Sunday, August 5, 2007

When To Consider Outside Help For Credit Repair

Certainly, you would like to handle all of your credit payments on your own in a timely and efficient manner, but sometimes your best bet is to consider outside help for credit repair. Here are some of those times…

When You’re Up to Your Ears in Debt
If your monthly minimum payments cannot even be satisfied by your monthly income, you need to seriously consider outside help. Many people start out with one credit card, thinking that it’s no problem, and that they’ll charge some purchases, and then pay it off in full at the end of the month.

Guess what? That often doesn’t happen. In fact, what often happens is that not only is the card maxed out, and only the minimum payments are made on it, but also new credit card offers come in and are accepted. A vicious cycle ensues – paying with credit cards for everything – and then one day you realize that you don’t make enough money to support your out-of-control spending habits. Credit cards can be very addictive.

Many college students fall victim to the allure of having multiple lines of credit even though they do not have an income yet. They assume that once they graduate from college, they will be able to pay it off. Unfortunately, that is often categorically untrue. In fact, many young people who have gotten mixed up in this credit trap find that they ruin their credit before they are even out on their own in the world, and then when they want to get out there, their bad credit severely impedes them in getting an apartment or a mortgage or a new car. If you are in more debt than you can handle, you should contact a financial planner or a debt consolidation advisor to explore your options for getting out of this debilitating debt.

When You Lose a Job
If you lose your primary source of income, you may find that you cannot juggle your bills anymore. If you had a high-paying job, you may have become accustomed to enjoying a luxurious lifestyle. You may have gotten credit accounts based on your high salary, and you could have paid them off if you hadn’t lost your job unexpectedly. Unfortunately, despite your good intentions, you cannot stop the world from being an unfair place sometimes. If you lose your job and you have to adopt a new lifestyle as a result, it is a good idea to speak with a financial planner or analyst so that you can create a plan for managing your debt until you get a new job. Once you get a new job and you know what your new salary will be, you should seek outside help again so that you can restructure your payments.

When a Straw Has Broken The Camel’s Back
Sometimes it can seem as if one unplanned financial burden can completely topple your financial house of cards. The fact of the matter is that you were probably in over your head before this unforeseen financial burden. If you have so much credit that you are “just making it,” as in you are living paycheck-to-paycheck, and one more payment will be your undoing, you need to seek outside help. Your financial plan has to cover unforeseen emergency pay-outs – because they are inevitable. Like the great saying goes: “Expect the unexpected.” Speak to a financial planner about setting up an emergency fund so that you don’t have to lose complete control over your finances when things don’t go your way.

When You Can’t Sort It Out
If you have a large quantity of accounts to tend to every month at bill-paying time, you may feel overwhelmed and confused. Even if you have enough money to cover your expenses, you may need to consider outside help so that you can get organized and under control. It may sound ridiculous – if you have money, then why would you need any help, right? Well, even wealthy people are not immune from getting bad credit scores. Having too many open accounts can make you more susceptible to accidentally missing payments or losing track of specific payment dates. Consult financial planners so that you can either consolidate some of your accounts or develop a strategic plan for managing the plethora of accounts that you have.

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