5. Finagle family and friends Perhaps your family or friends could float you a loan. Who else knows, trusts, and loves you like they do? Unless you're really the black sheep of the flock, chances are you'll get a very favorable interest rate. They may even tolerate a late payment or two. But if you want to maintain the relationship, it's best to keep things on the straight and narrow by using a written agreement. You should clearly establish the interest and repayment schedule in writing to avoid misunderstandings and hard feelings. And it goes without saying that you must be scrupulous about adhering to that schedule. Otherwise, you can forget the family reunions and birthday presents. Borrow from your 401(k) Do you participate in a 401(k) qualified retirement plan at work? Most 401(k) plans have a feature that lets you borrow up to 50% of the account's value, or $50,000, whichever is smaller. Interest rates are usually a point or two above prime, which makes them cheaper than that found on credit cards. Thus, 401(k) plan loans may be a Foolish option to debt repayment. Not only is the interest typically much lower than that on credit cards for bad credit, the best part is you pay it to yourself. That's right, every dime in interest paid on a 401(k) loan goes directly into the borrower's 401(k) account, not the lender's.
Let's start off here with a look into one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States to date, identity theft. In order to properly and effectively monitor your credit report and your identity it is absolutely critical that you first understand identity theft from the traditional methods, all the way up to the more sophisticated digital, or on line methods. The idea here being that an identity thief is less apt to try and exploit a population of consumers that are well informed. Here are some statistics that will help you build a more broad understanding of the epidemic:
Make a few sacrifices, and you will find the extra dollars needed to increase your debt repayments dramatically. Those increased payments will save you hundreds, if not thousands, in interest payments. Plus, you will get out of the hole you've dug for yourself much more quickly. Is it fun? No. But it sure beats living a hand-to-mouth existence, fearing bills each month.
2. Snowball your debt payments Take a long, hard look at all your credit cards. Pay particular attention to the one with the lowest interest rate. Have you reached the maximum limit on that card? If not, consider transferring a higher-interest bill to that one. Many credit cards for bad credit even permit this, and it's positively Foolish to trade an 18% debt for one at 12%. If your entire balance is too large to fit on one low-interest card, pay at least the minimum amounts due on all of your cards except one. Funnel the majority of your debt repayments into that one credit card, and pay it off as quickly as possible. When the balance on that card reaches zero, move on to the next with the same aggressive repayment plan.
Indeed, many will negotiate away the farm before they'll write off your debt. As lawyers love to say, everything is negotiable. Therefore, what do you have to lose, except time? It's worth a try. And if you don't wish to do this yourself, organizations exist that can do it for you. As a last resort, file bankruptcy What if you decide you can't pay down your debt using any of the methods listed above? What should you do? The absolute last resort is bankruptcy. Within Fooldom, we firmly believe everyone has a moral obligation to repay their debts to the utmost of their ability. There are times, though, when repayment may be impossible. In those cases, bankruptcy may be the only available course of action. Nevertheless, be aware of the significant drawbacks.
You will be afforded the opportunity here to review detailed and precise credit reports, as the credit monitoring service you sign up with will pull your information through the three major credit bureaus; TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. You will have detailed access to every account on your credit report history in terms of the when and how they were initially established. Any time there is a noteworthy incident on your credit report that can significantly influence the particulars; a credit monitoring service will bring you up to speed and confirm that you are keenly aware of them. These extra set of trained eyes on your credit report are great for viewing it under the microscope with a fine tooth comb. Remember, they are professionals and a lot of the times they will pick up on things that you may have glossed over and missed.
You gain the advantage of the identity theft protection that goes side by side with a credit monitoring service. The proper measures can be apportioned here by both you and your credit monitoring agency to terminate the identity theft in its infantile stages. For the criminal parasites that might try and attach themselves to your healthy credit report; they will exposed by the unauthorized user updates that you receive. Again, this leverages you to properly and effectively stop the crime before it gets out of hand. Lastly, there is the overall sense of well-being that goes along with knowing that there is a professional out there that's got your back in terms of you and your family's financial well-being.
