When most people have bad credit, they either purchase a credit repair To repair your bad credit does not necessarily mean that you now have a good credit, absolutely not.

When most people have bad credit, they either purchase a credit repair book or seek a credit expert help. But before you do anything about your bad credit you need to understand few things that can be very crucial to your credit repair success.

Some people seek a credit expert’s advice with the hope that a credit repair expert can do a better job of repairing their credit than they themselves could. In fact, the opposite is true. If you are not careful about who you hire as a credit advisor you can be in a deeper trouble, but that’s beyond the scope of what we have room for.

Back to the TWO things you need to remember when you hire credit help:

1. There is no law available to any credit repair company, expert or lawyer that is not available to you as the consumer.

2. Credit repair companies use the same law made available to you by congress to repair your credit. And they can not change the law for their clients.

The above two simple statements might seem obvious, but repeating them like a mantra can be the difference between getting ripped-off and getting the credit you deserve.

Whatever you decide to do (either purchase a book or hire credit expert’s help), you need to understand that once again, repairing your bad credit does not mean that you have an excellent credit.

It means just that: That you removed negative items from your credit report which caused for your credit to be bad in the first place.

Obviously, by removing negative entries your credit rating and credit score will improve, but you are far from having an excellent credit.

That’s why a credit repair process need not be about just removing negative entries from your credit report. In fact, that’s the beginning of the end. Today, you can find too many publications and credit expert’s that would give you an advice on – “How You Can Repair Your Credit?”

But very few will show you or discuss the techniques need to be applied to earn positive credit rating. If your goal is to erase negative entries on your credit report, that’s completely far from earning a powerful and positive credit rating.

In order to earn “Triple A” credit you need to add a good punch to your credit. Meaning, you have to learn “How to Add Positive Information” to your credit report.

Is it possible to add positive entries to your credit report? Absolutely.

Is it possible to add positive entries on your credit report in a short period of time? Absolutely.

Is it possible to get “A Millionaire’s Credit in Less Than a Month”? No Doubt.

Here, you will learn two powerful tips that can give you “Triple A” credit in the shortest time possible.

1. A Millionaire Credit in 25 Days or Less!

Do you have a checking account and a savings account? Good. If you don’t know worries, these days you can open an account online. It should take you no more than 5 minutes.

You got your accounts opened? Good, now comes the second phase.

Phase 2: Now you will need your savings account to use it as a collateral. Now using your savings account ask your bank for a secured passbook loan.

You can borrow a dollar for dollar with a passbook loan. This type of loan works well with as little as $300, but if you have $10,000 – that’s even better. Once you secure a loan with a passbook you can not touch the funds until you have fully repaid the loan.

Remember, you should be able to do with-out these funds for 30 days.

A bank secured with your passbook loan has no risk in lending you money, so any bank should be willing.

Note: It is extremely important that the bank reports your loans to the credit bureau. Therefore ask your bank “If they report your payment history to the three credit bureaus?”, it is critical part of this whole process. After all, the whole purpose of you doing this is to add zing to your credit report with a very powerful and positive payment history, right?

Now once you borrow the money, wait 25 days and repay the loan back to your bank. Because you have fully repaid your loan the bank will send your positive payment history to the credit bureau.

That’s a grand slam!

Now you have the bank as your friend and the credit bureaus can not help it but report your good payment history.

2. How To Use $500 – $1000 into A Millionaire’s Credit

With let’s say a $1,000 in your account, ask the loan officer for a 12- month a $1,000 passbook loan. Do not be discouraged, you can certainly achieve this with less money, but if you can afford to do it don’t hesitate. By the time you’re done with this technique – - – well it’ll be all worth it. Just wait and see.

Since this is a secured passbook loan (meaning, it is secured by the amount of money available in your savings) most banks will not run a credit check. And if they tried to do so explain it to them why they should not as it is secured by the money you already have in your savings account. Which you won’t be able to access until you payoff your loan anyway, so there is no justified reason to run a credit check.

Now with the $1,000 secured passbook loan from your first bank, open a savings account at another bank with the $1,000 loan received from the first bank.

The request that they give you a $1,000 12-month loan and do not mention the loan received from the first bank. Wait  about a week or two, go to a third bank and repeat the process.

Next, at one of the three banks open a checking account with the $1,000 you received from the third bank. You now have a$1,000 in a checking account and three outstanding 12-month loans at three different banks – for a total of $3,000.

Deduct your original $1,000 and you need only repay $2,00 plus interest.

Note: Make sure that you ask your bank if they have a pre-payment penalty because you do not want that.

Finally, about one week later start to pre-pay your three loans.

Now you have an advance payment record with three banks and will have established powerful credit for your credit report. From now on every type of loan and credit card will be yours for the asking.

Here you are with un-touchable credit, three big banks as your future business friends, and a credit bureau reporting positive payment history – all in just under 30 days.

