The result: rising levels of consumer debt and declining household savings rates. But in 2008, this culture was hit hard by economic reality. As a result of the credit crisis and ensuing economic recession, savings rates rebounded. For those who had been living beyond their means for years, it suddenly got a lot harder to make ends meet. And, although the government tends to encourage spending during economic downturn and statistics may lead us to think that overspending is normal, it is often a risky choice.

Here we’ll take a look at the most common financial mistakes that often lead people to major economic hardship. Even if you’re already facing financial difficulties, steering clear of these mistakes could be the key to survival.

Mistake No. 1: Excessive/Frivolous Spending

Great fortunes are often lost one dollar at time. It may not seem like a big deal when you pick up that double-mocha cappuccino, stop for a pack of cigarettes, have dinner out or order that pay-per-view movie, but every little item adds up. Just $25 per week spent on dining out costs you $1,300 per year, which could go toward an extra mortgage payment or a number of extra car payments. If you’re enduring financial hardship, avoiding this mistake really matters – after all, if you’re only a few dollars away from foreclosure or bankruptcy, every dollar will count more than ever.

Mistake No. 2: Never-Ending Payments

Ask yourself if you really need items that keep you paying for every month, year after year. Things like pay television, subscription radio and video games, mobile phones and pagers can force you to pay unceasingly but leave you owning nothing. When money is tight, or you just want to save more, creating a leaner lifestyle can go a long way to fattening your savings and cushioning your from financial hardship.

Mistake No. 3: Living on Borrowed Money

Using credit cards to buy essentials has become somewhat normal. But even if an ever-increasing number of consumers are willing to pay double-digit interest rates on gasoline, groceries and a host of other items that are gone long before the bill is paid in full, don’t be one of them. Credit card interest rates make the price of the charged items a great deal more expensive. Depending on credit also makes it more likely that you’ll spend more than you earn.

Mistake No. 4: Buying a New Car

Millions of new cars are sold each year, although few buyers can afford to pay for them in cash. However, the inability to pay cash for a new car means an inability to afford the car. After all, being able to afford the payment is not the same as being able to afford the car. Furthermore, by borrowing money to buy a car, the consumer pays interest on a depreciating asset, which amplifies the difference between the value of the car and the price paid for it. Worse yet, many people trade in their cars every two or three years, and lose money on every trade.

If you need to buy a car and/or borrow money to do so, consider buying one that uses less gas and costs less to insure and maintain. Cars are expensive. You might need one, but if you’re buying more car than you need, you’re burning through money that could have been saved or used to pay off debt.

Mistake No. 5: Buying Too Much House

When it comes to buying a house, bigger is also not necessarily better. Unless you have a large family, choosing a 6,000-square-foot home will only mean more expensive taxes, maintenance and utilities. Do you really want to put such a significant, long-term dent in your monthly budget?

Mistake No. 6: Treating Your Home Equity Like a Piggy Bank

Your home is your castle. Refinancing and taking cash out on it means giving away ownership to someone else. It also costs you thousands of dollars in interest and fees. Smart homeowners want to build equity, not make payments in perpetuity. In addition, you’ll end up paying way more for your home than it’s worth, which virtually ensures that you won’t come out on top when you decide to sell.

Mistake No. 7: Living Paycheck to Paycheck

The cumulative result of overspending puts people into a precarious position – one in which they need every dime they earn and one missed paycheck would be disastrous. This is not the position you want to find yourself in when an economic recession hits. If this happens, you’ll have very few options. Everyone has a choice in how they live, so it’s just a matter of making savings a priority.

Mistake No. 8: Making A Payment Vs. Affording A Purchase

To steer yourself away from the dangers of overspending, start by monitoring the little expenses that add up quickly, then move on to monitoring the big expenses. Think carefully before adding new debts to your list of payments, and keep in mind that being able to make a payment isn’t the same as being able to afford the purchase. Finally, make saving some of what you earn a monthly priority.

