Getting Out Of Debt

Florida Foreclosures Can Get Better With New Fannie Mae Program

01/21/2015 By Jenn 6 Comments

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Disclosure: This post is written by me on behalf of KEL. All opinions expressed are 100% mine.

Florida foreclosures have been pretty high the past few years. When we bought our first home a few years ago there were almost twice as many foreclosures than sellers just wanting to sell their home.

Back in the day to get a mortgage was easy here. No income verification was big factor. The banks were willing to lend more than people could really afford, leaving so many that were faced with foreclosing on their home years later when the interest rates went up.

After you foreclose on your home you are faced with so many hits to your credit and the long wait of 7 years to buy a home that you actually afford. It sure is a tough spot to be in. But now there is help.

There is hope for Florida foreclosures.

In August 2014 Fannie Mae changed their lending guidelines to help you move into a new home and a fresh start after just 24 months. There is one qualification you have to meet. You must file for bankruptcy and discharge the mortgage debt. By filing for bankruptcy you can combine credit cards, car loans, medical bills and other major debts.

Once you have completed the 2 years, The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) have specific guidelines and programs for accepting borrowers who have filed for bankruptcy. For example, the FHA will insure mortgages to individuals who have filed Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy 24 months after the discharge if “the borrower has reestablished good credit (or has chosen not to incur new credit obligations), and has demonstrated an ability to manage financial affairs.

To weigh out your options if this is right for you, its best to speak with an attorney. The KEL offices can help you make the right choice. They specialize in bankruptcies and are there to help you start re-establishing your credit after filing.

Attorney Matt Englett of KEL – “You CAN NOW get a new mortgage as FAST as 24 months if you have been through a FORECLOSURE!”

Florida foreclosures could make a huge turn around with this new program. Helping people start fresh and live the American dream once again.

4 Ideas for Keeping Money Matters in Good Shape

05/19/2014 By Jenn 8 Comments

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Your family’s physical health is one of your top priorities, so you offer nutritious meals, schedule regular doctor and dentist appointments and make sure everyone takes their vitamins. However, it is also important not to neglect your family’s financial health. If your finances are looking a little sickly, the following ideas can provide a solution.

4 Ideas for Keeping Money Matters in Good Shape

Determine Your Financial Goals

Regardless of how much money you are making and spending, it is difficult for your finances to have purpose if you do not have any financial goals. Setting measurable and attainable goals can keep you motivated during difficult periods and keep you focused when things are going well.

There are no right or wrong financial goals since they vary based on what is important to your family. Your top priority might be saving so you can retire at 60, funding college for your daughter or taking an international family vacation each year.

Have Regular Budget Meetings

Accountability is key when it comes to financial health. However, many families do not have any idea about the current state of their finances. In order to make sure you are on the same page, schedule regular budget meetings with your spouse. A budget meeting sounds formal, but it simply needs to be a time that you sit down, examine your budget, and see where you did well and what needs improvement.

These meetings need to take place on a regular basis to be most effective, and once a month is a good guideline for most families. If discussions get heated during your meeting, step back and try again tomorrow. You and your spouse are on the same team, so you want the meetings to be productive and encouraging, not hostile.

Don’t Forget About the Future

We are living in a society that demands instant gratification. Whether you want fast food, instant coffee or quick entertainment, you can get what you want without having to wait long.

Unfortunately, instant gratification does not work when it comes to finances. In the middle of handling your daily necessities, don’t forget about the future.

Due to the power of compound interest, it is vital to begin saving for college, retirement and other expenses well in advance. It’s never too early to start saving for things that are important to you.

Consider Professional Help

When you are feeling sick, you head to the doctor. In the same way, a financial professional can help you overcome your money difficulties. Many financial planners offer a free or discounted initial meeting, and the professional advice can be invaluable. You can maintain your family’s financial health by sticking with your budget and working toward the future.

This guest post was written by Rianne Hunter. Rianne is a wife, mother of three, and avid blogger regarding all things family, finance, and health.

photo credit: 401(K) 2013 via photopin cc

5 Tips to Rebuilding Your Credit

01/12/2014 By Jenn Leave a Comment

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Most American’s live paycheck to paycheck and many of us are in debt. Focusing on rebuilding your credit can save you thousands or even more in long run. Rebuilding credit is not always easy but with a few tips it can be done.

