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Constant Credit Card Payments

Feb 7

Posted by admin in Credit

Are you trapped into making only minimum payments on your credit cards? I hope not.

Minimum payments decline as the balance on the credit card declines.

Let’s take a credit card with a $2000 balance at 15% interest to use as an example. You would expect to pay about a $40 (2%) monthly payment when you start making your payments:

By making the minimum payment only, it will take you 13 years and 11 months to pay off your credit card and you would expect to pay $2,126 in interest.

However, if you continued paying that $40 until the credit card was paid off, it would only take you 6 years and 6 months to pay off the credit card and you would pay about $1,100 in interest.

You could save over $1,000 in interest and pay it off in half the time. This is what simply starting with a set payment and sticking to it could save. If you can afford that $40 payment when you start, odds are it won’t hurt you later.

Now, let’s take that a step further. What if you paid just $10 more, $50 instead of $40?

That same credit card could be paid off in 4 years and 7 months with only $740 in interest.

Here is how it breaks down:

Minimum Payments – $4126 total payments – 13 years 11 months
Paying $40 per month – $3100 total payments – 6 years 6 months
Paying $50 per month – $2740 total payments – 4 years 7 months

The fact is that every dollar you add to your payment goes toward the balance of the credit card.

I recently completed a Debt Elimination Summary for a couple that had $46,500 in credit card debt on 6 credit cards. Most people would be considering filing bankruptcy in that situation but this couple were determined to pay it off.

Here are the results of the Summary:

They were already paying $785 per month on the credit cards. They decided they could afford to pay another $200 to eliminate their debt sooner.

Minimum Payments – The credit cards would never be paid off.
Paying $785 per month – $78,761 total payments – 8 years 5 months
Paying $985 per month – $66,059 total payments – 5 years 8 months

Would you have thought that you could pay off over $46,000 in credit card debt in just 5 years and 8 months? I’ve seen this done dozens of times. It can and it does work if you stick to it and quit using your credit cards.

If you have multiple credit cards and would like to pay them off as quickly as possible the best way to do this is to write down your credit card name, balance, interest rate and minimum monthly payment.

Then you must decide which credit card to pay off first. There are two schools of thought on this. Most experts believe that you should pay off your highest interest credit card first. You would definitely pay less in the long run.

However, if you need to see results quick to give you an incentive to keep going you could start with the credit card with the lowest balance.

Which ever way you choose, simply add as much money as you can spare to that credit card until it is paid off. Then take the amount you were paying to the first credit card and add it to the next credit card payment and so on until they are all paid in full.

Interest, late fees and penalties are wasted money. The only way to avoid this is to use cash to make your purchases when ever you can.

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RV Loan Calculator – How to Use It

Nov 2

Posted by admin in Loans

Before you can use an RV loan calculator effectively, you need to know what it is. It is a tool that future RV owners can use to find out how much RV they can afford. Basically, it will give you an estimated monthly payment once you enter a loan amount and financing terms for your loan. Other types of lenders such as mortgage lenders and automobile lenders use these types of tools as well. If knowledge is power, then the RV loan calculator gives you the power to make a good decision about your RV purchase.

Where can you find an RV loan calculator to use? Do banks or credit unions have them? Most likely they do not. Luckily, the internet is a good source for finding an RV loan calculator. Nearly every recreational vehicle lending site will have an RV loan calculator for potential customers to use.

What are the steps to use an RV loan calculator? Although every site may have things arranged slightly differently, they are all pretty much the same. First, you need to have a rough idea of how much you would like to spend on an RV. This should be based on average prices from new or used RVs that you have looked at online or at a dealership. For those who are simply refinancing, you just need to enter your loan payoff amount. The RV loan calculator page should also have current interest rates for new, used, and refinance RV loans. Then, you just enter the length of financing terms and within just a quick second you will have your answer. Can you afford that monthly payment? If not, try again. Financing terms vary for the type of loan, but they can range from just a few years to 20 years. Remember to include some room in your budget for insurance as well.

As you gain knowledge and information about RVs and RV financing you will become more confident about your ability to afford and enjoy this lifestyle. You can get pre-approved for you loan within just a day or so and then you can get down to the business of finding the perfect RV.

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Avoiding The Steps Leading To Foreclosure

Jun 19

Posted by admin in Loans

The last thing a homeowner wants is to be trapped in a foreclosure, but what usually occurs is that it catches them off guard, despite the warnings. No one plans in advance to lose his house; they always think they can buy more time to do something about it. But understanding how the foreclosure process works will help the borrower avoid it.

First of all, the borrower misses a monthly payment. Usually a notice or letter reminding of the due date will be sentout. In many cases, the homeowner can get the payment made, albeit a little late. If he still is not able to he should let his lender know as soon as he can.

If a second payment is missed, the bank will usually make direct contact. After all, they do not know if the borrower is sick or even dead and cannot respond to the notices. The worse thing to do is avoid these calls. Your lender wants to try to work out an arrangement.

