Getting By on Getting By

I've never been great with money, but I feel like I'm losing the battle. I try to be careful, but I keep falling behind. I've got so much credit card debt I'm scared to use them anymore. It seems like paydays can't get here fast enough. Do I have to live this way?

Suggested Life Focus Secure Advantage Action Plan:
Step 1- Download Your Life focus Software and Begin the Planning Process

Step 2- Register for One of the Life Focus Wealth Education Classes

Step 3- Contact a Wealth Coach and Begin Your Secure Advantage Program

Step 4- Develop a Spending Plan

Step 5- Develop a Hardship Plan

• Bed Bath and Beyond will honor competitor’s coupons, as well as their own expired coupons.
  
  
• Checking. Select a free checking account or one that has no minimum-balance requirement. Consider an online bank.
  
  
• Home Energy. Buy energy efficient appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners and furnaces. Enroll in load-management and off-hour rate programs offered by your utility company. Get a home energy audit to find ways to save on heating and air conditioning. Some utility companies do the audit for free or for an affordable charge. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs wherever you can. They use less electricity and last up to 10 times longer than incandescent light bulbs. They use the same sockets and produce the same quality of light as incandescent lights.
  
  
• Major appliances. Consult Consumer Reports magazine for information about specific brands and how to evaluate them, including energy use. Once you find a brand, call a few stores and ask for the prices of specific models. After each store offers you a quote, find out if it is the lowest price they can offer.
  
  
• Local and long distance telephone service. Check with your phone company to see if it offers a flat rate or measured service plan.Get rid of optional services such as three-way and call waiting. Check your bill to see if you have any optional services that you really don't need or use. Check out www.lowermybills.com for long distance calling plan information. Or, buy a long-distance phone card with rates of 3.5 to 5 cents per minute.
  
  
• Prescription drugs. Use your Life Focus Healthcare Discount Card. You can also ask for a generic equivalent; it's much cheaper. Pharmacies' charges vary so comparison shop regularly. Consider using a mail order pharmacy, which often sells for a lower price.
  
  

Step 6- Evaluate Your Mortgage and Other Assets

Borrow Against Your Own Assets
Assets that appear to be stale or inaccessible may actually be accessible, including your home, whole life insurance, a 401K plan, and savings accounts or certificates of deposit (CD's):

• Your home
  One of your best assets to borrow against may be your home. Second mortgages, equity loans, and refinancing your home mortgage, are possibilities. It is easier to qualify for a secured loan than to find a lender willing to offer an unsecured loan.
  A home is the best collateral to use to secure a loan at lower interest rates compared to rates typically charged by credit card companies and other high-interest lenders. The equity in your home can, in some cases, substantially lower your monthly payments on excess obligations. If you bought your home some years ago, the chances are good that you have equity in your home to borrow.
  Home equity loans are second mortgages based on the value of your house. Your home equity value is calculated by subtracting the total amount of your mortgage from the total market value of your home. The difference is the equity you have to borrow. This type of loan can come either as a loan or a line of credit. Keep in mind, however, a home equity loan is a loan against your home, and a series of missed payments could result in foreclosure and loss of your home.
  
  A home equity loan allows you to consolidate your debt. Debt consolidation allows a borrower access to part of the equity in their home. They can access it through a loan refinance with cash out to clean the slate and pay off other debt without the stigma of bankruptcy.
  
  The most important part of a debt consolidation is maintaining the new debt-free status. Many people who consolidate feel the burden of debt has been removed and within a year or two fall into old habits and pile up new debt on fresh credit cards. Financial responsibility is the key to avoiding this potential pit fall. Debt consolidation should make your life easier by reducing the number of creditors you have to write checks to every month and eliminating unaffordable monthly payments. This advantage is erased if old habits continue, and a new cycle of debt occurs.
• Life insurance
  If you have had the policy over a year, and it is a type of policy that has an investment component (whole life, universal life, variable universal life, etc.) it should be building cash value and you may borrow against it. You will pay interest on the loan, but at a lower rate than a bank or credit card would charge. However, keep in mind that the unpaid loan balance will reduce the life insurance proceeds until the loan is repaid. For instance, if you have a $10,000 cash value loan against your 100,000 life insurance policy upon death, approximately $90,000 would be paid, since the loan balance (plus interest charge), will be subtracted from the death benefit paid to beneficiaries.
• 401K
  Often your employer allows you to borrow against your 401k, usually for an amount equal up to 50% of your account balance, with up to 5 years to pay it back, through payroll deduction. The majority of the time, the interest rate is much lower than if you borrowed from a credit card, plus you are paying yourself the interest. The downside is, if you quit your job, or are laid off before you have paid the loan back, many employers will require that the loan be paid in full within 30-60 days of job termination.
• Loans secured by savings: Certificates of Deposit (CD's), savings accounts, etc.
  Some institutions allow you to borrow against your own savings. You may also be able to borrow against a CD to avoid an interest penalty for early withdrawal. The interest charged for this type of loan is slightly higher than what the financial institution pays you on your savings account or CD.
  
  
  

Step 7- Tax (W-4)
Check Your Tax Withholding
If you are paid as an employee and have taxes withheld from your paycheck, you will complete a W-4 form as part of your new hire paperwork. The W-4 form is a worksheet that establishes how much your employer is to withhold in estimated federal income taxes on your behalf, based on your response to certain questions. How do you know if you need to revise your W-4 form? If year after year, you receive a refund when you file your income tax, it is an indication that you are having too much money withheld from your paycheck.

