Let's face it, many of us have more credit card debt than we can reasonably handle or expect to pay off anytime soon. All too often, I hear the same stories of people slowly accumulating credit card debt almost obliviously until one month their bill comes and it hits them like a ton of bricks:
"This has gotten out of hand, how in the world am I going to pay this off?"
After all, the average person's income only rises moderately each year yet the cost of living seems to be going up faster than the government tells us it is (is that because none of the govenrment officials are doing their own grocery shopping these days? Just a theory.)
To add insult to injury, the credit card industry seems to have no limit to how much they are willing to lend us through credit cards. They fight tooth and nail trying to get us to sign up for just one more card with $5,000, $10,000 or even $20,000 of additional credit yet they have no idea we may already be struggling to pay off the cards we have (or maybe they just don't care).
Why is that?
I believe it is because of the 3 little secrets that credit card companies live by. These secrets have built the credit card industries business model into a high profit machine consisting of an ever increasing number of credit cards with high interest rates and lots of added fees.
The good news for you is that these same 3 secrets are what ultimately allow anyone with severe financial problems to get out of debt faster by paying only a portion of of their credit card bills using debt settlement services.
Secret #1 - Their business feeds off of our overwhelming desire to do what's expected of us
They know that many of us cannot resist spending more than we can afford. They also know that most of us are honest by nature and although it may be a struggle, will successfully pay off all of our debts including the exhorbitant rates and fees they charge. Due to the fact that they make so much money from the majority of their customers, they are able to absorb losses from the minority who negotiate debt reductions through debt settlement services.
Secret #2 - They expect and anticipate that many people will not be able to pay back what they owe
They employ entire departments of people just to handle the cases where people cannot repay everything they owe. Part of the job of the people within those departments is to work with the debt settlement companies who seek to negotiate their client's debt down.
Secret #3 - They prefer to reduce what you owe them because fighting you for the whole amount is too expensive
Credit card debt is unsecured so unlike your mortgage, they cannot take anything from you if you do not repay them. All they can do is sue you which costs a lot of money once you consider how many thousands of lawsuits they would need to file everytime someone had trouble repaying them. Credit card companies do sue some individuals for repayment but often it is easier for them to accept a settlement negotiated by a debt settlement company on your behalf than it is for them to reach a settlement with you through the court system.
So as you can see, credit card companies have chosen to accept losses from some of their customers as a small cost of doing business in an otherwise extremely profitable business.


Find a current account that suits you best
When it comes to choosing a new current account, the choices that face you could be endless. In developed financial markets, like the UK, there can be a wide variety of decisions that you'll have to face before choosing a current account - especially if you're under 18 and your personal money flow has only just begun to take off. However, whether you're a teenager hoping to open your first current account, or you're simply hoping to switch your current account provider, there's one thing that’s sure to keep you on your toes: current account fees.
A recent survey carried out by the price comparison site, uSwitch, has found that about four in five people would consider changing their current account provider if charges were introduced on their current account. According to uSwitch, that's 83 per cent of UK financial consumers who would switch their current account - despite the average person remaining loyal to their current account provider for over 20 years.
In fact, the prospect of an end to free banking has stirred up British consumers to such a degree that the current account market is soon to come under investigation by MPs. The flurry of activity surrounding the future of free banking comes after First Direct's decision at the end of last year to impose a charge on its current account customers who deposit less than £1500 a month.
However, despite calls from some high profile banking officials to make fees on current accounts mandatory, free current accounts are still the norm in the UK and most banks and financial institutions will do all they can to help you find the current account that will suit you best. Current accounts today offer much more than just a place to keep and manage your money. In fact, current accounts now offer a range of benefits, including travel insurance, mobile phone insurance and breakdown cover.
What's more, many current accounts can be tailor-made to suit your circumstances. For example, if you've just left school or college, you'll be able to find a current account to suit your own personal needs; the same also applies if you're a student or recent graduate. Many banks also offer Euro currency accounts, so you'll be able to hold your money in euros and avoid exchange rate fluctuations. And if you're a parent, you'll also be able to open a children's current account for kids until they're old enough to manage their own finances.
