It’s always not wise to leave some balances behind your credit card bills – thus, you need to pay of your credit cards every month. If you need something to boost your paying off your cards process – you may need to use this webapp, The Real Damage – calculates the true price of adding another purchase to a credit card that’s already carrying a balance.

From The Real Damage website:

The Real Damage is a new tool to help you visualize how much your purchases REALLY cost.

If you owe money, when you buy something instead of paying off your debt the real cost of that purchase isn’t shown on the tag.

This tool shows you how much that money would have saved you, if you had applied it to your debt. In other words, the real damage.

Some default values have been entered for you; feel free to play with the numbers. Don’t worry, we don’t transfer or retain ANY information so you’re completely safe to fiddle with the bits.

Try this webapp out now – Click Here!

Source: The Real Damage (via LifeHacker.com)

Here are some credit card payment calculators that you might be interested to use:

• Pay Off My Credit Card Debt Sooner Calculator
• Credit Card Payment Calculator

It is indeed challenging and stressful to deal with the debt collection agencies. In order to protect your credit rating, you need to have proper strategy to negotiate with them.

What can be done when you have been contacted by a debt collector regarding your debt issues?

• First thing first, you are reminded to know your rights as a debtor. You should find out the details of the debt collection statute of limitations in your state to see whether you are still legally obligated for your old debts. If the time limit has expired, you should write a letter to the debt collector to notify the collector that you are not responsible for the debts anymore. You can inform the collector not to contact you anymore.
• If your debts are still “new”, you are advised to check your credit report carefully to verify the debt amount. At the same time, you can call up your original creditor to find out whether the collection agency is legally authorized to collect debt from you. According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, every consumer has the right to request for the proof of debt before making any payment.
• Once the confirmation is done, you can start negotiating with your debt collection agency to request for debt reduction. You should inform the collector about the financial hardship you are facing and ask for a favor from the collector. You can propose to settle your debt at certain amount which you can afford to pay and get the approval from the collector.
• At the same time, discuss with the representative to see whether he or she can help to remove all the negative items from your credit report. You are reminded not to ignore the debt collection agent because any negative entry made by the agent on your credit report will definitely lower your credit score.
• The negotiation process is considered complete when you receive a settlement agreement from the debt collection agent. In the agreement, the collector must assure that your account will not be sold to other parties anymore in the future and no collection activity will take place once you have made the payment.

During economy crisis, when your card providers have not heard from you for quite a long time, do not expect them to write off your credit card debts. Non-stop phone calls from debt collection agencies are waiting for you. Hence, you are reminded to take proper steps to deal with them so that your credit score will not be damaged badly.

What would you do if you’re a identity theft victim, who has been mistakenly treated as a serious debtor with a total $12,000 unpaid 6-year-old credit card debt, and dealing with debt collectors who keep calling for a debt you don’t really owe? Watch the clip above to find out what you can do about bad debt collections.

When you receive a notice from a debt collection agency:

• First, don’t ignore this notice and don’t do nothing about it, and fight back! - you should dispute this issue in writing to the debt collection agency and force them to tell you so that you can make a judgment about how serious that situation is.
• Basically, you cannot be sued on a credit card debt that is more than 6 years old – normally the statute of limitations for old debts is just 6 years. If you’re unclear about it – refer to a debt settlement lawyer at your state.

Source: via 7online.com

To be frank, when you can’t resolve the debt problem on your own, it will be good for you to seek for advice and assistance from professional service providers as soon as possible before your financial situation becomes deteriorated.

Is it possible for a debtor to obtain individual help to overcome his or her financial problem?

Yes. There are a few sources you can refer to:

1. Debt Consolidation Loan Companies

If you have multiple credit cards on hand, you are advised to lump all your debts together and obtain a new loan from a debt consolidation loan provider. Instead of bearing high interest rates of the credit card debts, you should take up a personal loan which offers a much lower interest rate. By taking up a single loan, your debt will become more manageable. However, if you are currently unemployed, getting a new loan may be a financial risk for you. You may not be able to pay back your loan on time.

2. Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies

Many people do not have financial background and they don’t know how to handle their debt issues on their own wisely. In my personal opinion, when you have lost your way, you should refer to the consumer credit counseling agencies for help. These non-profit organizations provide a wide variety of services for public, especially to those people in debt. The professional credit counselors provide budgeting advice and debt management guidance for their clients.

Besides that, these counselors also help their clients to negotiate with their creditors to get them to eliminate late fees, extend the term of repayment or reduce the interest rates. At the same time, the counselors are also responsible to get the debtors to take up a debt repayment plan so that the debtors can become debt free in a proper manner.

3. Legal firms

Being a responsible credit card user, it is important for you to face your debt issues positively. You need to solve your debt problems legally. You may not know the law but you can seek for a lawyer of a legal advisor to assist you. Nowadays, there are many legal firms which offer debt relief services for people with reasonable legal fees. These professionals will assist the debtors to analyze their financial situations. They will advise the debtors to either go for debt settlement or file bankruptcy based on their individual cases.

To sum up, it is not the end of the day when you have accumulated a huge sum of outstanding balances. You can get assistance from many providers and there are many solutions waiting for you. Bear in mind that when you are in debt, you are not a loser. You can rebuild your finances easily with the help of a third party.