Toronto Bankruptcy

North Americans are a collection of spenders who must learn the hard way to practice what our grandparents have always known: A penny saved is a penny earned.

Consider that about 43% of North Americans spend more than they earn, according to estimates from the federal government, and the average household carries some $8,000 to $10,000 in credit-card debt.

To make matters worse, the average North American no longer saves money. That’s tumbled from a 10.8% average savings rate in 1984 into negative territory today. It’s no wonder that many of us have been living way above our means for some time.

But that is getting harder and harder to do. Available credit for people to finance their lifestyles has shrunk if not dried up altogether and many North Americans are standing by in shock watching their mortgage payments surge while the value of their 401(k)s / RRSP’s drop.

It’s clear we need to start spending less and saving more. That may sound easier said than it’s done. The key is to be aware of your where your money is going and take steps to stop the leaks.

Here are five simple tips that could save you hundreds of dollars a month:

1. Cash back at the pump

In the past five months gasoline prices have dropped 56%, from an average price of $4.11 to $1.80 a gallon or 72 cents a litre. Somehow, households found the money to pay the higher price and survive so now people should take that excess money they are saving and bank it.

Jean Chatzky, author and personal finance expert suggests using the money you were spending on gasoline to build up that rainy day fund or to pay some your holiday expenses instead of racking up more debt.

2. Dinner Savings

Another great way North Americans can cut costs each month is to eat at home, says Jonathan and David Murray, twin brothers who are financial advisers.

According to a recent Zagat survey, North Americans will spend an average of $34 this year every time they go out to eat dinner, that’s for one dinner, drink and gratuity; $76.00 if they live in one of the 20 most expensive cities. If a couple does that four times in a month the expense is close to $300 in low-cost areas and $600 in higher-cost regions, and if you have more than one drink or are treating family or friends, costs can add up quickly.

Plan a dinner or party at home and ask guests to bring a dish. If you’re big on getting together with friends, family and work associates, this could save you hundreds of dollars a month.

3. Renegotiate Household Bills

You may not be able to negotiate with the gas company or the electric company, but you can with credit cards, cable and phone services, among others. Do the homework and find out what competing cable companies, for example, are offering and ask your provider to renegotiate your bill. You may have to get through to a manager but Chatzky said she recently did this and got her monthly bill reduced by $50.

4. Smart shopping

Retailers are poised to have one of the worst holiday shopping seasons in decades and are offering deep discounts to move merchandise. But smart shoppers can save even more money by hunting down coupons. Before ordering online or going to a store, go to sites like Couponcabin.com and Ultimatecoupons.com or Google the name of a store and often you’ll get a coupon code to enter at checkout. You can save 10% to 20% or more on the total order or maybe get free shipping.

There are also coupons to print out and take to the store for deeper discounts. And don’t be afraid to pit one retailer against another by asking for a price match on sale items.

5. Keep the receipt

It is important to hang on to all your store receipts and keep track of sales. Savvy shoppers can possibly save even more on purchases by checking back to see if the retailers lower prices even further. If that happens within two weeks of your purchase, most stores will credit you the difference.

We hope that you can layer into your shopping habits the following tips as a means to start saving money fast and easy.

Toronto Bankruptcy Trustees

The closest many people get to budgeting is depositing their paychecks into their checking accounts and buying everything with an ATM card until the money’s gone.

While there are certain advantages to this method, such as not incurring credit card debt, there are also major disadvantages, such as not quite knowing where all that money’s going and not contributing enough to your savings because there’s never anything left over.

Even though budgeting is a wonderful tool for managing your finances, many people think it’s not for them. The logic they use, however, is often flawed. Below is a list of 10 budget myths that stop people from saving as much as they could – and should. Do any of these budgeting myths apply to you?

