Latest Question

Question 1: What are the alternatives to payday loan?

People say that payday loans are bad but when someone need urgent money what should they do?

Winner Post

Answer 1: A friend of mine once reached a tight spot, and they refused to get a payday loan. They gathered up their entire CD and DVD collection and took it to a local retailer that always advertises buying back used music and videos for cash. He had quite a large collection, and even though each disc only averaged about $4, it actually all came to a total of a whopping $500. So, he managed to raise $500, which in our state, he would have had to have taken out 2 payday loans to get the same amount of money.The nice thing is that it’s better than pawning or selling precious items that you may never see again. You can always buy the same DVD/CD back in the future, when you are more financially fit.

Answer Posted by |Amaranth

The other answers worth mentioning are:

Answer 2: When someone needs urgent money, they should first consider what the money is needed for. If it is for a true emergency, like a medical necessity, then first they should see if any friends or family can loan them some money. Most people are embarrassed to ask for help from friends or family, but these people are the ones that would be most likely to help you. Also, they should check with their employer to see if they can get an advance or loan on their next paycheck. They should also check with local churches and help groups. Often times they have an emergency fund and are willing to help, even if you don’t belong to their group or religion. If they have any sort of savings they can tap into, that would be an option too. The last option would be checking with your bank. Many banks offer payday loan like loans if you have direct deposit. These are very much like a payday loan, only you know that your bank is a safe lender, and will follow the laws. You will also know that there is recourse if something does go wrong. Banks also tend to charge much less for these loans then storefront lenders.If the money is needed because you need to pay a bill, or need to buy a gift for someone, or something that really isn’t going to drastically effect your life if it isn’t paid, then you should consider just waiting until you have the money. Life won’t end. You can call your creditors, explain the situation, and many times they will give you an extension. Many people that have experienced the headache of getting out of the payday loan cycle will tell you that if they had just went without for that week, then they would never have been in the mess they were in. A way to avoid this need altogether is to build up an emergency fund. This way you have access to cash in an emergency, and it’s your cash. I know this isn’t always as practical as it sounds for those living paycheck to paycheck, but even putting $10 a paycheck into a savings account is a start. Every month you have any extra money, put that in the savings account too. Before you know it, you will have a cushion in case you need urgent money, and will have the piece of mind knowing that if something does happen, you will be able to handle it financially.
Answer Posted by | goudah2424

Answer 3: Begging to borrow money from family and friends is always a better alternative to the payday loan trap. A cash advance from your paycheck, if your company policy allows, won’t cost you 400% interest like a payday loan company. Ebaying items you don’t need anymore, or selling gently worn clothes to a consignment store. If the sun is out and you have an accessible neighborhood, throw an impromptu yard sale, clean out the closets and the toy box. You will probably be surprised how much one nice day will make you, on stuff you don’t need anymore. The price of gold and silver is up, up, up so if you have jewelry your not wearing anymore, trade it in for cash. Do you have a lawnmower or a garden tiller? Spring is here and these services are in high demand and are usually cash pay, offer your services on your street or in your neighborhood. Put yourself out there and maybe add income for the entire season. Finally, while not the ideal option, a pawn shop won’t charge you as high of interest as the payday loan store, they won’t call your boss, friends or family. These are some alternatives to the payday loan trap they will take a little more effort, but they won’t end in a nightmare.
Answer Posted by | msmadison

Answer 4: My reccomendation would be to see what methods you may have on hand by deferring current payments for a month. Most creditors offer this flexible option at least once every year and using this option keeps the account current. If you use this feature for instance on an auto loan or loan payments you may be able to free up several hundred’s of dollars for the month and no one to pay back.
Answer Posted by | angell

Answer 5: I’ve been there - the wolf is at the door, food is short in the house, and there are bills to be paid. A payday loan seems to be the only answer, since there are no family or friends to borrow from. What to do? My answer has been to start making phone calls. Call the creditors that you owe that week first. Explain you are short on cash that week - be honest. Try to make some sort of arrangement with them, promise to pay them on your next payday - and then do it. Don’t ever break a payment arrangement with a creditor if you can help it, because they will be less willing to make another arrangement with you when you need it. For food, I’ve taken donations from food banks when necessary. But if you can, try to get by with what you have, or supplement it with some inexpensive meal stretchers from the grocery store. Rice, pasta, chicken, soups are all fairly inexpensive meals. If you can spend $10-$20 at the store (and spend it wisely), you can buy enough to get through the week. You won’t be eating high on the hog, but you WILL be eating. Prioritize your spending - housing expenses first (rent/house payment), then food, then gas in the car to get to work, then bills.
Answer Posted by | SUEBEEHONEY70

Answer 6: Several times in the past when I needed emergency money and I did not have it I went to my Pastor and he and his clergy got toghter and had odd local church jobs for me to do which not only helped but saved me from drowing in my financial problems at that time. They also gave me bags of food and gave me hope and my pride back. I did not have to go to a PayDay loan place.I know it is scary, but before I ever go to a Payday loan place I would let my credit cards payment overlap becuase with even that the outcome may be cheaper than what a Payday loan can cuase in the outcome. And while that is happening I would join www.debtconsolidationcare.com and while you help all you can, you also help yourself financialy.