Change Habits

The first thing to do to rebuild your credit is to not allow the debt to get so bad again. Try paying down the debts and not charging anything that you want. If you can not afford it do not charge it. Creditors like to see low balances and making at least the minimum payments, more is always better if you can afford it.

Pay On Time

By paying credit debts on time you will avoid late fees or worse having it go to a collection agency. Once the debt winds up in a debt collectors hands that stays on your credit for seven years. Even paying the minimum is better than nothing showing good faith to creditors.

Establish New Credit

Replace the bad debts with good debts. Many think by closing their credit cards your credit score will get better. That is not always the case, you need good credit to keep a good credit score. By getting a new credit card or using a bad credit car finance company can help. By starting over and paying the new creditors on time will raise your score.

Protect Your Information

Watching your credit can avoid the dangers of identity theft. Once someone gets your information it does not take long for them to destroy your credit. Many credit card companies offer services to help against identity theft.

Create A Budget

When you create a budget you see where your money goes every month. By tracking your spending habits it will be easy to see what you can actually afford. You may be able to cut spending drastically and use that money to pay off the bad debt.

Rebuilding your credit could take some time but is well worth the effort. Eventually it will reduce the stress you have about your debts. Once your credit score is better you will get better interest rates on all of your bigger purchases such as your home.

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Fixing The Household Budget: 5 Ways to Save More Money

12/17/2013 By Jenn 2 Comments

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Saving money is critical to financial success. If your household isn’t saving as much as it should, or is piling up the debt, use the list below to cut the fat out of your spending. While it may be hard to adjust at first, eventually you’ll find yourself with less stress and more cash in your bank account.

1 – Take a look at your cell phone plan
If you’re not careful, your mobile phone plans could be sending money right out the window. Take a careful look at minutes, texts, and data used. From there, look at who is using the most. You might find that it’s cheaper to downgrade or switch providers, especially if you have a windows phone.

2 – Create weekly spending limits
Sit down and create a household budget. After you run out of funds, the spending needs to stop until next week. It will be hard to stick to at first, but after a while you will learn to carefully plan purchases and avoid frivolous spending.

3 – Pay down debt
Take an afternoon or day to go over any and all debts. Look closely at which debt has the highest interest rate and take steps to pay that debt off first. You can also call each debt provider and ask to negotiate a better rate. Be careful not to overextend your household when paying down debt; you won’t find yourself financially better off if you have late or missed payments.

4 – Cut the cable cord
Every year thousands of households spend a large chunk of change on cable; yet a common complaint is that there is never “anything on.” Call your cable company to ask about cheaper packages available; they may even offer you a discount on your current package if they know you are considering canceling. If you do need to cut the cable cord, check out other ways of watching must-see shows and vital sporting events.

5 – Shop the sales
A surprising amount of items in your home could have been bought for less with just a little shopping around. Once a month, sit down and discuss major purchases that may be coming up: new appliances, holiday gifts, back to school supplies, etc. As you’re out shopping, keep an eye out for great deals on these items. By buying out of season, you may save thousands of dollars per year.

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Guest post by Tricia. Tricia is a mom and blogger from Beverly Hills. There’s not much more to her than that!

Choosing The Right Debt Management Program: 5 Tips For Finding The Right Fit

11/09/2013 By Jenn Leave a Comment

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If you are in debt, one of the best things you can do to help yourself get out of debt is to employ the services of a quality debt management program. These programs are lifelines to people who cannot seem to get a handle on their debt. When you are ready to take the reins and pull yourself out of debt, follow these five tips to pick the right debt management program.

1. Find an Accredited Agency

The Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies (AICCCA) and the National Foundation of Credit Counselors (NFCC) are two organizations that only accept debt management companies that meet the highest standards. You can be sure that you are dealing with a reputable institution if it is accredited by either of these organizations.

2. Find the Right Counselor

You need to find a counselor who you have a good rapport with. She needs to be someone you can trust if you want to discuss all the intimate details of your finances with her. Keep searching until you find a debt counselor who you click with.

