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	<title>Debt Management Talk</title>
	<link>http://www.debtmanagementtalk.com/</link>
	<description>The newest topics at Debt Management Talk</description>
	<language>en-us</language>
	<item>
		<title>Vehicle Trade-in For Lower Payments?</title>
		<link>http://www.debtmanagementtalk.com/credit-decisions/vehicle-trade-lower-payments.html</link>
		<description><![CDATA[One of our biggest "mistakes" in the past was our purchase of a 2005 Dodge Durango.  I still owe $20K on the loan, but the vehicle is worth around $17K-$18K on a private sale.  Not so uncommon to be upside down on a trade, but being in debt with a $451 auto loan payment isn't wise.  I wasn't sure what I could do about it.  So....

I stopped by the used car dealership on Friday and inquired what I could do to get out of my favorite gas guzzler and into something more practical with lower payments.  

We found a 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix GT.  It started out as a $21K loan plus tag, title, tax.  By the time we left, the deal was a $19K loan with everything included.  The loan terms are 9.49%, 72 months, $347 per month.  That's $1000 less debt and $100 dollars a month less in payment a month.  Add on lower gas costs and about an $11 per month insurance savings, and our monthly burden is decreased.

Yes, I am very well aware that the rate is not so great and that in the long run we will be paying more in interest, but with our income not even coming close to paying our monthly living expenses, is this an option I should consider?  

My opinion at this point is to take the deal, get our payments lower so we have some breathing room.  (In other words, so we don't have to use the credit card to buy groceries any more.)   Then start fixing the terms after we are back on our feet.  Or am I just using the same clouded judgement that got us into this mess in the first place?]]></description>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>Do You Depend On Your Tax Return To Help Pay Your Credit Cards?</title>
		<link>http://www.debtmanagementtalk.com/debt-strategies/do-you-depend-your-tax-return.html</link>
		<description><![CDATA[I have many friends who say that once they get their tax returns they will put most of it into paying their credit cards. of course they don't. Once their returns come in they end up spending it on something else.

Do you us any part of your tax return to pay your debt?]]></description>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>How Many Credit Cards Do You Have And What Are The Aprs.</title>
		<link>http://www.debtmanagementtalk.com/debt-strategies/how-many-credit-cards-do-you.html</link>
		<description><![CDATA[I have 2
10.4
14.0]]></description>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>Are Credit Cards Worth It?</title>
		<link>http://www.debtmanagementtalk.com/credit-decisions/are-credit-cards-worth.html</link>
		<description><![CDATA[I've had great credit for over 25 years but this last year I ran into a lot of personal problems that I couldn't prevent. I used up my full IRA and couldn't pay my credit card bills. I tried to explain the situation to them but they wouldn't listen or care and this is after 25 years of paying on time and paying the increasing interest fees.

I don't have any cards anymore except for a debit card. I like the debit card better. I can only spend what I have in it and there are no interest fees.

True, I can't buy that big screen HD television but do I really need it. At least now I think about what I spend.

I should have gotten rid of those credit cards years ago.]]></description>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>0% Card Investing</title>
		<link>http://www.debtmanagementtalk.com/credit-decisions/0-card-investing.html</link>
		<description><![CDATA[How do people invest with their 0% cash advances?  I've heard a lot of people do this BUT what do you invest ing?  CD's, the stock market?  Do you pay the card off at the end of the offer or as you go?

Is it worth it?

The idea totally scares me, because I would have a hard time not using the card!

I guess it is similar to having an investor?]]></description>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>How Do You Approach Your Debt?</title>
		<link>http://www.debtmanagementtalk.com/debt-strategies/how-do-you-approach-your-debt.html</link>
		<description><![CDATA[I have heard several people talk about different ways to approach paying off their debt.  It seems to come down to 3 different ways:

1.  Pay off the loan with the highest interest rate first
2.  Pay off the loan with the highest monthly payment
3.  Pay off the smallest loan first
(am I forgetting one?)