Thank You,
Lukeskywalker
04/25/2008
Answer Posted by | Lukeskywalker

Answer 7: The best alternative is to “not” borrow if you don’t have to. Instead, try re-working your budget. Put off buying things that can wait, and save up for them instead. Start a savings account today, and put at least 10% of every paycheck into it. Then in the future, when you are in a pinch, you can rely on your savings instead of borrowing.If you have an immediate need for funds, and cannot wait, there are a few good options:

1) Try borrowing from friends/family. Be up front with them, explain your situation, and put an agreement in writing to ease their mind. **Just make sure that you can/will follow through with the arrangements, or else you may “burn your bridges”.

2) Some employers will give payroll advances or company loans, which are usually interest free. They will set you up with a payment plan, and have your payments take directly out of your paycheck.

3) Credit unions are a good measure, they are usually very reasonable and don’t charge a lot of interest. A lot of employers have credit unions on-site or nearby that can help.

4) When all else fails, and you have to borrow from a traditional finance company: A) make sure they are licensed; B) shop around and compare interest rates; C) watch out for companies that say “no credit check” or “bad credit okay” — they say that for a reason, and the reason is usually because the rate is extremely high; D) make sure the payment fits your budget, and that you will be able to continue with those payments until it’s paid … it’s bad practice to enter into a loan worrying how you will make the payments.
Answer Posted by | DebtCruncher

Answer 8: I’ve learned from my own personal experience.One thing that held me back from asking for help from family or friends is my pride, and shame. But if I had to do it all over again I would have. I would much rather pay back a friend or family member then a payday loan company. More suggestions are, borrowing against a 401k plan if you have one, asking your employer for an advance on your pay, asking your employer for a loan (all they can say is no) and some employers have a reserve fund for just that purpose, they just don’t advertise it. More suggestions would be to sell items you no longer use but may hold enough value to get you by, or having a garage sale. Those are a few of my suggestions, I hope they help someone.
Answer Posted by | Shazzers

Answer 9: Borrow from family or friends.
Take out small loans with your bank or credit union.
Have a garage sale.
Sell your unwanted stuff at a flea market or swap meet.
Sell items on ebay.
Do odd jobs for cash, deliver newspapers, mow lawns, in the winter shovel snow.
Get a second job.
Borrow from your employer and have it payroll deducted.
Make crafts and sell them at a craft show.
Look for unclaimed money on the missingmoney.com website.
DO ANYTHING, BUT DONT TAKE OUT A PAYDAY LOAN.
Answer Posted by | strangclan

Answer 10: After being in the payday loan cycle, I believe that any alternative is better than another payday loan.If you owe a bill such as phone bill or utility try to work out payment arrangements with the creditor. I have found that most are willing to help you out, it’s better than not being paid at all. My employer has just started doing advances if we have an employee in desperate need. You have to pay them back weekly, but it is a sum that you can afford. Even if your employer doesn’t offer this assistance, they may be willing to help out. It’s better than having a stressed out employee who can’t concentrate on their job. If you have credit cards available you may be able to cash advance your credit card, the interest rate may be high but no where near as high as a payday loan. While I’m not advocating bouncing checks or writing a check with no funds available most banks do offer some kind of overdraft protection. The fees incurred are still less than a payday loan. Short of having a garage sale or selling something of value there is no way to make quick cash in my opinion. We need to further educate ourselves with our finances and learn to save something each week no matter how small to help cover emergencies when they happen.
Answer Posted by | jazzy4136

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How it works?

1. Our community picks up the question of the week, which is displayed on the site under the section “Answer & earn $50″.
2. Anyone can answer it. All the answers are kept hidden.
3. At the end of the week, all the answers are shown to our moderators’ panel. They pick up the 5 best answers (first one gets 5 points and fifth one gets 1 point).
4. Answers with the maximum points win.
5. $50 is paid to the member for the best answer.
6. Once the result is declared, all answers are made public.

Today is the first day of “Answer & earn $50″ and the first question is “What are the alternatives to payday loan?”And we already have SIX answers. Must say it is a great going

Technorati Tags: dollar, money, community, finance, payday loan

Mike I want you to know that you are always there in our thoughts and prayers. I truly believe that all the prayers from every one of us are heard and will be answered by GOD. So, do not lose hope and stay strong buddy.

