By cashking in Uncategorized on April 29 2008
Over the last twenty years, a degree has changed from being something available to the most intelligent, into being a low-grade qualification available to almost all. One result of this has been the devaluing of the degree’s status, whilst another has been the inability of the economy to provide free tuition to those studying as undergraduates. Making debts a routine and savings almost impossible.
The introduction of the student loan has meant that the intellectual elite of the country are brought to see debt as a necessary or even desirable correlate of progress. Small wonder that servicing the average household debt now accounts for 10% of household income.
Add to this a situation where student loans are incompetently administered, many students find it difficult to get a first post-graduation job, and education is no longer available to all due to inability to pay. If the government had meant to make education more inaccessible, they could not have done better!
By doughmaster in Student Loans on April 28 2008
Student loans are the cheapest loan youll ever get. The interest charged is the rate of inflation which means, while there is interest on them, its so low that what you pay back is the same VALUE (in terms of what you could buy with the money on that particular day) as when you took it out. No other loan is like this.
Thats why Id say take one even if you dont need it. If you dont want to use it you can put the money in a high interest savings account and end up making more in interest than the interest youre accruing on the loan! A lot of people dont know this but having a student loan wont affect your credit score and therefore your ability to get a mortgage. Its also paid straight out of your salary only once youre earning over the threshold, so if you arent earning enough you dont need to pay, and because it comes out of your pay before you even get it you wont notice the repayments anyway.
By moneyhungry in Credit Cards on April 25 2008
When i didn’t have one a credit cards and looked around that every friend of mine got atleast one i got curious and finally managed one.And after i have one i really didn’t need to use this or you can say didn’t find a proper way to use this and told myself off for having this.But down the line after 3 years wow never find anything else life saving like this.
That simple card end up having a lumpsum balance on it when i end up with unemployment.This unemployment of mine lasted 5 months yes 5 months.And i know whats it likes endup without any money.And you survive this period of time totally on credit.I really dont know what i would have done if didnt have this so called credit card.
Now this days the good thing about them is they offer 0% on balance transfer which is fantastic to me.And i found out that for that limited period it is cheaper than having a Loan.I had 2k balance on one card on which i was struggling with the interest rates.Then friend of mine suggested Balance transfer and now i am relaxed.Not extra stress for 12 months.Thanks to Balance transfer and friend.
Finally i want to say that in emergency its awesome.I am going to state my last instance when i was away from 3 days to get paid from my job and i also had to pay for my exam fees because that was the last date.Bingo my credit card again been a life saver.Thanks to my credit card.Your friend can turn you down for borrowings but not your credit card though they charge interest on it but still thats the natural rule of the world which works like give and take.
By moneyhungry in Credit Cards on April 23 2008
Credit cards are a reality of modern living. Most of us have at least one and, used properly they can help us control our finances efficiently.
When you choose a credit card you need to have decided how you intend to use it. Are you looking for cheap short-term credit? Then a 0% balance transfer card will suit you best. Do you pay off your card in full each month? In that case a card with an added bonus like airmiles or cashback will benefit you most.
There are many cards out there, it’s just a matter of getting the right one to suit you.
I always pay my card off in full every month. The APR is therefore of limited concern to me. I like the fact that I don’t need to carry much money with me as my card is accepted almosty everywhere. I also take my credit card on holiday with me as a back-up in case I overspend or need emergency funds.
I enjoy the fact that I get up to 6 weeks credit with my card without it costing me a penny and that they pay me cashback for using it. Now that’s what I call a good deal.
By cashking in Credit Cards on April 22 2008
Provided that you have good credit you should be able to choose the most best card available. The main factor many people look for is a competitive rate of APR, but there are a number of other important considerations. The best thing to do is ensure that you repay your outstanding balance in full as that way you won’t be paying just interest.
If you spend thousands of pounds every year, why not seek out a cash back card? You could receive 1 - 2% of your total expenditure as a bonus every 12 months? Other card providers offer discounts off associated products that their subidiary companies offer.
What are you using your card for? If you are using your card for online gambling it is worth checking with the card provider whether they will be categorising the money you spend as a cash advance. This can result in numerous additional charges being applied to your balance each month.
It isn’t as simple as just seeking the best APR. Ask yourself what you need the card for and what your activities are likely to be before proceeding.
By doughmaster in About IVA, Car Loan on April 18 2008
An IVA is a fantastic way to pay off your debt. Usually you need to owe in excess of £10,000 and not be able to afford your minimum payment every month. What an IVA is is that it takes into account all your incomings and your outgoings (including money for you to have a social life!) and whatever is left is paid to an organisation who specialise in this. The payment is taken every month from your bank account by direct debit and is then split between all your creditors.
The adverts that stipulate you can write off so much of your debt don’t tell you that individual circumstances are taken into consideration and that usually your debt must be completely unmanageable before they will inform you of this.