With such a wide choice available in the current account market, it would be impossible for you not to find what you're looking for. However, if you're still stuck, don't hesitate to utilise the services of online consumer comparison sites, which will compare bank offers and help you find the account that's best suited to you.
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Andrew Regan is an online, freelance journalist.


The Two Best Ways To Make Money Online
Are you tired of hearing the phrase “It's easy to make money online”, but when you actually try to make money online, you have a hard time making any money at all? The fact of the matter is – yes it's quite easy to make money online, but only if you have the KNOWLEDGE and the DETERMINATION to do it. The good news is – if you are reading this, then you are one step ahead of everyone else. Using the information I have outlined here, you should be able to quickly start using the internet to make extra (or full time) income for yourself.
If you go around the internet searching for ways to make money online, chances are that you will run into a lot of scams. These online “gurus” will try to make you believe that their 'new' way to make money online will make you rich before you know it. The truth is – no one will make money online off these bogus methods except for the money they make selling it to you. All of the people who REALLY make money online stick with two tried and true methods.
The first of the two methods is Google Adsense. Google Adsense is a great way to make money online! Using Adsense, you can have Google display small, non-obstructive, targeted ads on your website that will earn you money every time a visitor clicks on it. This is also by far one of the easiest ways to make money online. All you have to do is find information that people want to know, provide this information for free on your website, and have Google display ads on your website so you can make money online from it. Its as simple as that.
Two questions might be running through your mind right now. The first might be, “What if I don't have a website?” Not a problem! You can still make money online through Adsense by going to sites like blogger.com or wordpress.com and setting up a free blog. Blogs are relatively easy to set up and they take little internet knowledge to update. Many people who make money online have blogs, some reaching six figure revenues. The idea is to keep these blogs updated with fresh content that people will want to read. If you have a large amount of people counting on your blog for information, then you can make money online using a blog.
The second question you may be asking is, “What if I don't have anything to write about?” Also not a problem! You can still make money online with free content by going to article sites that allow you to reprint their articles. Simply copy the articles that pertain to the topic of your blog and repost a few every week. Alternatively, you could go to free content sites (do a Google search) that offer free e-books. Search for a book that you would rarely find online, but also something that interests you and pertains to the topic of your blog. Break this book down into little sections (Possibly a chapter each, or less) and post a section every day. After you are done with the whole book in a couple of months, you will have good traffic, and you will be indexed in search engines. If you want to make money online, this is a sure-fire start. However, another crucial part to success is once you have one of these blogs going – REPEAT IT! Create more and more blogs on different subjects. The more times you repeat your successful projects, the more money you make.
The second way you can make money online is through marketing information products. Do you have a special talent? Everyone does! You can make money online through your talents by writing an e-book about something you are passionate about. Make sure, however, that when you are thinking of an idea for an e-book its going to be something that will train others, or solve problems. People will be more likely to purchase your information product online, if they feel like they need it quickly. Say for example that you like to bake cookies. You might write a book about the history of cookies, how many different types of cookies there are, and what ingredients work best in cookies. This might be an interesting book, but no one would feel the need to buy it anytime soon. However, if you instead write an e-book about hundreds of different cookie recipes, people that want to bake cookies right away will download your e-book the same day. This is how a vast majority of people make money online. Even if you are doing adsense, you should strive to have at least one e-book selling online at all times. This is because once you have done the work in setting up the e-book and the website for it, all the income is passive from that point on and you can focus your attention on other methods to make money online.
Alternatively, if you don't know how to write, you can still make money online selling e-books by having some one write the book for you. There are many websites that will allow you to hire freelance writers. It will cost you, but it will take the burden of creating your product off your shoulders and you will be able to focus on marketing the book to make money online. If you are creating the sales pitch for your website, try to look at some successful sites that sell products similar to yours. See the way they sell their products and what makes the way they market it enticing. Try to implement strategies from successful marketers in your website.
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Friday, January 11, 2008