There is an increasingly widely held impression in society today that in order to get by, you have to get into debt at some time or another. This is actually untrue, but because for many people the alternative seems to be a fairly boring life, they feel that it may as well be the case. However, it is possible to live life debt free if you follow some rules and bear in mind that, eventually, you will […]
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It is a very rare kind of person that does not have money problems at some point in your life. It is important to realize in the circumstances that missing a single payment on your credit card does not make you a bad person, a financially reckless individual or a debt risk. This is not because it is fine to miss a credit payment – ideally, it won’t happen to you – but because there is a […]
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The word “counseling” is one that can trigger some pretty extreme reactions in people. Given its long association with people under the effects of depression or other mental stresses, it is viewed by many people as being something with a stigma attached to it. However, the simple fact is that counseling can be extremely helpful, and applying yourself to a course of it need not be an admission of weakness – more that you had the strength […]
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We in society have become used to using plastic cards to pay for our purchases, because it promises convenience, speed and reassurance about our situation. While today we may not have the money to pay for that stereo or that holiday, a quick call to a bank can be all it takes to allow you to make the purchase one day and worry about paying it off in the future. When used correctly, credit cards can be […]
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It would be very simplistic to place the blame for the global financial crisis at the door of one financial sector, or at the feet of any organisation operating within that sector. The reason why the finances of so many major countries are now unstable cannot be pinned down to one thing, but part of it is certainly attributable to unwise lending by banks and other financial institutions. While it could not securely be argued that this […]
Read moreThere was a time when to talk of having debts was like openly admitting that you liked to pull the wings off flies. People simply would not confess to having debt, even if it turned out that they did have debts, and quite substantial ones at that. Now, it really doesn’t seem that way. Debt is seen as an accepted hazard and a fact of life by many people – and there have been some good outcomes […]
Read moreThe very word “debt” is enough to bring fear to a great number of people, suggesting as it does a range of worries from being unable to make mortgage payments, keep a car on the road, take holidays and even, for some people, to eat three good meals daily. There are of course several different kinds of debt, and it is not necessarily a given that debt will always lead to financial meltdown. The key thing to […]
Read moreMost of us, at one time or another, have looked at an item and thought “That would make my life so much better – now if only I had the money to buy it”. Credit is the solution used by many people in this dilemma. In many ways, it is as though a bank were saying to the person “No problem, you can have that item. I’ll pay for it now, and you can pay me back […]
Read moreWhen someone falls into debt due to a history of using credit there is invariably a rush of questions as to why they saw fit to borrow so much in the first place. Part of the reason is the way that credit has been sold by the banks – if you apply today you could have that new car tomorrow – and part is due to the fact that people always feel more secure the more money […]
Read moreSince about a decade ago, the rise in numbers of people using credit to fund larger purchases has been steep. We have definitely become more impatient as a society, and this has meant that where we see an opportunity to acquire expensive consumer items we are unlikely to spurn that opportunity. Due to the rise in availability of credit in the early part of this century, this has seen people taking out loans or putting expensive purchases […]
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