Debt Management – What it Means For You

Within this age of falling economic indicators and ever escalating credit card bills for the average American consumer, debt management has become something of a hot topic everywhere from water coolers to bar stools, but there are a host of different methods surrounding debt management. Everything from bankruptcy to home mortgage refinancing to payday loans could reasonably be considered a form of debt management, but, within the scope of our current essay, we shall concentrate upon those types of debt management that consolidate unsecured (meaning, those loans without property attached) revolving debts through a series of negotiations with the lenders by a third party debt specialist. Credit card representatives are surprisingly open to bartering when properly cajoled by experienced debt management professionals, and, depending upon which program you choose, your interest rates and sometimes even your actual balances may be reduced significantly through these negotiations. The principal forms of this sort of debt management are Consumer Credit Counseling and Debt Settlement. Both strategies consolidate existing loans while attempting to decrease the overall money that is owed – though, to tell the truth, Debt Settlement (not accepting funds from credit card companies, unlike the lender subsidized Credit Card Counseling industry) has a far better success rate for actually diminishing the financial obligations.To a point, consumers can endeavor to attempt this sort of thing themselves. Certainly, representatives of the unsecured creditors will be open to conversation about the consumers’ renewed attention toward paying off their debts and will often shrug away interest rate reductions or waivers of past fees. However, unless you include a certified debt management company, it’s unlikely that you shall be able to truly lower the amount of the burdens. This is the importance of the consolidation effect. Debt management companies – Debt Settlement companies, particularly – can wield their leverage so effectively primarily because, since they’ve already consolidated all the various debts from the borrowers, each lender knows that they will be surrendering no more than their competitors. It’s not exactly that lenders do not care about retaining the rights to whatever money’s owed at whatever interest rate was originally agreed upon, but those lenders also understand that – however weakened after the legislation of past year – Chapter 7 bankruptcy debt elimination does still exist. As long as there is some semblance of bankruptcy protection, however unlikely the chance or unpalatable the option, each borrower has the potential of declaring bankruptcy protection and legally abandoning all credit card accounts. The credit card companies are under no obligation to make such offers, of course, and a few lenders yet refuse to negotiate with Debt Settlement counselors nor decrease current credit accounts regardless of the threat.Since debt management remains such a relatively young field, many consumers are rightly concerned about how to go about selecting a company to work with. It’s not like you can just ask your grandfather for advice on debt management the same way you’d expect him to have knowledge of loan officers or accountants. To a certain point, one has to trust instinct when choosing the firm and the counselor with whom you’re – in a very real way – entrusting your family’s financial future, but there are ways to verify the company’s qualifications before starting the process. The Better Business Bureau and several federal agencies maintain records of prior clients’ disapproval. The internet tends to highlight negative features of virtually every enterprise. Consumer Credit Counseling agencies, the past three years, have become an essential part of the bankruptcy declaration – pointless courses are now required before and after Chapter 7 debt elimination – and, through this unexpected turn of events, the more legitimate Consumer Credit Counseling firms must now undergo Justice Department scrutiny and approval in order to be considered for this (highly profitable) secondary purpose. Consumer Credit Counseling companies that do not bother to request government certification likely either have something to hide or display a laziness that in itself should be a warning sign. Debt Settlement companies, while they are not subject to the same governmental scrutiny, maintain their own national organization which subjects members to a rigorous bout of testing before certification would be awarded.In the most basic possible explanation, the Debt Settlement approach attempts to negotiate lower balances from the creditors in exchange for a heightened payment schedule (and hefty tax write off for the lender, naturally). While the Debt Settlement method does carry alongside a deleterious effect as regards credit reports and FICO scores, the worsened credit rating is still relatively minimal compared to most other debt management solutions. Many of the unsecured lenders – we’re