|
The Debt Game: Don�t Play it Caught up in the vicious cycle of credit and spending, the only ones benefiting are the banks. Maxxing out credit cards are soon to be a thing of the past as consumers gain knowledge and new insight on how to get ahead in life. What is the key to getting ahead in the future? Stay out of debt. Including houses, cars, and yes, vacations. Taking a look at The Life Cycle gives us the clues of what we should be striving for to not be slaves in the future for the debts created today. With new and inventive loans The Cycle of Debt is a dead end road. It starts with living above our means, spending to our limits on our credit cards. Once we are not able to obtain any more credit cards, we seek out a debt consolidation loan. A debt consolidation loan rolls over all of your credit card debt into one loan. Then you are free to get new credit cards, and spend again. More popular today, is tying into the equity in your home. You can roll in many different types of loans, including vehicles, and credit cards, and any other debts you may have. You have one convenient payment, but now your biggest asset is tied directly into your financial success, or not success. If you go spend again, game over. At some point you will have exhausted all of your resources. How much are my credit cards actually costing me? In the case of the home equity loan scenario, they could cost you your home. Credit cards alone can cost you a fortune. Some cards have annual fees, and the cost of a late payment could cost you much more than just the high late payment fee. One late payment can raise your interest rate considerably high. You can go from 0% to 29% with one late payment with most credit card companies today. If you carry a balance on a credit card look at your monthly statement to see how much you are actually paying towards what you owe. All kinds of things can be added to your credit card bill if you don�t pay attention. From credit card insurance, to a number of value added vendor services, such as discount shopping programs, travel plans, wallet protection and the list goes on. The add-ons are a huge service and the amount offered are endless. Some of these plans can be more than $100 a month. These can be automatically enrolled in by cashing a promotional check for as little as $3 made out to you or by requesting a free promotional item. Several non-conformist groups along with a string of new age financial planners are trying to break this cycle. They say to cut your losses now, downsize, and realize that retirement can be just around the corner for any of us. What to do if you are in debt? There are many things you can do. Some very easy. From calling your credit card company and requesting a lower interest rate to cutting out all the extras. The free article, I�m in debt what do I do? Options are?, is a very helpful source to getting you back on track and making your money work for you instead of for somebody else. For Related Articles see � Getting free things from credit cards, Is it worth it? How much are my credit cards actually costing me? I�m in debt what do I do? Options are? Christmas Creativity, how not to go in debt this year |