You just learned about one of the very few techniques that can change your credit significantly within a month time. Of course you can apply these techniques for as long as you like and keep improving your credit. Apply these techniques discussed and you will get the Triple A credit you deserve.

Omar M. Omar is the owner of http://www.deleteuglycredit.com . It is a website dedicated to giving credit consumers free advice on how to repair credit. It provides credit consumers with information from the best credit repair kits, credit laws, and credit experts.

book or seek a credit expert help. But before you do anything about your bad credit you need to understand few things that can be very crucial to your credit repair success.

Some people seek a credit expert’s advice with the hope that a credit repair expert can do a better job of repairing their credit than they themselves could. In fact, the opposite is true. If you are not careful about who you hire as a credit advisor you can be in a deeper trouble, but that’s beyond the scope of what we have room for.

Back to the TWO things you need to remember when you hire credit help:

1. There is no law available to any credit repair company, expert or lawyer that is not available to you as the consumer.

2. Credit repair companies use the same law made available to you by congress to repair your credit. And they can not change the law for their clients.

The above two simple statements might seem obvious, but repeating them like a mantra can be the difference between getting ripped-off and getting the credit you deserve.

Whatever you decide to do (either purchase a book or hire credit expert’s help), you need to understand that once again, repairing your bad credit does not mean that you have an excellent credit.

It means just that: That you removed negative items from your credit report which caused for your credit to be bad in the first place.

Obviously, by removing negative entries your credit rating and credit score will improve, but you are far from having an excellent credit.

That’s why a credit repair process need not be about just removing negative entries from your credit report. In fact, that’s the beginning of the end. Today, you can find too many publications and credit expert’s that would give you an advice on – “How You Can Repair Your Credit?”

But very few will show you or discuss the techniques need to be applied to earn positive credit rating. If your goal is to erase negative entries on your credit report, that’s completely far from earning a powerful and positive credit rating.

In order to earn “Triple A” credit you need to add a good punch to your credit. Meaning, you have to learn “How to Add Positive Information” to your credit report.

Is it possible to add positive entries to your credit report? Absolutely.

Is it possible to add positive entries on your credit report in a short period of time? Absolutely.

Is it possible to get “A Millionaire’s Credit in Less Than a Month”? No Doubt.

Here, you will learn two powerful tips that can give you “Triple A” credit in the shortest time possible.

1. A Millionaire Credit in 25 Days or Less!

Do you have a checking account and a savings account? Good. If you don’t know worries, these days you can open an account online. It should take you no more than 5 minutes.

You got your accounts opened? Good, now comes the second phase.

Phase 2: Now you will need your savings account to use it as a collateral. Now using your savings account ask your bank for a secured passbook loan.

You can borrow a dollar for dollar with a passbook loan. This type of loan works well with as little as $300, but if you have $10,000 – that’s even better. Once you secure a loan with a passbook you can not touch the funds until you have fully repaid the loan.

Remember, you should be able to do with-out these funds for 30 days.

A bank secured with your passbook loan has no risk in lending you money, so any bank should be willing.

Note: It is extremely important that the bank reports your loans to the credit bureau. Therefore ask your bank “If they report your payment history to the three credit bureaus?”, it is critical part of this whole process. After all, the whole purpose of you doing this is to add zing to your credit report with a very powerful and positive payment history, right?

Now once you borrow the money, wait 25 days and repay the loan back to your bank. Because you have fully repaid your loan the bank will send your positive payment history to the credit bureau.

That’s a grand slam!

Now you have the bank as your friend and the credit bureaus can not help it but report your good payment history.

2. How To Use $500 – $1000 into A Millionaire’s Credit

With let’s say a $1,000 in your account, ask the loan officer for a 12- month a $1,000 passbook loan. Do not be discouraged, you can certainly achieve this with less money, but if you can afford to do it don’t hesitate. By the time you’re done with this technique – - – well it’ll be all worth it. Just wait and see.

Since this is a secured passbook loan (meaning, it is secured by the amount of money available in your savings) most banks will not run a credit check. And if they tried to do so explain it to them why they should not as it is secured by the money you already have in your savings account. Which you won’t be able to access until you payoff your loan anyway, so there is no justified reason to run a credit check.

Now with the $1,000 secured passbook loan from your first bank, open a savings account at another bank with the $1,000 loan received from the first bank.

The request that they give you a $1,000 12-month loan and do not mention the loan received from the first bank. Wait  about a week or two, go to a third bank and repeat the process.

Next, at one of the three banks open a checking account with the $1,000 you received from the third bank. You now have a$1,000 in a checking account and three outstanding 12-month loans at three different banks – for a total of $3,000.

Deduct your original $1,000 and you need only repay $2,00 plus interest.

