Welcome to the 9th Edition of Everything About Personal Finance!

In this carnival, just like the previous ones, you’ll see a wide variety of collection of fresh articles about Personal Finance in the topics of  career, credit card, debt management, frugal living, property, make money online, insurance, investment, savings and others.

the contributors of the articles – thanks for participating! Please feel free to join this Carnival again in the future. Can you do me a favor? Can you please link this article back to your blog, so that both our readers can benefit from this post? Thanks!

What is blog carnival? It is a collection of articles from other blogs on the related topic. It’s divided to smaller topics where you can zoom in to the ones that interest you. The articles are fresh, so it’s always useful to come back for more.

If  you like this article, you can subscribe to get future articles to be sent directly to your email.

Career

Alvina Lopez presents 100 Best Personal Finance Blogs for Recent College Grads – Online Degree Programs.org: Top Online Degrees posted at Online Degree Programs.org.

Linda Jones presents 100 Places to Plan & Research Your Next Career Move posted at Best Colleges Online.

nissim ziv presents How to Decide on a Career? How to Choose a Career Path? posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “All of us have some thoughts and ideas about our careers and professions. It is however sad to see that not everyone reaches a career or path of profession that they would like to.”

nissim ziv presents How to Reach your Career Goals and Objectives posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “Being successful in a profession covers a lot of aspects. Being successful in a career does not only mean being paid at the end of the month and getting appraisals at the end of a year or more. .”

nissim ziv presents Why Did You Choose This Career - Interview Question and Answers posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “Some of these job interview questions are trick questions, which are basically asked in a bid to differentiate between the good interviewees and the best interviewees. One such tricky question is why did you choose this career?”

Logan Flatt, CFA presents Volunteering to be Selfish | PowerWealth.com posted at PowerWealth.com.

Jeff Rose presents Changing Careers? How To Become a Certified Financial Planner posted at Jeff Rose.

Kate Hopkins presents 100 Best Blogs for Career-Minded Students posted at Online Schools.

Alvina Lopez presents How to Not Go Broke in College: 100 Tips, Tools, and Tricks posted at Associate Degree Blog.

Linda Jones presents Beyond Monster: 50 Great Career Links for Recent College Grads posted at Online Universities.com.

Credit Card / Debt Management Programs

Bob Brooks presents Nightline Busts these Debt Settlement Scams posted at Deceptive Money.

Damon Day presents Top 5 myths told by Debt Settlement Companies posted at Damon Day, saying, “Often times Debt Settlement Salesmen will say anything to sign up consumers into their programs. It is important for consumers to educate themselves on the topic of debt settlement so they can recognize when they are being told the truth and when they are being led down the wrong financial path.”

Daniel Drew presents Unsecured Small Business Loans posted at My Business is doing well should I choose an SBA Loan?, saying, “”Lines of credit are generally paid off by opting for a permanent source of financing. In case of commercial property line of credit, the sale of the old property may help repay the line of credit”"

David presents Balance Transfer for Life Offers posted at Credit Card Offers IQ, saying, “Review of balance transfer for life offers.”

The Dough Roller presents AccountNow Prepaid Visa and MasterCard posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “Review of the AccountNow prepaid credit card.”

BrandonLaughridge presents Credit Scores: How Important Are They? posted at Mortgage Loan Place Blog, saying, “Learn how to improve your credit score and why it matters.”

CreditCardAssist presents Debit Cards Are Popular But Credit Cards Still Needed posted at Credit Card Assist, saying, “Post that discusses the rising popularity of debit cards and the need for solid, conservative credit card products and services is still in great demand from consumers.”

James Williamson presents Instant Approval Unsecured Credit Cards posted at Spare Dollars.

SpendOnLife.com presents Can My Credit Card Company Sue Me? posted at SpendOnLife.

Daniel Drew presents Unsecured Small Business Loan posted at My Business is doing well should I choose an SBA Loan?, saying, “”Lines of credit are generally paid off by opting for a permanent source of financing. In case of commercial property line of credit, the sale of the old property may help repay the line of credit”"

The Dough Roller presents List of Free Prepaid Credit Cards posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “A list of free and low cost prepaid cards.”

