NEWS | Wednesday, 19 September 2007

Gecko shows ‘How to live debt free’

Today many individuals are finding themselves in what is called a bad credit situation. The problem is, many are not keeping track of their income and expenditures and end up taking loans to cover up for the excessive expenditures. Younger executives and professionals are also being offered credit cards by different institutions and banks. Having lots of credit cards may mean that an individual will loose track of his purchases and end up paying a great amount of unnecessary interest.
It is being suggested that such professionals and younger executives should pay up their credit card statements in full each month and thus avoid incurring any interest. Offers from other companies for new credit cards should be ignored.
Anyone who has not been taking good care of his credit card purchases will definitely have to take a debt consolidation loan or consult a debt reduction advisor. Most debt consolidation agencies will make sure that a debtor will not incur late fees and pay less interest when compared to the credit card ongoing interest rates whilst ensuring the debtor will not receive any more harassing telephone calls from creditors by helping the individual negotiate new terms.
A debt consultant may start by creating a debt reduction plan. The debtor lists all his debts and estimates his income and later tries to work out a monthly budget and assign payments to loans. A considerable effort should be made in later months to keep within the limits set in the budget especially in the festive seasons and during summer holidays. Debt consultants may also advise their clients to keep just one credit card and use it merely in case of emergency. In some extreme cases debtors are also told to pay in cash, this way at the end of the day or week the debtor may have a better idea of what he or she spent and thus control his or her credit in a better way in the following weeks and months.
Individuals or small business owners are advised to consult a debt consultant if they incurred over Lm2, 000 in unsecured loans. One cannot hope to get out of a bad credit situation if the debtor is only paying the minimum amounts due at the end of the month. A debtor may choose to go into debt consolidation where the various payments are consolidated into one sum. Debt Consolidation will help a debtor improve his situation faster.
Gordon Gecko is an American debt advisor and will be coming to Malta soon to inform the public about the benefits of debt consolidation. Anyone can read his best selling book on the internet. “How to live debt free” is available on www.creditorsdebt.com for free.