WCITPA Blog for Finance

Financial wisdom for the young and old

Archive for May, 2010

A debit card always scores over a credit card. However, given a chance, you would definitely opt for the credit card. You would say that a credit card has a number of useful features. You can shop for anything at any given point in time without worrying about whether you have the required cash in your pocket if you have a credit card in hand. Also, you do not have to make any immediate payments. However, you fail to realize a simple fact. It is true that you do not have to make instant payments if you have a credit card. But, what you have to pay eventually is always more than the actual cost because you have to endure the high interest rates. You also have the hazard of mis sold ppi. This is where a debit card differs. In the case of a debit card, you can only spend whatever you have in your bank and not more than that. Therefore, you do not become a victim of debt.

 

If you use debit card, you can also save yourself from ppi or other such frauds. A ppi is added mainly with monthly interests of credit card loans without your consent or making you believe it is compulsory. In such cases, you have to make ppi claims for recovery. However, with a debit card, you do not have to make such claims as you can save yourself from monthly interests. You can spend sensibly depending on the money you have on hand and thus protect yourself from debt related problems. 

Bad Financial Understanding

Monday, May 31st, 2010

Americans are absolutely horrible at financial literacy. They take out college loans to learn skills that are practically worthless. They avoid using flexible spending account civilly because they don’t understand them. Even things as simple as a gym membership are often huge wastes of money simply because people don’t sit down and do the math.Here’s another example. This proves that the average American is horrible at math. Look at how many people are excited about the concept of a debt snowball. A debt snowball is where you pay off your smallest loans first and then keep applying the payments toward progressively larger loans. I’ve seen people nearly crying with joy at the idea of following this simple idea. But it’s bad math. You should pay off your loans with the highest interest rate first. If you simply pay off the smallest loans you’re going to pay far more in interest than you would if you pay down the higher interest wants first. All the excitement that has gone into this stupid way of managing your finances and getting out of debt just goes to show how dumb the average American is when it comes to financial matters.I think it’s admirable that so may people are trying to get out of debt. But if they’re doing it by following bad math advice it’s likely they’ll end up back in the same place within a very short time period. If you really want to get out of debt you need to understand the math behind financial decisions. If you continue to make decisions that are based on bad mathematics and unwise financial choices the chances of you staying out of debt long-term are very slim.

Shaping Your Finances

Sunday, May 30th, 2010

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It is the demand of the present economic situation to take proper care of your finances. You cannot afford to show any kind of negligence in this matter. This is because your future is at stake. Therefore, you have to make sure your finances are in place and you can face any kind of emergency situation in the future. There are a number of ways by which you can do that. A personal finance blog can inform you a lot on this. The first thing that you need to do is make less use of credit card and do not fall for any more credit card offers no matter how lucrative they might seem. You can make use of the Moneyfile software to ascertain the amount of money spent on all kinds of transactions at any given period. You should also check whether you are a victim of ppi or any such misappropriations. You can do so by ascertaining whether the policy was sold to you without your consent or you were led to believe it was compulsory. Again, you should look forward to preparing a budget for yourself every month and sticking to it without fail. Another thing that you have to do is zero in on any one particular day to make all bill payments. Remember to make all payments on time so that you do not have to incur any late-payment fees.

 

You should close all duplicate accounts. The last thing that you can do is keep all your financial documents in one place so that you do not forget about any of them.

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Being the sufferer of the high PPI charges, it is necessary for you to take strict step against the credit providers as your protest against the PPI mis selling.  Whenever you get this addition in the repayments, PPI refunds is the best way for you to avail. There are several ways advised by the experts maintaining that can save you from being fooled by the credit providers. First of which is the verification of each detail regarding the loan and it should be done every time you opt for the loan. You should remember that every time while you are opting for a loan, checking out the details is mandatory to avoid the risk of getting fooled in the name of the charges for the PPI. PPI is basically an insurance policy which gives a protecting shield to the repayments to assist you if you suddenly fall sick or are unemployed. During the time period when you have lost your capacity of giving the payments, the repayments will be taken care of by these insurances. However, it is very essential to keep in mind that the plan of PPI is optional. You are the only person who can take the decision whether to purchase it or not. There are several credit institutions which are responsible to enforce the PPI along with the financial products by convincing you by saying it to be compulsory or telling the borrowers that buying it will better their chances for loan approval faster.