1. I don’t need to budget.
The truth is, almost everyone, even those with large paychecks and plenty of money in the bank, can benefit from budgeting. Keeping track of your monthly income and expenses allows you to make sure your hard-earned money is being put to its highest and best purpose. For example, if you knew how much money you were spending on restaurant meals every month, you might decide that you’d rather be putting that money toward something else, like a nicer vacation.

2. I’m not good at math so I can’t manage my money.
Thanks to budgeting software, you don’t have to be good at math, you simply have to be able to follow instructions. Many of these programs are free and can be safely downloaded without fear of viruses or spyware from CNET’s download.com. If you know how to use spreadsheet software, you can even make your own budget. It’s as simple as creating one column for your income, another column for your expenses and keeping a running tab on the difference between the two.

3. My job is secure.
No one’s job is truly secure. If you work for a corporation, downsizing or losing your job to overseas workers is always a looming possibility. If you work for a small company, these concerns may not apply, but if the owner died suddenly, the company might die with the owner. You should always be prepared for a job loss by having at least three months’ worth of living expenses in the bank. It’s a lot easier to accumulate this money if you know how much money you’re bringing in and laying out each month.

4. Government-sponsored unemployment pay will tide me over if I lose my job.
Unemployment benefits are not a sure thing. Let’s say a bad situation at work leaves you with no choice but to quit your job. Because you weren’t laid off, leaving your job will be considered voluntary and it’s very unlikely you’ll receive any benefits. It won’t help if you decide to remedy this problem by getting yourself fired, as those who are let go for bad behavior are also very unlikely to receive unemployment assistance. On top of that, getting fired will make it harder for you to get a new job.

5. It won’t happen to me.
We all think that unexpected high bills and tragedies won’t happen to us. With the number of things that can possibly go wrong in life, hoping for the best is the most logical emotional survival tactic. However, you might lose your job, be in a car accident, get cancer, or need to help a friend or family member who falls on hard times. It’s best to be prepared and hope that you’ll get to use the money for something fun one day instead.

6. I don’t want to deprive myself.
Budgeting is not synonymous with spending as little money as possible or making yourself feel guilty about every purchase. The crux of budgeting is to make sure you’re able to save a little each month, ideally at least 10% of your income, or at the very least, to make sure that you aren’t spending more than you earn. Unless you’re on a very tight budget (and we all are sometimes), you’ll still be able to buy baseball tickets and go out to eat. Tracking your expenses doesn’t change the amount of money you have available to spend every month, it just tells you where that money is going.

7. I don’t want anything big so I don’t need to save for anything big.
This one is tricky. If you don’t have any major savings goals to buy a house, a new car, or to save enough money to quit your day job and take a stab at starting your own business, it’s hard to drum up the motivation to stash away extra cash each month. However, your situation and your attitudes are likely to change over time. Perhaps you don’t want to save up for a house because you live in New York City and expect that renting will be the most affordable option for the rest of your life. But in five years, you might be sick of the Big Apple and decide to move to rural Vermont. Suddenly, buying a home becomes more affordable and you might wish you had five years’ worth of savings in the bank for a down payment.

As another example, many people thought home ownership would be forever out of reach when the housing bubble was pushing prices ever higher, so they gave up on the idea of owning a home. After the bubble burst and prices sank, however, those who previously couldn’t even afford condos sometimes had the income to afford houses. Even FHA loans require a down payment, though, so those who saved their extra money when prices were high put themselves in a great position to buy when prices dropped.

8. Any money I save would just be taken when I apply to grad school/an MBA program or when I send my kids to college.
Yes, the catch-22 of student financial aid is that the more money you have, the less financial aid you’ll be eligible for. That’s enough to make anyone wonder if it isn’t better to just spend it all and have nothing in the bank in order to qualify for the maximum amount of grants and loans.