Frugal Living

KCLau presents Thoughtless Spending posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “I was surfing the web recently and an article in Yahoo finance caught my attention. The article emphasizes the need to curb spending on the miscellaneous things in daily life.”

Insurance

List of Auto Insurance Companies posted at Home Life Weekly, saying, “A great list of Auto insurance companies to help find the best quotes together with customer satisfaction scores. Makes some interesting reading!!”

Master Your Card presents What to Expect If You Declare Yourself Bankrupt | Master Your Card posted at Master Your Card, saying, “If you’ve made the difficult decision to declare yourself bankrupt, you’re probably breathing a big sigh of relief at having the weight lifted off your shoulders. Once this passes though, you’ll probably be wondering what life will be like now that you’ve taken the plunge, and how you can rebuild your credit situation again.”

Joshua Dorkin presents Health and Life Insurance: Two Policies – Two Different Needs (slightly off topic of RE) posted at Real Estate Investing For Real.

Investing

Ashley Cook presents Money Saving & Goal Setting posted at Saving Money Today, saying, “When it comes to saving money, it is important to have goals.”

Debt Wizard presents Savings and Timeframes posted at Money Help, saying, “When it comes to saving money, you need to keep in mind your timeframe.”

Jonathan from Debt Loans presents Debt Consolidation vs. Bankruptcy | Debt Loans posted at Debt Loans, saying, “Despite Australia seemingly missing the worst of the Global Financial Crisis, there is no question that these are difficult economic times. To many people, it is a struggle just to pay the bills each month. Other people are in an even more difficult situation and, with each passing day, they are falling even further behind. What do they do? Debt consolidation and bankruptcy are two options available for those who are deeply in debt. However, is one option better than the other? Which option is right for you?”

Investing School presents What is Net Working Capital? posted at Investing School, saying, “Net working capital is one of the most important asset to have.”

Marvin Johnson presents Forex Trading Software That Really Works: Cutting-Edge Forex Trading Software Released By Noted Ivy League Wiz posted at Forex Trading Software That Really Works.

Stock Trading Brokers presents Investing Basics - Work With an Online Broker For The Right Reasons posted at Stock Trading Brokers, saying, “Remember to know why you are using an online broker.”

Jimmy Atkinson presents Sugar ETF Surges On Supply Concerns posted at ETF Database.

Finance Tips 101 presents Pocket Some Hard Earned Cash By Saving On The Electric Bill posted at Finance Tips 101.

Jeff Rose presents Using a Roth IRA to Maximize Your Wealth posted at Jeff Rose.

Rohit presents Dump your savings account..! posted at eMoneyLog, saying, “Thoughts on how High Yield checking accounts have made savings account obsolete.”

MoneyNing presents Rental Property vs REIT posted at Money Ning, saying, “Which is best? Getting a rental property or investing in REITs? Here we weigh in.”

Make Money Online

Mike smmrs johnson presents How to Make money online fast posted at how to make money online… Fast!, saying, “It’s easy to make money online once you know what you are doing. At one point their was no money, and look how much there is now. There are various forms of money all over the world.”

Gregory E. Rouse presents FREE Online Office Programs posted at Free Online Business.org, saying, “FreeOnlineBusiness.org the site that finds and posts FREE software and tools for running an online business!”

Ross G presents August $50 giveaway posted at Will it change you: portal for personal growth, saying, “Does giving money away manifest it back to you?”

Jonathan from Debt Loans presents Debt Consolidation Services: What You Need To Know | Debt Loans posted at Debt Loans, saying, “Debt consolidation is relatively simple to understand; as the name implies, you are consolidating your debts. This means that instead of keeping track of multiple loans and multiple payments, you take out one large personal loan that assumes all of your current debt. This way, you only keep track of one loan and one payment with a single interest rate.”

