debt management, credit debt management

“Charge it!”
Those may be the two most familiar words in the English language (and their translations are known and understood throughout the world). If you are anything like the typical personsomeone who didn’t marry rich, didn’t inherit a fortune and didn’t land a job as Bill Gates’ righthand-person then you probably have some amount of debt.
Getting into debt is easy. Folks have been doing it for centuries. Shakespeare and Dickens wrote about it. And since the first wallet-sized plastic card, Diner’s Club(R), hit the scene in 1950,
Americans have been wracking up debt like there was no tomorrow.
The Problem With DEBT
In 1947, just before Diner’s Club card made a major industry out of consumer credit, only 4 percent of personal after-tax income went to pay interest-bearing debt. By 1995, that percentage had soared to 92 percent. That means most of the money we have left over after taxes goes toward paying our mortgages, consumer credit, installment loans and other debts.
The problem is getting bigger all the time. In 1950, Americans had a total debt of about $21 billion. Today that number is more than $4 trillion, $370 billion on credit cards alone.
If you’ve ever wondered why you run out of money before you run out of month… why you never seem to have enough money…why you can’t get ahead financially… why you struggle
financially month after month, just take a look at that load on your shoulders: your debt.
Debt has far-reaching consequences in every sphere of your life. It keeps you from doing the things you really want to do. Often, it even keeps you from doing the things you need to do (like taking better care of your health or buying an automobile with more safety features).
Debt also takes a bite out of your future. You can’t effectively save and invest for a home or your retirement if you are carrying around a load of debt.
Your debt is a threat to your children, too. The money you should be putting toward their college education often goes to pay off your debts. When your children are ready for college, will you be ready for college costs? CLICK on the button on the right marked “What Credit Really Costs YOU!!” and see how much money and freedom you can really throw away by buying with a credit card and making minimum payments.
When the debt burden becomes too much to bear and it’s difficult to pay all your bills, your entire wellbeing may be seriously threatened. You may find yourself facing repossession of your automobile, foreclosure on your home, eviction, bankruptcy or other very big problems.
Debt is not just a money problem, however. It also can (and often does) create psychological problems. The stress and worry are enough to make anyone depressed, irritable and anxious. Some people can barely cope with the strain. Others turn to poor solutions, such as gambling. We all know that money worries are a major cause of divorce in this country. And you can bet that debt is one of the money worries that concerns couples the most.
Debt also concerns single people, who may appear to have more disposable income. But if they are “disposing” of their income by paying off debts they are just as strapped as any family.
In addition, debt prevents you from achieving something very precious: the American dream. All of us want to be financially independent … to have the ability to quit our jobs and do what we want to do.

But –and this is important–You can never achieve the American dream if…
You Are In Debt!
Financial independence is just a pipe dream until you are virtually debt-free (or as close to it as possible). Debt blocks your ability to make money and stands in the way of your wealthbuilding potential. In fact, consumer debt is like taking your paycheck home in a leaky bucket.
Before you arrive home, most or all of your money has vanished in the form of interest. You can’t save, invest and put your money to work if most of what you earn goes to paying off your creditors.
Remember the example you saw when you clicked on the “What Credit Really Costs” button. I know that most of us have heard the seemingly harmless advice that buying on credit allows us to “enjoy it now while paying for it later with money that is worth less due to inflation.”
That’s bunk… pure and simple! By putting “it” on credit cards and under installment loans, we wind up paying too much for it while also eroding our own wealth. Then we find that the assets we purchased are soft while the debt and interest we incurred are hard… sometimes very hard.
What do I mean by hard and soft? When you purchase a personal computer on installment loan, is it worth more two months after you bring it home? Absolutely not. It is worth less. It may be worth less than you currently owe on the principal. It is certainly worth less than the amount you will pay when you account for principal and interest.
That means the debt (the amount you owe) does not change to reflect the value of what you purchased. The debt is HARD… fixed… unyielding.
Your asset, on the other hand, is SOFT. It loses value as it ages… as new models come out and so on. So the difference between what you really pay for the asset (purchase price plus interest) and what the item is worth when you finish paying is wealth that is lost to you. It moved from your pockets to the pockets of banks, finance companies and retailers because you paid more than you should for the item.
While we can’t eliminate the depreciation of assets, we can limit its impact by not paying too much for the asset in the first place. Further, we can insure that we keep a good portion of our income and invest it in assets that appreciate rather than depreciate.

Welcome to the Era of Debt in America.
Everyone who owes money would like to be free of those debts. But breaking free is not always easy. Especially these days. The current national economy is making it easier for people to get into debt and harder than ever for them to get out. Listen to almost any newscast and you’ll probably hear about some big company “downsizing” or “right-sizing” or “realigning its resources to stay competitive.” We all know those words are just part of the corporate lingo for layoffs and forced early retirement.
The American economy is going through a period of tremendous change, and those changes are putting many people out of work. A lot of those people never dreamed they would be pounding the pavement looking for another job.
What do they do for money until they find a new job? The first thing that goes is their savings account. Then they borrow money, perhaps by taking out a second mortgage on their homes. Often they resort to one of the easiest and most costly types of loans: a cash advance on their credit cards. And, with less and less cash coming in, they run up their credit cards with everyday expenditures, such as food and gasoline. To compound the problem, they are lucky if they can pay the minimum due on their various loans every month.
Things are getting worse –not better– when it comes to debt. This is the “Era of Debt” in America, and it is turning debt into a monstrous problem for more and more people. At least you are not alone.
Now For the Good News!
That’s the bleak side of debt. No one likes to think about such negative things, but the first step in dealing with debt is recognizing its toll on your financial, physical and emotional well being.
Of course, the fact that you are reading this book means you are probably already familiar with the consequences of debt –and maybe a few other consequences that I have not mentioned.
The good news is that you are ready to take action to improve your situation. That’s what this book is all about. It gives you an edge in the get-out-of-debt game. It offers proven strategies for
quickly reducing or even eliminating that albatross around your neck.
This book is not about improving your credit though it will accomplish credit improvement as a by-product. Instead, it is about how to live so you will have an excellent credit rating. But you won’t even need that credit rating because you will have learned to live on cash.

In short, this book is your step-by-step guide to getting “out from under” and discovering the benefits of being debt-free. When you eliminate or significantly reduce your debt, you will be
able to:
· Sleep better at night, knowing your life is more financially stable and secure
· Replenish your savings so you will have a comfortable nest-egg in case of emergencies
· Invest more so you can earn more
· Save for things that are important to you and your family: a vacation, a new home, college for
the kids
· Break free from constantly worrying about money and arguing about it with your spouse
· Prevent serious problems, such as foreclosure, repossession or bankruptcy

Of course, the biggest benefit of being debt-free is that you will finally be able to pursue the American dream and build your wealth. Only when you are “out from under” can you truly begin to start getting rich!
Yes, getting into debt is easy. Getting out of it is hard. Or so it seems. Many people have trouble reducing or eliminating their debt for one simple reason: They don’t know which methods work and which ones do not work. You are about to break away from that pattern and learn workable, realistic and proven strategies that will help ensure your financial freedom.
Being debt-free is one of the best feelings in the world! And with a little information, the right strategies and some willingness on your part, you will soon discover just how exhilarating that feeling really is.