A new report in the Wall Street Journal finds that as the economic recession squeezed consumers, credit card companies, who usually do the squeezing, are getting squeezed a bit themselves. As a result, credit card companies are more willing now to settle consumer’s credit debt for a percentage of the actual debt, spurring many consumers to hire debt settlement companies to negotiate a lower comprehensive payment with their credit card firms.
In fact, the U.S. Consumer Study on Debt reveals that 5.13 million consumers have enrolled in such services, and The Association of Settlement Companies reported their industry helped settle more than $1 billion in consumer debt last year.
As I read these statistics and information, I wondered to myself how many of these families have REALLY made a decision to change the way that they handle their finances. The allure of settling debt for a lower amount or filing bankruptcy to erase past debts is enticing and can provide a tremendous sense of relief –- a clean slate, a do-over, a way to start fresh. All of these things sound great, but this will only be accomplished if you make a commitment to handle things differently the next time around.
As you contemplate the possibility of bankruptcy or debt settlement, I urge you to consider an alternative. Why? Because, the allure of a clean slate can be dangerous! If you are not committed to changing your habits of creating overwhelming debt, you will fall right back into the same trap again. I promise you that it will take some extra effort but, well worth it as you dig yourself out of the mess that you have created.
Look at the possibility of creating a real working lifestyle budget and sticking to the plan of attack. The Compass Project offers a program that will hold your family accountable to a budget -– one that YOU create, not us! You make the budget, and we help you stick to it.
Sound like a good alternative? Contact us today for a Free One Hour Consultation.
www.BudgetingYourFinances.net
Monday, August 30, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Over Your Head!
After a nice dinner last night, I lumbered into the family room to catch the last couple innings of the baseball game. I eased back onto the couch, sipping away at my big glass of sweet tea when I was sickened by a commercial on TV!
The commercial showed several people as they were test driving a new car…each couple exclaimed, “Nice price” as they talked about the low monthly payment …. “Nice price”? Seriously? They were talking about the monthly PAYMENT not the PRICE of the car.
This kind of thinking is exactly what put thousands of families into financial crisis. Our society is now based upon determining if we can “make the payment” each month instead of seeing if we can afford to pay for it. There is a huge difference in the two methods of thinking and determining how items are purchased.
Our friends have new stuff, our neighbors have new stuff, and we all want more and more stuff. Let’s just take a look and see if we can squeeze another payment into our monthly budget and go get us some more stuff!
Wait a minute! You don’t have a budget in place? You’re not even sure what amount you spend monthly on gas, food and living expenses? Do you have a plan for your monthly income and expenses? Or did you sit down one desperate Sunday evening and scrawl one out on a yellow tablet. After the bills arrived in Monday’s mail, you tore it up and threw it away it because it didn’t work – right? Am I close? Sound familiar?
Thousands of families are in the exact same situation – right now! Many will never reach out for help because of embarrassment, fear or anger. “Just a little more in the paycheck, and we can pull out of this mess” – right? Trust me, a little pay increase will only give you cushion for a couple of months until you go right back to your old habits. You’ve got to do an about face – turn around and change the way that you handle your finances and try something different.
We hear this same story over and over and over again. Family after family who has tried desperately to get back on track but kept finding themselves with no money left at the end of the month.
Simply put, you need a plan – something REAL and something SIMPLE. It does not have to be an elaborate, 36 column spreadsheet with color graphics to make it work for you. Just a PLAN!
Do you find it hard to get started? Call us for a one-hour free consultation today, and get your family started on the real road to recovery and financial health. We know that you feel like the water is going over your head and you are drowning under a pile of bills. You can’t do it alone. We are here to help. We care, and we understand.
www.BudgetingYourFinances.net
The commercial showed several people as they were test driving a new car…each couple exclaimed, “Nice price” as they talked about the low monthly payment …. “Nice price”? Seriously? They were talking about the monthly PAYMENT not the PRICE of the car.
This kind of thinking is exactly what put thousands of families into financial crisis. Our society is now based upon determining if we can “make the payment” each month instead of seeing if we can afford to pay for it. There is a huge difference in the two methods of thinking and determining how items are purchased.
Our friends have new stuff, our neighbors have new stuff, and we all want more and more stuff. Let’s just take a look and see if we can squeeze another payment into our monthly budget and go get us some more stuff!
Wait a minute! You don’t have a budget in place? You’re not even sure what amount you spend monthly on gas, food and living expenses? Do you have a plan for your monthly income and expenses? Or did you sit down one desperate Sunday evening and scrawl one out on a yellow tablet. After the bills arrived in Monday’s mail, you tore it up and threw it away it because it didn’t work – right? Am I close? Sound familiar?
