Do you need a wake up call?
Here is some stuff that you may find helpful
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Here are some of the important signs you have a serious debt problem.
Monthly minimum payment
Your monthly minimum credit card payment on all your credit card accounts, exceed 15% of your current pay. Debt experts recommend that the cost of servicing your debt should not be greater than 30% of your net income excluding mortgage or rents.
Revolving accounts
If you are not able to pay your bills on time, you need to start working on managing your debts before it gets out of hand. It is time to cut down your expenses and live within your means.
Maxed out on any of your credit limits
Maxing your credit limits in a big no-no. Maxing your credit limit lowers your credit score. Besides, you may have a tough time getting a loan or mortgage in the future until your current debt issues have been resolved.
Cash advance to pay credit card debt
Cash advance to pay off your credit card debt is not a good move. You are simply revolving your debt instead of paying for it. Besides, you will pay for cash advance fees and interest on both the accounts.
CCJ’s
If you have accepted any CCJ’s you have already damaged your credit by confirming that you could not pay.
If any of the above apply to you, it is time to take a hard look at your overall expenses. Follow a good budget and you will be on your way to pay off your credit card debts.
There are plenty of strategies you could use to reduce or eliminate debt. One strategy that has worked for hundreds of people is the debt snowball strategy. To reduce or eliminate debt with this strategy, write down all your debts and the interest rates and minimum payment amounts. Decide how much you can repay across all your debts then allocate the minimum on the low interest credit and pay of the most on the high interest credit.
How debt snowball strategy works
- List all your debts on a sheet of paper from the smallest pay-off to the largest.
- It is important to plan to pay at least the minimum on all your debt accounts. You do not want to get hit by late fees and a hike in interest rates.
- Check to see how much you have saved to pay off your debts.
- Pay the minimum payment as listed on your lowest interest debt and then apply the extra money in paying off the high interest debt.
- Once you pay off your highest interest debt, work on reducing or eliminating your second highest
- Repeat the above until you have paid off all your debt
Zero Rate Cards
Some cards offer zero interest periods these can be used to help you save, but you must take care. The zero rate period will end and you must ensure you use the period and savings to pay down debt not increase spend.
Budgeting is an excellent tool. It helps you understand where you are spending all your money. Once you learn where your money is being spent, you can make adjustments to cut spending and start saving. Here are some of the best ways recommended by experts on saving money.
Eliminate needless costs
Start off with the small savings. Small savings are easy to identify especially if you keep up with budgeting.
Stop spending for coffee
Addicted to Starbucks? Spending £10 a week on coffee? You are not alone. Thousands of individuals like to swing by coffee shops before they hit the road. If you really want to cut down on this expense, it is best advised to assess what you are actually paying for. Many routines and daily events are not as they first appear.
Shop during sales events
Sales events are easy to spot. Sales Days, Christmas, Bank Holidays, and other major holidays are excellent times to make big purchases. If you intend to purchase a big ticket item like furniture or plasma TV, wait for a long weekend and you will see prices being slashed at the stores that carry them.. But be careful plan beforehand don’t just buy because there is a sale
Summer and winter tips
Try to keep your house warmer in summer and cooler in winter. During summer, close the blinds or curtains to keep off the sun. This will keep your home cooler during summer months.
Other chores
If there are some routine chores, try doing them yourself. This will keep you moving on weekends instead of being a couch potato. Consider mowing your lawn or cleaning your own car.
One bill from the phone company
Most phone companies offer phone, internet and cable services. It is best to bundle all the three services to save more. Besides you will have to write one check instead of three every month! If you do not use your home computer very often, switch from DSL or Cable to a dial-up. The money you save can be used to get out of credit card debt
Reduce your larger expenses
The ideas listed here are harder to implement but can make a huge difference in your savings.
If you have more than one car in the household and use it less than once or twice a week, consider getting rid of it. You will save a bundle on car payments, on insurance as well as on the dreadful gas prices at the pump.
Mortgage refinancing
During a weak economy the interest rates tend to get lower. Take advantage of low interest rate and consider refinancing your mortgage. As a rule of thumb, your new rates must be as least 2% points lower than your old mortgage..
