Debt Consolidation, Help and Relief

How Can A Loan Help You Out Of Debt?

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  • Posted 12/1/11. by admin

Most of us do not want to find ourselves in a position where our debt is getting out of hand. Fortunately, there are a variety of loans on offer which you can use to consolidate your debt.
The biggest advantage of these loans is that you will only have one payment per month [...]

How To Minimise Future Debts

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  • Posted 11/30/11. by admin

If you’re looking to consolidate you existing debts, then there’s a good chance that you’ll be keen to minimise any other debts which you might encounter in future. Here are a few tips on managing your finances, and avoid large or numerous debts accumulating in future.
Firstly, it can be a good idea to work out [...]

Why You Should Consider Buying A Used Car Now

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  • Posted 11/29/11. by alison

Planning to buy a used car? Kelley Blue Book says you may want to do it before the end of the year. Used car prices are expected to increase by four to six percent in early 2012 which means you’ll get more bang for your buck if you shop for a car while you shop [...]

Retirees Feeling Increasingly Secure About Finances

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  • Posted 11/19/11. by alison

It’s been a rough few years for American retirees, but they are feeling more financially secure according to a study by Society of Actuaries, LIMRA and the International Foundation for Retirement Education. The latest part of this series of studies looked at financial recovery among retirees, polling 461 of them. The most recent responses show [...]

Financial Experts Reveal Their Outlook For 2012

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  • Posted 11/17/11. by alison

Positive thinking is a powerful tool. And a new survey shows the majority of financial professionals are optimistic about economic growth in 2012. Accounting Principals polled finance professionals about the coming new year and found most are thinking positively, but they’re still cautious.
Of those polled, 67% expressed that they believe their company will land new [...]

Holiday Budgets Meant For Breaking?

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  • Posted 11/10/11. by alison

Once again gift cards will be a hot gift this holiday season according to a new poll from TD Bank. More than half of consumers say they plan to spend the same this year as last year with the average being $670 for gifts. Of those polled, roughly two in three plan to buy gift [...]

Organization Helps Student Loan Borrowers Make Payments

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  • Posted 10/25/11. by alison

Nearly 1.6 million past due federal student loan accounts are getting some much needed assistance. USA Funds says they’ve prevented nearly $26.5 billion in defaults from student loan accounts during the last fiscal year. These were accounts where payments were reported to be 60 days or more past due. During fiscal 2011, USA Funds’ default [...]

Many Americans Getting Second Jobs To Cover Holiday Expenses

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  • Posted 10/19/11. by alison

Christmas may be a few months away, but many companies are hiring holiday help now. And to avoid the financial drain of the season a new CouponCabin.com survey found that more than one in five Americans plan to get a second job in order to be able to afford the holidays this year. Another 12 [...]

The Disappearance Of Debit Rewards Programs

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  • Posted 10/11/11. by alison

If you’re committing to using debit instead of credit as a way to reduce your debt, stick with it. And don’t let the fact that the availability of debit card rewards offers fell by 30% over the past year impact your dedication. The good news, according to Bankrate.com’s 2011 Debt Card Rewards Study, is that [...]

Two In Five Have Cut Spending Over Last Two Months

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  • Posted 09/22/11. by alison

It feels like you’ve been hearing about the importance of cutting spending for years, but according to a new poll from Bankrate.com, about 40% of Americans have actually been doing it over the past 60 days. Bankrate.com’s September Financial Security Index is at 93.9 and any number under 100 indicates declining levels of financial security. [...]

Government Jobs Website Receives Traffic Boost

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  • Posted 09/12/11. by alison

Job creation is a hot topic right now after President Obama announced his $447 billion plan to create jobs and boost the economy.  According to comScore Inc, government job websites are receiving comparable traffic as mainstream websites like Career Builder, Monster and Indeed. comScore Inc analyzes traffic of federal Government sites. In July 2011, 87.6 [...]

Study: Young People Facing Difficult Financial Future

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  • Posted 09/6/11. by alison

Young people are facing a difficult financial future, according to a new survey from The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. The study found that just 23% of 20-somethings label themselves as totally independent. Just 18% of those in their 20s whose adult lives began during the Great Recession say they’re confident they’ll have enough money [...]

