The Money Jar Budget - Get Debt-Free

Credit repair is something that can make a big difference for you. There are a lot of things you can do to improve your bad credit report so that you appear to be not only credit-worthy but worthy of a promotion or worthy to a potential soul mate. Yes, even your love life could be impacted by your credit history.

Because credit is such an important factor to people today in terms of their ability to reach their goals, a lot of people now talk about credit history when they are building a relationship. Your poor history could make you less than attractive to a person you are interested in building a future with because it could hamper their goals and plans.

Note: Time doesn’t really heal all credit wounds. Even if you’ve laid low long enough that seven years has passed, you still need a good credit score.

Here are some credit score boosting tips to help:

• A secured / pre-paid credit card. You pay the credit card company a deposit (they usually keep the interest) and you pay fees to use it as a normal credit card. They report to credit bureaus that you pay your bills on time. You can get two or three types of prepaid credit cards in Canada, for instance. Consider Home Trust Secured Visa and Capital One Guaranteed Mastercard, for help. (Note: Debit cards or pre-paid credit cards typically do not report to credit reporting agencies.
• Check your credit history with TransAmerica and Equifax to ensure that there are no errors. You can also work to negotiate with bad debt lenders listed to pay off your debts. Some will agree to update the file once you’ve paid off your outstanding balance.
• A car loan can help. Only do this if you aren’t out of your depth with your finances (i.e: you are solvent) and if you buy a car you can afford. Car financing companies will often approve bad credit car loans but generally with a high interest rate and often a sizeable deposit will be required. If you shop around for a good deal and stick to a payment you can afford, you will probably help your credit. Be sure to deal with a financing company that does take the time to report payments monthly.
• A secured loan. If you have collateral, you can often obtain a loan that you can use to boost your credit score.

Time can heal things and making payments on time will help. Do be careful you don’t sink into an abyss of debt in an effort to make your credit report look better. Consider living on a cash budget such as with the money jar budget and be sure to use credit wisely.

How to Pay Off Your Debts Fast

How to Pay Off Your Debts Fast

By Chris Jenkinson

Are your debts dictating your happiness in life? If you are living pay to pay and are tired of living with debts and interest eating up a major portion of your wages, you can make a few quick decisions that could have a lasting impact on your finances — in a good way. Here are some tips:

Cut Up Your Cards

Credit cards are nice in theory but in reality are dangerous in the hands of someone struggling financially. It’s so tempting to use them to buy what you want and even what you need but the reality is that when you live with the credit cards at the max, your monthly payment isn’t ever going to make a dent in the debt. The best way to get debt-free is to live on a cash only budget.

Live on Cash

Cash is king; it’s true. Not only does cash buy more for your money (because you won’t be paying interest and convenience charges) but once you pay for something, it’s yours. No chance of being repossessed and zero chance of you paying more than the ticket price because unlike the people who buy on credit, you know precisely how much things will cost you. There’s a big error that many credit card holders make. That is buying things on sale with their credit card. Unless you are willing to pay that item off in full on the statement due date, you will pay more than the regular non-sale price because of the interest accrual.

Make a Budget

Budgeting is the best way to make money last all month. You need to realise every pound on that budget and account for it. If you don’t have money to get a takeaway for dinner, don’t do it. Ask your budget first! Account for every bit of your spending, your debts repayment, and your savings. Make certain that part of your budget includes debt repayment. Minimum payments are not enough. You need to be aggressive to get rid of those high payments.

Put Money Away

Paying off your debts fast is a good idea. It will result in your having more of your own money to live on. As you pay off debts, take money that would have normally gone to a credit card or loan payment and put it away for the future. Too many people just absorb extra money into their spending money. By all means, celebrate on occasion and live a little but account for that celebration money as part of your budget.

Set Goals and Measure Them

By setting goals, you’re more likely to attain them. It is not enough to say you want to be free of debts. By making a workable plan and sticking to it, you have a great chance of reaching success sooner. Don’t hesitate to get help getting debt free. There are many services that are designed to help.

Compass Debt Counsellors can give you valuable advice that can help you pay off your debts.

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Depending on your financial situation and your family traditions, Christmas time can be a very expensive time for you. Setting a holiday spending budget at any time is a good idea and it’s especially wise (and probably necessary) if you’re in a position where you have less spending money than in previous years.

Here are some helpful Christmas budgeting tips:

• Try to use cash if possible. Avoid running up credit cards during the holidays unless you’re certain you can pay the balance off in January. Try to avoid going into debt at Christmas to buy people gifts.You don’t want to pay Christmas debts off over the next year.
• Shop for sales. Start shopping early and do comparison shopping to save money.
• Cash in loyalty program points to use for Christmas shopping. Air miles can often be cashed in for gift cards and grocery store certificates and that can help lighten the financial load.
• Do homemade gifts if you can. For neighbours, teachers, and acquaintances, and sometimes even family, you can knit something, bake a tin of goodies, or put together a basket of gifts.
• Set budgets with people. If you are exchanging gifts with people, set a budget that everyone can agree to.
• Do ’secret santa’ gift exchanges with large families instead of buying for everyone or buy a gift per family instead of gifts for everyone in the family.
• Set a ‘no gift exchange’ policy with family members if necessary so you don’t feel obligated or awkward about whether or not to buy gifts that you can’t afford.
• Make a list of everyone you need to buy for and allocate a dollar amount you’re planning to spend.  Add a budget for the extra expenses (food, decorations, etc), and make a plan for where this money is going to come from.
• If you need to make extra money for Christmas and want to do it online, here’s an article about making money fast online that could help you bring in extra cash.

Christmas can catch us by surprise financially when you suddenly realise it’s only 6 weeks away and you’re financially strapped, with a large family to buy for. If you’re doing the money jar budget, you might even consider setting aside a Christmas fund next year so that you can budget and plan in advance.