Note: Make sure that you ask your bank if they have a pre-payment penalty because you do not want that.

Finally, about one week later start to pre-pay your three loans.

Now you have an advance payment record with three banks and will have established powerful credit for your credit report. From now on every type of loan and credit card will be yours for the asking.

Here you are with un-touchable credit, three big banks as your future business friends, and a credit bureau reporting positive payment history – all in just under 30 days.

You just learned about one of the very few techniques that can change your credit significantly within a month time. Of course you can apply these techniques for as long as you like and keep improving your credit. Apply these techniques discussed and you will get the Triple A credit you deserve.

Omar M. Omar is the owner of http://www.deleteuglycredit.com . It is a website dedicated to giving credit consumers free advice on how to repair credit. It provides credit consumers with information from the best credit repair kits, credit laws, and credit experts.

• Ruin Your Credit Fast, pt1 Granted, there are a wide variety of different ways that you can ruin your credit over time, but do you want to know what the quickest and most dangerous ways are? Here are five ways that you can quickly and effectively destroy your credit. 1 - Break your budget. Sure......
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• Credit Karma's Credit Simulator (and Other Credit Tools) Last April, I went to Finovate Startup in San Francisco. I was introduced to around 40 companies at the time, and I met a number of their founders personally. One of them was Credit Karma. You may remember that in the past, I told you how you can get, free......
• How to Go Into Debt to Get Out of Debt This really sounds like the ultimate oxymoron, but one of the best ways to get out of debt is to go a little bit further in. What’s that? First, to help this make more sense, let’s clarify – if you need to get out of bad debt, going into good......

With loan consolidation, your lender will combine your present loans into one single loan. If you do decide to get a consolidate student loan, you will pay interest on a fixed rate. The rate is determined by the average of your loans, and is averaged up to the nearest .125 percent. If you make direct loan electronic payments, you may get a lower interest rate.

As student loan debt is usually not the largest debt a person has, it may make sense to include it in a consolidate student loan.

Tips on repaying your Consolidate Student Loan

Most people use student loan consolidation as a way to manage debts. Most often, a consolidate student loan will save money. Be aware that although a consolidate loan reduces monthly payments, it will likely raise the interest amount.

Because of this, it is a good idea to try to pay off as much of your consolidate student loan as soon as possible. Do this by trying to increase your monthly payments. Be aware that there are certain deferment programs available.

For example, unemployment or economic hardship may cause the consolidate student loan to be reduced.

About The Author

Mike Yeager, Publisher

http://www.a1-loans-4u.com/

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“What can you do to increase that set of three numbers on your
credit report that can be so important with your financing?”

I came across this question as I was surfing discussion groups
the other day.  Check out my answer:

Dear Friend,

Here are 3 steps I used to take my credit score from 592
(horrible credit) to 762 (perfect credit) almost overnight.
If you’re interested in improving your credit rating quickly,
you’ll find this story helpful:

In 1995 I made a decision that would ruin my perfect credit
history.  I quit my salary job to become an insurance salesman.
The job paid commission only.  Within a few months I lost
everything – house, car, credit rating and my self respect.

By the end of 1996 I was living with my mom, all my credit
accounts were severely past due,  and I was paying 22%
interest on a broke-down green Geo Storm…I was a real loser.

Then, in 1997, I became a banker.  I didn’t know it at the time,
but this would turn out to be the break I needed to eliminate my
credit problems forever.

During my seven years as a banker, I came across several
legal and highly effective ways to improve my credit rating.
As a result, I was able to increase my credit scores by an
average of 170 points.

Here’s what I did:

Step #1:
After spending hundreds of dollars on credit repair services that
didn’t work, I found out how to get negative accounts removed
on my own.

Basically, I wrote letters to the collection agencies requesting
proof that the accounts were mine.  89% of the time they had
no proof that the bad accounts belonged to me.  So I was able
to get them deleted from my credit file.

Step #2:
I opened new accounts with high credit limits and kept the
balances low.

I discovered that if you keep your available credit limits high and
only use 10% to 30% of the credit you have available, your
credit score will improve dramatically.

Step #3:
Next, I added accounts with years of perfect payment history to
my credit file.  This step took my credit score from 647 to 762.

While you can certainly add seasoned accounts to your credit
file for free, there are companies that claim they can do it for
a fee.

The problem is, they charge between $2,000 and $2,500 per
account.  If you want a 700+ credit score you’ll need 3 to 4 of
these accounts. That equates to a cost of $6,000 to $10,000.

(You can conduct a search on your favorite search engine for
companies that offer this service.)

While there are several highly effective steps you can take to
increase your credit scores by as much as 200 points, these
are the main ones…And here’s the good news:  Each step can
be completed in less than 30 days.

By Hartley W. Pinn, Jr, CEO, http://www.AtBalanceCreditRepair.com
Revealing the insider credit secrets you can use to increase
your credit scores by up to 200 Points.