National Suite Drive Helps Unemployed Americans

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  • Posted 08/30/11. by alison

Thousands of suits are being donated as a way to help provide a second chance for Americans facing joblessness. It’s the fourth annual National Suit Drive organized by Men’s Warehouse. They’re collecting gently used professional attire during the entire month of August.
The unemployment rate is sitting at about 9 percent. The US Bureau of Labor [...]

Fall Busiest Time For Scoring Scholarship Dollars

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  • Posted 08/24/11. by alison

We’re about to enter the peak time for applying for scholarships according to Scholarship America. Scholarship America is the  nation’s largest provider of scholarships in the country and says that its advising high school students and college students to be creative in their search for scholarship dollars because September, October and November are actually the [...]

Financial Headlines Helping Parents Teach Kids About Money

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  • Posted 08/16/11. by alison

You may feel like you’ve heard enough about the debt ceiling and the national debt crisis to last a lifetime, but for children it’s a great jumping off point to start financial education. According to a new CouponCabin.com survey, almost half of parents believe it’s important to teach their kids about being financially savvy. The [...]

UK Households Using Credit Cards To Pay Utility Bills

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  • Posted 08/9/11. by alison

A new study shows residents of the United Kingdom are using their credit cards to pay their utility bills at higher rates. Financial information company Markit published figures regarding the financial blunders of cash-strapped UK residents. The Markit financial index shows that roughly one in three in the UK have seen their financial situation get [...]

Women Seeking Debt Help More Than Men

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  • Posted 07/26/11. by alison

Women are getting professional help for debt problems at much larger rates than men, according to a report by the Orlando Sentinel. The figures come from some credit counseling operations throughout the state of Florida. Officials tell the newspaper that women have outnumbered men in the credit counseling world for most of the past ten [...]

Consumers Looking For Ways To Save Money On Groceries

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  • Posted 07/19/11. by alison

Americans are paying more, but getting less at the grocery store. That’s according to Deloitte’s new “2011 Consumer Food and Product Insight Survey.” Just under 90 percent of those surveyed believe food prices are jumping and about three-fourths feel the packages are getting smaller. That’s pushing consumers to buy lower-priced products including store brands.
High gas [...]

New Government Bureau Aims To Monitor Consumer Financial Products

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  • Posted 07/12/11. by alison

A new arm of the government is going into full effect on July 21, 2011. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s primary mission is to make markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans. The office will help monitor consumer services including applying for a mortgage, choosing a credit card or any other consumer [...]

Survey: 1 In 4 Americans Have No Savings

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  • Posted 06/28/11. by alison

Roughly one in four Americans have a six-month emergency savings cushion. Another one in four have no savings at all. These numbers come from a Bankrate.com study that also points out that 6.2 million Americans have been out of work for six months or more.
Falling somewhere in the middle are about 22% of Americans who [...]

Polls: Americans Worried About National And Personal Debt

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  • Posted 06/21/11. by alison

News of the federal government debt ceiling reaching its peak is getting a lot of attention. But a new poll shows that even though lawmakers attempt to work out the debt ceiling issue in Washington, Americans are increasingly doubtful they’ll come up with a plan to solve the problem. At issue is the creation of [...]

Money Tips For Newlyweds

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  • Posted 06/14/11. by alison

June is wedding season. In fact according to TheKnot.com, one third of weddings happen during the summer months. And while couples may do a great job of preparing for their big day, they may not be doing so well at preparing for their financial future. According to The Wall Street Journal, these are some tips [...]

Survey: Half Of Americans Can’t Cope With $2,000 Emergency

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  • Posted 05/31/11. by alison

A new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that half of Americans would not be able to easily come up with $2,000 in a pinch. In the event of an unexpected car repair, medical bill or home emergency 50 percent of Americans wouldn’t have the cash to pay for the need. About [...]

Survey: 1 In 8 Americans Consider Bankruptcy

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  • Posted 05/26/11. by alison

A new survey found that one in eight Americans have either filed for bankruptcy or considered it. The survey was completed by FindLaw.com. According to the survey, people between the ages of 35 and 54 are 50 percent more likely to consider bankruptcy as an option than people who are either 18-34 or older than [...]

Judge: Kate Gosselin Owes Marriage Counselor $10k

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  • Posted 05/24/11. by alison

Kate Gosselin, the reality TV mom of eight, was recently ordered by a judge to pay an old debt for counseling services and travel. According to reports, a Luzerne County district judge ordered her to pay Sylvia Lafair $10,476 for the 2009 debts.
Lafair owns a company called Creative Energy Options in White Haven, Pennsylvania. According [...]