Reduce your credit card debt and interest rates
If you are in credit card debt, compare your current interest rates with those offered by other credit card companies. If you find other credit cards pre-approval offers which are better than your current credit card, speak to your current credit card company about reducing your rates. If they are unwilling to reduce rates, consider transferring over the balance to the new credit card company. If you are been offered an introductory rate or a no-interest rate for the first several months, you will save a few hundred to a few thousand dollars on the interest rates.
If you intend to pay off your credit card debts and save for the future, budgeting is for you. You need to start maintaining a budget and stick with it in order to see results at the end of the month. Many people need help in sticking to a budget this is when a counselor, mentor and coach can prove very valuable.
Budgets - The backbone of personal finance
Planning a good budget and sticking to your budget no matter what, is the only sure way of saving money and getting out of credit card debt. With budgeting, you will be able to determine how and where your money is being spent and accordingly you can take necessary actions to squeeze and save more money.
Steps to creating a budget
The first and the foremost thing is to identify how you are spending your money. Look at your past budget and set future goals on how much you intend to save to pay off your credit cards or pay off other loans / mortgages. Keep a good handle on your future budgets to ensure you remain on track.
Use budgeting software and save time.
Many of the personal finance software available today, have a section for tracking or maintaining a budget. Some of the most popular budgeting tools are from Quicken and Microsoft Money. Using a budgeting software, you will be able to track and keep a tab on your expenses.
Don't pinch pennies.
Saving money is a good thing. Maintaining a budget and attempting to save more is better. However, driving many miles to save a couple of pence on petrol is not advisable. When you do your budgeting, work on items where spending can be cut but do not micromanage all areas of spending.
Use notebook to write down cash purchases.
Get a small notebook you can carry and note down all the cash expenses you have been making. Slim pocket notebooks are available in pound stores, Asda or Tesco. If you are spending off or losing track of your expenses, you need to look into your notebook and cut down on your expenses.
Do you really need it?
Don't spend more money than you make from your salary and investments. If you are spending more than what you earn, it is time to look into your monthly budgets and seriously cut down on your expenses. By all means, spend less than what you currently make. Before making a purchase, ask yourself, do you really need it? Unless your answer is a resounding yes, do not make the purchase.
Learn to save
Try not to spend more than 85% of your income so you can save for emergencies or big purchases. A good method to save, recommended by many debt counsellors, is to roll over a fixed amount each month from your current account to your savings account around the time you are paid.
Savings and Inflation
What is worth today will be worth half in 20 years, thanks to inflation. As your income rises, your non-essential expenses should not rise. To keep pace with inflation, you will need to save enough and stay ahead of inflation. Saving for the future is more important than purchasing big ticket items like the new plasma TV. When you get a pay raise, consider saving the entire extra dough into your retirement or savings account to help prepare for the rainy day.
To get out of debt, you need to acquire an adequate amount of knowledge and skill. Knowledge is the best weapon in your debt arsenal. Here are some of the important tips and information to get out of debt.
Control your spending
Most individuals spend thousands of pounds of optional spending each year. Unfortunately many are not aware of when, why or on what they spend our hard earned money. The simplest way to start to control your spending is to track all your monthly expenses, no matter how small they are. Many make the mistake of only tracking the large numbers, the large numbers need to be reviewed to check if they can be reduced but the small ones need to be checked to see if they should exist at all. At the end of the month, revisit the expenses and see where all the money was spent and where you could cut back to save. If you are spending £10 a week on latte, consider using the money saved to either reduce debt or save for the future.
Highest interest rate first
This is the most common sense advice to be followed. High interest rate debt can lead you into financial ruin and it is best advised to pay them down quickly. These high interest rate debts grow very quickly and it is best advised to nail them first.
Plan for emergencies but also reduce your debt
Having an emergency fund is advised by most experts. However, chances are an emergency might never happen for the next several months or several years. It is best advised to review your savings and use up some of the money to get out of debt. If you already have an emergency fund and you are comfortable with it, pay off debt instead of saving further in the fund.
Should I pay off the mortgage?
A mortgage is a good debt and you might want to revisit it after you have paid off some of your other debts and have a comfortable savings account established. Pay down all your high interest loans like credit card debt and personal loans before you consider paying off your mortgage.
Always strive to pay more than the minimum
Credit cards often carry high interest rates and is good advise to pay more than the minimum. If you simply pay only the minimum, you will soon find yourself paying a lot in interest and worsening your financial situation.
