Debt Consolidation Services

Getting Out of Debt by making the right Insurance Choices

Most people are only one major disaster or a few weeks of unemployment away from bankruptcy. If you have done all this work to get out of debt, you don’t want it to all be in vain, just by one major crisis hitting you or your family. There’s nothing you can do to totally protect yourself from every type of catastrophe, but there are steps you can take to significantly reduce your risk.

The first half of this article is going to be on insurance, and we’ll start with the type of insurance that is most likely to save you from being completely wiped out, medical insurance. This is one a lot of people choose not to buy because it’s quite often very expensive. This is a very dangerous decision, though.

You never know when you will need medical care and we all know it isn’t cheap. Even if you are in perfect health, medical conditions can pop-up over night. You could wake up tomorrow and either have a major internal problem show up, or possibly have an accident and break a bone. You can easily rack up bills in the thousands, ten thousands or even hundreds of thousands from a single incident, and you never know when one will strike. Once this incident occurs, it’s usually too late to get insurance.

If medical insurance is available through your employer this is usually the cheapest option, however you can still get insurance if your employer doesn’t offer it. The next cheapest option is most likely to get a group plan from another organization you belong to. Some examples would be a credit union or NASE. If you can’t find a group program, you can still buy insurance as an individual, it just typically costs more. The best way to reduce the cost is to go with a plan that has a high deductible. You may end up paying $2000 or so if you have a major incident, however it won’t completely wipe you out.

If you own a home, you most likely have homeowners insurance because your mortgage company has required it, but if not, be sure to get it. If you rent, you may think you don’t need insurance on your property, however if a disaster was to hit the apartment complex or other place you live, you can still lose all of your possessions. You may think the apartment’s insurance will cover your losses, but it won’t; you will need renter’s insurance. This is usually fairly affordable. If you own a car, you are required in most states to at least have liability insurance, but depending on the value of your car and whether or not you can afford to replace it if you were in a wreck, you may also want full coverage to cover any damage to your vehicle.

The last type of insurance I would like to mention is life insurance. This is something many people overlook, especially younger couples. If you are single and are not responsible for supporting anyone you may not need this insurance, but if you are married and have children or anyone else you are responsible for caring for, this is something you are going to want to have.

To determine how much insurance you need, I suggest calculating how much your family would need to get by with you gone and multiplying that by fifteen. This will most likely be a shockingly high number, but it will allow you to support your family indefinitely by allowing them to live off the interest from this money rather than the principal. You’ll learn more about this in the next article.

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Reducing Your Credit Card Debt One Day at a Time

Debt reduction, a lofty goal, is also extremely difficult to carry out.  As long as swiping your card feels easier than paying cash, you’ll find yourself stuck in a downward spiral of credit card debt.  Continued use combined with high interest charges means your credit card debt will just keep growing over time.  A good offense is the best defense; stop the cycle now and take steps to free yourself of consumer credit card debt.

Here are some credit repair tips that can help you dig out from under a mound of debt:

<ul>
<li>The first, most important step- reduce your spending.  Before you embark on a plan to pay off your debt, you have to commit to not accumulating any more.  Get rid of all but one credit card; keep this card for use in emergencies only.  Make sure the card you keep has a low credit limit and a low interest rate.</li>

<li>Transfer your existing balances onto a card that offers a limited-time 0% interest rate on balance transfers.  During that period, maximize your payments; your money is going entirely to pay down the principle because there is no interest accumulating.  You can transfer your balance more than once if necessary; jut watch the mail for offers from your credit card companies.  If you don’t have a card that offers a 0% rate, then transfer your balances onto the card with the lowest rate.  Reducing your interest even slightly can have a dramatic effect on your balance; the more you owe, the more this transfer will save you money.</li>

<li>Set up an automatic payment with your bank.  Automatic payments ensure your payment is made in full and on time every month, which will help you with your credit repair.  Some credit cards will agree to lower your interest rate if you are making automatic payments so talk to your customer service associate to see if you can negotiate.</li>

<li>Consider a debt consolidation loan.  By consolidating your debt, you can reduce your monthly payments and cut your interest payments.  These loans usually charge with a much lower interest rate than do your credit cards so you will save money in the long term.  Because you will only have one bill a month to pay, you are much less likely to send it in late or to forget to send it.</li>

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