If you’re heavily in debt and looking for a way out, it’s quite appealing to hear someone saying they can help you get your debt reduced or canceled. Unfortunately, there are a number of illegal debt reduction and cancellation scams being operated these days, and you can end up owing more money and having a worse credit rating.

Basically, the rule of thumb is that if it is too good to be true, then it just can’t be true. Debt scammers generally use a few particular tricks, including: (more…)

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So you’ve blown the budget, spent more than you could really afford, or life’s changing circumstances mean that you’ve accumulated more debt than you want to deal with. Sometimes it might feel like a pit that you can’t get out of, but here are three basic steps to get you back on your way to financial success: (more…)

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Being in serious debt thanks to your credit cards is a serious problem - but it’s one that you can get support for. Organizations such as Debtors Anonymous or simply groups that come together to meet in churches or cafes can really help you to feel that you’re not alone with your problem, and inspire you to find solutions to break the debt cycle.

A recent Wall Street Journal article told the personal stories of several people who are now working on their debt problems after joining support groups. For example, they explained the story of a 26-year-old female accountant who had almost no money to her name despite earning $82,000 a year. It turned out that her problem was mostly in spending money on extras and luxury, like expensive clothes, or high-end fruit for her boyfriend to eat!

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When your budget’s tight and inflation’s playing havoc with it, you need to find some clever ways to save a few dollars. Money magazine recently did a special including 18 ways to beat inflation, and some of the highlights of their suggestions were:

• Don’t make unplanned purchases at the supermarket - stick to what’s on your shopping list only - and check the highest and lowest shelves where the cheaper products are often “hidden”
• Save gas by checking your tires are correctly inflated
• Cook more meals at home - avoid takeaway
• Make your home more energy efficient by installing a thermostat that turns the heating off during the night but turns it back on in the morning before you get up
• Replace regular light bulbs with energy-saving fluorescents
• Cancel gym memberships or magazine subscriptions that you don’t really use
• Turn off all appliances at the switch rather than leaving them on stand-by
• Use a credit card (that you pay off in full each month) that gives cash back on gas purchases
• Don’t be afraid to negotiate with a doctor over costs - for example, offer to pay up front in cash for a lower price. 60% of the time, negotiating with a doctor over medical costs works.

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Make a late payment on your mortgage and your credit card interest rate goes up–even though you’ve been making timely payments on the card. (more…)

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If you’re concerned about having a healthy credit rating - and who wouldn’t be - some recent tips from Gerri Willis should interest you. She’s got four main pieces of advice to improve and retain a good credit rating: (more…)

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Parenting is never easy, and in a time of growing economic crisis, teaching your child financial responsibility is even harder. So hard, in fact, that your adult child may someday come to you, asking for help out of a sticky financial situation. If that day comes, MSNBC has a few tips on how (and if) to help an adult child with debt: (more…)

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If you’re swimming in a sea of debt and you can’t see the shore, now is the time to look for help. In fact, the answer is always “now,” because the sooner you take control of debt, the faster you will take control of it. (more…)

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There have been a few scary stories going round recently about borrowers with excellent credit ratings who have still ended up struggling to pay for their homes or even defaulting on the mortgages. It just goes to show that you have to make sure you’re incredibly well-informed, even if you think you’re financially under control. (more…)

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It’s a pretty ironic outcome of a Bankrate survey that people with debts make the best savers. The results showed that 84% of Americans who had debts like car loans, credit cards or student loans (the survey excluded mortgages) are regularly saving a proportion of their income. The people who didn’t have a non-mortgage debt had a regular savings rate of only 63%.

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