Professional Money Management

By Greer Lean

Many of us cringe at the thought of budgeting, some of us may even feel ill to the stomach! But it doesn't have to be hard; sometimes all you need is a helping hand. But where do you start and what advice should you seek? There are a range of options available for all different issues and a whole wide web full of information out there too.



Let us consider the situation of a fellow we’ll call Bob. He is 27 years old, works for an insurance company, drives a new car, lives in a nice apartment close to downtown, and likes to go out with friends for drinks and dancing. He is also up to his ears in debt. He has no savings. Many months he runs out of money before he can pay all his bills, and he’s been making up the shortfall by running up charges on his credit card. His cards, however, are now near their upper limit and his bank is not allowing any more charges. Bob is struggling to even make the minimum monthly payment, so he is having trouble imagining how he can ever pay off his credit card account.



Bob undoubtedly needs help with his finances. He seems to be incapable of drawing up and sticking to a budget, and he doesn’t realize the perils of running up high interest long-term debt. He is living way beyond his means, and he is on a sure path to bankruptcy unless he seeks help soon.



Does Bob’s situation describe your life as well? No, hopefully, but you may be a good candidate for financial help as well. Anyone who has tried to place their spending on a budget and repeatedly failed, causing them to fall farther and farther behind in their bills and grasping for easy cash injections, should consider trying to find some help.



What sort of help should you seek? That largely depends on the type of help you need. If it is just assistance in figuring out your budget and getting some basic advice you may consider hiring a bookkeeper or accountant to sort out your finances. If you need a loan consolidation to rid yourself of multiple high interest loans your bank might be able to help. If you need more complex help, such as negotiating with your creditors, you might seek the services of a debt relief organisation. In severe cases, you should seek professional legal advice.



If all you need is information, the world is at your fingertips. Just look on any good search engine for help on budgeting or debt management and you will be swamped with information. Much of it is good, much of it is redundant (good advice tends to be the same, no matter the source). But be careful for scams and do not give out any personal financial information until you are sure the organisation can be trusted.



About the Author: After helping Australians out with payday cash advances for over two years, Payday Online know what matters. We welcome everyday Australians to use our service at their convenience, for a quick, safe and hassle free cash injection in less than an hour. Check us out today at http://www.paydayonline.com.au



Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=320669&ca=Finances

Credit Repair – 80 Percent of Credit Reports Have Errors That Need Rectification by Joey Lee

Buying on credit simply means that you use from others as payment for your purchases and you are obligated to repay the amount to the party which lends you the money. When you apply for a loan, credit card or mortgage, the lending agency will check your credit worthiness with the credit reporting bureau which entails assessing your credit history to understand where you stand in terms of credit worthiness and determine your credit risk status.



The basic definition of Credit Repair is the process of rebuilding the credit worthiness of a borrower with a history of bad credit. This sounds like an uphill task to most but there are legitimate do it yourself techniques to repair credit.



!b>Experts Reveal That 80 Percent of Credit Reports Consists of Errors.

As even veterans in the credit reporting industry admit, about 80 percent of the credit reports do encompass some form of mistakes or errors. Hence, it is critical to review your own credit report at least on a yearly basis and update the credit reporting bureaus concerned. Meticulously check each item and verify them, and contact the related lenders to ensure that the errors are corrected. It is imperative that you get confirmation in written form for your documentation in case of future disputes.



This is critical as therein lies serious repercussion to your credit history should you allow the mistakes or errors to remain in your credit report, affecting your credit worthiness and credit risk status. The severity could escalate to a different level whereby you might encounter problems with loan approvals and negative employment check.



Tedious But Critical Step in Obtaining And Verifying Your Credit Reports.

The process begins with you obtaining your credit report from each of the big 3 credit reporting bureaus and analyzing each account and item to ensure accuracy. It is your entitlement to for 1 free copy of credit report each year from each credit reporting bureau. And it is even more important that you need to read all 3 thoroughly to weed out the errors.



Verifying accuracy essentially means that you need to exude extra diligence in ensuring all omissions are reinstated, misreporting are rectified, misinterpretations are corrected and misrepresentations brought to light. This is probably the most critical step in the credit repair process. Spotting errors made over 2 or 3 years ago could be tedious work, but all worth the while being meticulous should the end result means greater improvement in your credit score eventually.



For more good reads on Credit Repair, do visit my site.



Joey Lee has 17 years of banking, financial, business marketing experience, is a CFP and MBA, and a Platinum Ezine Author. Get Credit Repair Tips and comprehensive information on Credit Repair Tips, credit reports, credit scores at CreditRepairSkills.org



Article Source: The Article Trunk