For more information please visit:
http://www.AtBalanceCreditRepair.com/credit/8

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It appears that more people are choosing to go for Bankruptcy as they think that within one year of a Bankruptcy order being made, they could be debt free. Unfortunately, things might not be as simple as that and it would be wise to find out what options are available before taking the plunge.

In some circumstances, Bankruptcy is the best option, but that is only some circumstances, not all. Even in Bankruptcy, you are still required to make payments from your income for up to three years, if you have a reasonable surplus. The Official Receiver (OR) also has the period of three years (not one year) to stake his claim on your residential home and if there is any equity in your property within that time period, the Official Receiver is likely to claim it.

Considering Bankruptcy?

For some people, Bankruptcy really is the only way out. There are numerous reasons why people find themselves in this situation. If you know you are unable to repay your creditors; you have no assets and there is no prospect of you making reasonable offers of repayment to your creditors, then petitioning for Bankruptcy could be right for you.

What Happens when a Petition is made?

Petition for Bankruptcy is made in one of two ways. Either you will make a petition yourself at a cost of £450, or your creditor will make a petition against you. If a creditor decides to make a petition for Bankruptcy, they would be responsible for showing that you either could not or would not repay the debt owed to them. Unless the petition was significantly disputed, it is likely that a Bankruptcy Order will be made.

Before the legislation changes in April 2004, if a Court believed that you could afford to make reasonable offers of repayments to your creditors, an Insolvency Practitioner would be appointed to look into your affairs and make a report to see if you were willing to make proposals to repay your debt. Your creditors would then be requested to consider your proposals. This has now changed?

If you make a petition for Bankruptcy, the Court will assume you have taken advice and you know you cannot repay your creditors. Therefore, a Bankruptcy order will be made. However, once the order has been made, an Official Receiver will then look into your state of affairs, and if the Official Receiver believes you do have the facility to make reasonable offers of repayment, they may refer you for a Fast Track IVA.

The cost

In order for you to petition for your own bankruptcy, it will not only cost you £450, but, the process will take up a lot of your time and possibly cause you a great deal of stress. Even after the bankruptcy order has been made the Official Receiver (OR) could decide that a Fast Track IVA would be more suitable. If that happens you have basically lost £450 and caused yourself a lot of unnecessary stress.

So what should you do?

Before petitioning for your own bankruptcy, you should get an assessment of your financial situation. It is definitely advisable to get an assessment done before making a petition rather than an Official Receiver making the assessment after a Bankruptcy Order had been made. Companies such as FCL Debt Clinic can offer you this assessment with no charge! You will be informed of all options that are available and if a more suitable route can be taken in order to avoid the implications of Bankruptcy, this will be advised as another way to resolve your situation.

Nicola Bullimore has been working with people to resolve debt problems for a number of years. For more information regarding debt issues, please visit Debt Questions website.

Incredibly, since the changes in the bankruptcy law in April 2004, debtors are more likely to petition for their own bankruptcy rather than their creditors! You would think that most people who have been threatened with the prospect of being made Bankrupt would be riddled with fear of the possibility. It is more widely referred to as the “Big B” rather than the dreaded word itself. However, is this a thing of the past? Since the changes in The Enterprise Act 2002 took place in April 2004 it would appear a lot more people are inclined to petition for their own bankruptcy as a solution to their debt problems.

It appears that more people are choosing to go for Bankruptcy as they think that within one year of a Bankruptcy order being made, they could be debt free. Unfortunately, things might not be as simple as that and it would be wise to find out what options are available before taking the plunge.

In some circumstances, Bankruptcy is the best option, but that is only some circumstances, not all. Even in Bankruptcy, you are still required to make payments from your income for up to three years, if you have a reasonable surplus. The Official Receiver (OR) also has the period of three years (not one year) to stake his claim on your residential home and if there is any equity in your property within that time period, the Official Receiver is likely to claim it.

Considering Bankruptcy?

For some people, Bankruptcy really is the only way out. There are numerous reasons why people find themselves in this situation. If you know you are unable to repay your creditors; you have no assets and there is no prospect of you making reasonable offers of repayment to your creditors, then petitioning for Bankruptcy could be right for you.

What Happens when a Petition is made?

Petition for Bankruptcy is made in one of two ways. Either you will make a petition yourself at a cost of £450, or your creditor will make a petition against you. If a creditor decides to make a petition for Bankruptcy, they would be responsible for showing that you either could not or would not repay the debt owed to them. Unless the petition was significantly disputed, it is likely that a Bankruptcy Order will be made.

Before the legislation changes in April 2004, if a Court believed that you could afford to make reasonable offers of repayments to your creditors, an Insolvency Practitioner would be appointed to look into your affairs and make a report to see if you were willing to make proposals to repay your debt. Your creditors would then be requested to consider your proposals. This has now changed?