Chapter 13, sometimes called the "wage-earner plan," is different. You keep your property but surrender control of your finances to the bankruptcy court. The court approves a repayment plan based on your financial resources that provides for repayment of all or part of your debt over a three-to-five-year period. During that time, your creditors are not allowed to harass you for repayment. You also incur no interest charges on the indebtedness during the repayment period. When all conditions of the court-approved plan have been fulfilled, you emerge debt-free from the bankruptcy.
Let's start off here with a look into one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States to date, identity theft. In order to properly and effectively monitor your credit report and your identity it is absolutely critical that you first understand identity theft from the traditional methods, all the way up to the more sophisticated digital, or on line methods. The idea here being that an identity thief is less apt to try and exploit a population of consumers that are well informed. Here are some statistics that will help you build a more broad understanding of the epidemic:
Make a few sacrifices, and you will find the extra dollars needed to increase your debt repayments dramatically. Those increased payments will save you hundreds, if not thousands, in interest payments. Plus, you will get out of the hole you've dug for yourself much more quickly. Is it fun? No. But it sure beats living a hand-to-mouth existence, fearing bills each month.
2. Snowball your debt payments Take a long, hard look at all your credit cards. Pay particular attention to the one with the lowest interest rate. Have you reached the maximum limit on that card? If not, consider transferring a higher-interest bill to that one. Many credit cards for bad credit even permit this, and it's positively Foolish to trade an 18% debt for one at 12%. If your entire balance is too large to fit on one low-interest card, pay at least the minimum amounts due on all of your cards except one. Funnel the majority of your debt repayments into that one credit card, and pay it off as quickly as possible. When the balance on that card reaches zero, move on to the next with the same aggressive repayment plan.
Indeed, many will negotiate away the farm before they'll write off your debt. As lawyers love to say, everything is negotiable. Therefore, what do you have to lose, except time? It's worth a try. And if you don't wish to do this yourself, organizations exist that can do it for you. As a last resort, file bankruptcy What if you decide you can't pay down your debt using any of the methods listed above? What should you do? The absolute last resort is bankruptcy. Within Fooldom, we firmly believe everyone has a moral obligation to repay their debts to the utmost of their ability. There are times, though, when repayment may be impossible. In those cases, bankruptcy may be the only available course of action. Nevertheless, be aware of the significant drawbacks.
You will be afforded the opportunity here to review detailed and precise credit reports, as the credit monitoring service you sign up with will pull your information through the three major credit bureaus; TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. You will have detailed access to every account on your credit report history in terms of the when and how they were initially established. Any time there is a noteworthy incident on your credit report that can significantly influence the particulars; a credit monitoring service will bring you up to speed and confirm that you are keenly aware of them. These extra set of trained eyes on your credit report are great for viewing it under the microscope with a fine tooth comb. Remember, they are professionals and a lot of the times they will pick up on things that you may have glossed over and missed.
You gain the advantage of the identity theft protection that goes side by side with a credit monitoring service. The proper measures can be apportioned here by both you and your credit monitoring agency to terminate the identity theft in its infantile stages. For the criminal parasites that might try and attach themselves to your healthy credit report; they will exposed by the unauthorized user updates that you receive. Again, this leverages you to properly and effectively stop the crime before it gets out of hand. Lastly, there is the overall sense of well-being that goes along with knowing that there is a professional out there that's got your back in terms of you and your family's financial well-being.
Chapter 13, sometimes called the "wage-earner plan," is different. You keep your property but surrender control of your finances to the bankruptcy court. The court approves a repayment plan based on your financial resources that provides for repayment of all or part of your debt over a three-to-five-year period. During that time, your creditors are not allowed to harass you for repayment. You also incur no interest charges on the indebtedness during the repayment period. When all conditions of the court-approved plan have been fulfilled, you emerge debt-free from the bankruptcy.
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