When you apply for federal student aid such as the Stafford Loan, Perkins Loan, or Pell Grant, you will fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Whether you are an adult student going back to school or the parent of a student headed to college, this form does not require you to report the value of your primary residence (if you own a home) or the value of your retirement accounts. This means that if you want to save money without compromising your financial aid eligibility, you can do so by using your savings to buy a house, prepay your mortgage or contribute more money to your retirement accounts. The savings you put into these assets can still be accessed in the event of an emergency, but you won’t be penalized for them. Paying down credit card debt and auto loans can also serve as a form of saving that won’t detract from your financial aid eligibility. Just think of all that interest you won’t have to pay when your balances go down or are even paid off completely.

Another issue is that even if you employ all the legal strategies available to you to maximize your financial aid eligibility you still won’t always qualify for as much aid as you need, so it’s not a bad idea to have your own source of funds to make up for any shortfall in the aid you’re offered.

9. I don’t need to budget because I’m debt-free.
While being debt-free is unusual and commendable, it won’t pay your bills in an emergency. A zero balance is better than a negative balance, but that zero can quickly become negative if you don’t have a safety net.

10. I don’t need to budget because I always get a raise/bonus/tax refund.
It’s never a good idea to count on unpredictable sources of income. Your company may not have enough money to give you a raise, or as much of a raise as you’d hoped for, even if you’ve earned it. The same is true of bonus money. Tax refunds are more reliable, but this depends in part on how good you are at calculating your own tax liability. Some people know how to figure to the penny how much of a refund they will get (or how much they will owe) as well as how to adjust this figure through changes in payroll withholding throughout the year. Others find W-4 forms, 1040s, and tax tables incomprehensible and April is always a surprise. You might be expecting a $1,000 refund only to find that you’re getting $300 – or worse, that you owe.

Solutions
If you’re still not convinced that budgeting is for you, here’s a way to protect yourself from your own spending habits. Set up an automatic transfer from your checking account to a savings account you won’t see (i.e., a savings account at a different bank from your checking account) that is scheduled to happen right after you get paid. If you are saving for retirement, you may have the option of contributing a regular, set amount to a 401(k) or other retirement savings plan. This way, you’ll always pay yourself first, you’ll always have enough money for the transfer, and you’ll always pay yourself the same predetermined amount that you know will help you meet your goals. If you don’t think you have the discipline for budgeting, this is your best bet.

However, a better solution is to make this automatic contribution in conjunction with starting a budgeting spreadsheet or using budgeting software. This way, you won’t run into any unpleasant surprises, like your checking account balance reaching zero when your car insurance is due and you don’t get paid for another week.

Conclusion
To manage your monthly expenses, prepare for life’s unpredictable events and be able to afford more expensive purchases without going into debt, budgeting is a great idea. Keeping track of how much you earn and spend doesn’t have to be drudgery, doesn’t require you to be good at math and doesn’t mean you can’t buy the things you want. It just means that you’ll know where your money goes, you’ll have greater control over your financial situation and you’ll probably be able to sleep more soundly at night.

Budget Myths

Unfortunately, one of the factors that will prevent many people from becoming financially successful is their false beliefs about money. In fact, widespread financial myths can negatively impact both your short- and long-term net worth. Throw away these top 10 money myths, and you’ll avoid the consequences of believing them.

1. If I get a raise that bumps me into a higher tax bracket, I’ll actually take home less money.

Thankfully, this isn’t true. Moving into a higher tax bracket only increases the rate of tax paid on the last dollars you earn. Suppose you’re filing single, your old salary was $30,000 a year and your new salary is $33,000 a year. According to the IRS’s 2007 federal tax rate schedules, when your salary was $30,000, your marginal tax rate was 15%. With a salary of $33,000, your marginal tax rate is now 25%.

The key to unlocking this myth is the word “marginal”. In this scenario, your first $31,850 of income is still taxed the same way it was before you got your raise. With a $30,000 income, your take-home will be $25,891.25. If you make $33,000, you will take home $28,326.25. This is because only the extra $1,150 above $31,850 is taxed at 25% – not the whole $33,000.