If you make a petition for Bankruptcy, the Court will assume you have taken advice and you know you cannot repay your creditors. Therefore, a Bankruptcy order will be made. However, once the order has been made, an Official Receiver will then look into your state of affairs, and if the Official Receiver believes you do have the facility to make reasonable offers of repayment, they may refer you for a Fast Track IVA.

The cost

In order for you to petition for your own bankruptcy, it will not only cost you £450, but, the process will take up a lot of your time and possibly cause you a great deal of stress. Even after the bankruptcy order has been made the Official Receiver (OR) could decide that a Fast Track IVA would be more suitable. If that happens you have basically lost £450 and caused yourself a lot of unnecessary stress.

So what should you do?

Before petitioning for your own bankruptcy, you should get an assessment of your financial situation. It is definitely advisable to get an assessment done before making a petition rather than an Official Receiver making the assessment after a Bankruptcy Order had been made. Companies such as FCL Debt Clinic can offer you this assessment with no charge! You will be informed of all options that are available and if a more suitable route can be taken in order to avoid the implications of Bankruptcy, this will be advised as another way to resolve your situation.

Nicola Bullimore has been working with people to resolve debt problems for a number of years. For more information regarding debt issues, please visit Debt Questions website.

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First let me say that debt consolidation is *not* the same as debt settlement/negotiation, which most people don’t realize.

Debt settlement companies charge hundreds of dollars as an initial “admin fee” to set up your account, plus a monthly service fee. The fees vary depending on the company and the amount of your debts.

Such companies take your money every month, but don’t make monthly payments to your creditors! Instead, they put it in a trust account, negotiate your debts with your creditors, then make a lump-sum payment when there’s enough in your account to pay a creditor in full.

That can take *years* depending on the amount of debt you have with each creditor. Meanwhile, you can be sued by your creditors and your wages can be garnished! (Or just don’t make payments to your creditors. You’ll end up in the same spot without paying someone to help you get there!)

Settlement companies don’t ask your creditors to stop all interest, late fees and overlimit fees from accruing. That means while the negotiations are ongoing, your bills will continue to grow! So if you’re sued and a judgement is brought against you, you’ll owe more money than before!

And shoddy companies, which there are alot of, don’t tell you *any* of this up front. I call it “getting permission by ommission” because they simply don’t tell you how their program works *before* you sign an agreement with them. Or after, for that matter. But if you ask the right questions, eventually you’ll figure it out. (Or when the crap hits the fan. Whichever comes first.)

Let me give you an example of how debt settlement works.

Let’s say you have $20,000 in unsecured credit card debt. You owe $10,000 to one credit card company, $6,000 to another and $4,000 to a third. You agree to a 5 year plan where you pay $250 a month to the settlement company. (After all, $250 a month for 60 months is only $15,000, so you’re saving $5,000 and you’ll be debt-free in 5 years, right?)

The admin fee will cost you $750. Your first 3 monthly payments go towards that and nothing gets put into your trust account until your 4th month.

The settlement company keeps $50 of your $250 payment each month for the service fee. That means $200 a month is being added to your trust account.

Most debt settlement companies claim to be able to negotiate your debt for about 50% of what you owe. So let’s use the lowest credit card debt as an example.

If you owe $4,000 and your creditor agrees to accept $2,000 as payment in full, it will take 10 months at $200 per month to have enough in your trust account to pay off just that one credit card.

But remember, your first 3 payments to the settlement company only paid the admin fee. That means your first credit card settlement is 14 months *after* you started sending them money.

So what’s the problem? It’s simple. Your creditor won’t agree to accept half of your actual debt unless, or until, it can be paid in full. Otherwise, you’re expected to make your normal monthly payments.

Since you don’t have $2,000 in your trust account, and you won’t have it until more than a year after you stopped paying your creditor directly, they’ll probably take you to court and request that your wages be garnished long before you have that $2,000 built up.

And what about your other creditors? Well, they’ll be waiting even longer to get their money from the settlement company. The $6,000 debt will take 15 *more* months to pay off, assuming your creditor waits that long and agrees to 50%. And that $10,000 bill? You do the math.

On the other hand, if you signed up for a 3 year plan with the settlement company, your debts would be paid off sooner. But, the question is, will your creditors wait that long? Probably not.

The facts are, you can negotiate with your creditors yourself. Most will agree to take a smaller monthly payment from you and stop all interest and fees from accruing. And, of course, you’ll save thousands of dollars in fees to a settlement company.

Before signing up for any service, please be sure you check out the company thoroughly. And don’t let the words “non-profit” fool you either. Alot of debt settlement companies claim to be non-profit.

