You Can Be Debt Free...........
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Bruce Collins - Founder |
And Stay That Way For Life!
Empower Yourself!
Take Control of Your Money and You Take Control of Your Life |
"Get out of debt!" "Live a debt free lifestyle!" "Pay off your credit cards!" We hear these kinds of comments a lot these days and it's hard to deny that it is great advice. The question is, if you are already just making it paycheck to paycheck, if you have no savings and no investments, how can you possibly get far enough ahead to start living a cash-based lifestyle? Well, believe it or not, with just a bit of training to know what to do, a real determination to get it done, and some tools to help do the job you can pay off your debt and start putting money away. Whats more, most people can do it on just the money they already earn, and so can you.
So, what are some of your options for getting out of debt? Without question the best way to get out of debt and and stay debt free is, obviously, pay off your debt and manage your finances in a way that lets you control your money instead of you being controled by your money. There are some other ways to handle your debt and finances, though, and I know you have heard all kinds of claims on the radio, in magazines, and on TV. What, then, are your options?Here are some other programs that are available:
Debt Consolidation
Debt consolidation is nothing more than a loan that takes all your existing debt, lumps it into one new loan, then spreads the payments out over a longer period of time. The payment on the new loan will be smaller than the total of all the payments of your original loans making it seem like you have less debt. Unfortunately it doesn't really fix the problem, it simply masks it. It is true that in most cases the new lender will reduce your monthly cash outflow, but if you compare the total amount owed on all your present bills against the total of all the payments you will make on the consolidation loan you will see that over the life of the loan you pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars more with a consolidation loan than you will if you pay off the individual loans you already have. There is also the danger that many people deal with when they develop a false sense of security after their old debt is "paid off" with the new consolidation loan. Since their monthly payments are smaller, they feel like their debt problem is solved so they take on more new debt. Taking the easy way out of their financial situation with a consolidation loan taught them nothing about managing their finances so they go deeper into debt - - again. Now they are in a real mess. Debt consolidation loans may feel good in the short term, but they rarely work over the longer term.
Credit Counseling
With credit counseling you work with a money manager by giving them full control of your money. You do, of course, always have the right to take back control, but doing so terminates the agreement with your counselor and puts you right back where you were. In most cases the counselor works out a budget that ensures that all your bills are paid on time while you still receive a small allowance to spend any way you like. On payday you give your counselor your paycheck - all of it - and with it you give him or her full control of your money. You usually pay them a fee - sometimes as much as 20% of the amount of your debt payments - to manage your money for you. In this kind of program you have little or no control of your finances until all your debts are paid. Once the bills are paid you are once again left in full control of your money. The problem here? Since someone else has been in charge of your money you really haven't learned anything about managing your finances yourself and there is the huge danger you are at risk of repeating the whole experience over and over again.
Debt Settlement Programs
These programs are also referred to as debt reduction or debt relief programs. I know you have heard these advertisements on the radio. Some cheery couple sharing their happy message about how wonderful their life instantly became as soon as they paid so-and-so company to negotiate away all their debt and how marvelous it was to pay only a fraction of the amount they owed. And, of course, it was all so easy! The truth here is that it really isn't that easy at all. The fact is that a debt relief agency can only try to negotiate with your creditors on your behalf to lower your debt, or at least your payments. They can't guarantee results, and no one can negotiate away your debt without there being some kind of negative impact on your credit score. Depending on who you hire to help you with this process the fees can be pretty hefty, and like all other debt assistance programs this service teaches you nothing about handling your own financial affairs in the future. I have talked with many people who have employed debt relief agencies to get out of debt. While I'm sure there are some success stories out there virtually every person I have talked with who got this kind of help was in debt again within just a year or two.
The Global Village Approach
The goal of the Global Village Workshops is to help average people who work hard every day but are still struggling to make ends meet. They may or may not be burdened with debt, they may have little or no savings, they have nothing in the way of investments working for them, and they really have no idea how to get control of their financial situation and turn it around. This program shows you how to actually pay off debt, strengthening your credit score. It is not a complicated program; in fact, it is written in a way that makes it fun to read, very easy to understand, and very easy to implement. Each step of the process is short and to-the-point with specially designed worksheets that keep it clear and simple. The intention is not to help an established investor make his or her holdings more profitable or expand their stock portfolio. The goal is to help the person with nothing but a job and a desire to get ahead learn the basic skills they need to launch them toward buying a home, help the kids through college, and put the money in the bank so that they can start building their own investment portfolio. I am not promising anyone some kind of financial miracle cure. In the end it is up to you to make it happen. I am promising that if you follow this program and use what you learn you will never have to struggle again. And I think you will have some fun doing it.
To see an outline of the complete workshop and to order your own complete training workshop packet simply click on the Budget Workshop button in the top left corner of the home page. Or to learn more about some of the other topics on the website simply click on the appropriate button in the left top corner of the home page.
