If you are looking at your credit reports, and seeing a duplicate account appear on the same report, you could be a victim of what I refer to as double jeopardy. This can skew your debt to income ratio, and cause other domino affects. It can also make it look like you have more unpaid […]
debt consolidation
Reduce Credit Card Interest Rates
Readers regularly write to me asking what options they have for lowering credit card interest rates. Many people inquiring about consolidation are making monthly payments on time, but are only barely getting by, and some months end up taking money from one credit card to pay another, and are running out of balance transfer options. […]
Get Out of Debt Before it Gets Out of Control
If you’ve already read my first article, 5 Steps to Get Out of Financial Purgatory, you know that we’ve reached step #3 on the list. And, although, I am definitely not an expert on getting out of debt, life has taught me that you can’t wish it away or bury your head in the sand. […]
How Low Interest is Affecting Canadians
Back in January 2015, the Bank of Canada made the surprising move of lowering the key interest rate from 1 per cent to .75 per cent, shocking those who thought a rise was inevitable. But surprise factors like an oil price plunge forced the Bank’s hand, as they made the first adjustment to the key […]
Credit Card Consolidation with a Lower Interest Rate Loan
Get comfortable, because debt consolidation is, first and foremost, about consolidation loans, which will take a little bit of time. You’re on this page because you have recently realized that your debt is too high, or it may start to become difficult to deal with if you don’t take some kind of action soon. It’s […]
Debt Roll Up (aka Debt Snowball) Approach to Paying Down Credit Card Debt
The Debt Roll Up process (often referred to as debt snowball) is simple to understand and implement. This method to pay down credit card debt requires commitment and discipline. The approach is straight forward. You simply pay more than the required minimum payment on one credit card until it is paid off. Once you knock […]
Hardship Payment Plans for Credit Card Debt
What are bank sponsored credit card hardship payment plans? Banks reach out through the phone and with mailers in an effort to get accounts that have fallen behind back on track. Large credit card banks are willing to work directly with you shortly after you miss a payment. Hardship payment programs are a bank’s loss […]
How a Credit Card Balance Transfer can be Used For Debt Consolidation
If you have landed on this site because you are searching the internet looking for credit card debt relief, you may already be familiar with a term we describe below called the credit card “balance transfer boogie”. By familiar, I of course mean you have already danced to that tune. Many people looking for debt […]
Best Debt Solution Options – An Overview
Because the options available to eliminate problem credit card debt are limited, I often find it more productive to use a process of elimination to help determine what would be the best debt solution. Most readers will find they can narrow down the list of debt relief options to one, or perhaps two, using the […]
Top Drawbacks to a Debt Management Plan
In my first article on credit counseling, I outlined the many benefits you get from working with a credit counseling agency in a debt management plan. But there are also drawbacks to enrolling in this form of debt consolidation. And the concerns are not minor. There are many debt relief options discussed throughout the CRN […]