Going back to the example above, if you pay them $15,000 over a 5 year time frame and they settle your debts at half of what you owed, they’ll make $5,000 from you. I’d call that a profit, especially since they might not have actually helped you in any way.

Most companies will allow you to cancel your account and get a refund of what you’ve paid, less the non-refundable admin fee and the monthly service fees. If you feel you’ve been mislead about their program, don’t hesitate to argue til the cows come home. File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or hire an attorney if you feel you’re getting nowhere.

You can visit the Better Business Bureau’s website (http://www.bbb.org) and find reports on hundreds of companies. Here’s a small listing of companies that have poor reputations with the BBB:

National Consumer Debt Council LLC – Irvine, CA (A.K.A. NCDC, United Consumer Law Group)

Financial Rescue Services – Burbank, CA

Debt Legal Services – Anaheim, CA

American Debt Relief – Los Angeles, CA (A.K.A. A M Debt, American Debts Relief, Debt Relief)

Please be very cautious when choosing a debt help company and ask lots of questions before agreeing to anything. If you find they’re evading your questions, run fast and run far. There are reputable companies out there, so keep looking until you find one.

About The Author

Denise Hall is the owner of Home Business on a Budget which specializes in tools and resources for your home business needs. Visit http://www.home-business-on-a-budget.com today. Subscribe to Home Business on a Budget Newsletter for weekly articles, tips, information and resources. To Subscribe mailto:hbb_newsletter@a1ebiz.com

If you would like to receive her new articles when they are written, please mailto:denise_hall@freeautobot.com

This article may be reprinted in its entirety with this resource box included, please send and email to: dmh0226@voyager.net

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Typically, a credit card carrying a balance of $5000 dollars, with an interest rate of 17.5 % and a minimum monthly payment of $150 would take you 3 years and 10 months to pay off. The total interest accrued would amount to $1, 846. However, if you were to transfer your credit card debt to a lower interest rate loan of 7 %, that same $5000 paid in increments of $150 a month, would be paid off in 3 years, 2 months, substantially reducing the amount of interest to just $564. That’s a savings of $1,282.

There are several options available for lowering your interest rates. Each one has its benefits and drawbacks. By educating yourself, you can choose the one that is best for you.

Consumer Credit Counseling Service

Consumer credit counseling services offers to consolidate your debts into one payment, negotiating with creditors on your behalf to have late fees waived, interest rates lowered and loans extended. Counseling Services will require a ‘donation’ or payment to cover costs and handling fees. You need to weigh these costs to determine if you would still come out ahead by paying a company to negotiate a better interest rate for you; a service that you may be able to do yourself.

Choose a reputable firm that will handle the consolidation in a way that preserves your credit scores. Prior to the consolidation, due dates should be changed to correspond with the counseling service’s payment schedule, since many counseling services only send out checks twice a month, on the 1st and the 15th. If these dates do not harmonize with the due dates on the cards, they will show up as late payments on your report. In addition, it’s important to realize that you need to proceed with caution with these companies because not all are reputable and many remain unregulated. Watch for the following signs that may mislead you into trusting a company you shouldn’t:

understand the term “non-profit.” It does not necessarily mean the company is legitimate or that you will get a better rate. The laws governing a ‘non profit’ organization are vague. Many companies qualify for this title by arranging finances to indicate that the company has not profited, while paying their employees large salaries.

To find out if a CCCS is legitimate, check with the National Foundation for Consumer Credit (NFCC) and the Better Business Bureau in your area. Be wary of companies claiming you can lower your monthly payments-this is a fallacy. As of March 25th 2004 the last two banks to accept lower payments discontinued this practice. Question companies that offer lower interest rates than their competitors. All creditors work off the same interest rate reductions and minimum percentage payments on balances so therefore it is highly unlikely to have this lowered.

Be familiar with the current interest rates on the cards you carry and ask that you choose which cards to consolidate. You already may carry balances with interest rates that are lower than the one they are offering you. If so, request that you be able to exclude those balances from consolidation.

You have to decide if there is a benefit to going to a Consumer Credit Counseling Service or if you can do their job just as effectively yourself. A consumer can often negotiate with creditors themselves for a better interest rate. One option is to shop around for a better interest on credit cards and to transfer the balances from the high cards over to the lower card. Contact your credit card company and tell them you have been offered a better rate at another company and if they plan on matching or beating that rate. If they do not rise to the challenge then transfer your balances to the new card. One option for transferring your balances is to take out a home equity line of credit.

Home Equity Line of Credit

A home equity line of credit is a loan taken out against the equity in your home, in other words your home is offered as collateral. These loans are usually offered at low interest rates. As with any credit, you should weigh the benefits and costs before deciding. Bare in mind that failure to repay the loan, with interest could result in the loss of your home.

The credit limit on the line is derived at by taking a percentage of the home’s appraised value and subtracting the balance owing on the mortgage. The line of credit amount is also based on your income, credit history and additional debt load.