If the homeowner fails to make the third month’s payment, the loan is now considered in default. Now, the borrower will receive a certified notice giving the borrower dates by which settlement must be made. The official title of this letter is a Demand Letter or a Letter to Accelerate; if the borrower ignores it, the foreclosure proceedings will begin.

Most borrowers have given up on their home once they have reached this point, but the bank is still willing to make an accommodation.

Once the homeowner has missed the fourth payment, the terms outlined in the letter to accelerate have expired and the lender has pretty much given up on the borrower. Lawyers are needed to draw up the official paperwork, and the fees of the lawyers will be tacked onto the borrower’s bills. The home will be placed on official sale.

The official date of the home foreclosure is this sale date. The lender posts the sale on the house, in a newspaper and by letter to the borrower. The homeowner can still reclaim his home, but at a very expensive level.

What do all of these steps tell us about the steps of foreclosure ? That until the very last instant, there is the time and the possibility to negotiate a solution with your bank. The most critical aspect of running into difficulties with your bank is keeping the communication lines open to work out an issue you both want to resolve.

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An Opportune Time to Invest In Real Estate

Mar 21

Posted by admin in Investing, Real Estate

Because the real estate market has been struggling of late, some great deals are available, and there has never been a better time to invest in some property so that you can make some extra income. Interest rates recently have been rapidly falling, so your overall loan costs will be less. Additionally, a record number of foreclosures have occurred during the past year. This works to your advantage because home prices are cheaper than they have ever been before.

In essence, lenders have been taking over record numbers of real estate properties. Lenders lose money when they hold onto these properties, so they want to unload them as quickly as they can. This is why you will be able to find some extremely low prices. If you don’t have enough cash to buy a home outright, creative financing definitely can come to your assistance. If you want to buy a home, fix it up and then quickly flip it, there are temporary low interest rate loans which only make you responsible for paying the interest on the property. However, if you take out one of these loans, make sure that you can sell the home quickly because you could wind up in trouble if you don’t.

You can rent out a property and get renters to pay off your loan, but you need to be patient because this process will not provide immediate results. If, however, you can focus on this as a long-term investment, after your mortgage is paid off you will come out ahead and you will have provided yourself with a steady source of retirement income.

Finally, you need to research the real estate market before you ever get involved, making sure that you learn everything about it that you will need to know. There will be other investors who are doing the same thing that you are planning, but unlike you, those other investors have years of experience in the real estate market. You won’t be able to match their experience, but you certainly can do the research and prepare yourself with as much knowledge about market trends as is possible.

Follow home prices over the weeks, but don’t jump at any property simply because it appears to be a good deal initially. You should remember that homes with low asking prices typically have multiple problems, and that you need to be able to deal with them. Visit some banks and lenders, too, so that you can obtain an accurate picture of the current lending situation and the current down payment requirements.

The information that you learn about the real estate market will help you get a better deal because you will have more leverage while you’re negotiating. Using this knowledge you can establish a price that seems fair for every property that you are interested in. This will help you avoid paying more than you want to when you purchase real estate investment property.

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Bill Consolidation: Freedom From Debt?

Feb 3

Posted by admin in Debt Consolidation

Stated simply, bill consolidation is getting loan to pay for other loans so that the borrower is left with only one loan to finance. Debt consolidation is a step taken by borrowers for the advantages it may allow like lowered interest rates and focusing his payment to a single loan.

This often takes placing a property as collateral. When collateral is guaranteed the interest gets lower because the risk to the lending company is decreased. When the borrower fails to meet h…
bill consolidation
Stated simply, bill consolidation is getting loan to pay for other loans so that the borrower is left with only one loan to finance. Debt consolidation is a step taken by borrowers for the advantages it may allow like lowered interest rates and focusing his payment to a single loan.

This often takes placing a property as collateral. When collateral is guaranteed the interest gets lower because the risk to the lending company is decreased. When the borrower fails to meet his obligations, the lending company forecloses the property as payment for the debt.

People with multiple credit cards often resort to debt consolidation. Carrying multiple credit cards is almost surefire formula to carrying high interest rates. Credit cards are one type of an unsecured loan. As such, credit cards carry high interest rates and people with multiple credit cards are often tempted to spend more than they earn.

One good way of solving this is through debt consolidation. Secured loans from the bank or a lending company (one that is covered by collateral) have less interest rates than the unsecured loans for credit cards. Paying then all his credit cards from a secured loan from the bank enables the borrower of saving from the lowered interest rate. As mentioned, this is a good way of doing it, if the habit of spending more than what one earns is not changed. The process starts again and the interest rates will soon start to climb, sometimes, worse than it was resulting to foreclosure of properties.

There are many ways to consolidate debt. There are for example the student’s consolidation loans and the home finance debt consolidation. But no matter how it is termed, debt consolidation is little more like transferring one unsecured loan to another unsecured loan. The debt is still there and most people thought that by consolidating the loan, something has already been done. Again, nothing has been done if the habit that started it all is not resolved.