Thousands of families are in the exact same situation – right now! Many will never reach out for help because of embarrassment, fear or anger. “Just a little more in the paycheck, and we can pull out of this mess” – right? Trust me, a little pay increase will only give you cushion for a couple of months until you go right back to your old habits. You’ve got to do an about face – turn around and change the way that you handle your finances and try something different.
We hear this same story over and over and over again. Family after family who has tried desperately to get back on track but kept finding themselves with no money left at the end of the month.
Simply put, you need a plan – something REAL and something SIMPLE. It does not have to be an elaborate, 36 column spreadsheet with color graphics to make it work for you. Just a PLAN!
Do you find it hard to get started? Call us for a one-hour free consultation today, and get your family started on the real road to recovery and financial health. We know that you feel like the water is going over your head and you are drowning under a pile of bills. You can’t do it alone. We are here to help. We care, and we understand.
www.BudgetingYourFinances.net
Monday, August 2, 2010
Beware of the Bottom Feeders!
With record high unemployment, compounded with foreclosures and bankruptcies, there is no doubt that we are living in desperate times. But the old adage: “desperate times calls for desperate measures” seems to be getting people in trouble with their money lately.
I have spoken to a dozen people in the last week who have all said the same thing to me: "I have never been in this position before." Each of them have been unemployed for several months, their unemployment is about to run out, they are living on their last dime, and they are trying to figure out a way to save their car, house and marriage.
They are in a desperate situation and are beginning to turn to what we at The Sacks Group consider the bottom feeders of the financial industry.
You know the companies that I mean. We pass several of them every single day but dare not mention them. The payday and title loan franchises. In our circle of friends, we may even believe that they "serve their place in our society" to help the less fortunate among us. But if this is the place you think you need to turn when you are feeling desperate – please beware!
These title loan establishments and paycheck loan places are popping up all over the place lately. They are in almost every strip center -- right next to the nail salons. They represent where our society and our economy has landed – in an unregulated, desperate place where people "hoc" their car title or paycheck for enough money to make it through the end of the month.
These places charge astronomical interest rates. A recent article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch shared the plight a St. Louis woman, aged 65, who was broke, and the rent was due. After deciding a car-title loan was her only option, she borrowed $800. (see "Loan wording circumvents law" in the Aug. 1, 2010, issue)
She's paid back close to four times that much, but she hasn't reduced the loan's principal. Although she stopped making payments — "I've paid enough already," she insisted — she fears the lender will seize her car.
Lenders like the one that she used skirt around the laws and regulations to avoid the restrictions placed upon title loan establishments. Instead these businesses utilize the "less restrictive" rules of consumer finance. These rules allow them to roll these loans over and over again to place individuals into a vicious cycle that never ends.
If life happens, and you feel that you have no other place to turn, make sure that you understand the contract in full. Ask lots of questions. In fact, since there's so much competition in the business, shop around. Don't be embarrassed ... whatever your situation is they've probably seen worse.
If you find yourself in a place where you have never been before, beware of the bottom feeders and know the rules (or lack of them) under which they play.
I have spoken to a dozen people in the last week who have all said the same thing to me: "I have never been in this position before." Each of them have been unemployed for several months, their unemployment is about to run out, they are living on their last dime, and they are trying to figure out a way to save their car, house and marriage.
They are in a desperate situation and are beginning to turn to what we at The Sacks Group consider the bottom feeders of the financial industry.
You know the companies that I mean. We pass several of them every single day but dare not mention them. The payday and title loan franchises. In our circle of friends, we may even believe that they "serve their place in our society" to help the less fortunate among us. But if this is the place you think you need to turn when you are feeling desperate – please beware!
These title loan establishments and paycheck loan places are popping up all over the place lately. They are in almost every strip center -- right next to the nail salons. They represent where our society and our economy has landed – in an unregulated, desperate place where people "hoc" their car title or paycheck for enough money to make it through the end of the month.
These places charge astronomical interest rates. A recent article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch shared the plight a St. Louis woman, aged 65, who was broke, and the rent was due. After deciding a car-title loan was her only option, she borrowed $800. (see "Loan wording circumvents law" in the Aug. 1, 2010, issue)
She's paid back close to four times that much, but she hasn't reduced the loan's principal. Although she stopped making payments — "I've paid enough already," she insisted — she fears the lender will seize her car.
Lenders like the one that she used skirt around the laws and regulations to avoid the restrictions placed upon title loan establishments. Instead these businesses utilize the "less restrictive" rules of consumer finance. These rules allow them to roll these loans over and over again to place individuals into a vicious cycle that never ends.
If life happens, and you feel that you have no other place to turn, make sure that you understand the contract in full. Ask lots of questions. In fact, since there's so much competition in the business, shop around. Don't be embarrassed ... whatever your situation is they've probably seen worse.
If you find yourself in a place where you have never been before, beware of the bottom feeders and know the rules (or lack of them) under which they play.
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