CPF presents How to make money writing for Hubpages posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “Tips for beginning to create passive income with Hubpages”

Brian Campbell presents 5 Secret Characteristics of Successful Forex Traders posted at Brian Campbell, saying, “Ever wonder what makes a successful forex trader tick? Find out the 5 secret characteritcs that every successful forex trader possess.”

Others

Master Your Card presents Beware The Curse of The Cosigner posted at Master Your Card, saying, “If you’re diligent about paying your bills and keeping your credit score high, the time may come that someone may ask you to cosign for a credit card. This will become even more likely once President Obama’s CARD Act goes into effect in 2010, requiring anyone under age 21 applying for a credit card to have a cosigner if they don’t have sufficient income. Often, the person asking is a family member or friend that you may find it hard to turn down. But is the satisfaction of helping another worth the risk of destroying the credit rating you’ve worked so hard to achieve? Only you can answer that question, but there are a few things you should consider before making your decision.”

KCLau presents I achieved financial freedom at 38 posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “This post is contributed by WaiYin, a reader whom I admire very much because she achieved financial freedom at age 38! Here, she shares how she did it.”

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Is Your Car Eligible for the Cash For Clunkers Program? posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “There is a lot of confusion regarding which vehicles are eligible for the $3,500 to $4,500 voucher for the Cash for Clunkers program.”

Harold presents Cash for Clunkers – An Uncertain Future posted at The Car Enthusiast, saying, “Although the Cash for Clunkers program has been quite popular, it has faced its fair share of challenges and criticisms.”

CPF presents Is the iPhone coming to verizon? posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “Rumor has it that the iPhone will be coming to Verizon soon - could it be true?”

Property

FMF presents A Moving Nightmare posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “A warning about the perils of moving.”

Retirement

MoneyNing presents 401k, Traditional IRA and Roth IRA Savings Not The Same posted at Money Ning, saying, “When you plan for retirement, do you really look into the tax situation and how it will affect your account balances?”

Savings

Patrick @ Money Saving Deals presents Chase Bank $150 Coupon Code for New Chase Checking Account posted at Cash Money Life Deals, saying, “Get a $150 sign up bonus with Chase Bank Checking Account.”

Barbara Williams presents 100 Money-Saving Hacks for Living Large on a Student Budget posted at Online Courses.

Ashley Cook presents Easy Ways to Save Money at the Gas Station posted at Saving Money Today, saying, “With rising gas prices and pressure on the economy, pinching pennies at the gas pump can add up to some seriously big bucks.”

Barbara Williams presents 100 Productive Ways to Spend Your Summer Vacation posted at Online Courses.org.

Lazy Man and Money presents How I Saved Hundreds in a Half Hour posted at Lazy Man and Money.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of everything about personal finance using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: everything about personal finance, blog carnival.

Earlier Carnivals On Personal Finance:

• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 8th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 7th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 6th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 5th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 4th Edition

Other posts that you may be interested in:

• 7 powerful tips to become a successful day trader
• Powerful methods to get you out of your credit card debt
• The secret to having money
• Simple tips to trim down you monthly expenses
• 10 powerful steps for a financially sound retirement
• Simplest way to make money online - paid surveys

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Popularity: 34% [?]

Since H1N1 related sickness and deaths are increasing day by day, you should check whether your medical & health insurance policy provides cover for H1N1.

Here are few things that you can do to check whether H1N1 pandemic is covered

1. Check out the policy wordings of your medical & health insurance.

Now, this can be a little bit tricky. Unless you’re a lawyer or working in an insurance company or is quite familiar with insurance, this can be tough. (I mean, who actually reads the policy or contracts when you sign for insurance right? Only when there’s a claim to be made people will scurry to the contract and pray hard the claim is covered).

But if you want to have a go, you should refer to the “Exclusions” provision. This is where it is spelt out on the conditions that your medical & health insurance will not cover.

Most of the time, pandemics are not listed as one of the exclusions, hence, your medical & health insurance should provide coverage on H1N1 related illness. (Phew!). But some contracts may have some exclusions when it comes to pregnancy or pregnancy related sickness, so if you’re pregnant, you should check further whether you’ll be covered if H1N1 strikes.

