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financial success! A Free Email
Newsletter from DebtSmart Online and
Press One Publishing.
Letter from the Publisher by Scott Bilker
Hi,
I do hope
that you had a wonderful New Year's
celebration!
That CNN
interview I mentioned last email
newsletter did run but just not when I
thought it would. Don't worry, you
didn't miss it! Actually, it works out
well that I present it in this issue
because I cover the topic, rising
minimum payments, here as well. Miles
O'Brien interviewed me on CNN's American
Morning on 1/6/06. You can check out the
video and/or
photos.
Here are
a few post-holiday tips:
After
the holidays, credit card banks will
send offers to skip payments. Of
course, they're not going to skip
charging you interest. But you can
win if you skip payments on the
low-rate credit cards and send that
extra cash to higher-rate credit
cards.
When the
bills arrive, call your credit card
banks and tell them, "you need to
reduce my interest rate, otherwise
I'll be transferring my balance to
another card. If you want to keep my
holiday spending balance at your
bank, you're going to have to give me
a reason."
There
are many after-holiday sales as
merchants liquidate their inventory
to make way for the next selling
season. This is a good time to shop for
upcoming gifts for occasions
throughout the year or even for
next year's holiday season. Carefully planning and
purchasing at this time will enable
you to get high-quality gifts at
rock-bottom prices.
NEW FOR 2006: For those of you who are
interested in advertising here in the email newsletter or at DebtSmart.com, I
have started a text-link program. It's very flexible, and affordable. You can
see the new format in the right column and on nearly every page of the website.
The two programs are for text links at the
website and text links in the
email
newsletter.
I have
really enjoyed reading all your great
info about credit card debt. However,
all this talk about rising minimum
payments from 2 percent to 4 percent has
got me worried. I'd like to plan for
additional purchases like a new car
before winter, but I am unsure of my
financial situation if my payments jump
to 4 percent. I've called my banks for
an answer, but they have only told me
they are in the process of determining
whom these changes will affect. How can
I find out what the future holds for me
so I can move forward in my financial
planning? Thanks so much far any
assistance with this one!
"I just got
your three books and was reading through
Talk Your Way Out Of Credit Card
Debt, when it dawned on me that
I hadn't seen a statement from one of my
banks for a while.
I
remember making a $5 charge at Baskin
Robbins because I had ordered ice cream
for the kids before I realized I didn't
have my wallet. The account had a 0
balance at that point and I knew I would
pay it in full when the statement
arrived. I checked the account online,
and was floored to see the new balance
at $102.38 because they charged me two
months of late fees at $29 each plus a
membership fee of $39.
I just
called to let them know that I had not
received a statement from them and would
they please waive the late fees and
membership fee. I got the standard 'we
can't do that' but was told that they
would make a $10 adjustment to one of
the late fees. I then asked what the APR
was at, and the rep told me to sit down
before he gave me the figure. Because of
the missed payments (because I got no
statement), it had jumped from 14% to
27.74%.
He
dropped it down to 9.9% fixed for two
months then 9.9% variable after that.
When I asked again about the membership
fee being waived, he said he could waive
it, but then would not be able to reduce
the interest rate. I went for the
reduced interest rate and the $10
adjustment to one of the late fees. I
will pay the balance in full on the 15th
and not use the card for a while. The
call took me 12 minutes, and I was
transferred once.
Ann and Sharon are good friends. Each has a son
with the same birthday. They're going to have a birthday party for both of
them together and decide to serve pizza. There are three sizes available: small
(11 inch) for $7.95, medium (15 inch) for $12.95, and jumbo (17 inch) for
$16.95. Based solely on the size and price, which size pizza is the best deal?
Is it better
financially to buy or lease an
automobile since it's a depreciating
asset? Thank you kindly. --Mark
Like most
people, Mark is probably attracted to
the lower monthly payments of an auto
lease. But, even with the lower payments,
it's usually better to buy. There are a
couple of reasons that's true. You don't
build up equity in a leased auto. You'll
also be prone to trade cars more often,
and you give up flexibility if you need
to get rid of the car quickly.
Mark's
question points to the main reason why
leasing isn't the best deal. A car is a
depreciating asset. And a car
depreciates more quickly when it's
newer. A $15,000 car will lose
approximately 25% of it's value in the
first year. From year two through year
six, the car will lose between 6 and 9%
each year with the bigger losses in the
earlier years.
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 check out certain companies personally so I can recommend the
ones that are worth considering!
If you would like to speak with a representative from a...
When I first
started consciously cutting back on my
household expenses, reducing my grocery
bill was one of my highest priorities.
After I got married and started juggling
my career, my marriage, and the
responsibilities of being a parent,
however, I had to rethink some of my
ways of doing things.
You may
think that if you make everything from
scratch that you will save a lot of
money at the grocery store every month.
In a lot of cases, this may be true.
When you prepare your own meals, you will
often see an immediate cost savings per
portion, and perhaps an overall increase
in nutritional value as an added bonus.
So what if you don't have the time to
cook?
The
freedom to be the boss is just one of
the perks sought after by business
owners. But along with this freedom
comes the concern of fulfilling
responsibilities to customers, employees
and lenders. Chief concerns are usually
those dealing with money.
Small
business owners frequently borrow funds
and often use credit cards to get their
business off the ground. The most
frequently used kinds of credit were
personal and business credit cards,
lines of credit and vehicle loans
according to a study published in 2003
by the Small Business Administration. In
fact, 46% percent of small firms used
their personal credit cards and 34% used
business credit cards to help in their
business matters.
Three out of five American
families carry credit-card debt, and in 2002, the
average household spent $1,700 per year on finance
charges and late fees, according to one report.
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More credit, more options
Credit options are your weapon against the banks! The key to
success is using your credit lines to save money--not to go
crazy spending!
"CardRatings.com has been offering ratings
of credit cards since 1998 and has been featured by Good Morning
America, The Wall Street Journal, Consumer Reports®, NPR, PBS, etc.
Thanks to consumers like you, CardRatings.com has become the most
comprehensive free source for comparing credit card offers."
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DISCLAIMER
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.
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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