largely talking, once again, about credit card accounts – try to woo problem spenders and delinquent borrowers through offers of one-time lump sum payments that greatly diminish overall balances but those balance are not then reported as ‘satisfied’ to the credit bureaus, Indeed, while these sorts of shenanigans may technically be considered debt management, they are often falsely named debt consolidation when in fact the practice actually resembles a last ditch scheme of desperation on the part of the borrower and the lender. This sort of debt management approach is thought to be the last refuge of the wicked, and your credit report shall reflect this.As long as you do not overly upset the household budget nor forget to save some additional funds for medical emergencies and the like, each borrower should do what it takes to pay off their loans as swiftly as possible with the worst interest rates tackled first. While tax liens and court mandated burdens cannot be avoided – after all, the ultimate consequence for ignoring those debts is rather more severe than purely lowered FICO scores – there’s also little reason to pay much more than the minimum. Governmental debts generally feature very low interest and court representatives are surprisingly willing to extend terms and lower payments so as to not too greatly inconvenience the debtor, and the same can be said for most (typically community or state monitored) utility companies. Utilities, it should be said, also tend to forget to report late payments to the three credit bureaus, but the same cannot be said for real estate loans or other secured debts. You need to make sure your mortgage, especially considering the current boom market for foreclosures, is paid precisely on time (mortgage lenders, already tending toward the predatory, love nothing more than to ruin their borrowers’ credit scores so as to prevent future refinancing), but, even so, you shouldn’t concern yourself with getting rid of secured loans too quickly. They look the best upon credit reports, they appreciate in value (apart from automobiles, of course) and they tend to have the best interest rates.Credit cards should be the primary focus of proper debt management, and, to really strike a blow against the various lenders, you should probably consider one of the debt consolidation techniques that are increasingly popular for Americans of all walks of life. To be sure, you can talk to credit card companies on your own, but, as we said earlier, they are far less likely to treat settlement negotiations with amateurs as seriously as they would an experienced (and, with regards to the new debt settlement industry, certified) debt management profession. Even so, you have to remember that there are many different forms of consolidation out there and an equal number of possible results to be had from your efforts. So many consumers walk blindly into Consumer Credit Counseling offices after being pummeled by the endless succession of advertisements and are immediately talked into signing on in order to receive the lower interest rates (and, more importantly, the vastly lowered payments made available) without actually thinking over whether or not the program is right for them. There are FICO score issues to be discussed – Consumer Credit Counseling actually shows up worse than bankruptcy protection when written upon credit reports – and the question of whether or not such a program would actually aid your finances in the long view.Remember, while interest rates will almost assuredly be lowered well below what the credit card companies charge, there are fees involved with Consumer Credit Counseling (apart from whatever they charge the credit card companies; yes, it’s a very profitable enterprise) that do not always make up for the comparatively lessened interest rates. At the same time, while the payments will almost always be substantially lower through any Consumer Credit Counseling consolidation program, that’s often because the terms are extended to such a degree that – even if the interest has been dramatically shaved – the borrower will still end up paying more money over the course over the loan. Particularly for debtors that already have demonstrated problems with their buying habits, lower monthly minimums are not necessarily in the debtors’ best interests. Consumers prone to purchasing binges should not always have more spending money made available to them when they have not addressed the underlying causes that first landed them in the predicament of needing debt management assistance. Much of the time, you would be better suited by merely taking care of the bills at hand – with credit card remaining the priority – rather than paying additional money for one company to artificially lengthen the repayment process. At the very least, take care to investigate the Debt Settlement approach and indulge a free initial consultation to distinguish their possibilities when compared to Consumer Credit Counseling.Even after the approach has been decided upon and the company of choice has