with accounts providing a line of credit whose bill can be later settled on pre-decided terms of interest rates. The banks give this credit on the card holder’s promise to pay back. The banks generally charge interest rates on the amount of credit that they provide.

A credit card is basically a payment card which is used by the customers to pay off for the things they purchase even when they don’t have the cash with them.

When you have a credit card you can pay for any product or service with that card. The credit card companies enter into agreements with merchants to accept their credit cards. The issuer of the card gives a credit card at the time of opening an account. Now when a purchase is made with the card, there is a clear understanding that the cardholder will pay the amount to the issuer. A card is swiped against and a receipt is signed by the customer in addition to the PIN (personal identification number, which the customer has to put in to make the payment. The merchants get to know whether that card is valid or not and whether funds can be withdrawn from the said account. If you have not already exceeded your credit limit, your card will have been considered to make the payment.

The cardholder is sent a bill every month, about the expenses which he has made on that credit card. There is certain minimum amount of the bill which must be paid by the due date. You may be charged late fees if you cross the due date. It is always advised to pay the entire amount of the bill at one go. Though the amount can be paid later, but then the interest for that rolled over credit will increase, and generally the interest rates for credit cards limits are much higher than other forms of debt. So, if you want a safe a secure credit history which can always be helpful in getting new credit cards and loans, pay your bills on time.

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Credit Card Delinquency

by Ryan Kendall

If you are planning to acquire a credit card or you already have, then you should be thoroughly acquainted with the concept of Credit Card Delinquency. A credit card holder becomes delinquent, if he fails to pay the credit card bills. When you have a credit card, you are required to pay a certain amount every month to be current on your account. Now, if you do not make the minimum amount payment for the single month, a day after that you will be considered 1 day delinquent.

If you are planning to acquire a credit card or you already have, then you should be thoroughly acquainted with the concept of Credit Card Delinquency.

Basically delinquency is counted by the number of days you miss in making the payments to your credit card bills. So, if you miss your second monthly payment, you will be 30 days delinquent and if you miss it for another month then you will be 60 days delinquent and so on. Generally, you may be given buffer time to improve this situation and your missed payments may not be reported to the credit bureaus till two consecutive payments have been missed. But if you miss your third payment, then your credit score may fall by 125 points. For the fourth time that you miss your payments, your account may be turned to collections and action by collectors may ramp up by the fifth time, and later legal action may also be taken.

Apart from these negative effects, your charging privileges by the card may be suspended till payment of the total amount or may even be revoked permanently. Though all these things may seem quite intimidating, but you may not be in such a bad situation if you take certain steps. Firstly, make sure that you pay the minimum amount on your bill that you have to pay. And do not make the mistake of assuming that you the minimum amount is the total amount. It is the amount you need to make to keep your account current. Pay the entire minimum amount, not less, because that will not help you. Pay the minimum and keep paying your bills on time to stay out of this problem of credit card delinquency.

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Check A Bankruptcy Status

by Ryan Kendall

The following is one of the several ways to check your Bankruptcy Status. Check it out:

There are several ways to check your Bankruptcy Status

A website of Public Access to Court Electronic Records(PACER) is available to the general public to view their bankruptcy details. This website has all the details from the bankruptcy courts all across the United States. You will need valid login details to acquire the information. If you do not have an ID or password, you can easily register yourself on their website, with only minimal details like your personal information.
The registration is completed after you have added in your credit card details. This is essential to acquire the password, which will be sent to you e-mail ID that you provided during the registration.
If you do not have or wish not to mention your e-mail, the password will be sent to you via mailing service to your home address. Though the registration for PACER is absolutely free, they will, however, charge you 8 cents a page for viewing the pages of the documents. The fee is only applicable to up to 30 pages. There will also be a 10 cents per page charge for printing any soft copies of documents.
Other documents like the transcripts of court proceedings are free of cost. The party along with the lawyers, are subject to receiving free electronic copies of the documents necessary to the case.
Once you have received the password and validated your account, you can use the login details to enter the website to access the list of bankruptcy counts in the U.S. Search through the list to find the court where your case was lodged. The courts have been segregated into categories of states that they belong to. You can easily locate your court based on the state.
Another way is to locate the website of your bankruptcy court and (as many courts are linked to the PACER website) you can access your details through the link, providing your login details.
Once you have located the court, put in the required information like Social Security number, your name and date of birth to locate your case. All the information related to your case, like the status of the case, petitioner’s and attorney’s names etc., will be available for you to review.

This is how you can easily check your bankruptcy status. Besides, if you need to get a car after bankruptcy, there are ways to do it.

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How To Lower The Charges On Your Debit Card

by Ryan Kendall

Most banks offer the debit cards free to their customers, but also there are some charges on your debit card which can be lowered. Debit cards unlike credit cards draw money from the designated account immediately upon transaction. Whilst the card use may be free there can be hidden fees. Fees for example; going over the number of transactions allowed, use at an ATM, drawing money whilst travelling abroad. As long as funds are available you can use it with no charge on your account. The danger comes if you overdraw on your account which then attracts your banks set fees for such action.

If you overdraw on an account that has no facility for overdrawing you will be charged a NSF – non sufficient funds fee and you run the risk of having your account closed.

If you have a courtesy pay service; this is an arrangement with you bank to cover when you account drops below zero up to an agreed sum This must be paid back or your account may be closed. There will be a fee every time you use this service.

Having an overdraft transfer allows money to be transferred from a savings or other account to cover a zero balance in your checking account. There is normally a periodic fee for this plus a limit to the number of times it is used.

Overdraft/line of credit is an arrangement with the bank for a set amount to be used if your balance drops to zero. The overdraft has a limit on how often this can be used and a charge for arranging it and interest on any monies used from the line of credit.

As you can see your debit card might not come with charges but irresponsible use certainly brings charges. Responsible money management is the key on how to lower the charges on your debit card.

Check your balance frequently.
Stay within your limits.
Do not have an arranged overdraft just for the sake of having one.
Ensure you know if your bank has a limited number of transactions fee on your debit card – if so keep within the limit by planning your spending.

One debit card that does accrue a large number of fees is the prepaid credit cards. Whilst a useful alternative to carrying large sums of cash and for travelling, the fees for a transaction and use at an ATM can vary considerably from company to company. When looking how to lower the charges on your debit card, you can consider a pre-paid debit card. Explore all the options carefully, ask for the fee structure and identify the one that will work for you.

Ultimately the only way to manage your debit card fees is:

To be aware of what the fees are, ask your bank to clarify what is chargeable.
Do not just accept a card because it is offered.
Use the debit card responsibly; it is your cash you are spending.
Check your account regularly.

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