2. Renting is like throwing away money.

Do you consider the money you spend on food to be thrown away? What about the money you spend on gas? Both of these expenses are for items you purchase regularly that get used up and appear to have no lasting value, but which are necessary to carry about daily activities. Rent money falls into the same category.

Even if you own a home, you still have to “throw away” money on expenses like property taxes and mortgage interest (and likely more than you were throwing away in rent). In fact, for the first five years, you are basically paying all interest on your mortgage. For example, on a 30-year, $250,000 mortgage at 7% interest, your first 60 payments would total about $100,000. Of that you “throw away” about $85,000 on interest payments.

3. You get what you pay for.

Higher-priced items are not always higher quality. Generic drugs are medically considered to be just as effective as their name-brand counterparts. A million-dollar home that falls into foreclosure and is repurchased for only $900,000 may still have $1 million worth of value. When the price of Google’s stock drops on a random Tuesday because investors are panicking about the market in general, Google isn’t suddenly a less valuable company.

While there is sometimes a correlation between price and quality, it isn’t necessarily a perfect correlation. A $3 chocolate bar may be tastier than a $1 bar, but a $10 bar may not taste significantly different from a $3 bar. When determining an item’s value, look past its price tag and examine its true indicators of value. Does that generic aspirin stop your headache? Is that home well-maintained and located in a popular neighborhood? Then you’ll know when paying the higher price is worth it when it isn’t (and you’ll be on your way to understanding the venerable principles of value investing, too).

4. I don’t have enough money to start investing.

It’s true that some brokerage firms require you to have a minimum amount of money to invest in certain funds or even to open an account. However, if you wait until you meet one of these minimums, you may get frustrated and have a harder time reaching your goal.

These days, it’s easy to start investing with very little money thanks to the proliferation of online savings accounts. While traditional bank savings accounts generally offer interest rates so low that you’ll barely notice the interest you accrue, an online savings account will offer a more competitive rate based on how the market is currently doing. In 2007, it was common to find online banks offering 5% interest. 5% is a pretty good return on your low-risk savings account investment when you consider that stocks historically return an average of 9-10% annually. Also, some online savings accounts can be opened with as little as $1. Once you’re in a position to start investing in stocks and mutual funds, you can transfer a chunk of change out of your online savings account and into your new brokerage account.

Alternately, you could open a brokerage account with minimal funds through one of the online trading companies that have cropped up. However, this may not be the best way to start investing because of the fees you’ll pay each time you purchase or redeem shares (generally $5 – $15 per trade). While these fees have been drastically reduced from when you had to trade through human stockbroker, they can still eat into your returns.

5. Carrying a balance on my credit card will improve my credit rating.

It’s not carrying a balance and paying it off slowly that proves your credit worthiness. All this strategy will do is take money out of your pocket and give it to the credit card companies in the form of interest payments.

If you want to use a credit card as a tool to improve your credit score, all you really need to do is pay off your balance in full and on time every month. If you want to take it a step further, don’t charge more than a small percentage of your card’s limit because the amount of available credit you’ve used is another component of your credit score.

6. Home ownership is a surefire investment strategy.

Just like all other investments, home ownership involves the risk that your investment may decrease in value. While commonly cited statistics say that housing appreciates at somewhere between the rate of inflation and 5% per year, if not more, not all housing will appreciate at this rate.

In fact, it is perfectly possible for your home to lose value over the years, meaning that if you want to sell, you’ll have to take a hit. The only way you’ll avoid realizing a loss in such a situation is if you continue to own the home until you die and pass it on to your heirs.

Even in a less drastic situation, a job transfer, divorce, illness or death in the family could compel you to sell the house at a time when the market is down. And if your house appreciates wildly, that’s great, but if you don’t want to move to a completely different real estate market (another city), the profit won’t do you much good unless you downsize because you’ll have to spend it all to get into another house. Owning a home is a major responsibility and there are easier ways to invest your money, so don’t buy a home unless you are attracted to its other benefits.

