I have heard you mention credit counseling through the NFCC. There is an agency in my hometown. Can you tell me what kind of help they can give my husband and me? We have a large amount of credit card debt as well as equity line debt. We are paying our bills on time but can only pay minimums. Do they negotiate with the credit card companies on our behalf?
-Lisa, Alabama
Every year the NFCC assists over 3.2 million people who are struggling with their finances. For over 50 years, NFCC member agencies have offered free or low cost services (whether or not you’ll be charged for the help they provide depends on the member agency and the laws in your state) to those wanting to take control of their debt. The NFCC offers confidential help via phone (through their national toll-free hotline), online or in person.
Through credit counseling, the NFCC can help you to work towards paying more than the minimum amount on your bills. During a session, your counselor will address your credit issues and help you find ways to work towards solutions. “Adjusting the budget, decreasing spending and increasing income would be ways to find extra money to pay more than the minimum and get out of deep incredibly sooner,” says the NFCC’s Vice President of Communications Gail Cunningham.
If you’d like the NFCC to negotiate with creditors on your behalf, they can do that through a Debt Management Plan, or it’s commonly known, a DMP. A DMP is essentially a plan to help More…
On this morning’s Money 911, we talked about everything from credit limits to saving for college. Miss the segment? Check out the video below.
Six years ago, during more pleasant financial times, I wrote Pay it Down!, the Rx for getting out of debt. It helped hundreds of thousands of readers, as well as the million people who participated in the Debt Diet on The Oprah Winfrey Show (based largely on the information in the book). But as the economy twisted and turned, some of the rules of the road did too, and this year, I decided to update that go-to guide for paying off your debt. More…
Earlier today on Morning Joe, I joined in a round table discussion to talk about the economic lessons we’ve learned in the past year. Here’s the video in case you missed it:
If you’re here to learn a bit more about the Debt Diet Online, congratulations. You’ve just taken the first step toward learning how to become free of credit card debt. That’s the way you can build a financial safety net and become financially secure. You can do it, and so can a spouse, child, or friend.
This video explains more about what Debt Diet Online can do for you:
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I’m spending the day as both a speaker and an attendee at More magazine’s annual Reinvention Convention, and although we’re just barely past breakfast, I had to jump on the blog and share a little of what I’ve learned from some of the amazing women who are here today. More…
My new online program, The Debt Diet, is based on the principles behind Pay it Down, the best-selling book that helped hundreds of thousands of readers pay down their debt on just $10 a day. But The Debt Diet, developed with Dr. Jim Prochaska and his team at Pro-Change Behavior Systems, is interactive in the way a book cannot be.
Let me give you some background. Jim and his team at Pro-Change have spent years researching what I know to be true through working directly with people and their money: If you’re not ready to make a change, your new behavior is not going to stick. More…
WHO: Kalika Yap
WHAT: Serial Entrepreneur: Citrus Studios, Luxe Link and The Waxing Co.
Yap is also a mother of two.
WHERE: Santa Monica, California and Honolulu, Hawaii
WHEN: Yap started her first business, an interactive design agency, Citrus Studios in 1996. Her second venture, Luxe Link, which makes handbag holders, launched in 2006. Her latest business, The Waxing Co., Honolulu’s only salon dedicated solely to waxing, opened just over six months ago.
HOW: When Yap started Citrus Studios, all it took was a used computer, $400 she borrowed from her parents and a passion for web design. At the time, Yap was working at a museum and doing freelance web design projects on the side. When the amount of money she made from freelancing exceeded her regular salary, Yap knew it was time devote all of her efforts into pursuing her passion. “I really should have quit six months earlier than I did. I thought, ‘I need a job. What happens if something happens?’ I was trying to be careful.” Looking back, Yap says that it’s transitioning from your 9 to 5 job into entrepreneurship that makes your business that much better. “The moment that you take the leap it forces you to align everything. When you’re working without a net you’re a little more careful. When you have a job you always have a backup.” Thirteen years after taking that leap, Citrus Studios does well over $1 million dollars in business every year.
Luxe Link, Yap’s second business and a joint venture with her former NYU roommates, was launched More…
A couple months ago I answered a question from Nancy in Texas who wondered what effects canceling a credit card would have on her credit score. In response, Jacque in Colorado asked the following:
“Is there an amount to overpay on a credit card that helps your credit score? For example is paying double the minimum due best or does any amount help?”
Answer: In short, no, overpaying on a credit card will not directly affect your credit score. “Paying the minimum or more than the minimum doesn’t have a direct impact on your scores because that level of detail is not reported to the credit bureaus,” says Credit.com’s John Ulzheimer.
What’s the best way to improve your credit score? Paying down your debt. “You can improve your scores by paying your debt down, which generally requires more than a minimum payment,” says Ulzheimer.
Aside from paying down your debt, there are other things you can do to pump up your score. Here are a few steps you can take to give it a boost:
Cut, don’t cancel. If you have a card that you rarely use, don’t cancel it. The longer your relationship with your lender the more beneficial it is to your score. If having the card in your possession is too much of a temptation, cut it up, don’t cancel it.
Be punctual. 35% of your credit score is based on our payment history and even one late payment can ding your credit score. One of the best ways to More…