2. Call up your insurance company

This would remove all doubt as you’ll be hearing it directly from the source on whether you’re covered or not. The drawback is that when you call them up, you would most probably get to talk to their customer service representative, who may already have a scripted answer for that question, which would probably tell you nothing much. If that’s the case, you should insist on them to provide you with a definitive answer. Let them call up their claims personnel and to call you back.

3. Call up your insurance agent

You’ve been giving your agent a lot of commissions already. Now let him do more work for you. This should be the easiest thing to do. Let your agent find the details for you and he can let you know in more detail.

If your agent can’t do that for you, then maybe it’s a good time to look for a new agent.

4. Claiming when you’re abroad

This is something important that not too many people are aware of. Let’s say if you go to a different country say, U.S. and you got infected by H1N1 and you’re treated over there. If you make a claim to your medical & health insurance, the insurance company may only pay back the amount on what is a normal and customary amount should the treatment is done locally.

For example, if the treatment in U.S may cost your 10,000 dollars, and that same treatment may only cost 6,000 dollars in your country, then your insurance company may only pay you 6,000 dollars (leaving you with 4,000 to bear on your own)

This situation is not specific to H1N1 but to all types of treatment abroad. So before you go abroad, you should check with your insurance company or agent about this.

Conclusion

Your medical & health insurance policy would probably cover you if the H1N1 virus strikes you. But to be safe and sure, it’s best that you find it out for certain.

Photo by TreintagenariO @ flickr

Other Personal Finance posts that you may be interested in:

• Investment-linked insurance - the best of both financial worlds
• Powerful methods to get you out of your credit card debt
• The secret to having money
• Simple tips to trim down you monthly expenses
• 10 powerful steps for a financially sound retirement

Collection of Articles on Personal Finance (Carnivals):

• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 7th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 6th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 5th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 4th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 3rd Edition

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Popularity: 13% [?]

Welcome to the 8th Edition of Everything About Personal Finance!

In this carnival, just like the previous ones, you’ll see a wide variety of collection of fresh articles about Personal Finance in the topics of  career, credit card, debt management, frugal living, property, make money online, insurance, investment, savings and others.

Just like the previous carnival, we will also choose the top 10 articles for this carnival.

To the contributors of the articles – thanks for participating! Please feel free to join this Carnival again in the future. Can you do me a favor? Can you please link this article back to your blog, so that both our readers can benefit from this post? Thanks!

What is blog carnival? It is a collection of articles from other blogs on the related topic. It’s divided to smaller topics where you can zoom in to the ones that interest you. The articles are fresh, so it’s always useful to come back for more.

If  you like this article, you can subscribe to get future articles to be sent directly to your email.

Personal Finance Pick Of The Week

Kathryn presents International Unemployment Rates posted at Out of Debt Christian, saying, “The US unemployment rate hit 9.5% in June, a 26-year high. It’s predicted to go even higher in the coming months. But how does that compare with other countries? Check out this list of International unemployment rates collected by the Central Intelligence Agency. These are countries with higher unemployment rates than the US.”

David presents Fixed Rate Credit Cards are the Latest Casualty of the Credit Card Act of 2009 posted at Credit Card Offers IQ, saying, “With the passage of the Credit Card Act of 2009, many card issuers have stopped offering fixed rate cards in favor of variable rates.”

One Advice presents Assets in Bankruptcy posted at One Advice, saying, “Declaring bankruptcy mean you will no longer have control over your assets. Know your right before declaring bankruptcy…”

Big Larry presents Stupid Ways to Get Cash posted at Out of Debt Christian, saying, “When you are desperate for cash, there is always *someone* willing to lend you money, but of course at a tremendously high price. We reveal the high price of for popular ways to get quick cash and provide more sensible alternatives to each.”