Here are some lines for you friend

“Never let go of hope. One day you will see that it all has finally come together. What you have always wished for has finally come to be. You will look back and laugh at what has passed and you will ask yourself… ‘How did I get through all of that?”

“Hope” is the thing with feathers– That perches in the soul– And sings the tune without the words– And never stops–at all– Emily Dickenson

Fortune favors the brave - Publius Terence

Hope is always available to us. When we feel defeated, we need only take a deep breath and say, “Yes,” and hope will reappear. — Monroe Forester

Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall - Confucius

For hope is but the dream of those that wake - Matthew Prior

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do - Epictetus

The rose is fairest when ‘t is budding new, and hope is brightest when it dawns from fears - Walter Scott

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hope is the last thing that dies in man; and though it be exceedingly deceitful, yet it is of this good use to us, that while we are traveling through life it conducts us in an easier and more pleasant way to our journey’s end. — François de la Rochefoucauld

Technorati Tags: hope quotes, motivational quotes, inspirational sayings

Inquiries negatively affect your score but the extent to which it affects actually depends on the overall profile of the credit report that’s being scored. For instance, an inquiry is going to matter more on somebody who has a short credit history without a lot of accounts.

Consider a college student who has only a student loan included in his credit report. Now, if he gets a few inquiries, then that’s going to affect his score more negatively than someone else who has got a long credit history.

The worst thing to do while establishing credit is getting a secured account and then putting across your credit applications to all of the big banks and the national department stores. By doing so, you start generating hard inquiries that in turn lower down your score. As lenders consider too many hard credit checks as an indication that you’re facing some kind of financial hardship and are desperately looking for credit to help you out

Technorati Tags: credit report, credit inquiry, hard pull, credit score, establish credit

• Make fewer trips to store: I have cut down my trips to the grocery store. My trips have been reduced to once or twice a month. The fewer times I visit the store, the less opportunities I will have for impulse buying. Shoppers making a ‘quick trip’ to grocery stores end up spending 54 percent more than they intended.

• Every weekend plan for the coming week’s meals and snacks: On Saturdays I sit down and make a plan of the menus that will be cooked for the next week. I also plan for the snacks. Planning ahead restricts me from buying unwanted stuffs and also gives me an idea about the quantity of the items I need to buy.

• Try generic grocery products: Most of the people rush to grocery stores and grab the name brand. They simply overlook the generic products. I was also a bit apprehensive about using generic items at first, so I compared the ingredients in the generic and the national brand items. To my surprise in most cases, the ingredients present in the generic and the brand items were same. So, buying generic items do not imply that you are compromising on quality. Everything from breakfast cereals to canned goods and prescription drugs is available under a generic or store brand label. And by purchasing them you can actually save from a few cents to a couple of dollars per item.

• Stock up the necessity items if they are put on sale: Items like soaps, tissue papers and toiletries can be stocked up. Buying them in bulk will be cheaper. Instead of rushing to stores and wasting gas, you can easily use the items from your stock anytime when you need a new supply for your own use.

• Use coupons: I usually clip out the coupons that I intend to use in a week from the Sunday paper. I usually buy items that I regularly use with coupons- it does save money.

budget,grocery bills,budgeting tips,reduce grocery bills

Technorati Tags: budget, grocery bills, budgeting tips, reduce grocery bills

How is DebtCC trying to help people who can not pay the counseling fees?
People who need financial counseling can call at the DebtCC numbers. Then our system checks the list of the financial coaches available on the phone and will send call requests to the available coaches. The person who is calling will not know the number of the coach as the call will be routed via the DebtCC numbers. The process will almost look like:

The community members interested to help financially challenged people have to register their phone numbers with us (which will never be disclosed to anyone). As mentioned above the caller won’t come to know about financial coach’s identity as well as the number.

Discuss the idea with community members.

Technorati Tags: financial coach, debt help, counseling, debt, credit, community

The whole plan is about publishing a book entitled “20 authors 20 real life debt stories” with 20 debt stories from 20 different authors (normal people who fought the debt and won over it). It will be a narration of what worked and what didn’t, what they knew and what they didn’t, what mattered and what didn’t. A complete story in their own words.

The book won’t be merely a collection of 20 odd clichéd stories; rather it would be an ensemble of real life stories written by people who were once sucked in to debt. At its most basic, the authors will share how they got trapped into the world of debt and how they clawed their way out. Being in debt is very intimidating as well as depressing. You do not find anyone near you with whom you can talk to and share your money worries. I guess the stigma with the word DEBT still exists and it’s really very unfortunate.

With the help of this book, the community is hoping to help all the individuals who are struggling with their debt problems on their own, with no one beside to support them. They will be helped and more importantly motivated by these real life stories.

