artofthecoupon.com

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Finding debt help can be difficult, especially when you feel as though you are in over your head in credit card debt. Fortunately, there are ways to get your debt situation under control. For example, many creditors will be willing to work with you to set up payment plans or even reduce your debt, depending on your given situation. Generally, the first step is to recognize that you have a problem and to make a concrete plan of action for resolving it. You can make a plan and negotiate with creditors on your own, or youc can ask for assistance from a not-for-profit debt counseling agency to help you along the way. (more…)

Three houses have sold in my neighborhood in the past week.  Two of them sat on the market for almost one full year before the sale.  The one on my block sold for much less than the couple was initially asking for.  According to Zillow, they still made a profit of about $80,000 on the house, but they’d been in it since 1989.  It is definitely better than losing money, as so many people are doing- but it isn’t the return that they were hoping for. (more…)

I mentioned before that I took a balance transfer, and transferred some of my student loan debt onto a card that was 3.99% for the life of the balance.  The student loan debt was at 6% so it was a nice drop in interest but not a huge one.  So, why did I do this?  It hurt my credit quite a bit, bringing my FICO score down almost 100 points because of the new inquiry and the credit utilization on this new card.  And, it isn’t saving me a huge amount in interest.  But, in the long run, for me it seemed like the best option. (more…)

A lot of people who are in debt are not sharing that information.  People hide debt, sometimes even from their own family and friends.  For example, in the movie Maxed Out, one woman hid her massive credit card debt even from her husband and son.  Unable to pay and with creditors breathing down her neck, she took her own life.  This is perhaps an extreme case, but the practice of hiding debt from our loved ones is not a new practice and I don’t think it is entirely unusual.  A lot of people are ashamed of the fact that they got themselves into debt- especially if it is credit card debt and/or the purchases seem foolish to the borrower in retrospect.  Debt doesn’t necessarily make you attractive to a perspective mate, and so people may try to hide the fact that they owe money when they are dating (I know, my ex did).  And, in a society where money  seems to equal success, people may just be unwilling to let others know that their Kept-up-with-the-Jones’ lifestyle is sponsored by Mastercard. (more…)

Payday loans and other such high interest alternatives seem to be unimaginable to a lot of financially responsible people- why would anyone take out a loan that charges sometimes up to 20% a MONTH!?  For those with poor credit, who can’t get loans from the traditional channels like banks, payday loans may be the only option.  The interest rates are exorbitant, of course, and once you get started down this path of payday loans, it is very hard to get out.  But, what if any alternatives are available for those who are cut off from mainstream credit sources?  (more…)

I’ve been doing a little more reading and consideration about the issue of taxing debt forgiveness, and one startling thing that I have found is that most debt consolidation firms in the U.S. do not seem to fill you in on the fact that you will be taxed for any forgiven amount of debt.  This is really shocking to me- I suppose I can’t expect credit card companies to make sure you understand that you will be receiving a 1099c when they settle a debt with you, since when they are making this deal they are losing money.  However, these debt consolidation firms that take your money, and charge you to settle the debt, don’t include this information in any fine print that I can see.  And, since they are supposedly charging you a fee to help you through the process and navigate these confusing waters, I don’t see why or how they neglect to tell you this vital piece of information. (more…)

Direct Loans has an income contingent repayment plan in which you pay a certain portion of your income for 25 years (capped at I think 20% of household income, depending on how many kids you have and other factors).  At the end of 25 years, the remaining balance gets forgiven.  At first, this seemed like a great thing to me.  Since I’m not making a lot of money, it seems like a great option to be able to still make payments and keep everything affordable and reasonable.  It also seemed like the one “out” to the rule that student loans are absolutely never forgiven or discharged no matter what your financial situation, unless you are totally and permanently disabled or dead.  (more…)

I sign in to my credit card account on a pretty regular basis even though I don’t use the cards, because Citibank has a ‘tools’ menu and every so often the option appears under that menu to ‘raise credit limit’.  When that option appears, Citibank raises the limit without a hard pull on your card- this is a great thing because it reduces my credit utilization (amount of credit used versus amount of credit available) which raises my credit score (since % of credit used is one of the key components in determining your FICO score).  Under this same ‘tools’ menu, there is an option to Request Cash Advance.  The interest rates are astronomical for this option- upwards of 25% intrest and sometimes more if you have bad credit already.  (more…)

While banks line up left and right to get bailed out by the U.S. government and Obama puts forth a bailout plan that essentially has responsible taxpayers paying for their neighbors swimming pool, I can’t help but wonder about those who might not be homeowners but who are still struggling.  People who worked for a small company or ran a small business and are getting laid off because no one is spending any money in such a dismal economy.  The about-to-retire people who have lost their pensions because the pension fund is insolvent after stock market losses.  The new graduate with $40,000 in student loans to repay who can’t find a job because no one is hiring.  What is happening to those people and who is helping them? (more…)

Sometimes I wonder whether we are making a mistake throwing so much money at our debt.  I worry that we are negatively impacting our future by not putting more into IRA’s or 401K’s.  DF doesn’t contribute to his IRA at all, and isn’t contributing to his 401K until he has been with is company for the two years required to get a company match.  I contribute a tiny bit to my IRA and I don’t even have a 401K.  Meanwhile, my loans are at 6%, 6.5%, 3.99% (credit card lifetime balance transfer) and his are at 0% (12 month balance transfers), and 4.99%.  We could probably earn this much in the market (well, maybe not this market… but over the long term).  So, should we be paying our debts, or should we be investing more for our future? (more…)