This week’s letter is actually a video! I’m thinking that this format
will be helpful to you; however, I really don’t know so I will be asking you
to take a survey following the video.
A few notes about the video:
1)
It’s made to stream for Windows Media 9
2)
You may have to wait a few minutes before the
video starts to play.
3)
There are two versions. One for cable modem
connection speed and another for dial-up.
4)
In the video I forgot to mention that each
credit offer has a unique credit offer number that’s on each label.
You’ll understand what I’m talking about when you see it.
I’m thinking about including more videos in the email newsletter and
on DebtSmart.com. As always, I need your help to learn if this is
something you feel is worthwhile.
When it comes to saving money, there are some deals that are no-brainers
Review by Jeffrey Strain, SavingAdvice.com
Take Scott Bilker's book Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt: Phone
Calls To Banks That Saved More Than $43,000 In Interest Charges and Fees!
for example. Not only does he show you how to talk to bank card representatives
to lower interest rates, get fees waived and deal with credit card disputes
& billing errors, he guarantees you will save over $200 in the process of
using his advice or he'll give you a full refund of your money (and keep two
other credit card management books for free to boot). It's not often that we are
guaranteed a risk-free 1000% return on our money.
Bilker made hundreds of calls to credit card companies for himself, his
family and his friends to try and get better credit card deals and to find out
what calling strategies work and don't work when contacting credit card
companies. The results presented in the book are 52 full transcripts of calls to
credit card companies he actually made and an analysis of each.
Bilker realizes that although it may appear simple to call a credit card
company and ask for a better deal, it's extremely helpful to have a well thought
out plan before and to know exactly what to say when a pressure situation
arises. This includes having your "deal breaker" handy - the action
you'll take if the credit card company fails to make a reasonable compromise on
your request. He also emphasizes the art of bargaining power by showing how to
keep all your credit options open.
The book will be most beneficial for those who carry a credit card balance
and would most likely have a harder time when negotiating with credit card
companies. There's solid advice in dealing with the run-around that
representatives are bound to give and making sure you reach to a supervisor who
will have more power to help you. While it would be great to have Bilker there
negotiating with your credit card company for you, the book is the next best
thing to having him make the calls himself.
Say you have a 30-year, 7% APR, $150,000 mortgage. You know that you’re
going to pay back far more than $150,000 in that 30-year period and you want to
save money. You decide that you want to save 50% of the total money repaid under
the 30-year terms. The question is, how much more, by percent, do you have to
increase your current monthly payment to save 50% on the overall payments
compared to the original mortgage?
If you are single and don't have kids, this tip won't mean much to you. For
the rest of us that have others to consider when making money decisions, it just
may make things a little easier.
I guess the best knock-down, drag-out fights my wife and I ever had was about
money. No, it never came to blows because she's meaner than I am. Believe me you
can have a lot of fights in almost 40 years.
At some point we realized that it wasn't accomplishing anything. We still
didn't have any money but we never earned a nickel fighting about it.
To get a handle on your finances it is going to take...
Helping you with your debt is very important to me personally! If you've been
reading my articles, you know that I always encourage self-help as a first step.
However, being buried in debt can be very overwhelming, which is why you may
want to explore other options.
One of those options is professional, ongoing help with credit counselors.
I've started to personally check out certain companies so I can recommend the
ones that are worth considering!
If you would like to speak with a representative from a...
By using the Alexa Toolbar you help promote and support DebtSmart.com plus
much more...
It's a GREAT tool for knocking out pop-up ads. It installs in seconds and
becomes part of your browser window. It’s also easy to turn off, just go to
"view, toolbars" and unclick Alexa.
Alexa is an Amazon company. They track, and rank, all web sites based on
activity of toolbar users. That’s fine with me because Amazon is a trusted
online company, and I’m tired of the pop-up ads.
This toolbar really did the trick of eliminating those annoying pop-ups, which
is especially great if you have kids so they don’t tricked into clicking on
something you wouldn’t want them to see. You can decide which sites you want
to block the pop-up from and those whose you need. For example, you don’t want
to block pop-ups from DebtSmart.com.
Please support DebtSmart.com by installing this custom Alexa Toolbar right
now--thanks!
When I send in my mortgage payment and I send in more than the minimum
amount, the return payment stub asks whether I would like the additional payment
to go towards escrow or principal. Which direction would be the best?
Jim
---------------------
Jim asks a very good question. How you manage your mortgage payments can make
a big difference in your financial well-being.
Let's begin with a little background about mortgages. Many of you will
already be familiar with this, so just consider it a review.
When you take out a mortgage, you've borrowed money. And, you've agreed to pay
interest to the mortgage company for the amount of money that you owe. On all
but a few mortgages, you'll make monthly payments. Part of that monthly payment
will go towards the interest that's owed for that month. Another part of the
payment goes to repay the amount borrowed (called "principal").
Your mortgage payment may also include an "escrow" account. That's
where the mortgage company collects an extra amount each month from you. Then
when your homeowners' insurance or property taxes are due those bills are paid
from money in the escrow account. If there is extra money in the account it may
be returned to...
The author(s), Press One Publishing, and DebtSmart.com shall have neither
liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or
damage caused, or alleged to be caused, directly or indirectly by the
information contained in this email newsletter and/or at the DebtSmart.com web
site. The information, methods and techniques described may not work for you and
no recommendation is made to follow the same course of action. Every effort has
been made to verify the accuracy of all content contained herein. However, there
may be mistakes; typographical, mathematical, or in content. This email
newsletter and the DebtSmart.com web site have been created for your
entertainment only. You must always seek the proper professional advice before
taking any financial or legal action. You have been warned.
Subscribe FREE and start
finding new ways to save
money and pay off your debt.
"The DebtSmart Email
Newsletter is packed with
cutting-edge strategies for
solving credit problems. I
highly recommend it."--Gerri
Detweiler, radio host and
author of The
Ultimate Credit Handbook
