Keep Track of Every Penny

Yes, believe it or not, this may be the simplest way to avoid any ridiculous banking fees. Keeping track of every penny will allow you to see what is being charged and how you can eliminate that fee.

Don’t Spend Against the Future

Thousands of people do this and it leads to them losing more and more money. Spending against the future just means you are spending money that you expect to be there, but sometimes isn’t.

A great example of this is using direct deposit poorly.  If a bank has a 2-day hold on checks deposited and your direct deposit goes in on Friday, then chances are that money really won’t be available until Monday or Tuesday of the next week.

You go ahead and pay some bills though and spend what you need; yet the bank charges you “overdraft fees” because technically that money was not available yet. Overdraft fees are huge, and can lead to hundreds of dollars in losses.

Read All the Fine Print

When opening an account most people don’t really look at a lot of the fine print. This is where most of the random fees are listed. Unexpected fees like withdrawing and transferring fees that your bank charges may be hidden in here. You will also find the check holding structure that we just talked about above within the fine print. Read all of the fine print, including “changes to your account” papers that come to you in the mail.

Don’t Be Afraid to Question the Bank

They may not want to field your questions, but more often than not if you inquire about certain fees you can either find out how to stop them for good and/or have them taken off your account. Remember, no question is stupid. You may get a look or the bank may not want to give you a straight answer at first, but lets face it, being prude with your money is more important than ever with the current economy that we live in. Asking questions and saving money will allow you to put that added savings into retirement accounts.

Bank fees are obnoxious and more often than not, unnecessary. Use some of these tips and tricks and put them to good use. Using these will allow you to forego these ridiculous bank fees and help save you hundreds of dollars per year.

Seeing that credit scores go all the way down to a “D” grade (Japan, China), you should look at a AA rating as a small step back for a few years, as opposed to a back-breaking deal that must be made. So where will you see the affects in your day-to-day life?

Mortgage Rates

Mortgage percentage rates will have to increase, probably by 0.5%-1%. So what you are looking at for every $100,000 is over an extra $1,000 per year in interest. Not the most ideal thing, but with the economy already pretty bad, this is not the worst thing.

Auto Loans

Rates for auto loans will probably go up at least a percentage point. In translation, if you have a $20,000 car loan spread out over 5-years, then you can expect to pay an extra $540 or so in interest over the course of the loan. This is actually not bad at all.

Retirement Accounts

I don’t want to sugar coat this. Retirement accounts is where people are really going to feel the heat if America’s credit rating drops to a AA status. American’s will stand to lose around 9% of their 401Ks and other retirement accounts. So if you figure that someone has around $120,000-$130,000, then they are going to lose a little over $10,000 of that money. They may be able to gain it back in the future, but this will sting for sure.

Steps You can Take to Ease the Pressure

There are some things you can do to help ease the pain of what may be coming. We have spoken on this before, and one excellent way to keep your investment money safe is to invest it in precious metals. Silver and Gold have staying power no matter what happens to our credit rating. Also consider:

• Paying off your car loan quicker
• Leasing
• Coming down on home price offers (if you are in the market for a new home), as a lower price will ease the pain of a higher rate.
• Investing your money in something safe (precious metals)
• Modify some of your spending habits to help save you money over the next 2-3 years.

These are just some suggestions. We may indeed avoid the credit drop, but that will not negate the fact the America still needs to deal with some serious debt issues at one point or another.

Is credit card debt really bad?

Yes, it is. This type of debt can be such a huge headache. You can say that most Americans see credit card debts as headaches. Once consumers have fallen prey to the attraction of convenience of having a credit card, it becomes quite hard to dig themselves out of the pit once they are in debt. There are people who tend to pay off the minimum requirement but ignore the rest of their debts. They, in effect, create bigger debt.

Credit card debts tend to grown into huge proportions when people avoid paying off their full credit card debt each month. The interest and charges grow along with the bloating principal debt. These debts practically devour your finances. You would be left with a completely messy personal finance. In some cases people have had to declare bankruptcy because of this debt.