been, as they say, vetted, there are, still, several things to watch out for regardless of the business’ standing within the community or their previous dealings with friends and family. Remember, no matter how legitimate the company, you are personally dealing with a debt specialist working for that company, and, regardless of the organizational guidelines, even the best firms may sometimes hire counselors that are striving to get ahead above and beyond the purposes of their client. Once again, you must get everything – EVERY LAST DETAIL – written down and fully documented to prevent potential abuse from less than competent assistance. Ensure, through recorded agreements, that the creditors shall be paid each month on time as promised so that the debt management company knows that they themselves will be held liable for any potential slip ups. If the debt management firm says that the creditors insist upon an initial payment toward said debt management firm prior to negotiation (which does occasionally happen), ask to see the paperwork – or, better, talk to the lender yourself and verify precisely what they want.Do not agree to any program necessitating stipends that you believe your household cannot regularly meet. It is the responsibility of the debt management company to calculate a budget that recognizes the day to day expenses their clients of yet and does not stipulate a monthly payment that overly restricts the availability of their funds. So much of debt management revolves around proper budgeting, and the counselor has to be considerate of their clients’ needs. While you should not thoroughly respect any program that allows overly lax terms (minimizing payments without touching the balances of your credit card debts, after all, only increases the eventual sums to be paid once compound interest continually adds up), you have to make sure that the payments are still comfortable for the household throughout the year. As well, you should know that most of the more effective debt management solutions force their clients to refrain from additional borrowing over the course of the program. Once again, this philosophy changes alongside the debt relief approach that you choose, but you’d probably better assume that, while within the debt management proceedings, you will not be allowed to take out further loans.If anything we have written sticks with you, it should be this: document on paper ever single element of debt management. Even prior to accepting one program or another, you should receive a written estimate that details every single fee the debt management company may charge. However comfortable and friendly the debt counselor that you plan to work with may seem, do remember that the most successful financial professionals essentially ask for as much as they think the borrower is willing (or able) to pay. No matter your relationship with the debt management specialist handling your case, demand a legal documentation of everything discussed. It’s just common sense, really. Even if your counselor genuinely is legitimate and beyond reproach, the debt management company itself may have institutional guidelines that attempt to slip in unnecessary charges hidden in the fine print. The eventual quote can’t be analyzed too closely. If you aren’t sufficiently familiar with the verbiage or concepts surrounding the debt management contract, ask friends or even acquaintances for assistance. Make absolutely sure that this is the program that you want to join and that this is the company you wish to work with for a number of years. Once you sign up for a debt management program, it’s not exactly a life partnership, but the repercussions shall be felt for years to come should things go poorly.

Discover Mattress Cleaning Business Opportunity, Start NOW, Benefit $Millions in Free TV Advertising

Mattress Cleaning? When was the Last Time You Cleaned Your Mattress? Clean a mattress…what the heck are you talkin’ about? Mattress cleaning is a newly developing and untapped business opportunity. Mattress cleaning is an absolute necessity, proven and evidenced over the last decade by the steadily decreasing $billions spent by Europeans annually, on respiratory and allergy medications. Nearly 4,000 mattress cleaning businesses have sprouted up throughout Europe in the past twelve years and continue to sprout up there and in other places such as Australia, the Far East, and the Pacific Rim. Now, North America has become virgin territory for the up and coming, mattress cleaning professional.Actually, Mattress Cleaning is Far, Far, from being a New PracticeFor thousands of years, mattress cleaning had been a routine task typically done each spring and if the weather permitted, again in the fall. Mattresses were toted outdoors, propped up against a pine tree, and then had the crap (literally) beaten out them with big tree limbs. Certainly, I suppose around the 1900′s, the use of tree limbs may have been replaced with baseball bats, 2×4′s, hockey sticks, tennis rackets, 9-irons, or whatever else might have been handy