Need help? Get it!
If your financial situation has worsened, you might want to speak to a debt consolidation or credit counseling expert to help you get out of debt.
More individuals and businesses are turning towards credit counseling services to help improve their financial situation and get rid of debt. Some consumers, especially who do not research enough before choosing to work with a credit counseling company get burnt.
However, a credit counseling company can well be worth it, if you cherry pick the best of the breed. It all boils down on how you choose the credit counseling company.
What does a credit counseling agency do?
Credit counseling agencies can provide you with budgeting and money management advice to get you out of debt and plan and stick to a budget which is the most essential component of credit counseling. They will also work towards negotiating your interest rates with your creditors and explain your situation and convince them to lower your interest rate and slash down or eliminate fees. Some credit counselors will also extend the term of your loan to make payments more manageable.
How to choose a credit counseling agency?
This is difficult and we are intending to develop a rating system to establish those we believe act in their clients best interest. There are a number of charitable organizations that offer good though not completely impartial advise. The citizens advice bureau and the Consumer Credit Counseling Service are well respected.
Questions to ask a consumer credit counseling company
- Ask what all services are provided by the counseling company.
- Are there any free education resources available to get you started?
- Are there any upfront fees? (we think you should never have to pay them) What are the monthly fees?
- Do they have qualified counselors and IP consultants
- Can the counseling company get the creditors to pick up the fees
- Check the web to see how their reputation looks
- Is your firm audited annually?
Do it yourself credit counseling
After you have spoken to a credit counseling company, you will need to decide whether you want to work with them or go it alone. There is little you can't do yourself. You can always consider working with your credit card companies to eliminate late fees, extend the life of your loan, work on a repayment plan or negotiate lower credit card interest rates. Most individuals fail to be as effective as a credit counseling company who handle several hundred cases like yours but it wouldn't hurt to try it out before you seek services from a credit counseling company.
If you lack the internal resources to do budgeting and save several hundred dollars a month, the do it yourself approach might not be your best option. In such cases, the best route to take is to consult with a credit counselor. Work with a good credit counselor and choose a repayment amount which can be realistically handled. Many of these credit counseling companies are funded by the powerful credit card companies. So the credit counseling companies are highly motivated to encourage you to cough up as much as you could. Take time to review and be realistic.
Here are some of the best credit counseling tips and helpful advice recommended by credit counseling experts:
Reasonable fees
For credit counseling or debt management plans, make sure you do not overpay your credit counselor. Many companies will explain fees and some will source their income from your creditors
Initial fee
Many credit counseling companies will also charge you an initial fee to establish an account and negotiate with your creditors. If your credit counseling company asks for anything substantial, you might be better served elsewhere.
Spending time with clients
Ask the credit counselor if they give you sufficient time to get your questions answered either on the phone or in person. Initial conversations usually last for an hour and the credit counselor should explain you what they do and how they do it. They should also be helpful enough to answer all your questions. If a credit counselor is unwilling to spend adequate amount of time with you, move on.
Written plan
Based on your unique credit counseling needs, the credit counselor will come up with a credit counseling plan to get you out of debt. Ask the company if they can provide you with a written plan. Study the plan carefully to understand how they intend to help you.
Written budget
Ask the credit counseling company for a written budget based on your current financial situation. With a written budget, you will be well aware on how much you are expected to pay the credit counseling company each month and how they plan to distribute the money to your creditors.
Always consider working with a credit counseling company that is reputed, represents your interests, and is genuinely interested in helping you get out of debt and improve your financial situation.
You can either choose to work with a credit counselor or simply follow a do it yourself approach to credit counseling. If you are aware of the issues and have the appropriate life skills and commitment, the do it yourself approach for credit counseling might just be what you are looking for!
Note services such as IVA’s and Bankrupcy can only be completed by official Insolvency practitioners.
Budgeting
Budgeting is the single most important factor in credit counseling. A good budget is the one that saves you enough money to pay towards your credit card debt and other loans.
Negotiate lower interest rates
List down your credit card companies and call them asking to lower your interest rates on your accounts. If you remain firm and if need arises, speak to the supervisor, you will be able to reduce interest rates on most of your accounts.