 

If something like this has happened to you, you are surely the victim of the miss-selling. Being the victim of the miss-selling you can complaint against the creditors to the FSA.  Whenever you get this addition, go to the FSA to have assistance in recovering the money. The FSA fines the creditors engaged in the miss-selling heavily. They provide assistance in recovering the money efficiently. 

 

A lot of people who are struggling for money don’t realize that the government has different programs that offer free money.  These Free Government Grants are given out to people of all walks of life depending on their current income level and their background. It is important to look for grants that you will get approval for.

If you are keen on applying for a grant from the government you will need to look up the different grants that are being offered.  These can both be private and public grants depending on the specific grant you are applying for.  Searching through the different grants will help you find something that will suite your current situation. 

People who are looking to get a grant application approved need to ensure that they look for grants that match their needs.  For example, if you are a single mom you should be applying for the different single mom grants.  The more specific you can be with your grants, the better chance you have of getting approved.

You will also need to understand how to write a quality grant application.  If you are not able to communicate clearly and precisely why you deserve your grant to be approved, there is a good chance that you will probably get your application rejected.

It is important for you to look up your Grants For Educations specific expiration date.  This will ensure that you don’t apply to a grant that is already expired.  Always look for a grant that is still valid and accepting applications.  It also helps to look for grants that don’t have a lot of competition.

Anyone who is keen on getting a Grants For Single Mothers approved needs to focus on doing their own research and finding the right grants.  Because the government has set aside millions of dollars for people struggling, it is important that you look around at the various grants that are being offered.

 

The six-year swindle

Sunday, May 30th, 2010

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Anyone who happened to have been issued a Payment Protection Insurance policy in the last six years may be actually holding on to a worthless piece of paper as banks forced customers to buy missold PPI in that period.

The numbers are stunning and as people start to put in for their PPI claims, it is estimated two million bank customers may have been taken for a ride by being lied to and cheated. These people were cruelly duped into buying a policy when they were told that without one, there was absolutely no way they could get a loan, mortgage or credit card.

The financially vulnerable were the most affected especially the self-employed, retired and jobless. Under the terns of PPI and in an ideal world, the policy would have taken care of monthly payments should a policyholder take suddenly ill, be involved in an accident or suddenly lose their job. The fact that the jobless were given a policy shows what a sham the entire process of issuing PPI was. There were no checks on medical or employment backgrounds which if done would have meant the jobless could never have gotten a policy.

When these people truly did get sick for example, they found PPI would not cover them and this meant they had a missed payment which also led to a higher interest rate. No one had bothered to inform them that the payments were missed and since then, they have been playing a game of catch-up. Moreover, money was taken as premiums from their accounts and simply clubbed with the earlier installment payments, adding insult to injury.

How to Go About Claiming Bankruptcy

Saturday, May 29th, 2010

These days claiming bankruptcy is not as easy as it used to be. The rules were changed in 2005 in order to make it more difficult. However, if you know how to declare bankruptcy and your circumstances fit the conditions required, it is still possible to do so if you wish.

There are a few different types of bankruptcy. The type most people would prefer to claim is Chapter 7 since this discharges most of your debt. Things like student loans and tax bills are not eligible for discharge through bankruptcy, so you might still end up with some debt even after going through bankruptcy. The other type of bankruptcy is Chapter 13 bankruptcy. With this you need to go through a three to five year repayment period where you pay as much as you can afford on your debts before the remainder are discharged. This type of bankruptcy is easier to qualify for under the new rules.

Although it isn’t required, it is best if you use a lawyer to help you file for bankruptcy since they are familiar with the laws and can help you to determine which type you can apply for. Then the lawyer will help you to complete all of the necessary paperwork. Once you have filed, there is a 60 day period where your debtors can challenge the discharge of the debt. However, during that time they are not allowed to contact you or harass you for the money that you owe them. If they do you should inform your lawyer as this is against the law.