The home equity line of credit works on a variable interest rate, based on the prime rate. Lenders usually charge prime rate plus a 2 percent margin. By law, equity lines of credit must have a cap on how much the interest rate may increase over the life of the plan. Some also limit how low your interest rate may fall if there is a drop in rates.

Home equity plans may set a fixed period during which you can borrow money. At the end of this draw period you may have the option of renewal, or if no renewal option exists, then the plan may call for full payment at the end of the term.

As with any contract, you must read the terms and conditions carefully, as many plans have fees, charges and hidden costs. Some of the costs involved in establishing a home equity line of credit include property appraisal fees, application fees, closing costs and attorney fees. In addition to these costs, you may expect to pay transaction fees every time you draw on the line.

The benefit of opening a Home equity line of credit is that the minimum payments are low, often set at just the interest or interest plus a few percentage points. Be aware that with a variable interest rate, monthly payments may fluctuate. If you sell your home you will probably be required to pay off your loan immediately.

No matter which option you choose, the main goal should be to reduce those high interest rates while paying the lowest penalty for doing so. Weigh the pro’s and con’s of all options carefully and choose a road that best suites your financial situation.

Stay Informed

It is important to stay informed about your credit before you apply for any loan. An excellent way to begin taking control of your financial future is to obtaining a copy of your credit reports before you see a lender. Today you can get your free instant credit reports from the major 3 credit report agencies online. This way you can see exactly what the lender will see. When obtaining your credit reports, you will want to make sure you get your credit report scores as this is what lenders base most of their decision on. The higher your credit score the lower your interest rate will be and vice versa. So be a wise consumer, get you’re a copy of your credit report and reduce your debt through lower interest loans.

About The Author

Melanie Cossey is a successful home based freelance writer. Meanie writes many informative articles on the topic of credit, such as What is a FICO score and why is it important? and Comprehending a Credit Report.

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In its purest form, equity is money. With regard to real estate
(specifically, your house or other investment property), equity is measured
in terms of the value of the property minus what you owe. So, if your home
is valued at $100,000, and you owe $40,000 on it, you have $60,000 in
equity (actual money that is available to you, under particular
circumstances).

Surprisingly, many people have this type of equity and do
not take advantage of it. Some people are actually in dire financial straits
and fail to realize their problems can be solved very easily, by taking the
equity from their home. Remember, your home is a "vault," and the money
inside that vault belongs to you. Best of all, you can use that money/ equity
for anything you desire, from home improvement to travel expenses to
spending money.

Exactly what is a home equity line of credit or HELOC?
A home equity line of credit, which lenders and mortgage brokers
refer to as a HELOC, is a different kind of home loan. An equity line has
different rates and terms from a conventional first mortgage. In a standard
home loan, or mortgage, your monthly payments cover both the principal
loan and the interest you are charged.

Most mortgage payments include escrow, or taxes and insurance. An equity line of
credit payment does not reduce your principal loan amount and does not include escrow. You are
borrowing the equity in your house and paying the bank an interest premium
on that loan. With a HELOC, you pay only the interest on the loan and,
generally, you get the money for less time than you do a standard first
mortgage.

The underwriting on these loans is very simple, and in most cases, the
loans are very easy to get. At close, you either get one big check, which you
can deposit into your savings or checking account or you can get a check
book and treat your equity line of credit as another checking account. The
payment on equity lines is very enticing. Paying interest only makes for a
very low payment. It’s important to remember, though, when paying
interest only, you are not paying down the principal loan balance.

The Power of Interest-Only Payments
So, let’s suppose you take an equity line for $50,000 at 4.25% interest.
This interest rate is based on the Prime rate, a floating rate that can change
but does not fluctuate very often. When this article was first published, the prime
rate was 4.25 percent. So, on your $50,000 equity line of credit, your payment
is $177.00 each month. This is an incredibly low payment on a loan of this size.
This gives you a great deal of power, because you can control a large sum of
money for an extremely low monthly payment. It is this low, because you are only
paying the interest on the loan.

At the end of the first year, you will have paid the bank over $2,100.
You will, however, still owe $50,000. This is because your monthly
payment is an interest-only payment. This is where some people can get in
trouble with home equity lines of credit. If you use all the equity in your
home and never pay down the balance, then decide to sell your house, you
won’t make anything on the sale, because you’ll owe it all to the bank.

It is also important to understand the terms on a home equity line of
credit (HELOC). When talking to mortgage professionals about home
equity lines of credit, be sure you understand the terms, as lenders vary on
what they’ll offer. Like conventional mortgages, which have terms of 30
years, 15 years, 10 years, etc., home equity lines also have various terms, but
not all lenders offer them. Don’t let this confuse you. Just find your
trustworthy mortgage broker, and tell him or her exactly what you want.