Extend the life of the loan
By extending the life of your loan, you will be able to make the payments more manageable. There is a warning here that you must ensure that this short term relief is not wasted in additional consumption, use the savings to pay down expensive debt
Remove late fees
Talk to your credit card companies to eliminate or reduce your late fees. If you explain that you are working on a plan to help pay off debts, they are likely to listen.
In reality, the average person will not be as effective as a credit counselor. But if that means saving several hundred pounds a year to pay off debts, you might consider giving it a shot. If you know you are not good at saving money and are not comfortable creating and following a budget or negotiating, do it yourself credit counseling might just not be for you.
Credit repair can take several months. It took time for your credit report to get damaged and it will take a while before it gets back on track. However, you want to initiate the right steps now, in order to improve your credit. Here are some of the important steps to repair credit.
Request a credit report.
Obtaining a credit report from each of the large credit reference agencies every couple of years or so is good practice. The Data Protection Act 1998 gives you the right to request a report at the cost of £2 each. This can be obtained either by post or online. www.xxperian.co.uk and www.equifax.co.uk provide this and more comprehensive reports. You will have to provide some personal details but limit this to Name, Address, Date of Birth and contact details
Review mistakes in credit report.
Any negative information remains on your credit report for at least 6 years. If you find any collection accounts over 6 years being reported in your credit file, request the item to be removed immediately. If you find any other inaccuracies in your report, for example a credit line showing as £2,000 instead of £4,000, or a credit card account not being reported, bring it to the notice of the credit reference agency.
Contact the Credit Reference Agency (CRA)
When you contact the credit reference agency, keep a record of every contact, include the name of anyone you speak to. List all items that are inaccurate or incomplete and a detailed description of those items. If you have any documents that support your argument, it may help to provide a copy. The credit reference agency has 28 days to reply to your query. If they refuse to change your credit report you have the right to add your own comment – keep this focused and to the point.
Contact the lender or other information provider
You can also contact the organisation that provided the dispputed information to the credit reference agency. Again you should keep a record of every contact and include evidence to support your argument. You can ask a lender to report the item as disputed until they have verified and correctedd it.
Tips on maintaining good credit
Once you have eliminated negative items in your credit report, work on maintaining a positive credit report. For good credit, here are some tips to consider:
- Make every effort to pay all your bills on time
- Never carry high levels of debt on credit cards.
- Keep a few accounts active and close the rest. While closing accounts, close the ones that were recently opened. Older accounts help establish good credit history.
Tips when communicating with the credit reference agencies
- Keep records of all your correspondences.
- Check your report a month after any changes have been confirmed.
- If you need to work with a credit repair company, do adequate research.
- Avoid credit repair companies If information on your credit report can be changed or removed, the agency will do this for free, once you have recieved a copy of your report. A free money adviser or debt consellor ( for instance, at a Citizens Advice Bureau or the Consumer Credit Counselling Service) will also be able to help you with your credit report.
Lenders will often assess the risk of offering you credit by calculating a score based on the information at their disposal when you apply. This includes the information on your credit report (from a credit reference agency), the information you give when you apply, and the information the lender might already have about you, perhaps if you have been a customer before.
What is a credit score?
Credit scoring awards points to relevant pieces of information from these three sources. Your total score is then worked out and compared to the lender's pre-determined pass mark. If your score reaches the lender's pass mark, the chances are they will offer you credit. You do not have a single credit score rating. Lenders award different points for different pieces of information and set different pass marks.
Factors influencing credit score
All the entries in your credit report are considered when calculating the credit score. However, some factors are more influential than others when calculating the credit score. The finance industry is interested in making money and they are looking for indicators that demonstrate a history that your behaviour will make money, pay them fees and interest and repay any loans. Your credit file may be inaccurate, incomplete and out of date so even when they approve a loan it is still your responsibility to ensure that you can afford it.
Data comes from:
The Electoral roll. This is publicly available information
Court Records. Including CCJ’s and Bankruptcies indicating history of debt problems
Financial Data. Banks Building Societies and other Financial Organizations compile millions of transactions every day including black data detailing defaults, late pays and problems, and white data which includes how you generally operate your accounts.
There is a lot of data that they do not have access to these include:
Employment, Fines, Savings Accounts, Medical History, Criminal Record, Child Support Information, Student Loans, and many old credit accounts.