For example, let’s say that this year after filing your income tax, you received a refund of $3,000, which means you over-paid your taxes. To determine how much you over-paid in income tax throughout the year, divide the $3,000 refund by 12 to get a monthly amount you are over withholding. You would then determine that based on the previous W-4 you submitted to your employer, you over paid (over-withheld) an additional $250 every month. By recalculating the amount withheld from your paycheck, completing a new W-4 form, and submitting to your employer, you can have an extra $250 in your monthly take home pay throughout the year. For anyone struggling to pay off debt, or wanting to increase his or her savings, this can be a way to increase the cash you have available every month. If you have a similar type of situation, you may want to reset your tax withholding to keep more of your income in your pocket each pay period.

To help you determine how much to adjust your withholding, use the withholding calculator found at http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96196,00.html. Keep in mind that by increasing your withholding exemption, you will decrease the amount of tax withheld, which will result in a smaller tax refund.
For assistance with adjusting your withholding, check with your financial coach to schedule a time to discuss how to complete a new W-4 form.
There is little incentive to overpay your income taxes when you consider that when you do, you are providing an interest free loan to the IRS. When you take the time to review your W-4 withholding, you will find that you can reduce the amount withheld monthly and maximize your take home pay. If you are making payments on your debt, the increase in cash flow that occurs when you have your withholding adjusted can allow you to pay down your debt more quickly.

Step 8- Credit Restoration
There are three national credit-reporting agencies that maintain records about you-Trans Union, Equifax and Experian. Each of these bureaus works independently to gather information from businesses to update and archive your credit profile. This data is available when requested by creditors, lenders, insurers, landlords and employers to be used in evaluating your financial responsibility. Even though the credit bureaus receive and archive your personal credit history, you are responsible for the accuracy of the information contained in each of the three credit reports about your financial life.

Statistics show that approximately 70 percent of all reports contain at least one error. These mistakes can sometimes cause you to be turned down when applying for credit, or to be charged a much higher interest rate for a loan or credit card. Your right to challenge incorrect or obsolete reporting in your credit file is protected by a federal law known as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FCRA is primarily concerned with credit bureaus and credit reports. The intent of the FCRA is to protect you against mishandling or abuse of your credit report information, and to provide you with legal tools to repair and improve your credit.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) grants you important rights as a credit consumer. You have the right to dispute any information in your report that you feel is false, obsolete, incomplete, or incorrectly entered. By disputing an entry, you are challenging the accuracy of what is reported on your credit statement and you neither admit nor deny your liability for the debt.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, it's not difficult to get rid of mistakes, but it can take time for everything to be corrected. There may be an exchange of mail, e-mail or phone calls that need to take place to communicate the changes that need to be made.

Whether you want to correct your credit report, address previous credit problems, or maintain your existing good credit profile, the following information will address the appropriate steps to take so you may better understand and employ the right approach. If you have been denied credit, have a dispute, or just want to know what's in your credit file, you would need to request a credit report from all three major credit bureaus to be certain that you have a complete picture of your credit file, or that you have completely removed any incorrect or obsolete information that may appear in any credit report.

Credit Restoration

Almost 80% of all credit reports contain innacuracies that negatively affect credit ratings for car loans, home financing, insurance premiums, and credit card APRs.

Solution: We Care offers six months of proven Credit Restoration services, and a credit bureau report with credit score for a substantially reduced cost. Members are able to track their progress and get scheduled updates when inaccuracies are corrected on their credit bureau reports.

Receive the peace of mind of a 100% money-back guarantee. In addition, members who complete the six-month credit repair process are guaranteed a 100% accurate credit report as verified by the credit bureaus.

Proven Credit Repair

Members receive proven credit repair for six months, and a credit report with credit score. You decide what items are inaccurate! Track your dispute progress at any time.

Federally Compliant

We follow all federal laws and regulations concerning credit repair and credit disputes. After six months, we guarantee your credit report accuracy as verified by the bureaus!

Step 9- Debt Management
Many people have borrowed money to cover their family budget shortfalls due to unexpected expenses, a loss of income, or poor budgeting and spending habits. The end result often becomes monthly debt payments that cause their financial lives to be disrupted month in and month out. If the debt gets out of hand, and late payments turn into missed payments, people often find themselves in a cycle of mounting fees and higher interest rates. The answer to this problem can be found in two words: “cash flow”.

But, how can someone increase their “cash flow” when they are in a cycle of expensive debt? There may not be one magic solution to this question. The solution is typically a combination of strategic budgeting and money management strategies to help the “money ship” sail smoothly again. The following information represents suggested actions - any one or a combination of these may help you overcome the fact that debt is an issue that can be ignored no longer, and to get to a point where you have a positive cash flow once again!

Step 10- Leverage the savings with all of the savings benefits and lifestyle benefits included in your Wealth Advantage Membership.

Step 11- Continue your Wealth Education Process by Attending Classes, Using the Wealth Library, Working With Your Coaches and Using your Life Focus Life Planning Software

Promises:
Working together with Life Focus and your Secure Advantage Money Coach you'll

• Figure out where the money goes and learn to spend it for maximum benefit
• Get resources who can give you tangible help if you have an immediate and urgent need
• See if a different mortgage can help solve some problems
• Pay only the taxes that are due only when they are due
• Start restoring your credit reputation
• Work toward living debt free
• Have more money in your pocket at the end of every month, guaranteed.