Your credit card debt will ultimately affect your credit score and that will make it much more difficult for you to access loans in the future. Chances are you will end up only being able to get loans at higher interest rates.

Paying Off the Debts

If you find yourself practically buried under these kinds of debts, you should carefully consider all your options. Study how you can get out of your debts. It is important that you learn how the industry works. Most of the time, it works to your disadvantage. Consider getting some professional help and guidance on how to pay off all your credit card debts.

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Should You File for Bankruptcy?

Since there are no rules as to when you must file for bankruptcy, you should not file for bankruptcy without carefully considering all your options. Generally, people have considered bankruptcy as a way to get out of financial difficulties. It is the easy way out. For instance, a person loaded with debts may regard bankruptcy as a way to get out of his situation. He would file for bankruptcy and he would be free from all his debts – a new personal finance state. Ironically, this is the same erroneous thinking that had prompted people to declare bankruptcy. The truth is that with the new laws in bankruptcy, the procedure has become even more invasive.

Bankruptcy does not automatically solve all your problems, your secured creditors will still have their rights to be paid, and certain of your obligations under the law will still be in operation such as child support.

You should prepare for the invasion on every nook and cranny of your personal finance status. You would ultimately need the assistance of a lawyer just so you can get through the whole procedure hopefully unscathed which is highly unlikely since the procedure always leave a long lasting negative effects on the person who filed for bankruptcy. Again, carefully consider all your options before you turn to bankruptcy as a last resort.

So with low rates, what does that mean for you. It means finding the right lender who won’t put you in the poor house as some mortgage lenders have done over the past few years. You need to weed through the good and the bad to find the right loans and site like Thrifty Scot can help you out.

They can help you find a cheap loan with their loans finder. You input the amount of money you’d like borrow, the purpose, the repayment period and the all important “are you a homeowner” question and out pops several places where you can get the cheapest loan for your situation. They also list all lenders in their database on one page so you can go through and read all of the information on the different loans and find the cheapest for yourself.

Speaking of being a homeowner. Whether you’re in the UK or in the US you’re probably feeling a little bit of the mortgage crisis reaching your neighborhood. If you bought in the last 3 years, chances are you might even be feeling it yourself with a ARM loan that is set to reset in the next year or two. Thrifty Scot has over 500 homeowner loans that you can search through from tons of lenders to help you make the switch from that horrible adjustable rate mortgage loan to one that can actually keep you out of the poor house. They also have a few tips and suggestions that I think everyone should read to avoid becoming part of the next mortgage crisis.

Lastly, if you’re looking to buy something nice for yourself that isn’t a home or a car, you may need to get a personal loan (better than most credit cards and usually through your bank.) This site has a section to allow you to compare personal loans to see which one will give you the best rate. These purchases could be a diamond ring, a new TV, that pool to keep you cool in the summer, or maybe even a vacation that you can go on now and pay off later by taking out a personal loan.

No matter where you borrow money just make sure that you’ve done your research at a site such as Thrifty Scot. Use the search features and find a loan that fits your needs.

You too can have good debt management. You just need to observe proper debt managing strategies. One place to help you out is to find a good debt management program. One that doesn’t put you in more debt and actually helps you get out of the debt you’re in. Some are just looking for money while others truly want to help you manage. Any free ones are great, even if they help a little, any advice is better than none.

Most people who don’t manage their debt wisely probably have most of their debt tied up in credit cards. America has become a swipe it and forget it nation and a lot of people are finding themselves further and further in bad credit card debt.

You need to get out of this debt fast by paying off the principle as soon as possible. This may mean switching your cards to 0% or at least low APR, and doing so as many times as it takes to remove your debt. For help on a budget of the highest APR you could carry balances on and still payoff your debt try this credit card payment calculator.

Find out how to get out of debt, then stay there, or use debt wisely. Don’t fall into credit card traps.