Americans Keeping Costs Low On Summer Travel

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  • Posted 05/19/11. by alison

Despite dank economic news and gas prices that make just about everyone cringe, Americans are taking steps to plan their summer vacations according to a new survey. Ally Bank says roughly one out of four people say they’re going to spend the most money on summer travel. “With so many Americans hitting the road [...]

Report Sees Signs Of Improvement For American Consumers

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  • Posted 05/10/11. by alison

By some accounts, things may be looking up slightly for US consumers. A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows some signs of improvement. The organization studies consumer debt levels, delinquency rates, foreclosures and bankruptcies. When studying those things, they saw some signs of recovery for Americans. “We are beginning to [...]

Debt Elimination Scam Busted In Texas

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  • Posted 04/27/11. by alison

A jury ordered a Texas businessman to pay $13.8 million for committing fraud against at least 700 Texans, according to the Texas Attorney General’s Office. Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office announced the verdict against Robert M. Lindsey earlier this week. Lindsey failed to register his debt elimination companies including Jubilee Financial Management LLC, The Credit [...]

College Students Face Trio Of Problems

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  • Posted 04/15/11. by alison

College graduates are dealing with more debt and hiring slump– which is not a great combination. Nevada-based 8 News Now interviewed college student Raven Reid, who spends a lot of time adding up her student loans. “I wouldn’t be able to pay for books or anything. My mom’s a single parent, and she lives [...]

Australians Saving More And Paying Off Debt

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  • Posted 04/1/11. by alison

Just as Americans are paying off debt at faster rates and saving more than years past, Australians seem to be as well. According to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald, Australian households saved $74 billion last year. That equals out to $3300 for every man, woman and child. The newspaper says that was the [...]

Sixteen Percent Of Americans Carry Expensive Debt

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  • Posted 03/15/11. by alison

A new study found that those with credit card, payday loan or other high-cost consumer debt are more likely to have trouble saving. The study also found that about 16% of Americans have expensive payday, car title or pawnshop loans. The survey, conducted by America Saves and Experian, found that consumers with higher debt are [...]

Study: American Consumers Feeling Financially Fit

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  • Posted 03/4/11. by alison

A new study says more American consumers are feeling financially healthy as they emerge from the recession. The study, conducted for M&T Bank found that nearly 80% of consumers reporting have little-to-no debt or a comfortable level of debt. GfK Custom Research North America conducted the survey of more than 1000 randomly selected adults. They [...]

Canadians Holding More Household Debt

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  • Posted 03/3/11. by alison

Many Canadians are seeing a boost in their net worth. Since 2000 more than half of Canadians have experienced an increase in their home equity, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. While that’s good news, the downside is that household debt is increasing at a faster rate. An Ottawa-based research organization sent out a [...]

Bernanke Predicts Chaos If Debt Ceiling Not Raised

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  • Posted 03/1/11. by alison

What would happen if lawmakers don’t raise the short-term debt limit to fund the federal government with financial restructuring? “Chaos” according to US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee that the changes are necessary in order to reduce the nation’s debt in the coming years, according to the Wall Street [...]

Borders Debt Piles Up, Bankruptcy Looms

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  • Posted 02/18/11. by alison

According to reports, debt is piling up for bookseller Borders, forcing them to close hundreds of stores and file for bankruptcy. According to Reuters, the company will shut 200 of its retail outlets, that’s about 30 percent of its stores. Those bookstores that are closing are a mix of Borders stores and Waldenbooks shops.
Those stores [...]

What Could You Do With $15 Trillion?

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  • Posted 02/17/11. by alison

President Obama recently released a report to Congress saying that America’s debt would reach a whopping $15 trillion this year. And according to ABC News that money could buy a staggering amount of things. To put that amount of money into perspective they released a list of what that money could buy.
1. 4,080,522,307 Super Bowl [...]

Government Releases Plan To Pull Out Of Mortgage Business

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  • Posted 02/15/11. by alison

The government recently released a plan to phase out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, government backed programs that helped encourage lending by buying up mortgages and ultimately required a bailout. The Obama administration released a proposal that experts say will probably make home loans more expensive and change who can afford to buy a home.
The [...]

