About Debt Management
debt management guide
Having debt is a fact of life. How we manage that debt becomes our challenge. Your goal is to keep your credit report strong and financing costs down. Likewise, you need to limit the amount of debt you hold. Too much debt can destroy your financial future.
Page Topics:
Basic Rules for Managing Debt
Pay on Time:
Pay your debt obligations on time, every time.
Send payments at least 2-3 days before the due date to ensure that your payment arrives on time.
What if Your Payment is Late
If you are going to be late with your payment, call your creditor immediately. Explain your situation. Many creditors will gladly accept credit card payments over the phone.
If paying by credit card is not an option, notify the creditor that you will be sending payment today. Most creditors will make notation to your account to avoid late fees.
If you find that the creditor needs payment by the next business day to avoid late fees, consider using a payment exchange service such as Western Union. Their fees are less expensive than overnight express mail service:
click for: www.westernunion.com
What if You Can't Make Payment
If you don't have enough money to make payment for the month, suggest to your creditor that you can pay perhaps half the payment now and the rest next month.
If unemployment, divorce, sickness, etc., puts you in a situation where you need to suspend payments, discuss your situation with the creditor. Many creditors have deferment plans for financial hardships.
The key point is contacting and working with your creditor. Never assume that your creditors are going to "walk away" from your debt obligations. You want to avoid having your account sent to collections. Creditors will be happy to work with you if you make a honest attempt to resolve your situation.
Keep Records
Keep and maintain all records when speaking with your creditor. Note the date and time, the person's name with whom you are speaking with, the issue that you called about, and the recommendation the creditor offered. Request a confirmation or other ID number that proves that you spoke with your creditor.
These records are important proof in the event you receive non-payment notification with penalty fees and other "account suspension" or "account collection" notices.
What if Collectors Call
If you receive a collection notice, contact your creditor immediately. Find out why your account was sent to collections after a repayment agreement was reached. Request that they remove your account from collections and renegotiate your repayment plan.
If the creditor is unable to help, you might consider taking the following steps:
- Never ignore collections notices or payment due notices. Get them resolve as quickly as possible.
- Understand your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Click here to view rights
- Seek credit counseling services from a professional advisor. They can help negotiate a debt repayment plan.
Costs to Avoid
Late Payment Charges
Fees are charged for scheduled payments that are past due.
Creditors generally have a 3-5 day grace period beyond the due date before charging late payment fees. But note that creditors are in the business to make money. So many are moving the grace period back.
Most credit card companies do not allow a grace period. You can incur a late payment fee if your payment is received 1-day past the due date.
The best rule is to always pay your debt obligations 2-3 days prior to the due date.
Over-the-Limit Fees
Fees are charged for making purchases over your credit line limit.
Your best rule is keep your credit line balances at 50-60% of the total credit line limit. This keeps your credit rating strong and avoids going your limit.
High Interest Rate Charges
Fees are charged for carrying a credit balance beyond the 25-day grace period.
Many of these interest rate charges are around 16-22% — considerably high penalties for "borrowing" money. So try to pay your credit card balance in full each month.
If you can't pay the full balance, use a lower-interest rate credit line to pay your credit card balance to avoid the high interest rate charges.
For Example:
If your credit card balance is $4,800 at an interest rate charge of 17%, your monthly interest fees will be: $68.00.
If you have the same credit line balance ($2,500) at an interest rate of 9.90%, your monthly interest fees will be: $39.60.
If you consolidated your debt under a consolidation program such as a home equity credit line with interest rates at 6% or lower, your monthly interest fees will be: $24.00 or lower.
Your best rule is to always payoff your credit cards each month to avoid high interest rate fees. If you maintain a credit card balance, you might want to review some equity line credit to payoff high interest rate charges.
Link to our Home Equity Center for information
Methods of Bill Payment
By Paper Check
The most common form of payment. You should schedule time weekly to review bills so that all debt obligations can be paid 2-3 days prior to their due date.
By Automatic Draft
This is where the creditor to automatically DRAFTS your money account each month for the payment due. This is very common for home mortgages and other fixed loan payments.
Some creditors, especially for home equity, student loan payments, and other personal loan payments, will reduce your interest rate by to 0.25% or more if you use this feature. This is one of the easiest and most rewarding ways to pay your bills.
You need to make sure you have enough money in your account to cover automatic drafts. You must keep good accounting. You want to avoid overdraft fees from your bank and non-payment fees from your creditor if your DRAFT account has non-sufficient funds.
Automatic draft is best when you have an overdraft protection account that covers non-sufficient fund situations.