Unlike mortgage payments, which include complicated yearly amortization of the
principal loan amount, interest-only payments are calculated very easily. You can
do it in two simple steps. To find out your payment, first learn what rate of interest
you’ll be charged. If you are using 80 percent or less of the equity available and you
have an A credit rating, you’ll be able to get the best rate available, which is
the prime rate.

Now, let’s assume you have $40,000 in equity in your house, but you
only need $20,000 (taking less than 100% of the equity is important). You
take $20,000 and multiply it by 4.25%, which gives you 850. This is what
you’ll pay each year to borrow $20,000. Next, divide the 850 by 12 for a
monthly, interest-only payment. Your payment for your $20,000 home
equity line of credit is $70.83.

This is a very powerful loan. Imagine paying less than 71 dollars for the
ability to control $20,000. Some people pay more for cable TV or their monthly
cell phone bill. Some people even take the equity in their home and invest it elsewhere.
You’re probably figuring out how much equity you have right now, and what you can
do with that money!

To learn how you can turn your equity into a never-ending money cycle that
will fill your bank account year after year, read Winning the Mortgage Game.
Whatever you decide, open the cash vault inside your home, and make use
of your equity today.

Mark Barnes is author of the wealth-building system, Winning the Mortgage Game and other investment real estate books. He is also a suspense novelist, and his new novel, The League, will thrill both suspense and sports fans. Learn about Mark’s wealth-building system and get his free home loan course at http://www.winningthemortgagegame.com. Learn more about The League and read an excerpt at http://www.sportsnovels.com

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Three to four years before you plan to begin college?

-Review your high school coursework and activities. Colleges will look for challenging coursework, a good grade point average, and extracurricular activities such as sports, volunteer work, and community involvement.
-Take the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) to prepare for the standardized tests (SAT and ACT) that you’ll take later. If you do well on the PSAT, you may be eligible to receive a National Merit Scholarship.

Two years before you plan to begin college?

-Begin researching your financial aid options by talking to your career counselor and researching grants and scholarships through books and the internet
-Start planning to take the SAT and/or ACT exams, depending on what is required by your college.
-During your college visits, meet with a Financial Aid Officer to find out what types of aid are available.

As soon as possible after January 1 of the year in which you start college?

-Contact the Financial Aid Offices at the colleges of your choice for deadlines and additional documents they require

-Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Available at www.fafsa.ed.gov, this form is your key to most financial aid, and to all Federal and state grants and loans. When you complete your FAFSA, be sure to list all the schools you’re interested in attending (up to six), even if you haven’t yet been accepted. Be sure to keep copies of all of the forms you submit.

-Fill out your tax returns as early as possible so you have accurate tax information for your FAFSA

-Complete the CSS Financial Aid Profile if it is required by your college

-Find out which financial aid applications your college choices require and when the forms are due.

-Send midyear transcripts to the schools to which you have applied.

-About four weeks after you submit your FAFSA, you will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) that contains federal financial aid information. Submit the SAR and, if requested, your tax forms to the Financial Aid Office. Contact each office to make certain that your application is complete. Find out what else you need to do to establish and maintain your eligibility for financial aid.

This article is distributed by NextStudent. At NextStudent, we believe that getting an education is the best investment you can make, and we’re dedicated to
helping you pursue your education dreams by making college funding as easy as possible. We invite you to learn more about financial aid at http://www.NextStudent.com .

Many different types of financial aid are available to you in the form of scholarships, grants, and loans. With billions of dollars at stake, it is important to begin the search process early and to apply on time.

http://www.nextstudent.com/

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In fact, they usually backfire and you wind up with an even greater debt load than before.

Why does such a perfect sounding debt reduction mechanism often trap you into futher indebtedness?

Because it is a strategy based upon the premise that you can borrow your way out of debt!

We have found that to work, a debt consolidation loan requires enormous focus and self-control. It is all too common for debtors to begin using their credit as soon as the debt is paid or significantly reduced.

This incurs more debt. Since this new debt is clearly beyond the scope of the debt consolidation loan, you again have two loans to repay.

This is how small debts come back and again mount into an ever- increasing spiral of unmanageable financial chaos.

The budget necessary to bring your debts into line makes no allowances for this kind of behavior or attitude. Too many people lack the self-control and strict budgeting discipline necessary for a debt consolidation loan to work.

A debt consolidation loan only makes sense if you can reduce your interest rate. Without a significant interest rate reduction you are only increasing your debt over an extended period of time. The reduction must be low enough to offset the increased time you will be paying it.

Make a list of your outstanding debts and the current interest rate you are paying for each. Do not consolidate any debt that has an interst rate below that of the debt consolidation loan.

For More Infomation Visit: http://www.debt-elimination-program-reviews.com
They review and then list some of the best debt elimination, programs, software and books available online in 2005!

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