Tuesday’s Twitterer To Follow: @AuthorDavidBach

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  • Posted 02/8/11. by alison

Wondering who to follow in the big wide world of Twitter? There are plenty of great Twitterers out there tweeting about money, [...]

Credit Card Company Tries Collecting Decade-Old Debt

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  • Posted 02/4/11. by alison

Debt more than a decade-old is being drudged up by at least one credit card company. According to the Los Angeles Times, Frank Cavestani and his wife got behind on their Capital One credit card payments ten years ago. They say they resolved the issue by writing off about $2,000 in debt the couple wasn’t [...]

North Carolina Credit Card Debt Ranks High

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  • Posted 01/28/11. by alison

A city in North Carolina holds the honor of having the highest percentage of credit card debt in the country, according to Equifax. Credit card debt amounts to more than 17% of household income for residents in Wilmington, North Carolina, according to Star News. The study showed the median income for the area was $42,392 [...]

Tuesday’s Twitterer To Follow: @DaveRamsey

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  • Posted 01/25/11. by alison

Wondering who to follow in the big wide world of Twitter? There are plenty of great Twitterers out there tweeting about money, [...]

Increased Debt Costs Could Leave Government With Very Little Money

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  • Posted 01/21/11. by alison

According to a simulation made by the Government Accountability Office, by 2020 the government could be left with just eight cents of every dollar to handle most services. Right now, the US spends about 76 cents of every tax dollar on the following: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and debt interest. That means we currently have [...]

Lawmakers Say Decreasing Debt Should Be Priority #1

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  • Posted 01/18/11. by alison

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is proposing legislation that would prevent the US from defaulting on loans. He told various news sources including the Wall Street Journal and Fox News Sunday that Congress should increase the federal debt ceiling to avoid jumping interest rates and a return to recession.
Pawlenty is suggesting that debt payments are [...]

New Credit Card Rules May Hurt Stay-at-Home Moms

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  • Posted 01/13/11. by alison

New credit card regulations meant to make it more difficult for teens and college students to rack up huge amounts of debt may also have made it difficult for stay-at-home moms. That’s because the new rules, which go into full affect this year, force credit card companies to use personal income only, not household income [...]

Survivor Winner Hatch Asked To Pay $1.7M Tax Bill

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  • Posted 01/10/11. by alison

Survivor’s first winner may lose a battle in court. Reality TV star Richard Hatch is back in court because officials say he didn’t refile his 2000 and 2001 tax returns, a provision of his supervised release from jail. That tax blunder could put him back behind bars. Hatch’s original conviction came in 2006 for not [...]

Get Rewarded For Shredding Your Credit Card

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  • Posted 01/4/11. by alison

If your new year’s resolution involves getting out of debt and getting rid of credit cards you’ll want to keep reading. A new contest is underway that will reward the most creative act of credit card destruction caught on video.

Tags: creative card, USD, Weekly prizes, video, director product [...]

A Look At Household Debt Around The World

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  • Posted 12/31/10. by alison

Americans have a bad reputation for living beyond their means, racking up huge debt. But how do residents of other countries stack up? According to recent statistics the debt level of Canadians has passed US levels for the first time in a dozen years. According to Business Week, household debt compared to disposable income was [...]

Mark Wahlberg Spends $500k More Than He Earned On New Film

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  • Posted 12/15/10. by alison

Being an actor isn’t just about memorizing a few lines and making boatloads of money. For actor Mark Wahlberg it meant years of devotion and forking over big bucks to perfect his new role in The Fighter. According to his interview with magazine Sports Illustrated, Wahlberg actually finished the movie by spending far more than [...]

75% Of Consumers Opt In To Overdraft Protection

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  • Posted 12/10/10. by alison

Being declined for a purchase is embarrassing– there’s no doubt about it. That may be why three out of four consumers have opted to pay a fee for overdraft protection, according to Moebs Services Inc. The fee can be as much as $34 every time a consumer overdraws their debit account, says the Wall Street [...]

Lawmakers Call For Hault Of Mortgage Assistance Program

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  • Posted 12/3/10. by alison

A program aimed at helping hurting homeowners stay in their residences is gathering more criticism. The incoming head of the a House of Representatives panel overseeing the Obama administration is calling for the program to be stopped. It’s called HAMP- Home Affordable Modification Program. “This program seems to have outlived its usefulness,” Representative Darrell [...]