7. One of the major advantages of home ownership is being able to deduct your mortgage interest.

It doesn’t really make sense to call this an advantage of home ownership because there is nothing advantageous about paying thousands of dollars in interest every year. The home mortgage interest tax deduction should only be looked at as a minor way to ease the sting of paying all that interest. You are not saving as much money as you think, and even the money you do save is just a reduction in the costs that you pay. Interest tax deductions should always be considered when filing your taxes and calculating whether you can afford the mortgage payments, but they should not be considered a reason to buy a home.

8. The stock market is tanking, so I should sell my investments and get out before things get any worse.

When the stock market goes down, you should really keep your money in. This way, you can ride out the dip and eventually sell at a profit. In fact, stock market lows are a great time to invest even more. Many seasoned investors consider a decline in the market to be a “sale” and take advantage of the opportunity to pick up some valuable investments that are only experiencing a temporary dip.

9. Income tax is illegal.

Sorry, folks. There are quite a few different arguments here, but none will hold up in court. One is that the tax code says that paying taxes is voluntary. Another is that the IRS is not an agency of the United States. The IRS considers all of these arguments to be tax evasion schemes and will punish so-called tax protesters with penalties, interest, tax liens, seizure of property, garnishment of wages – in short, whatever it takes to get tax evaders to pay the full amount due when they’re caught. Most tax protester arguments and the IRS’s rebuttals can be found on the IRS website. Don’t fall for this shenanigan - it will ultimately cost you much more than you were hoping to save by not paying your taxes.

10. I’m young — I don’t need to worry about saving for retirement yet. / I’m old — it’s too late for me to start saving for retirement.

The younger you are, the more years of compound interest you have ahead of you. Compound interest is like free money, so why not take advantage of it? Someone who starts saving and earning interest when they’re young won’t need to deposit as much money to end up with the same amount as someone who starts saving later in life, all else being equal.

That said, you shouldn’t despair if you’re older and you haven’t started saving yet. Sure, your $50,000 nest egg may not grow to as much as a 20-year-old’s by the time you need to use it, but just because you may not be able to turn it into $1 million doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try at all. Every extra dollar you invest will get you closer to your goals. Even if you’re near retirement age, you won’t need your entire nest egg the moment you hit 65. You can still sock away money now and make a considerable sum by the time you need it at 75, 85 or 95.

The Bottom Line

Just because a belief is common and widespread doesn’t mean that it’s true. So, if you hear something about money or finance, give it some thought before taking it to heart – financial myths will only stand in the way to your financial success if you believe them.

Avoiding credit card overload increases your opportunities to save and invest for important goals.

1 Managing Debt and Credit

Credit was once defined as “Man’s Confidence in Man.” But in fact, the definition of credit today is more like “Man’s Confidence in Himself.” Using credit today means you have confidence in your future ability to pay that debt. Forty years ago, your parents may have paid cash for their homes and their cars, a largely unheard-of event today. If they borrowed money at all, chances are it was from a relative or friend, and not a financial institution.

Today debt and instant credit are part of our everyday lives. The convenience of instant credit, however, has taken its toll. Many individuals use credit cards to spend more than they earn, and a few of these people actually build themselves a debt prison from which some never emerge. On the other hand, those who never use credit can be denied a loan or credit when they have a justifiable need or use for it. Using credit establishes a history of financial responsibility: Until you establish a credit history, your chances of qualifying for an important loan, such as a mortgage, are greatly reduced.

What is the balance between using credit wisely and staying out of overwhelming debt? Let’s look at the facts and some pros and cons.

2 Installment Debt

Debt comes in many forms, and most types help us in our daily lives — when used responsibly. Most people cannot buy a home without some financial help, and many cannot buy a car (especially a new one) without some sort of financing. The money borrowed to purchase large-ticket items is called installment debt: The debtor pays a portion of the total at regular intervals over a specified period of time. At the end of that time period, the loan with interest is paid off.