and still including the ever present tree limb.Grandma and Grandpa knew decades ago, what the Europeans have recently learned. I now know what grandma and grandpa knew. I can recall back in the ’60′s, that if I wanted to go out on the lake and fish for bluegills, I had to first tote all the mattresses outdoors, prop them up and beat them mercilessly. This laborious and mundane chore slowly evaporated to the point that we have completely forgotten about it. During the ’60′s and beyond, the U.S. population became more and more mobile. Grandparents moved to Florida or Arizona, or maybe stayed behind while their children and grandchildren moved away, thus, this miserable, dusty task, which had no apparent visual change…died.The Connection between Poor Indoor Air Quality and Unhygienic MattressesIndoor air pollution has been pinpointed as the reason for increasing respiratory illnesses, year after year, since 1980. Construction methods implemented in the ’70′s due to the energy crisis, called for improved insulation and more “air-tight” buildings. The negative effect, unknown until recently, is that the decrease in natural ventilation has allowed for an increase in poor indoor air quality, allowed dust mites to thrive, and allowed harmful allergens to accumulate. Within household dust, 80%-90% of the allergenic composition is directly produced by dust mites. Every home in the U.S. has dust mites and over 50% of the homes are infested with dust mites.The dust mite allergen (DMA) called “guanine” found in fecal matter of dust mites, is a very potent digestive enzyme that breaks down and destroys living tissue. An average-sized mattress harbors 2,000,000 dust mites excreting 20 to 30 fecal pellets each day. Due to its light weight, the guanine allergen easily becomes airborne and is so small in size that it is easily inhaled, destroying healthy lung cells. It affects everyone to varying degrees, but has very serious consequences for infants to age five, the elderly, and persons with chronic illnesses. Very unfortunately, this group of people is also the same group that spends 95% of their life indoors. The percentage of new cases of asthma and asthma deaths, have outpaced the population growth across the U.S. and is now at nearly epidemic proportions. The number of persons suffering from allergies has increased likewise.Dust Mites, Government, Health Associations, News Media, and TV HostsThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has replaced their previous #1 concern, outdoor air quality, with indoor air quality. U.S. health organizations, across the board, have partnered with the EPA to educate the American public of this latest major concern. National, as well as local, news media have aired many television reports and have at their disposal, public service announcements (PSA’s) created by the EPA, ready for broadcasting. (see the EPA’s, new in 2007, website: http://www.noattacks.org ). All major news networks such as FoxNews, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, and Headline News, have featured prominent personalities such as CNN’s, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, FoxNews’ Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld, NBC’s Matt Lauer and Katie Couric (formerly of NBC) and most recently, on March 21st, 2007, ABC’s “Good Morning America” aired a segment reporting on this alarming issue. Featured on GMA, were two university professors and the CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association.Every Day, Major Corporations Promote the Need to Remove Dust MitesIf you still feel the above exposure does not warrant the need to start your own “Home Indoor Allergen Control” business, focusing mainly on the removal of dust mites and DMA’s, then consider this fact. Dozens of big businesses such as; Tempur-Pedic, Trane, Fil-Trete, SC Johnson & Son, Oreck, Bissell, Dyson, and Sharper Image, are all “jumping on the bandwagon” and spending millions of dollars advertising on television, radio, and in the print media. It’s no wonder why, because the potential size of the targeted market is not just huge, it’s magnanimous!Over 20% of the U.S. population suffers from asthma, 50% suffer from allergies and everyone is impacted by the harmful ill-health effects of guanine. Now throw into the mix the “health and wellness” movement that continues to build momentum and retiring baby-boomers with disposable income. That’s big money to be made! Major corporations want their share of the “pie” and are aggressively marketing their products as the “end all/cure all” solution to the problem of indoor air pollution and dust mites. By doing so, this huge spending spree is also educating the public, marketing, and advertising the NEED for YOUR new business opportunity! Are you still not motivated, are your eyes not open to the possibilities, do you need MORE convincing? Okay, no problem, I got more, read the next paragraph for the “kick in the butt” that you need (and maybe, deserve).How Can A Mattress Cleaning Business Compete with Big Corporations?Four