Payment History
Payment history determines 30-35% of your total credit score. The payment history is an important component of your credit score. Here are the important considerations
- Do you pay your bills on time?
- If late, how late?
- How often do you pay late? Are you unable to pay on time?
- How recent are your late payments?
- Have any of your accounts turned over to collection agencies?
- How many accounts have been turned over to collection agencies?
- Have you filed for bankruptcy?
Amount owed
How much money you owe determines about 30% of your credit score. The important factors to consider are
- How many accounts do you owe?
- How many accounts have balances?
- What percentage of your credit line is owed?
- In case of major loans, how much is owed in relation to how much was borrowed?
Length of credit history
The length of credit history is not as significant as the above two but determines about 15% of your credit score. Simply put, the longer you hold on to your credit cards, the better your score will be. Some experts recommend not closing your older credit card accounts to build a good credit score.
New Credit
New credit comprises of 10% of your credit score. The new credit factor looks at how many new accounts have been recently opened, how often have you made requests for credit and the length of time since the credit inquiries were made. If you are shopping around for better rates, make sure any lenders checking your credit report before giving you a quote leave behind a quotation search footprint and not one that suggests you actually applied for credit. A large number of credit applications type searches can damage your credit score.
Credit mix
The overall credit mix is approximately 10% of your credit score. The overall mix factor comprises of the mix of your credit cards, personal loans, mortgage loans etc. The more balanced the mix, the more likely this factor to improve your overall score.
How to avoid debt and credit repair scams?
When your debts get out of order and bills keep pouring it, you may want to talk to a debt consolidation or credit repair company to help you get out of debt. When selecting the right organization to work with, be careful! There are plenty of scams out there, and most of them offer a quick fixes and offer solutions that do not work in practical life.
Debt relief may actually be a bankruptcy filing!
Since debt is a big problem, you may have seen signs posted on the web, newspaper advertisements and television commercials claiming how simple and easy it is to get rid of debt. These ads will promise you debt relief but in most cases, they may be promoting bankruptcy. Yes, bankruptcy is one of the options you can turn to when all other options have been ineffective for you. Infact, since your credit report will get damaged for years to come, you will want to consider other options before filing for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy will show up on your credit report for 6 to 15 years, will impact your ability to get credit, a job or a home. Needless to say, bankruptcy can cost you money in legal fees.
Credit repair scams
Credit repair scams deceive consumers by offering to repair credit in a snap. These scam artists will promise to create a new identity for you, quickly erase your bad credit even if items are accurate on your credit report. Negative entries if accurate can never be removed from your credit report. You can fix your credit yourself and there is nothing a credit repair firm will do that you can't do yourself. Many credit repair companies have been investigated by Trading Standards departments following complaints from disgruntled consumers.
How to protect yourself from scams?
With a good deal of common sense, you can protect yourself from scams:
- If you intend to work with a company, check it out with your local citizens advice centre or a consumer protection agency
- Unless you are very well aware of the company, never give any sensitive information like social security number or credit card information over the phone. If you have received a call, you have to be all the more careful.
- Never pay an advance fee to a company who claims to guarantee a loan or a credit card.
- If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is
- Do not work with a scam company who will offer you to create a new identity. If you are not comfortable, simply don't do it or you might make matters worst.
- Ask questions and seek the correct answers. A good number of questions will give you some important clues on selecting the right company to work with.
In a credit report scam, the victim provides sensitive financial information to a website or e-mail to receive a free credit report. Instead, the impostor posing as a business will capture information to commit identity theft related frauds.
In most of the cases, emails are sent out to hundreds of thousands of individuals. The credit report scam seems to have originated in the United States in January 2005.
How credit report scam works?
As ironic as it may sound, the Credit Report Scam take advantage of innocent consumers who are trying to monitor their credit report. This scam sends out email notifications to thousands of consumers informing them to collect their free credit report by clicking on the email link provided in the body of the email. The fraudsters will try to pose as a legitimate business helping customers get their free credit report. Recipients of the email will click the email link and will fill up the online form to receive their free credit report. The victim will fill up the form and give away their name, date of birth, etc, to receive a free credit report. The fraudsters now have the necessary information in order to create havoc in the victims financial life. They can open new bank accounts, credit card accounts, commit credit fraud and much more.
What to do when you are a victim of credit report scam?