Installment debt allows you to purchase items at a competitive interest rate: for example, 5% to 7% for a 30-year home mortgage and 8% or 9% for a car loan. The loan is paid back on an amortizing schedule, monthly payments of a fixed amount that remain constant over the life of the loan. At first, most of the monthly payment consists of interest. In later years, principal begins to be paid down.

Installment debt is easily budgeted and the debt is eliminated on a predetermined date. Even for those who may actually have the cash to purchase the desired item, installment debt can make financial sense if you can earn a higher return (after taxes) on your investment of cash than you must pay on your installment debt.

3 Revolving Credit

A revolving line of credit, also called “open-ended credit,” is made available to you for use at any time. Examples of revolving credit are credit cards such as Visa, Mastercard, and department store cards. When you apply for one of these cards, you receive a credit limit based on your credit payment history and income. When you use the credit line, you must make monthly minimum payments based on the total balance outstanding that month. Some lines of credit will also have an annual account fee.

While revolving credit is a convenient way to borrow, it can also become an endless pit of minimum payments that barely cover the interest due. Many cards charge annual rates of interest of 18% or higher. As you pay off your debt, the minimum payment is also reduced, thus extending your payoff period and, consequently, the interest you pay. Paying just the minimum due on a $2,000 credit card loan could mean making monthly interest payments for 10 or more years!

Revolving credit, in addition to being convenient, eliminates the need to carry a lot of cash and can help establish you as a creditworthy risk for future loans. The itemized monthly statements also can help you track your expenses. But some people can easily yield to the temptation that the convenience of credit cards offers. Impulse buying, failing to compare costs, and purchasing large items you can’t afford are all downfalls brought on by always available purchasing power. Spending more than you earn in any given period is a dangerous practice at best, but doing it over an extended period of time can be financial suicide.

4 Using Credit Wisely

To use credit intelligently, start by examining the terms of the card(s) you are currently using. Keeping track of your cards, their rates, and your current balances will help you to be aware of how you use credit cards. Increased competition in recent years has led some credit card companies to offer enticing features to attract new cardholders, including no annual fees and low interest rates for an introductory period. (And credit card companies sometimes will give their introductory rates to existing cardholders so that they won’t transfer their balances to another credit card company.)

5 Eliminating Credit Card Debt

If you think you may have too much credit card debt, begin to address it by honestly evaluating your spending habits. Examine your existing expenses to analyze how your money is spent. You will most likely be able to identify the problem areas where you are more likely to spend too much or too readily with credit cards. Then, based on your current spending practices, create a realistic budget to pay off your credit card debt in the shortest time possible while not adding any more debt to it. For assistance, you may want to turn to your financial advisor, who can help you to allocate your resources wisely to address your credit card debt.

6 The Role of Debt

Today, carrying installment debt is almost a fact of life. Mortgages, car loans, or small-business loans (to name a few) are part of almost everyone’s life. On the other hand, carrying credit card debt is usually not a good idea. At interest rates of 16% and up, it’s hard to justify keeping savings that could pay off that 18% department-store credit card in the bank at 2%.

Debt and credit play increasingly important roles in our lives. As the aging Baby Boomers get closer to their peak earning years, many are realizing the need to reduce debt and increase savings. Even though analyzing your spending habits and creating a budget to address your debt may seem a little overwhelming, the simplicity of the philosophy of the Depression era still stands: Never spend more than you earn. Once you have come to grips with this basic fact, managing your debt will become far easier and more rewarding.

Summary

* Installment debt means the loan is paid off in a specified period of time by making predetermined payments periodically.
* Revolving credit is a line of credit that is instantly available through use of a credit card (and sometimes a check).
* As you pay down your debt in a revolving line of credit, the minimum payment is also reduced, thus extending your payoff period and, consequently, the interest you pay.
* Spending more than you earn in any given period is a dangerous practice at best, but doing it over an extended period of time can be financial suicide.