Once the 60 days are up, if you are found to meet the circumstances required the qualified debts will be discharged under Chapter 7 rulings. For Chapter 13 you have to wait until after the repayment period before this happens.

Keep in mind that if there is some way to avoid filing bankruptcy this would be best. A bankruptcy claim can affect your credit for up to ten years. You will also have to stop using credit cards once you file, and it will be hard to get new cards with a bankruptcy on your record. You will have to take those meant for rebuilding credit and accept the higher interest rates and costs involved with these cards. Your property might also be sold off to pay for some of the debts, allow you are allowed to have a certain amount that can’t be touched.

Applying For Compensation of PPI Amount

Saturday, May 29th, 2010

It is important for you to take a stand against the ppi that has been mis sold to you. You should not take it lying down. Do not forget that it is your hard-earned money and there is no point in letting go of it just like that. If you are clueless about how to manage these financial intricacies, there is a simple solution for you. If you go through a personal finance blog, it can give you great insight on the matter and equip you with adequate knowledge. These blogs will tell you how to give better shape to your finances. The first thing that you need to do in this regard is make a list of the expenses incurred by you every month. This list must include all kinds of transactions that you make within the course of one month. Now, it is not easy to maintain a record of all monetary transactions manually. However, you have no reason to feel worried as you can make use of the moneyfile software and keep a track of all monetary dealings. This is very important because it will give you an idea about the useless expenses that you can easily do without. You have to adopt an objective approach so that you can identify the areas which are redundant.

 

In case of ppi, the same rule holds true. You have to find out whether you are paying more than the required amount. If you are indeed paying more, you have to take appropriate action to counter that. 

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Any people through out the UK is completely permitted to claim back their money that they have paid as the monthly charges of the payment protection insurance to their credit providers. These high charges are the cause for suffering of several people. But later the Financial Services Authority (FSA) came into being and started interfering in the activities of the credit institutions. The FSA is the highest authority and they found out that maximum of the credit providers including the banks are engaged in these miss-selling of the payment protection policies. It is obvious and well known to all that after so many years of PPI mis selling by the banks, creditors and providers of the policy, the last thing the financial consumers face is the several troubles due to financial crisis and especially when they are trying to recover money.

 

If you have opted for a loan or have hold the credit card or policy of the insurance or have taken the mortgage in the past 6 years, then there is high chance that you were sold a PPI Protection policy deceptively to grab more money from you. This addition of the Payment protection insurance augmented the monthly bills so much that you are still repaying an old loan or credit card or have taken one of these out within the last 6 years. In this situation going for the will be the best way to avail and there is a better chance of being successful as well. Whatever be your circumstances, it is worth to opt for a PPI claim.

 

These days the FSA is safeguarding the consumers well by providing several help. The FSA is fining the credit institutions highly who are engaged in the miss-selling.

Taking Care Of Your Finances

Friday, May 28th, 2010

Finance is an important aspect of your life. It can make or break your future. If you are not careful about your finances, you can face a lot of problems. Then, you might have to take recourse to ppi refunds in order to get hold of some cash. However, this is not at all advisable since it is quite time consuming and can take up much of your precious time. Instead, you should look forward to giving a better shape to your finances and taking care of them in a better manner. The first step that you can take in this direction is keeping a check on your expenses each month. There are a number of expenses that we all indulge in every month which can easily be avoided. You should obliterate those expenses from your monthly expenditure and try to utilize the amount in some fruitful way. The best thing that you can do is save the particular amount. You might think there is no point in saving the meager amount. However, if you continue doing this for a few months, you will be able to notice the difference in your finances. Your savings will also see an increase, no matter how negligible it is. 

 

You should also pay proper attention to the payments that you are making every month. One such payment is loan interests. This is because there are many banks that indulge in malpractices related to ppi. In such cases, you have to make ppi claims to recover the amount. You can also take the help of a professional for the purpose.