DOES THIS SOUND LIKE YOU?
If your family is anything like mine, you've probably been
in a similar situation. You get all your "time to pay" bills
together and think, "Holy Cow!"
Actually, you might not be thinking that exactly - that
is not until you get out your handy calculator and add
up the outstanding totals on your credit cards. Then,
it's entirely possible words of a much stronger flavor
come flying out of your mouth!
This was our situation at the beginning of 2006. I won't
go into details here, but I can tell you I was utterly
flabbergasted. Looking at each bill one at a time every
month (and noting a balance that went no where fast)
was alarming enough. To actually total up those puppies
was a huge shock!
So, we went shopping for a refinance.
Our problem was both my husband and myself are
self employed. I've been working at home for about
15 years now. My husband (with over 25 years in
construction) has been self-employed only since the
beginning of 2005.
Longevity in our professions we have, but his short
self-employment record was insufficient for several
of the mortgage companies I checked into... that
was until I CALLED QuickenLoans.com [see footnote].
Quicken offers a QuickSmart loan.
Having good to excellent credit helps. Having equity
in your home is a requirement. With excellent credit
and equity, you don't have to send them a single thing.
Your good name and appraisal does it all.
The result? Even with a higher loan amount, our mortgage
payment increased by less than $100 a month.
Consider carefully that an average $2000 credit card,
making only minimum payments each month, will take a
person approximately 30 years to get rid of... 30 years!
And we are living proof that making even MORE than
the minimum payment still doesn't give you a snowballs
chance in h___ of eliminating those balances. Yes, it is
totally frustrating!
However, after getting up off our duffs and making
the decision to refinance and incorporate our credit
card bills, the benefits are truly outstanding. They
include:
1. Obviously no more credit card bills each month!
2. For us, saving over $1600 a month since we made
more than the minimum payment and we were still getting
no where fast!
3. Applying a SENSIBLE WAY to make use of our cards!
THINK CHECKS NOT CHARGE IT!
This is the exciting section.
It's not just the joy of not supporting the billion dollar
a day credit card industry, but it's also about using your
card(s) WISELY!
For our family, everyone carrying a debit card or a check
book would be a huge mistake. So, what we do now is use
our cards AS IF we were carrying checks. AS SOON
AS a charge is put on any card, I receive a phone call from
hubby and immediately log into our online banking. From
there, I "cover the check." This way NO balance is ever
built up - we do NOT wait until the end of their billing cycle
(thereby allowing them to include their outrageous finance
charges).
Several times a month, and I don't care how many times,
the "check is most definitely in the mail" to cover gas charges
and other purchases.
Obviously, to make this work and avoid going back into
debt, you MUST APPLY this protocol! You must garner
self-discipline. If you don't have the cash in your checking
account, do NOT charge anything until you do!
Almost every analyst out there is recommending, urging
actually, the consumer to refinance - especially if your
home mortgage is an ARM.
Find the mortgage company that is right for you, include
your cards into the loan, and then BE SMART ... now and
always!
The credit card companies are rich enough. It's your turn!
* * * * * * *
[footnote]
While we will definitely use QuickenLoans for any future
transactions, shop around for the best company for your
needs. However, QuickenLoans was remarkable. By speaking
directly with a mortgage banker we were was able to find the
perfect loan for us. They took ALL the information they would
need for the Smart Loan in under 20 minutes, and within the
hour we'd digitally signed everything online. It took less than
25 days to close this loan without a hitch.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Theresa Cahill is the owner of My Wizard Ads.
Her job is to make your online advertising
experience as effective and effortless as possible.
http://www.mywizardads.com