What do you prefer?

I personally have been taking the approach of paying off the smallest loans first.  Once that is paid off I am using the extra money that I freed up from my monthly bills and applying it to the next loan in line - kind of like a snowball effect.  By the time I am at my last loan, I should be able to make payments of several thousand dollars each month.

Now the only thing that I would consider other than this is paying off the loan with the highest interest rate first (since it is costing you the most money in the long run).

But is there really a fastest way to pay off your debt?]]></description>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>Increase Income Or Reduce Debt?</title>
		<link>http://www.debtmanagementtalk.com/debt-strategies/increase-income-reduce-debt.html</link>
		<description><![CDATA[Why is it that so many people are only interested in doing one or the other? There really doesn't seem to be many people around who are interested in cutting back expenses while still living the same lifestyle (called 'saving money').

Of course, I'm interested in all three. I want to increase my income, but I also want to spend less money so I can reduce my debt more quickly. It just seems logical to me to aim at all three!]]></description>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>I'm In A Hole</title>
		<link>http://www.debtmanagementtalk.com/your-debt/im-hole.html</link>
		<description><![CDATA[Hi everyone! I have $37k credit card debt and I want to get rid of it. I've heard many success stories and I really know I can do this as long as I can curb my own appetite to spend money. Looking forward to reading all the posts here and gathering advice.]]></description>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>What Are The Necessities?</title>
		<link>http://www.debtmanagementtalk.com/debt-strategies/what-are-necessities.html</link>
		<description><![CDATA[As my husband took a new job, and a 40% pay decrease, we have been asking this question a lot!  Is cable a necessity?  How about the cell phone or the home phone?  Internet?   What about all of those activities the kids are in?  Do they really love every one of them?  

For us, we have found that we can still manage one activity for each child, but they are on alert that it is a priviledge that will happily be revoked if they don't have their hearts and heads into it.  We have kept the internet, but will probably go back to the basic cable we had all our adult lives after football season.  The kids don't even care because they have barely gotten used to having the expanded options.

There are so many areas to consider that it is hard to put on one post.  Do I need to drive every day?  I have a friend who parked his truck and started taking the bus to work.  He saves a few hundred dollars a month without the diesel payment.  Is it necessary to cut and color your hair every four or six weeks?  Stretching it out or going back to the natural color with save you several hundred dollars each year. 

What do you consider a necessity?  For us, it has truely become food, home expenses, and love.  Thank goodness something is still free.:)]]></description>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>Hello Everyone!</title>
		<link>http://www.debtmanagementtalk.com/your-debt/hello-everyone3.html</link>
		<description><![CDATA[I've been reading a few topics around here, but never formally introduced myself.  Currently, I'm in a debt settlement plan and trying to work through everything...it's working great so far.  $24,000 in debt total, due to credit cards and medical bills from my pregnancy last year.  I'm using RAM Financial Services; so far so good. They are helpful and understanding of my situation - everyone else I spoke with made me feel like an idiot for getting into debt in the first place, which, who really chooses to do that, right? ;-)  Anyway, back on track and hoping to get my life back!]]></description>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>Free Credit Report</title>
		<link>http://www.debtmanagementtalk.com/credit-decisions/free-credit-report.html</link>
		<description><![CDATA[Just to let you know, if you don't know this already, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act it is Federal Law that ye shall recieve one FREE credit report every 12 months.


In case of a Fraud Alert you are allowed 2 free reports. 
(I couldn't be bothered to read the whole act so there may be other rights included).


To obtain your annual credit report logon to http://www.annualcreditreport.com 
 Its free, if you have not done this before you will need to create an account with each of the 3 credit bureaus, this login can be used year after year so look after that information. 

There really is no catch to this free, this site is linked by and possibly controled by the Federal Trade Comission. To learn even more you could check out their website at http://www.ftc.gov 

Thanks! 

