It happens to everyone at least once — just when you think you are on top of your finances and your budget is flowing smoothly, disaster strikes. The size of the disaster may not be huge; it could just be a blown tire during your tightly budgeted vacation. Or it could be as big as the loss of a job, a house fire or a disabling health condition. Whatever your financial emergency, you can get through it if you have planned ahead and prioritize. (more…)

Many people find out that they need money and they need it quick. You may have gotten behind on your credit card payments and you do not want to pay the high interest rate and/or receive a bad credit rating. Maybe your vehicle decided it was on its last legs and quit working. You may need to buy a new vehicle and we all know how expensive that can be. When it rains, it seems to pour when you are dealing with your expenses. (more…)

So, you’ve considered the reasons that you overspent over the holidays, but the damage is already done. Now it’s time to pick up the pieces and get on with your life. But when you’re facing a staggering amount of debt, that’s not always so easy. But in almost every case, there is hope.

Create A Budget
The first thing you need to do is create a budget. If you’ve never made one, now is as good a time as any to start. If you already have a detailed budget, you’ll need to revise it. When you’ve run up a higher balance on your credit cards, you’ll have to put more money toward them than you were previously. (more…)

During the holidays, it’s easy to get caught up in the spirit of giving. That’s not such a bad thing in and of itself. But all too often, we get a little too carried away and end up spending more than we can afford to spend. It’s easy to do, especially when you use credit cards.

After the holidays, we’re often left with a debt hangover that’s hard to shake. We might even find ourselves struggling just to make the minimum payments on our debt, never mind paying extra to eliminate it faster. It would be nice if we could turn back time and spend more wisely, but that’s not possible. So the best thing we can do is try to find ways to earn extra money to put toward those debts so we can put them behind us. Here are some ways to accomplish that. (more…)

As lenders continue to fight rising bad debts, consumers will eventually carry the cost through a rise in rates and fees. Funding constrictions and the lack of borrowing is also having an impact on lender costs.

The rise in regulations and government scrutiny is shaking up the market to the point were by the current fee-free model on credit cards may be unsustainable.

“Lenders will be unable or unwilling to increase supply sufficiently to match demand. This will leave consumers surprised at both the cost of credit and the difficulty in gaining access to it,” PricewaterhouseCoopers partner Richard Thompson said. (more…)