The Smarter Wallet presents How To Consolidate Debt: Ways To Reduce Your Debt Load posted at The Smarter Wallet

The Investor presents How buying an iPhone can help make you rich posted at Monevator.com, saying, “Can it ever be financially sensible to buy a more expensive phone? Depends how you look at it…”

Brian presents High Cost Of Health Care: What Is The Root of the Problem? posted at How To Live a Longer Life, saying, “It doesn’t matter if we have private health care insurance, single-payer public coverage, or if we pay out of our cash and savings. No matter the health care system, the last year of life will be more expensive. At some point the costs might not be worth it.”

Investing Toolkit presents Why Should I Start Investing? posted at Investing Toolkit

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Unexpected Ways Having a Baby Changed Our Budget posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “Having a baby changes your budget in many ways - some of which are unexpected and difficult to plan for.”

Sam presents New !! Prenup !! Should I Sign a Prenuptial Agreement? Do I Need a Prenuptial Agreement? posted at Surfer Sam and Friends,

Career

Toni Graybill presents tonig.net: Welcome to My World of Wealth posted at Maximize Health and Wealth, saying, “Why an antidote to wealth? Is there an antidote to the antidote?”

Credit Card / Debt Management Programs

Jim DeSantis presents Why Fixing Your FICO Credit Score Should Be Your First Priority! posted at Emotions and Credit at On Line Tribune, saying, “The loan officer said: ‘Sorry, we cannot grant the loan. Your FICO score is just too low.’ FICO? What is a FICO credit rating score? How can I fix it? Repairing your FICO credit report is easier than you imagine, once you know what you need to fix.”

The Dough Roller presents How to Get Your Free FICO Credit Score from myFICO.com posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “Here’s how to get your official FICO credit score for free.”

Master Your Card presents A Step-By-Step Guide to Getting Your (Actually) Free Credit Report without Accidentally Signing Up For Extras: Part One – TransUnion posted at Master Your Card, saying, “Those songs from a certain misleading ad campaign sure are catchy – and I don’t just mean that their melodies are hooky and infectious. The main catch from this supposed freebie website (which shall not be named so as not to introduce any possible confusion with the only FTC authorized vendor of free annual credit reports) is that while the credit report is free, the “credit monitoring” service certainly isn’t.Aand it’s no walk in the park to cancel it either.”

Daniel Drew presents Unsecured Small Business Loan posted at My Business is doing well should I choose an SBA Loan?, saying, “”Lines of credit are generally paid off by opting for a permanent source of financing. In case of commercial property line of credit, the sale of the old property may help repay the line of credit”"

PFCreditCards presents How to Save Money With 0% Balance Transfers posted at PF Credit Cards, saying, “0% balance transfers are a great way to save money.”

One Advice presents Reduce Your Credit Card Debt posted at One Advice, saying, “Don’t know how to reduce your credit card debt? Worried about high credit card bills? You CAN be debt free with these VERY simple tips…”

Jeff Rose presents How to Review a Credit Report posted at Jeff Rose.

MoneyNing presents AnnualCreditReport.com For Free Credit Reports posted at Money Ning, saying, “Annualcreditreport.com should be the only place to get free credit reports.”

David presents 0% Balance Transfer Offers posted at Credit Card Offers IQ, saying, “Here is one of the largest list of 0% balance transfer offers on the Internet.”

The Dough Roller presents Will the ‘Real’ FICO Credit Score Please Stand Up posted at The Dough Roller, saying, “When you check your FICO score, make sure you get your real FICO score, and not a fake!”

Ben Dinsmore presents Which Loans Should You Pay Off First? Highest Interest or Lowest Balance posted at Trees Full of Money, saying, “The inside scoop of why I chose to deviate (slightly) from Dave Ramsey’s debt reduction techniques on my way to paying off over $90,000 in debt!”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents myFICO Score Watch: Equifax Credit Score Monitoring posted at The Digerati Life

Tony Cookson presents Do you have a Macy*s card? Part Two posted at This Young Economist.

Ray presents Making Money From Balance Transfer Credit Cards posted at Money Blue Book.

Miss Bankrupt presents When the Credit Score Doesn’t Matter posted at Miss Bankrupt.

The Consolidation and Reduction of Debt presents Main Characters In A Letter Of Credit posted at Categories Blog.

