"ASK HR!"

Tami Stroud:
"How about credit card companies closing your accounts and dropping your available credit down to what you owe on the card, even though you haven't put anything on that card?"

While finance is by no means my strong point, I do know from personal experience that credit is a DANGEROUS game and unfortunately, not many - if any of us get any real training or instruction about it. I remember when I got my first credit card. My father "warned" me about being careful, but he did not "instruct" on HOW to go about being careful. As a result I have spent & continue to spend years AND MONEY making up for my recklessness and ignorance.

It's a deep hole, but the best way to climb out of it is to pay everything off! Never mind these credit counsleing clowns ... all you're doing ("you" generally speaking) is paying THEM to do what you should be doing for yourself. If you owe "ABC" bank "X" amount of money and "XYZ" bank another amount of money, what sense does it make to pay someone else any part of the money that would be better spent paying it to the people you actually owe?

PAY SOMETHING - ANYTHING - AT LEAST the minimum. It shows that you're making an effort to pay your debts. If/when things ease up a little, continue to pay your bills as though times are still tight. In other words, when you pay off one card CUT IT UP and close the account! That way, your credit rating goes up and you don't have to worry about "extra charges" getting put on that account. After you've closed that account, take the amount you were paying on it and apply it to the next card or account. Now, you're increasing your payments and even covering those "finance charges" that are hidden in your "minimum payment due."

I used that formula up until I got to my last credit card. It is now the ONLY credit card that I have. It has a $500 limit, and while not even having a need to use it to that extent or limit, that is what I use to live off of for personal expenses like lunch, toiletries and gas. What little bit I spend I budget to pay off from my paycheck and I have more money in my paycheck to cover the big things like my mortgage, car note, utilities, insurance, groceries, etc.

I find myself having more money left over after bills are paid and I transfer that money into my savings and investments. I would recommend that you read "ZERO DEBT" by Lynette Khalfani. Actually, I would recommend that you read ANYTHING written by her!

Good Luck & Keep the Questions Coming!!