- Report the identity theft to local law enforcement office.
- Contact the three credit reference agencies and report the activity.
If you have recently seen your credit report and are aware about an entry that is inaccurate, you may want to report it to the credit reference agency as soon as possible. You need to be very specific in asking the agency to remove the entry. Specify which entry is incorrect and why you think it is incorrect. If possible, attach copies of receipts you are disputing. To fix or correct entries in your credit report, you need to make it easy for the representative at the credit reference agency to resolve your request as quickly as possible.
When the credit reference agency receives your notification of dispute, it will mark the disputed information as unreliable while it contacts the provider on your behalf. Once it gets a response from the provider, the agency will make any necessary amendments to your report and let you know the outcome. If the provider disagrees that the information is inaccurate, the agency will not be able to alter it. You will, however be able to add a note of up to 200 words to put your side of the story onto your credit report.
Here is a sample credit report dispute letter.
Date:
Name of the credit reference agency
Address of the credit reference agency
City, County, Post Code
Reason: Disputing entry in credit report.
From: Your name
Dear Sir / Madam:
I am writing to dispute certain items in my credit report. The disputed items have been circled on the attached copy of my credit report.
Item 1: Name of the creditor, type of item
Reason for dispute: This item is inaccurate because ... I am requesting the item be corrected / removed.
Item 2: ...
Enclose copies of credit report, receipts, payment records, court documents, cancelled checks.
Please investigate this matter as soon as possible. Looking forward to a positive reply.
Sincerely,
Cc: creditor(s)
Enclosures: (List what you are enclosing along with the letter)
Keep a copy of all correspondence and log phone calls. Credit reference agencies have 28 days to correct or respond to your communication.
It is hard to imagine, but every few minutes, there is a victim of identity theft. Victims of identity theft can lose thousands of pounds from banks and/or other financial accounts, have new accounts created in their name, get their credit history ruined, and possibly even get arrested for a crime they never committed.
Unfortunately, identity theft happens all the time and in many cases, may take the victim several years to recover from identity theft and get back on track. Identity theft, or commonly referred to as I.D. theft, is the fastest growing of all crimes.
Here are simple but very effective tips on how you can avoid being an identity theft victim.
Monitor financial statements
Keep a tab on when financial statements arrive in the mail. If you have been expecting a financial statement for several days and haven't received it yet, call the financial institution right away. A missing statement may signal a theft.
Review your financial statements for accuracy and unauthorized expenses. If you find any such expense, bring it to the notice of your bank or financial institution right away.
Monitor your credit reports
It is important to look into your credit reports from time to time to see accounts held in your name.
Monitor postal mail
Postal mail is involved in most of the identity theft cases. It is important to check your mail regularly. Never leave your mail unattended for days and notify the post office to hold mail when you are out of town or on vacation.
Secure personal documents
All your personal documents must be secured in a fire-safe box to avoid being a victim of identity theft.
Shred sensitive documents
Any sensitive information you may not need any longer should be promptly shredded. Shredding is an essential strategy to keep identity theft at bay. Paper shredders are available in all office supply stores.
Secure your online presence
Whether you are emailing or chatting, never give any sensitive information unless you are well aware what you are getting into. Even so, it is best to call them up rather than rely on sending sensitive information online.
Secure your personal computer or laptop
Make sure your computer is password protected. Even data in Excel spreadsheets can now be password protected. Ensure your pc has a resident anti viral product and that the pc only accesses the internet via a firewall.
Beware of shoulder surfing
Be well aware of who is around when at the ATM or doing anything that requires you to enter a PIN or a password.
Online merchants
Always shop online with merchants you can trust. A secure transaction online is the one that starts with a "https." Use a credit card that has a low limit when making on-line purchases.
Avoid being a vishing victim
Vishing is phishing by phone. In the same way an identity thief will use e-mail to "phish" all your personal information, they will use the telephone to personal information and then rip you off. These vishing scams in most cases will target your bank account or your credit card accounts. To avoid being a victim here, never call a number you may have received in an e-mail or over the phone. If you have questions about your bank financial statement, call the number on your bank statement. Likewise, if you have questions about your credit card, call the number on your credit card statement. Never give your financial information to anyone who calls and requests for it. If you think the call is not legitimate, call your bank immediately as well as notify your phone company.
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