Checklist

___ Remove high-interest-rate credit cards from your wallet or purse to reduce the temptation to use them unnecessarily.

___ Read the fine print on all account statements to understand how your fees and payment amounts are calculated.

___ Prepare to transfer balances from accounts with temporary low interest rates that are scheduled to rise soon.

___ Use the savings from your debt reduction initiatives to set more money aside for important short- and long-term financial goals.

Consolidation Loan:

A consolidation loan should pay off all of your existing unsecured debts. This would be loans from credit cards, retail store cards, bank overdrafts and personal loans.

Essentially, a consolidation loan combines all of your unsecured loans and uses your home equity to secure them.

But be careful of what looks to be a quick fix, you’re getting symptomatic relief, not a credit cure. Home equity lines or loans appear as a quick and easy way to get out of debt. By leveraging your primary residence value, you get money to pay off other bills and a tax break, too. But borrowing against your house can backfire. The biggest risk: You could lose your home if you default on the loan.

Re-Mortgage:

Many times, the answer to a credit crunch is to re mortgage your existing home. Housing prices have increased in the past few years and the opportunity to take some of that equity out of your home.

When you remortgage you move your mortgage from your existing home loan to another loan, paying off the old debt with the new one. You may not even change lender. There are two basic reasons to remortgage: you remortgage to save money with a better rate of interest or you remortgage to borrow more money against the value of your property.

Please remember that as with any mortgage your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up the repayments.

Secured Loan:

A secured loan is a loan that uses your home as security against the loan. Secured loans are suitable for when you are trying to raise a large amount; are having difficulty getting an unsecured loan; or, have a poor credit history.

Benefits of secured loans include:

• The ability to borrow more money
• Lower monthly repayments than unsecured loans
• Spread repayments over a longer period of time

Be on the look out for the following:

• High interest rates
• Penalty charges for defaults or early repayment
• High set up fees

With any type of loan, credit or refinancing, you should always seek professional advise!

A trustee in bankruptcy is a person licensed by the Superintendent of Bankruptcy to handle the process of proposals and bankruptcies. Only licensed trustees can provide bankruptcy services. Although they represent creditors (those who are owed money), trustees are officers of the court who also advise debtors of their options with respect to debt problems.

If a person or company is unable to meet its debt obligations, it is said to be insolvent.

When that happens, there are three main Bankruptcy options:

• Bankruptcy – This is where assets of an individual or company are liquidated and the proceeds are given to people who are owed money. (Some assets are exempt from liquidation, depending on the province.)
• Proposal – This is where an offer is made to people who are owed money in an effort to settle the debt.
• Receivership – This usually happens to companies, not individuals. This is where a secured creditor (often a bank or other large creditor represented by a receiver) comes in and generally takes control of the assets of the company.

There are also three main individuals in the process:

• Debtor – The person or company that owes the money.
• Creditor – The person or company that is owed the money.
• Trustee – The people who are licensed to administer the proceedings.

When this happens, Bankruptcy Trustees then;

• advise debtors of their options with respect to debt problems;
• prepare official documentation that is both filed with the Superintendent of Bankruptcy and used to notify creditors;
• ensure the validity of claims;
• ensure that debtors are provided with mandatory counselling and access to mediation services if there is a dispute regarding any income they are required to contribute;
• sell the debtor’s assets (except those that are exempt from seizure) and hold the proceeds in trust for distribution to the creditors;
• assess the debtor’s conduct both before and during a bankruptcy, as well as the cause(s) of the bankruptcy; and
• make an application for a debtor’s discharge (in the case of individual debtors).

No matter which form you choose, it is important to understand what bankruptcy can and cannot do for you. It is very good for eliminating credit card debt, but some debts are considered obligatory and very rarely are discharged. Tax debts, student loans, child support, and spousal support all are such debts. If your debt load is comprised of such factors, look for an alternative to bankruptcy by calling a Toronto Bankruptcy Trustee and asking as many questions as you need to feel comfortable.