In my opinion, an IVA is not too good to be true. Yes it takes longer to pay off your debt, yes it shows up on your credit file and yes it can cause you problems in obtaining credit for up to 5 years after you have completed it. IVAs however, are the solution for many people who have got into a lot of debt and simply cannot get out of it any other way. These people are often at breaking point and at the end of their financial tether, an IVA helps them sleep at night knowing they wont have to answer the phone to creditors and be ready with an excuse for why their payment date has been missed or expect a ccj in the near future!
If you feel an iva is your only solution then i say go for it! They are set up free of charge and you are still committing to paying off your debt but at an amount that suits you rather than one which is set by your creditors. Many people have one of these plans in place and i am yet to meet one who has regretted it.
By doughmaster in About IVA, Bankruptcy, Debt Consolidation, Uncategorized on April 18 2008
If you are struggling with debt and don’t know what to do, an IVA can help, but the most important thing to do is get some good advice.
An IVA Individual Voluntary Arrangement is a way of negotiating with your creditors a fair and affordable amount of money to pay to them over a fixed period of time (usually 5 years).
The benefits of an IVA is that it is ‘affordable’, meaning that your finances are made manageable, the downfall of this is that you have to have a high enough income to be able to offer a ‘fair’ amount to the creditors. If you cannot your IVA offer may be refused. Another benefit is that IVA’s usually only last 5 years, so after 5 years your debts are resolved even though they will not have been fully settled.
One of the downfalls of going down the IVA route is that at any time you default in your IVA payments, any creditor can apply to make you bankrupt. So to begin an IVA you must be sure you can afford to repay.
By moneyhungry in About IVA on April 18 2008
I remember seeing the IVA adverts on the television i was 21 (i’m 24 now) and i was in a right old financial pickle
The way that these company sell themselves make it seem as if they are a one stop magic solution to all your financial woes so i picked up the phone and dialled
I remember spending a lot of time on the phone trying to get things straight in my head i owed 20k which isn’t exactly small change now is it,The people on the other end of the line agreed with me after a long while a repayment plan i gave them my details although they said that my car hire purchase agreement would be included sadly this was not the case
I paid a grand sum of £600 all in all before i realised something was wrong, i was told that my creditors would stop calling yet they did not even though i had said i was in an iva and worse than that my creditors were not getting any of the money that had given to the iva company who were meant to be distributing it, i was getting more and more in a mess and scared with no reassurance from the iva company- 3 months down the line enough was enough and no-one was getting paid, i cancelled my agreement but the company refused point blank to give me any of the money they had been holding of mine back to me so i cut my losses and started afresh
I went to the Citizens advice bureau who helped me contact my creditors for free a might add and now im paying back my debts and my creditors are happy with the amounts i have offered i’m doing my budget myself and i advise anyone who thinks ivas are the way to go to seriously think about it there are many company’s out there that will help you for free and will not take a penny of your money for themselves
By cashking in About IVA, Bankruptcy, Debt Advice on April 18 2008
My experience of an IVA? No personal experience, thank Heavens. But I have more knowledge than the average person as I used to run a charity which gives debt advice.
You do NOT need to go to a commercial company to set up an IVA. If you have debt problems, you can either go to your local CAB, or ring the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) a charity set up to help people in debt. (Make sure that you go to the charity website, if searching online, and not to the private company that seem to have paid to be listed if you search on CCCS).
I have mystery shopped commercial companies which set up IVAs, and have been extremely shocked at the level of advice given. In one case, the advisor correctly asked the levels of my debts and whether I thought I could afford the repayment levels he was suggesting. He did NOT tell me how much his service was going to cost, or even mention that it was going to cost anything. He did NOT ask me my current income, or my current liabilities. I was genuinely worried for vulnerable consumers, who would be encouraged by this company to set up repayment plans without any proper checks being carried out.
IVAs are NOT ‘too good to be true’ from the point of view that creditors (people you owe money to) would much rather accept a guaranteed payment of SOME of the money you owe, than a payment of none or little plus a lot of time on their part reclaiming that lot or little. You CAN, if your income and debt levels fit the model, arrange to discharge your debt(s) by paying less through an IVA than you owe at present.
But why pay an unknown IVA company to do this when there are charities set up to do it for free? Contact CCCS TODAY and start sleeping better at night, if you have worrying debts. DO IT NOW!
By doughmaster in About IVA, Bankruptcy on April 18 2008
In some cases an IVA can be very good, and in others it can be very bad. Some credit companies will lose out big time, and it means hiking up the interest rates for other people, where as some people genuinely need to take one as they have severely over spent, and will get further and further into debt when they repay it.
I have a seen articles online about people who took out an IVA because they ran up £60′000 worth of debt in about 1 year, and then decided they could not afford the repayments. They took the IVA knowing that they could write off what they cannot afford.
In doing this, the creditor companies lost out, big time, but the people doing the IVA win, massively so, because they kept what they have purchased from the £60′000, where as the credit companies will be getting £265 a month, for 5 years.
Its unfair on the rest of the people who do not need to take IVA’s, as we will get our interest rates put up on our credit cards which we pay off, whereas people like the above can run riot without a worry as they can just say “I cant afford it so I will take an IVA and pay a lot less”
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