3. Don’t Expect a Miracle

Do not look for a debt management agency that promises you miracles. In fact, you should run away if they do so. Look for one that tells you the hard truth that it will take a long time to completely get out of debt for most people. However, they should also offer you hope that you can make it if you follow the debt management plan and work hard.

4. Bring in Everything

In order for your debt management counselor to give you a realistic debt management plan, she needs to know everything. You need to bring in all of your financial information. Don’t keep back anything. If you do so, it will make the whole debt management plan break down when the debt you hid comes to light later on.

5. Stay the Course

It is hard to stay disciplined and follow the debt management plan. There will be times when you want to go out and splurge on something. When those times occur, remember the horrible feelings you had when you were deep in debt. This will help you to stay on track to become debt free. If you do need a little extra money, you can always get a cash advance to help you.

There is a debt management solution for everyone. The first step is seeking the right debt management company. Once you find it, everything else will fall into place.

Guest post written by Brionna Kennedy. Brionna is native to the Pacific Northwest, growing up in Washington, then moving down to Oregon for college. She enjoys writing on fashion and business, but any subject will do, she loves to learn about new topics. When she isn’t writing, she lives for the outdoors. Oregon has been the perfect setting to indulge her love of kayaking, rock climbing, and hiking.

Stay Out of Debt With Coupons

09/18/2013 By Jenn 10 Comments

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Should you assign coupons as the virtual aide for staying out of debt?

Using coupons can be tricky. If you want to use these in order to give debt a miss, it is important to be aware of the nuances of using a voucher. Couponing definitely is good for your finances. While debt sucks the life out of your soul, couponing can help you bring back the zest. The mirth of buying an item for less than that of its cost can be extremely pleasant an experience. However, on the other hand extreme voucher usage can spell danger for your finances.

Therefore, you should not follow any form of extreme voucher usage strategies. Otherwise, you may incur more debts and will be able to save only little money or nothing at all, in the process.

How to use the coupons

There are a few things which you will have to keep in mind, if you want to avoid extreme couponing. These are:

Avoid using coupons just because you can enjoy a discount – Just because you have a discount voucher that offers discount on a particular item, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will have to use it. If you do not require the item at present, it would be better to avoid buying the same at a discounted price. There’s no logic in this action, as you are couponing to save money. However, when you are buying the item without actually needing it at present, you are blocking up the money, which could have been used for some other purpose.

Organizing the coupons is extremely important – Simply clipping coupons and buying all of the discounted items is not a smart strategy. It is extremely important to stay organized. So, you need to clip the vouchers, on the basis of the discount amount and date, and put it in an organizer. This is going to help you further in planning, as to how you are going to use the clipped discount slips. While organizing, you may even get to realize that there are various such vouchers which may not be good enough a deal, considering your needs. In such situations, you can exchange the slips with your friends or relatives, thereby reaping optimum benefit from couponing.

Planning when to use the coupons is an important step – It is important for you to plan as to how and when you should use the coupons. Based on that, you will also be required to plan the weekly meals. This can help you save up quite a lot, and avoid spending without a necessary reason. Planning is the basic requirement for you to obtain success, in anything and everything in life. So, even if couponing supposedly is one of the most simple things of life, you need to plan about it.

Get the details of a deal before opting for the same – It is important to be aware of the details of a deal, before you can go on to use that particular coupon. This is important, for in some cases the store may need you to use credit card for enjoying the discount. However, it is not always wise to use a credit card. So, weigh your options and the deal details, before going forward with the same.

Using credit cards for buying items offered in discount – If you use credit cards for buying items offered in discount, you are ultimately incurring debts. With time, this can become unmanageable and you may have to opt for one or the other debt solutions available. If this happens and if you are unable to decide which would be the good option, for example filing a bankruptcy program or debt settlement, you can get advice of an attorney. This is going to have an effect on your personal finance standing. So, it is always wise to avoid credit cards when buying necessary items on discount. Plan ahead, so that you can keep free money for this purpose.

Getting Out Of Debt

There is hope for Florida foreclosures.

4 Ideas for Keeping Money Matters in Good Shape

1. Find an Accredited Agency

2. Find the Right Counselor

3. Don’t Expect a Miracle

4. Bring in Everything

5. Stay the Course