Daniel Drew presents Line of Credit posted at My Business is doing well should I choose an SBA Loan?, saying, “”Lines of credit are generally paid off by opting for a permanent source of financing. In case of commercial property line of credit, the sale of the old property may help repay the line of credit”"

Pinyo presents What is a Good Credit Score? posted at Moolanomy, saying, “Your credit score is an important aspect of your finances if you’re planning to borrow money — e.g., mortgage for home purchase or a student loan. In this article, learn what the industry considered a good score and follow instruction on how to get your credit score and credit report, as well as how to improve your score.”

Ray Taylor presents How To Check Your Credit Score posted at free credit tips, saying, “A must view for those with bad credit”

The Consolidation and Reduction of Debt presents Tips To Secure Fast Cash Loans Today | Categories Blog posted at Categories Blog.

Frugal Living

Stingy Student presents Best Amazon.com Discount Sale - 90% off for Back To School Shopping posted at Stingy Students, saying, “Get up to 90% off at Amazon.com for back to school shopping”

ChristianPF presents Cash for clunkers has gone away! posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “After 5 days of it’s existence the Cash For Clunkers program has been suspended…”

Kristen Ellis presents Frugality In the Making: Misuse Of Coupons ~ Bad News For the Rest Of Us posted at Frugality In the Making.

Insurance

Patrick @ Military Money presents How Much Life Insurance Do Military Members Need? posted at Military Finance Network, saying, “Military members may have different life insurance needs than civilians. Here is information regarding how much life insurance military members should buy, and some resources for finding the best life insurance deals.”

Investing

Investing School presents Compare Online Brokers posted at Investing School, saying, “Online brokers are all pretty awesome but some just stand out above the rest. Here are a few you should look into.”

Alisha Harmann presents 10 Essential iPhone Apps for Intelligent Investors posted at ETFdb.

ABC presents Risks of Fixed Income Investments (Bonds) posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “Some factors which can cause bonds to go down in price.”

Kevin Poulis presents ScotTrade.com – More Broker For Your Money posted at SiteTally.com.

Banker Saver presents How Safe Is Your Retirement Fund? posted at Banker Saver,

Investing School presents What is Forex? posted at Investing School, saying, “Forex refers to currency exchange and here’s more explanation of it.”

Others

Jonathan from Debt Loans presents How to Read a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) | Debt Loans posted at Debt Loans, saying, “When considering purchasing any financial product, consumers will be given a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) which outlines all the important information about the item the consumer is considering. It is meant to serve as a comparison document, so buyers can look at different options side by side in an easy to read format.”

Four Pillars presents 2009 Cash For Clunkers Program - Trade In Your Old Junker For Money posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “A comprehensive look at the new Cash for Clunkers trade-in program.”

Mr Credit Card presents American Express Gift Cards Review posted at Ask Mr Credit Card.

Property

Chris presents Tax time: 8 house-related expenses you can claim. posted at Home I Own, saying, “Tax returns - use your home expenses and get money back”

Four Pillars presents Make Home Affordable Refinance Program Changes Eligibility Requirements For Easier Refinancing posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “Making Home Affordable refinance program eases requirements.”

Retirement

Patrick @ Military Money presents Is REDUX Retirement Worth it? posted at Military Finance Network, saying, “REDUX is a military retirement option that offers military members a $30,000 Career Service bonus in return for a lower monthly pension. But is it worth it?”

Savings

Johnny Lokin presents How Retail Security Systems Can Protect Your Business posted at Retail Security Systems.

Wise_Bread presents What’s the Right Way to Save? posted at Wisebread.

Kathryn presents Easy Ways to Slash Bank Fees posted at Out of Debt Christian, saying, “Bank fees continue to go higher and higher, which means that avoiding them is more important than ever! With fees deducted directly from your account, it can be tough to notice that may have been charged hundreds of dollars per year just for the privilege of using your own money! Fortunately, you can cut these fees to nearly zero by taking just a few easy steps:”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of everything about personal finance using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: everything about personal finance, blog carnival.

