Insurance and Credit

Have you ever really examined your credit card bill? Do you understand all of the different fees you’re being charged? For a long time now, credit card companies have been operating without any real scrutiny and the number and types of fees they charge their customers have gotten out of control.

The tide is beginning to turn now though. More and more people are realizing what’s been happening to them and more and more people are starting to do something about it. One technique that can help us avoid the burden of monstrous fees is to switch off our credit cards and switch on prepaid debit cards. Let me explain.

If you’re in a position to do so, I propose you start converting all of your existing credit card spending over to prepaid debit cards. Month-by-month, phase out all of the credit card purchases until you make no more. Then (again, if you can), set up an automatic payment to your credit card, something that is higher than the minimum payment required and something that is scheduled to arrive at least a few days in advance of the billing due date. Then lock the credit card away in a drawer!

If you do that, you’ll never have another late fee again. Credit card companies love to charge late fees. In 2008 over 19 billion dollars was raked in by these companies for their various “penalty fees.” That’s a lot of dough, especially when you consider that in some cases the companies manipulate their billing practices to put the consumer in a position to incur these fees. Here’s an example.

Let’s say your credit “limit” is $1,000.00. You would think that you couldn’t charge more than that and if you tried your card would be declined. You’d be wrong. In reality, that’s a soft limit. Credit card companies are perfectly willing to let you charge beyond it so they can tack on a $25.00 or $35.00 over-limit fee to your bill. Then they can get tricky and send you a bill with a minimum payment that will bring you just under the limit – but not when you calculate in the monthly finance charge. In other words, you make the minimum payment, think you’ve dropped below the credit limit, the company tacks on its finance charge, and bang – you’re back over the limit and you’re getting a second over-limit fee. Pretty slick huh?

Prepaid cards don’t come with tricky monthly finance/billing cycle calculations either. These are the computations the credit card companies make to determine how much they’re going to charge you to carry your balance from one month to the next. There are actually 6 or 7 different ways these charges can be calculated and everyone is designed to yield the highest return for the company based on your spending habits.

Another great (and hidden) fee the credit card companies receive is the interchange fee. These are pretty much secret fees that businesses pay the companies to cover the actual credit card transaction costs. Then of course the businesses pass the expense onto their customers by charging higher prices. There are some estimates that say consumers pay about $2.00 in interchange fees for every $100.00 they spend with a credit card. That $2.00 adds up to tens of billions every year for these companies.

These are just a few of the reasons why switching over to a prepaid debit card can benefit you as a consumer. Let’s face it; the credit card companies have almost all the leverage. About the only options we have left is to cut our losses and prevent them from preying on us in the future. So if you’re in a position to do so, I invite you to take a good long look at prepaid debit cards and see how they can become your sensible, more consumer-friendly alternative to credit cards.

Having a lot of credit card debt can be incredibly stressful; almost as if you are being crushed under the sheer weight of all of that debt. Consolidating all of your credit card debt into one payment can make things easier for you – in fact, consolidating your debts can save you a lot of money each month as opposed to making all of those separate payments.

There are a lot of advantages of consolidating your debt. The major reason being that when you consolidate all of your credit card debt, you will get a better interest rate than paying off your cards one by one. This also saves you a great deal of money that can be used elsewhere.

Not only will consolidating your credit card debt save you money on interest rates, consolidating your debt will greatly reduce the stress which can come from carrying a lot of debt. You won’t have to wonder where you’re going to get the money to pay all of those separate credit card payments ad you’ll be able to make ends meet while still paying off your credit card debt.

No you do need to know that when you consolidate all of your credit card payments into one monthly payment that you will have the consolidated cards terminated and the associated accounts closed. This can improve your credit rating, although for some people this may be a bitter pill to swallow. All in all, it’s for the best.

If you are looking to consolidate your credit card debt, you shouldn’t hesitate to let the professionals help you. There are a lot of companies and banks that specialize in consolidation, and would be more than willing to help you. Before you make your decision though, you should always research your options available and find the best one for your needs. You should also make sure that there are no hidden fees or other problems as well. If you take the time to research, you’ll save a lot of money in the future.

If you’ve had problems with your credit card debt, you’re hardly alone. Millions have had the same kinds of troubles. Credit cards are a necessity for some, but it can be all too easy to go overboard with them and get yourself into a lot of trouble. Before you know it, you could be facing a mountain of debt – and a lot of stress because of it. It could take you decades to pay off all of your cards separately; that’s where consolidation comes in.

Make a list of all the credit cards you own and how much you owe on each card. This is what you will give to the financial institution that you have chosen. They in turn will contact these companies and make the best deal that they can with them.

Let’s jump right in and peal back some of the mystery surrounding repairing your credit yourself. The process for the most part is pretty simple. It is accomplished by a series of dispute letters which is sent to the three major credit bureaus. The part that most books leave out is you should also send letters of dispute to your creditors.

Don’t be mistaken the credit bureaus are not on your side. The truth is they really don’t do much to verify the validity of your claims. The bureaus can careless one way or the other. You send them a dispute letter, they pass it to the creditor, the credit looks in there files and sends the information back to the bureau. The bureau then sends the outcome back to you. Nobody checks anything for validity. You are in this alone and you have to fight for your rights.

Another fact that works in your favor is that the credit bureau system isn’t designed for persistent individuals. Your job is to know your rights and to not take no for an answer! The part that doesn’t work in the consumers favor is the bureaus system is automated.

Whenever you dispute an item the bureau passes that information to the creditor. The creditor checks the information against their records, and whatever it says they report back to the bureaus. In short this means that a lot of incorrect information is being passed back and forth and it’s up to you to put a stop to it. The bottom line is the credit bureaus make more money from you having bad credit than they do when you have good credit.

Despite popular belief the credit bureau’s system wasn’t designed to benefit the consumer. I know that I may sometimes sound repetitive, but the truth is the truth. Your success comes down to knowledge, understanding, and the most important… Persistence!

The advice that I give to those who come to my workshops is to get started today. The sooner you begin the process the closer you will be to achieving the financial success that you deserve.