A better way to real freedom from debt is, when the debt consolidation has been done and is working, have a plan and stick to it. One of the generic approaches to that are the obvious:

Do not spend on that one single credit card the way you were spending when you have many. This seems to be very obvious and so people who have consolidated their loans starts out fine. After a while, the temptation to spend on loans starts. One of the many reason is that the interests are lowered, the other one is by habit. So once the debt consolidation is on, have the plan not to spend on the things that you can live without and stick to it.

Then, have a plan to pay for the loan that was secured with collateral. About 80% of the time, people who consolidated their loans dos not have a plan to assure the payment for the loan with an extra job and other ways of generating extra income. When emergencies strikes, the most convenient way is again to resort to additional lending and the debt grows back over time, higher interests are charged and the cycle continues.

The best way to get out of debt and gain back that freedom is to consolidate and then have a plan that one can stick to. No amount of loan consolidation will work if the habit that placed one in debt is not avoided.

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Debt Consolidation Loan – Get Rid Of Your Debts In An Organized Manner

Jan 13

Posted by admin in Credit, Debt Consolidation, Loans

Debt consolidation loan is designed for the removal of your debts in a systematic way. It brings you sigh of relief after consolidating all your debts. Debt consolidation loan is a remedy to get you out of the grip of debts.

To satisfy our personal needs and requirements, we often depend on various loans available in the market. We fail to keep a check upon our borrowings and soon find our self under multiple debts. It becomes difficult to pay so many debts at a time and hence life becomes miserable with so many debts around. Debt consolidation loan then comes to rescue and reduces all our multiple debts payments in to one single payment.

Debt consolidation loan accumulates all your loan payments or credit cards payments into one. You will have only one creditor to whom you are accountable. This helps you to avoid all your previous lenders, who are giving you stressful time.

Debt consolidation loan can be availed in two ways- secured debt consolidation loan which requires your property to be kept as collateral with the lender. You fairly enjoy low interest and long period for repayment. However lender can repossess your property, if you don?t pay him back. Unsecured debt consolidation loan is its contrary as you run no risk to your property. However you bear high interest rate and huge monthly installments and are given short repayment duration, surfing through various websites can give you a good option to get debt consolidation loan easily.

The author is a business writer specializing in finance and credit products and has written authoritative articles on the finance industry. He has done his masters in Business Administration and is currently assisting Debt Consolidation Park as a finance specialist.

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How Much Do You Need For Retirement

Jul 2

Posted by admin in Wealth Building

With an increasing number of people scheduled to begin retirement in the next few years, it is important to begin thinking about the subject. Even if you?re not near the age of retirement yet, it?s a good idea to begin thinking about how you plan to fund your retirement as soon as possible. The sooner you begin to plan for retirement the more you can be sure your retirement won?t be plagued by money issues.

So, how much money do you need for retirement? A lot of that answer, of course, depends on what plans you have for retirement. If you plan to travel, want to purchase a RV or you have similar specific plans, you will naturally need more money in order to fund your retirement. Above and beyond those expenses; however, it is important to think about your day to day essential needs.

For example, consider whether you will still owe any debt payments when you choose to retire. Of course, many of use would like to think that we?ll be out of debt by then but in reality you may still owe on a vehicle or credit card or even a house. Be sure to calculate those costs into the amount you need for retirement.

You?ll also need enough money to cover such costs as utilities, auto and home insurance, groceries and other miscellaneous expenses we all must pay on a month to month basis.

Healthcare will be an extremely important aspect of your retirement. Naturally, as we grow older our healthcare needs increase and that means spending more money. If you fail to fund your retirement in a sufficient manner, even one serious health problem could wipe out your retirement fund and you might find yourself facing the rest of your retirement with serious money problems. Just for your healthcare costs alone it?s a good idea to plan on budgeting at least $15,000 per year for every year of your retirement.

You also need to consider whether there will be expenses when you first retire that you?ll still need to cover such as support for aging parents (with life expectancy figures today, it?s definitely a possibility) as well as college education expenses for kids.

In addition, don?t forget miscellaneous costs which may pop up that we tend to forget. These costs include home repair costs, such as replacing a roof, purchasing another vehicle, etc.

After adding up all of the costs you?ll need to cover during retirement, don?t forget to take into consideration the effects of inflation. Figure on costs today rising an average of about 4% a year for every year you have left until retirement and then some.

Finally, don?t forget to give serious thought to how long you may need to fund your retirement. Quite surprisingly, many people tend to underestimate how long they?ll live and as a result run out of money. Don?t let that happen to you. The best rule of thumb is to assume you?ll live to at least age 90 and calculate for that.

Joe Kenny writes for SelectLoans.co.uk, a UK comparison site, visit us today for information on all loan topics including secured loans and links to leading UK providers.
Our Site: http://www.selectloans.co.uk/

Writen By : Joseph Kenny

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