words, “their products don’t work!” Every one of the products being aggressively marketed as the “end all/cure all” is a passive, or a static, product that does not “attack” the sources of indoor contaminants. They are “defensive” products that do not take an “offensive” approach. Each one, either in use by itself or in combined use with the other products, still don’t provide the necessary results or provide the necessary relief needed by millions of people.Only a proactive, dynamic offense that attacks, removes, or reduces the contaminant sources to an acceptable level, can achieve positive results. Professional mattress cleaning technicians provide the needed results by using technologically advanced, high-performance HEPA-rated vacuum cleaners designed for servicing “cleanrooms” in the hi-tech field, special UVC light wands with Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) capabilities, and odorless, all natural, non-toxic, non-flammable enzyme cleaners. The trained eyes of professional mattress cleaners are also needed to identify the horrifying, blood-sucking bedbugs, which were once nearly eradicated but are now making a come-back.Research the “Mattress Cleaning Business” to See if It’s for YouEnter “dust mites” and “mattress cleaning equipment” or “mattress cleaning business” into the search engine of your choice. Some companies charge $5,000, $9,000 or even $23,000. Do not pay over $2,500. Combine the efforts of U.S. government and the desire of health organizations’ to educate the public, the “Health and Wellness” movement, the ever increasing indoor pollution effects on our health, free national media exposure, corporations advertising the need for the service, the publics awareness of the need for “green” or “environmentally friendly” services, this may very well be…the business opportunity for YOU!

Importance of Basic Diet and Nutrition – 4 Essential Fat Loss Tips

Is it necessary to provide our body adequate diet and nutrition? Is good nutrition important to our health? Eating well means achieving or maintaining adequate nutrition that is necessary for every person to improve and maintain optimal health. Eating healthily includes special diets for weight loss, lowering cholesterol level, blood pressure and controlling diabetes mellitus. It also includes nutritional guiding principles and healthy recipes. Basic nutrition and diet therapy are the two most important factors we should consider to keep our health to the fullest.A person’s diet is composed of the food they eat while nutrition is the means of nourishing our body appropriately. Adequate diet and nutrition means that your body is getting all the vitamins, nutrients and minerals it requires to function at its best level. Therefore, eating a healthy diet and nutrition is your primary way to get good health.Most people believe that a balance of diet and nutrition, including physical activity can help them reach and keep a healthy weight. However, the benefits of good nutrition, outweighs the weight. Good health can also improve heart and other body organs function, including mental health; improve school performance, better wound healing and fast recovery from injury or any diseases. Having enough diet and nutrition in our body system can also boost our immune system, increasing the body’s ability to fight off diseases and infections.Every individual has unique nutritional needs, and every person’s diet and nutrition should meet those specific needs. For instance, an infant requires different diet and nutrition than an adolescent. Also, the nutritional needs of a pregnant woman are much different from those of a toddler. On the other hand, a person’s height, current weight and activity level can also influence the quantity and quality of nutrients their body needs.Here are several tips for healthy diet and nutrition:1.Eat foods that are rich in fiber. Taking in fiber rich foods can make you feel full much longer as they stay extensively in the stomach compared with carbohydrates, tricking your brain that there are still enough foods in your tummy. Thus, keeping you off from food cravings.2. Include fruits and vegetables in your diet and nutrition. It is recommended to eat fresh frozen fruits rather than ready made fruit juice for most of your drinks. Eat adequate amount of dark green leafy vegetables, beans and peas most of the time as they contain lots of fiber.3 Eat lean meats. This is one way to reduce calorie intake, especially fats that go with meats. Other protein-rich foods include fish, peas, pork, seeds, nuts and beans.4 Eat all food groups in moderate amount. Be sure you know the limits of salt, fat and sugar especially those foods that are high in saturated and trans fat as they tend to raise bad cholesterol level in the blood, increasing our risk of having heart diseases.Generally, a healthy diet and nutrition is the one that provides your body balance nutrition. It is necessary to make smart selections from every food group, balance between food and physical activity and obtain most nutrition out of your calories.