Within 2 days we have got two authors (FYI and Frogpatch) and soon we will have another 8 to start. So, if you want to participate then post your responses in the forum under 20 stories - 20 authors - book - how I solved my debt thread.

Technorati Tags: debt, books, authors, community, debt help, credit

Blog era was an era of shift from anonymity (Internet’s original strength) to identity. It was a shift by choice not by forceful laws. Internet/Web still has its own charm with its anonymity (for good and bad). This month an Eastern Kentucky lawmaker wanted to ban Kentuckians from anonymously posting information on the Internet.

Is it becoming a trend? First NY and now KY

Last month (Jan, 2008), New Jersey became the first state to enact a law requiring the dating sites to disclose whether they perform background checks. Ban on anonymous web postings is very different from the law that was passed on NJ’s online dating sites as dating is an act where two people make personal relationship while forum/blog is a place where a community meets as a group, the individuality doesn’t come into play at all. At many forums like debtcc forums, the community members are connected because of some common topic of interest and making personal relationship is not mandatory. It is up to the members whether they want to personally interact with others or not.

Now, let’s see what the proposed law says.

According to the proposed law:

1. Anyone who contributes to a website needs to register their full name, address and email address with that site. (How is one supposed to verify it?)
2. Their full name would be used everytime a comment is posted.

Punishment for violation:

1. $500 for a first offense.
2. $1000 for each offense after that.

Did Rep. Tim couch hear of his fellow member Publius? I know that it is practically impossible to impose such a law. We went ahead and asked our community members about it (Post 1: “Feedback about proposed law” and Post 2: “About disclosing their identity on debtcc forums“).

Some of the feedbacks from our community members:

• I can not have my “true name” out there because of my work. There are other people who have posted that they were in the same position. They have actually posted that they could lose their jobs over their financial difficulties. One person who worked in an accounting firm did, over her pdl issues. As JCEMT said about google-ing your name..that could really hurt some of the members and has the potential to keep others from getting the help they need- RoxyNY (not the real name)
• If posting under actual names became a requirement, I’d be gone. I’ve grown to love this place, and I consider some of you as ‘really-extended family’. But I have valid reasons, both personal and professional, to keep my private life private.I deal with sensitive data on behalf of my clients. As an IT consultant, I have their businesses literally in the palm of my hand. While my financial woes are older than dirt and all but insignificant compared to many I read here, would you want me hacking on your servers, knowing I was an active member of a site like this? Think about it….
  - Says unclewulf (not the real name)
• I totally agree. I would never have posted any of my problems here and because of that I would not have gotten where I am today. I hope that makes sense …
  - says spatterson_40 (not the real name)

The last comment is real worrying and can be considered as an opinion availed by almost 50% of the masses with debt problems.

Will the proposed law reduce the criminal activities or increases it?

It will probably increase stalking and real crimes as folks will now be able to actually find the person they are pissed at (says a member at WMW, another forum). Remember the case of Kathy Sierra, blogger and author, who got death threats over her blog. Some people want to avoid it while enjoying the same status as of Kathy on blogosphere esp the financial knowledge-o-sphere.

Other factors to consider

1. The cost involved in verifying the identity of the user.
2. How is one supposed to know that this is the same person who claims it to be behind the name? The accuracy is almost impossible.
3. Will bloggers be ever interested in doing such a level of interrogation while accepting a comment?
4. Will I ever respond to the emails/phone calls asking for verification?
5. How would KY succeed where China failed? Internet is controlled by KY webmasters alone. Will KY have a restricted use of Internet participation?
6. This would be a dream come true for marketers and spammers. They will get some more information in public and more information from website owners.
7. Then what will happen to services like blogger, wordpress.com, who will verify the user’s commenter?

I am just hoping that we aren’t seeing a trend here (Will Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will raise such issues too?). Earlier China, then NY and now KY. If it continues to influence other representatives then Web would lose it original strength of being anonymous. As webmasters most of us are very carefully about user privacy but a law might make it impossible to survive esp for community websites.

Let’s raise our opinion!!!!

politics, human rights, china, freedom of speech, freedom-of-speech, media, blogging, web, forum,Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama

Technorati Tags: politics, human rights, china, freedom of speech, freedom-of-speech, media, blogging, web, forum, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama

Movie cast:

• Lead role : Mike (the debtor).
• Acrtress in leading role: Jessi, the debtcc community member.
• Actor in supporting role: Mr Tom (the financial coach).
• (Negative role) Payday lender: The friend, the betrayer (with his pet shark).

For the complete movie visit
http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/movie/seaofdebt.html

And the oscar goes to …

There are some good discussion about

• Video news monitor from home.
• List of Paid Survey sites.
• Mystery Shopping

100 post in less than 2 days says it all. Thanking the community for great suggestions.