By Online Payments
There are three types of online bill payments:
- Bill paying using Personal Financial
Management Software (PFM).
These software programs load on your computer and function like checking accounts. You simply schedule payments that are sent automatically to your creditor.
The most common software types: Quicken® || MS Money®
- Bill paying using your online bill
payment services.
Most banks offer Internet Banking services, where you can log-in and pay your bills online.
Also check out this FREE bill payment service:
checkfree
- Direct Bill Pay
Most creditors and credit card companies offer bill-payment features via their online web site. Simply link to your creditor and enroll into their bill payment feature.
You will need to set a calendar to remind you to pay the bill online as you would pay using offline. The service is generally FREE and the payment can be posted on whatever date you set.
Bill Payment Providers
Service providers that will pay bills on your behalf.
You simply have all of your bills sent to them. They will work out a budget plan where your obligations are paid on time. They will also be responsible for any billing disputes and charges.
These services do come with a cost.
Check out this online provider at:
www.paytrust.com
You may also check the yellow pages for local providers:
bill pay service providers
By Credit Card
There is only one reason for using your credit cards to pay bills: to build rebate credit awards. Never take out a cash advance to pay an obligation. It will cost you plenty. It is much better to work with your creditor if cash is short.
Paying by credit card involves the following:
- you pay your obligations with your credit card
- you take advantage of the credit card's 25-day grace period
- you collect rebate awards for your purchase
- you pay off your credit card in full each month
You can use your card to pay utility payments, living expenses, and other family purchases.
We have more information about using rebate credit cards for living purchases: click here for FREE download
By Cash
Not very feasible since it would require a physical visit to a payment exchange office. The fees can also be high.
Paying by cash may be required for individuals who lack bank money accounts. One reliable bill payment service for non-bank customers is Western Union: click here for information
Note that your goal should be to fix up your credit situation so that you can safely qualify for a banking or other money account.
view topic: building a credit history
Billing Disputes
Reasons for billing disputes include:
— incorrect purchases that was posted to your account
— purchases that were to be refunded
— payments that were not properly posted
— fraudulent use of your account
— errors made by your creditorThe Fair Credit Billing act entitles you to certain protections in the event of a billing dispute on open-line credit accounts, such as credit cards, store cards, etc.) The act does not protect fixed, closed-end accounts (mortgages, car loans, etc).
Your first step is to speak with your creditor by phone (and to guarantee your rights by letter).
The creditor must conduct a reasonable investigation of your dispute within two billing cycles.
view your course of action when disputing bills
When speaking with you creditor, keep notes of the time and date, the name of the person assisting you, and creditor action to resolve your situation.
How Much Debt
Solving Your Debt Problems
Step 1: Accept Responsibility
Your first step is to accept responsibility for your debt. You need to accept its existence with determination to repay and control your debt position. Failure to accept your debt problems will only allow it to continue.
Understand that your debt has repercussions on your family and others. Failure to assume control makes it difficult to save for college, plan for retirement, and prepare for family needs. Likewise, your mismanagement may be carry forward by your children who learn by your example.
Step 2: Rid Yourself of Instant Gratification
You must forgo your pleasure of short-term "wants" for the more important long-term "needs" to reduce your debt. This may require:
— buying "used" instead of "new"
— buying not the latest gadgets
— buying not the latest trends
— allowing the car to run another yearAccess to credit cards means instant gratification. Say good-bye to instant credit and rely on pre-paid credit cards as your means of commerce.
Step 3: Establish a Monthly Budget
You need to plan and quantify your expenses for housing, food, transportation, savings and paying down your debt.
Budgeting disciplines your spending habits. It restricts buying for items you need, forcing the "wants" to a future day by saving and planning.
Step 4: Set Financial Goals
Your first goal is to reduce and eliminate your financial debt. In addition, you need to set your sights on the following:
— saving for college
— saving for the next house
— saving for emergency cash
— saving for retirementThese goals motivate your need for a budget, debt consolidation plan, and debt reduction plan. These goals become part of the budget planning process under Step 3.
Step 5: Setup a Debt Repayment Plan
Finally, you need to establish a debt repayment plan. It generally involves the following:
- Debt
Reduction Plans:
view our guides for reducing the following debts
reduce credit card debt | reduce loan debt | reduce mortgage
- Budget
Planning:
you need to establish a budget line item that allocates a percentage of your income for debt repayment.
use our online budget worksheet
- No
More Debt:
you need to restrict your use of credit cards and other retail incentive programs
$$$ Management Tips
 |
 |
||||
| Time to Reduce Your Debts | ||||
|
||||
 |
||
| Achieving Success | ||
|
||
 |
| What's in the News |