Earlier Carnivals On Personal Finance:

• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 7th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 6th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 5th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 4th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 3rd Edition

Other posts that you may be interested in:

• 7 powerful tips to become a successful day trader
• Powerful methods to get you out of your credit card debt
• The secret to having money
• Simple tips to trim down you monthly expenses
• 10 powerful steps for a financially sound retirement
• Simplest way to make money online - paid surveys

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Popularity: 26% [?]

In this post, Natalie from One Advice talks about the 3 misleading myths about debt management programs.

On the search for the right financial solutions, you may find that you are bombarded with claims of how a debt management program could help you. You need to be aware of the misleading myths about debt management program and ensure a grip on reality so you can make an informed decision.

Ethical debt advice is available, but you may have to search a little to find it! Try speaking with a full financial solutions company who offer an array of debt solutions, such as bankruptcy, debt management plans, debt consolidation loans and a repossession service, as this way you will not be pressured into a debt solution which does not fully suit your circumstances.

Debt Management Program Myth #1: Debt Consolidation Loan is the same as Debt Management

A debt consolidation loan and a debt management plan are two completely different debt solutions, but they can be easily confused. Both can help you manage your unsecured debt by offering you one lower monthly payment.

But a debt management plan is not a loan; it is an agreement between you and your unsecured creditors where you commit to making a single reduced payment to a debt management company who distribute these funds between your creditors.

Be very careful about signing up to a debt consolidation loan. Although they may offer a better interest rate and a lower payment than your current debts, the loan is likely to be secured against your home. This means that your home is at risk of repossession if you fail to keep up on repayments. You do not have the same risk with a debt management plan, as the plan should be effectively structured so you can afford your mortgage payments and priority debts.

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Debt Management Program Myth #2: A Debt Management Program means you will no longer have money worries

The Debt Management Program will not throw a wand over your finances and make it all okay. Sadly, becoming debt free requires a little more hard work. You will have to commit to making the debt management payment so your creditors are being paid the agreed amount, therefore you will have to budget.

Debt Management Programss are designed to make your finances affordable, so you can meet your unsecured debt repayments through the plan as well as secured debts and living costs. But you will need to remain in control of your finances, and budgeting is one of the best ways to do this.

You need to come up with a budget which is manageable, realistic and affordable. Once these three key factors have been achieved, you should find it easy to live within your means.

Debt Management Program Myth #3: Debt Management Programs are not flexible & I don’t want to be tied in

Before you sign up to a debt management plan, or any financial solution, it is essential that you check the terms and conditions of the agreement so you are not signing up to something different to what you thought. Typically a debt management plan will not tie you in and you are free to cancel the plan when you wish.

Always ensure you consider the effects of cancelling a debt management plan. For example, agreements which are already in place with your creditors to freeze your interest and charges may be lost and you find that you end up further in the red.

However, one of the key advantages to a debt management plan over other debt solutions is it’s flexibility. Because it is an informal agreement between you and your creditors, it can be altered to suit your circumstances. The plan should have been tailored to your circumstances so it is affordable, but if this is not the case or your financial circumstances change, such as loss of income, the debt management company should be able to alter the plan for you.

Are there other debt management myths that need dispelling? Remember, that one of the keys to getting the right debt advice is to seek debt management help from a professional and ethical company. Debt Management is not the only debt solutions, always fully consider your options.

Photo Credits to Lipgloss Junkie

About The Author:

One Advice are one of the longest established financial practices in the UK. We offer a full range of solutions, all under one roof, so we can ethically advise our clients as to which financial management solution is their best option.
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Other post on Debt Management:

• How debt management programs can help you get rid of debt

Other posts that you may be interested in:

• 7 powerful tips to become a successful day trader
• Powerful methods to get you out of your credit card debt
• The secret to having money
• Simple tips to trim down you monthly expenses
• 10 powerful steps to have a cushy retirement

Collection of Articles (Carnivals):

• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 9th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 8th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 7th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 6th Edition
• Carnival of everything about personal finance - 5th Edition

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Popularity: 12% [?]