Another in our stand against unreasonable Student Debt (Con't)

5.  Consider non-traditional Student Loan Debt Providers

Federal Lans nearly always provide better interest rates on your college debt, and typically provide better debtor protections.

 However, if you need a private loan supplement, there are more and more interesting alternatives in the emerging crowd sourcing market.

• scholarshipproz.com/provides students with a platform to make their needs known and turn their education into a family, friend and community event, says vice president of marketing, Orlando Espinosa. 

• Upstart.com offers crowd funded loans in exchange for a percentage of the borrower's income over the next five to 10 years

• YouCaring.com lets users set up free fundraising pages for a variety of causes and students can share their pages with donors around the world through social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

• GradSavecom  directs donors to contribute directly into a user’s 529 plan, an education savings plan operated by either a state or higher education institution designed to help families save for college.Watch out though, not everyone gets their campaigns fully funded.

• FiPath allows parents to direct the funds into a savings account without paying fees for early withdrawal, Harrington explains that “collective peer pressure” prevents anyone from dipping into the account.

These nontraditional sites are an interesting alternative, just be careful as not all campaigns end up funded.  Be creative, shop as best you can to minimize your college debt, and debt expense.

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6 Sure Fire Ways To Get Upside Down in Debt! - (Con't.)

6. Play the balance transfer game.

Taming the debt monster is mostly about a mindset to be free of debt, and discipline.

Don't Feed The Debt Monster

The balance transfer game is a shell game, that seems to make a lot of sense on the surface.   There's a zero interest, or low interest card you can apply for.   Get it, and move all the debt from your high interest card to the low interest card, planning to pay it off in the 6 months low interest window.

The problem here is that you now have 2 cards which you can stack up debt with.  The low initial interest rate card is rarely paid off in the 6 month window.  The card issuers know this, that's why they offered it to you.   With the low interest card now maxed by moving all the high interest debt to it, you begin to re-use the high interest card as it now has breathing room.  Once the no interest window is over.. BAM... you now have 2 high interest cards, with balances, that you are paying for.

If you are given the opportunity to get a no interest introductory card, chances are that it is because your credit has improved enough that a card issuer is prepared to take additional risk offering you more credit.  Perhaps, your present card holder is not prepared to lose your debt business.   Try calling your current card holder, and explaining that you have another card offer, and asking for a reduction in interest to keep you as a customer.

It doesn't always work, but chances are it will work more often than thinking you will pay off the low interest card in time to not be paying on 2 high interest cards instead of one!

7 Credit Falacies!

So much misinformation about what impacts your credit score.

We'd like to set the record straight on 7 Credit Fallacies.

Bottom Line, as much as possible, be responsible, don't run up debt you can't afford, and live up to your obligations.

Fallacies

1.  The feds own credit bureaus.

HOOEY - the 3 major credit bureaus Experion Equfax and TransUnion are for profit public companies.

2.  Your Education Impacts your Credit Score.

As if someone would downgrade Bill Gates' credit because he didn't finish Harvard!   Credit scores are a measurement of your credit risk, and does not look at your education, race, bender or nationality.

3.  Multiple Inquiries Hurt your Credit Score

This used to be the case, but when you shop for a major purchase, it is normal to have a brief period with multiple inquiries as you find .. say.. financing for a car.   Multiple requests in a short period are often treated as as single inquiry, and have nearly no impact on your score.

4.  Checking your own credit report hurts your score.

FALSE!  In fact, savvy credit management dictates that you DO check your credit reports to be sure that everything there is accurate!

5.  It costs to see your credit history.

NOPE - you get - by law - a free credit report every year by going ot http://www.AnnualCreditReport.com

6.  Credit Counseling hurst credit scores

Getting help does not impact your score, and a good credit counselor can help you budget, get your finances under control, and improve your score.

7.  It Takes Years to change your credit score.

Your FICO score is updated monthly, and can be continuously and constantly improved and updated.  manage your credit wisely, and watch that score climb.