Dan]]></description>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>Credit Repair Business – Need Opinions On Getting Started!</title>
		<link>http://www.debtmanagementtalk.com/credit-decisions/credit-repair-business-–-need-opinions.html</link>
		<description><![CDATA[Hello everyone, I have just finished my studies and now I am a graduate. My field is commerce and I plan to start a business of my own rather than get employed somewhere. I had got suggestions to get into a credit repair business and have gathered some information on that. I would like to know as to how do I get into this and any opinions on anything related to this would be helpful.]]></description>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>Two Time Filer In Trouble Again</title>
		<link>http://www.debtmanagementtalk.com/bankruptcy/two-time-filer-trouble-again.html</link>
		<description><![CDATA[Yes, I am speaking of moi. [img]http://deephousepage.com/smilies/pullhair.gif[/img]

I am very disgusted with myself over this situation. I can't believe I am in so much debt again! I know I've always had to learn the hard way but this is ridiculous.

So far I am hanging in there, but I'm crossing my fingers. I'm keeping up payments so far, but it's a worry on my mind. I'm hoping things will get better and not worse.]]></description>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>Bankruptcies On The Uptick?</title>
		<link>http://www.debtmanagementtalk.com/bankruptcy/bankruptcies-uptick.html</link>
		<description><![CDATA[Based on the current problems in the mortgage realm, has the instances of bankruptcies increased significantly over the past several years or have trends shown them staying about the same?]]></description>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>My Debt Settlement Story</title>
		<link>http://www.debtmanagementtalk.com/success-stories/my-debt-settlement-story.html</link>
		<description><![CDATA[Hello everyone,

I'm here to share my own experience about what I went through and am still currently going through. I was laid off back in the beginning of 2007 and due to various factors, I couldn't reestablish myself for six months. By then, I had accrued about 40,000 dollars worth of debt on about 7 credit accounts, my credit was already affected, and I had no idea how to realistically approach the huge hole I had dug up for myself. The creditors I owed were asking about 1500-2000 dollars in total payments each month for their ridiculous rates and penalty charges. I did my research, posted on forums such as these, and figured out I had about three different ways of getting out of debt. The options were credit consolidation, debt settlement, and bankruptcy.

Due to the long term effects of bankruptcy and was told it should be the last option to consider, I did not even consider bankruptcy. Credit consolidation sounded good at first but due to interest still being charged on a 40,000 debt, I would still be wasting about 500-800 dollars just in interest alone every month and if I was late with a payment, the interest could still jump. A couple of different sources referenced that although the programs could be anywhere between 3-5 years, most of the time, they are stretched out to about 8-10 years. Debt settlement was the only option that actually made sense to me. Cutting my balance down while setting up a reasonable payment plan to pay off my creditors was the only realistic option I could afford. Keep in mind there isn't any perfect debt solution out there. I did my research, contacted a few people who went through the process with success, and contacted a few debt settlement companies to see what they had to offer. This led me to conclude that the success rate of your debt settlement all depends on the interest and professionalism of your debt settlement company. I was worried about the process and if it was going to work for me but I realized that anyone in my situation would feel the same type of vulnerability. After finally deciding on a debt company that looked the most legitimate and had good customer service, I ENROLLED!

So far, it has been about 9 months in the program and 3 of my creditors have been settled and paid off. The harassing phone calls from my creditors are rarely trickling in but for the most part, I don't get anymore collecting calls. Although I will always have that feeling in the back of my head worrying about my debt, I have the assurance that I have someone working on my debt and have only one monthly payment to worry about. I only have 15 months left, and do have faith that my debts will all be paid off.

If anyone is interested in the company I chose, look up www.help1inc.com I'm sure you'll receive the same professionalism I received when joining. Contact 888 828 4321 ext 7587 if you want to talk to my guy. Please share your experiences with your own personal debt settlement as I know it will help those that are looking for a solution to their debt problem]]></description>
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