Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Understanding the Process of Credit Counseling
Many of us have got seen the ads on television. "Get out of debt fast!" "We can work out all your credit problems with lone 1 call!" These sound really great but you cognize that, realistically, one phone call is not going to work out your credit problems.
If it were so fast and easy to get out of debt the credit card companies and these agencies advertisement on telecasting would be out of business very soon. Credit counselors can assist you to understand your credit problems and to invent a program to assist you to manage your debt. They make this by providing services to you for a fee or for free if it is a non-profit organization. Some agencies will supply a free debt analysis to determine the best manner in which they can service your needs. The following is a usher to assist you understand how credit counseling plant and if credit counseling is right for you.
The first measure you should take is to make up one's mind if you make have got a debt problem. For some it may be obvious, but for others they may not acknowledge the problem until they are faced with a aggregation agency. If you are only making minimum payments on your credit cards, or taking cash advances to pay bills, then you may need to seek counsel from a credit counselor.
When you contact a credit-counseling agency, inquire questions. Ask about the company and what programs they offer. Contact the Better Business Agency to happen out the facts about their history. Brand certain to inquire about all fees and charges; you are trying to get out of debt, not obtain more!
After you have got chosen a credit counseling agency usually they will take a expression expenses, income and debts. Most necessitate you to take part in a debt management seminar, some longer than others to educate yourself about money management and budgeting as well as information on credit and finances. Some agencies charge a fee to attend the class, for others it is free.
You should cognize that even while you are seeking credit counseling, the company in which you owe money could go on to seek and accumulate by any agency necessary. However, most credit companies will see that you are trying to get your debt under control and work with you to work out your debt problems without bankruptcy.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Consumer Credit in U.S. Unexpectedly Falls $1.2 Bln (Update1)
Consumer borrowing in the U.S. unexpectedly declined for the first time in six months in September as Americans took out fewer car loans and spent less at the gasoline pump.
Consumer credit, or non-mortgage loans to individuals, slid $1.2 billion, the most since 1992, to $2.37 trillion, the Federal Reserve said today in Washington. Credit declined at a 0.6 percent annual rate. In August, credit increased at a 4.7 percent rate that was higher than originally reported.
Americans racked up less credit card debt at filling stations in September as the price of gasoline fell. The decline in fuel costs is also helping consumers weather a housing slump that helped reduce the pace of economic growth to the lowest in three years last quarter.
``The use of credit cards to pay for gasoline purchases has probably gone down substantially since gas prices dropped,'' said Ellen Zentner, an economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York. ``Credit use remains historically low.''
Economists forecast consumer credit to rise by $6 billion in September following an initially reported gain of $5 billion in August, according to the median of 37 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.
The August gain in credit was revised up to $9.1 billion in today's report. The Fed's report is subject to large revisions that economists say reduce its reliability as a gauge of credit and spending.
Non-revolving debt, such as loans to buy cars and mobile homes, fell $4.05 billion in September, the first decline in 11 months, after rising $4.4 billion in August. Revolving debt, which includes credit cards, rose $2.85 billion, the smallest increase in six months, after gaining $4.74 billion.
Interest Rates
The Fed is trying to slow inflation without damaging an economy that expanded at a 1.6 percent pace in the third quarter. Policy makers have kept their benchmark interest rate unchanged for three consecutive meetings after a two-year cycle of increases.
Retail sales fell 0.4 percent in September, in large part because motorists spent less on gasoline. Excluding service station receipts, purchases climbed 0.6 percent, three times the gain in August. Sales at auto dealers and parts stores were unchanged in September after a 0.4 percent decline in August.
``This economy is in transition,'' said Mike Jackson, chief executive officer of AutoNation Inc., the country's biggest auto retailer, in an interview on Oct. 26 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. ``The Federal Reserve has achieved its goal: It's knocked the consumer back down on their heels.''
Gasoline Prices
A gallon of regular gasoline at the pump averaged $2.52 in September, down from $2.95 in August, according to the American Automobile Association. The decline in fuel costs helped lift the Conference Board's index of consumer confidence in September from a nine-month low the prior month.
Rising wages have also left Americans with more cash in their wallets, reducing their reliance on credit, economists said. Spending by consumers is helping the nation overcome a housing slump and keeping the economy expanding at a pace the Fed predicts will be ``moderate.''
A decline in mortgage rates in recent months has prompted some consumers to turn back to home equity as a way to finance spending, giving them an alternative to costlier credit-card debt.
Rates on 30-year mortgages fell to an average 6.3 percent in the last week of September from 6.63 percent in the first week of August.
Applications to refinance home mortgages rose about 30 percent at the end of September from the beginning of August, according to an index published by the Mortgage Bankers Association. They're still running at about one-fifth the pace of their peak in 2003.
``I do not expect conditions in the housing market to spill over into the broader economy in a meaningful way,'' Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Sandra Pianalto said yesterday. ``Other sectors of the economy still look pretty good. For the most part, consumers are still buying things.''
Friday, December 01, 2006
How Credit Card Counseling Help You
There are credit card debt counseling and debt consolidation counseling to help the people who are drowned with high credit card debts.
Choose credit card debt Consolidation Company very carefully. Even non-profitable groups can be dishonest. Some of them are just brokers who do very little to eliminate your debt and charge high fees.1. Consolidation counseling will help you negotiating with your creditors to offer you credit card debt consolidation loan at lower interest rates.
2. Right debt consolidation counseling will help you increasing your debt pay off time length.
3. They will help you learn how to be in control of your debt.
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