Personal Finance and Investing

You swore you wouldn’t do it.

You swore you’d keep your spending in check this holiday season and lay off the credit cards. But here you are again: stuck with loads of credit card debt and equal parts post-holiday guilt.

Don’t give up hope just yet, though. The fact of the matter is that there are a few, simple ways to control your debt and spending and eliminate credit card debt so that it doesn’t rule your life.

The following tips will help get you started on a new, financially responsible 2010:

• Consolidate your debt – Often times, debt can seem all the more overwhelming and difficult to manage when you are struggling with numerous credit cards. Instead,

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For more than 80 years, stocks have been paying dividends that have provided an important boost to the overall return of stocks. Dividends often get downplayed but they historically have been very significant. Over the last 82 years of history in the stock market, an average of 35% of monthly returns from stocks have come from dividends, a number much higher than most would guess. Twice there have been entire decades where the dividends paid to shareholders of stocks made up more than 50% of the average monthly return.

Companies have a choice about how much of a dividend they want to pay and many companies have cut their dividends during the recession.

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Having a bad credit makes it hard for you to buy a car. It is a smart thing to do to apply for auto and financial loans from banks and financial companies. Also read about vehicle insurance quotes.

But this thought is just applicable in the past, because now, chances are you will be able to have a car or auto loan. These days, the majority of credit unions, banking institutions and lending companies are making loans to individuals with poor credit histories. Standards for credit have broadened so dramatically that is almost impossible to not obtain a car. 

You must take some extra steps to purchase a car if your credit history is poor.

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Late credit card payments are a good reason for credit card companies to charge additional fees on a credit card account. In fact, some people get charged late fees even when they pay on the last day their credit card bill is due. Or, some credit card companies increase their late fees and move the due dates earlier in the month without notice so that clients are more likely to be charged a late fee. However, late payments can adversely affect credit score, cause a huge increase in credit card interest rate or significantly increase the credit card balance.

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