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Dealing With Creditors On The Phone
If you’re up to your eyeballs in debt, you might be tired of answering your phone. Here are some tips to help you reduce the stress and make it easier to answer your phone again.
Learn Who’s Calling
If you’re not answering the phone or returning that call that leaves messages with a reference number about an “important personal matter”, you don’t know who it is and just how easy it might be to resolve the issue. Find out who’s calling first by checking the Reverse Phone Detective or if you have call display, simply call and face the issue head on.
Be Honest
If you cannot make a payment straight away, tell them so. Be honest rather than make a commitment you can’t meet in order to just get them to stop calling. Some creditors will be willing to let you skip a payment or reorganize your payment schedule so everything is manageable for you.
Negotiate
Try to negotiate as best as you can with the creditor. Be fair and make efforts but don’t be afraid to haggle if necessary. If they’re demanding a monthly payment you can’t possibly meet, tell them so. Be willing to arrange an interim payment solution for now until your situation improves.
Are creditors not being helpful or cooperating? If you make it clear that if they make life too difficult for you to pay back your debts you might have no choice but to file bankruptcy, they may be more willing to offer flexibility with interest rates and payment schedules.
Know Your Rights With Creditors
Don’t let creditors bully you. There are laws and requirements about how often they can call and what they’re allowed to say and do. Know your rights and if the creditor knows you aren’t about to be bullied, they probably won’t even try.
Be Reasonable
Try to reason with them and come to an amicable agreement. If you follow the money jar budget, you’ll get debt free sooner than later but in the meantime, remove the stress in your life that happens when the phone rings.
Get Debt Free
Change your spending habits and consider using the money jar budget to help you manage your debt, reduce your spending and pay off your debts sooner!
Are You Afraid Of Losing Money? Financial Emergency Preparedness Tips
In a time of global financial turmoil, it can be unnerving to imagine what might happen with your mortgage, your pension and your investments. What do you do?
Here are some financial tips that can help you when the world is in financial crisis:
Ride the storm
It can be tempting to cash in your stocks and hide your money under the mattress when stocks take a dip but many experts suggest that it is sometimes a good idea to ride out the storm. Instead of selling everything, consider talking to an expert first. They might suggest you wait a little before making any sudden moves.
Liquidate a Little
Make some cash available in case there are problems accessing your money quickly. This might be a high interest bank account or a cookie jar. Having access to some of your money is a good idea.
Buy Gold, Silver and Collectibles
Gold is always a good investment and silver prices are low in 2008 but expected to increase due to minimal availability of silver. Spending a bit of money diversifying with gold and other higher value collectibles can be wise.
Stockpile
Saving some food and buying extra essentials is great for emergency preparedness. If you know the price of lemons or coffee or other staples are about to skyrocket, it’s wise to do a bit of a stockpile to get you through the storm. Emergency preparedness is wise in terms of your home and your finances.
Budget
Living lean below your means is wise. Consider delaying major purchases of lavish items and stick to living on a strict cash budget to stretch your money a bit further. Those who are in two income situations should consider living on one income and bank the other. IF you have no room in your budget, look to bring in a second or third income. If you don’t have time to work p/t in your spare time, you can do that with a p/t wah job on your computer.
Money Bytes: Save Money On Your Phone Bill
Today’s money byte tip will help you save about $72 a year on your phone bill. While that might not seem like a whole heckuva lot of money it might be the price of a monthly phone bill and could definitely be better used in your pocket rather than the phone company’s.
Save Money On Your Phone Bill
Besides shopping around for a good long distance plan and only using features and services that you need, here’s a way to save a lot of money each month:
Cancel your voicemail.
But…but voicemail is vital, isn’t it? Guess what? The average voicemail service from the phone company is abut $6 a month. You can buy an answering machine today that has all the same features and benefits as the phone company for a one time fee which is likely less than $20.00. You can still check your messages remotely and screen your calls. In fact, you can screen them aloud and decide to pick up the call easier with an old fashioned answering machine than you can with voicemail! The phone company is already getting enough of your hard earned money so decide to claw some of it back!