Many people talk about how the government is going to change with this politician or that politician, but all you have to do is open one of those notices from a credit card company, bank or any other “institution” where a company is required to send you notification of a change in policy that changes what you pay to do business with them.

If you’ve been an adult for awhile you know what I am talking about. They bury the one sentence they are required to send you inside three thousand words written intentionally to put customers to sleep and make you give up before you reach or can even understand the one sentence they are hiding.

So, what do you do? Always be alert to scams and never trust anyone who sends you anything notice that looks like it was written by a team of lawyers. Always follow-up. Don’t be afraid to call them and make them walk you through their document. Make sure you understand it.

Here are our “guidelines” for dealing with credit card companies:

1. Assume they are intent on sucking the life out of your financial well-being. Assume they are out to get you and your family.

2. Don’t use credit cards.

3. If you have existing credit cards, take a serious look at them and separate them by interest rates. Always be aware of exactly what they are charging you.

4. Any credit card company that charges you an annual fee should receive a call directly from you forcefully asking them to remove their annual fee.

5. Set your credit card companies up on a rotating basis and call them in rotation asking them to eliminate or reduce the interest rates while you pay off the card. You will need to talk to supervisors and you will have to be committed to a fairly constant program of calling them again and again to reduce or eliminate the interest rates.

6. Pay the minimum on every credit card you have EXCEPT the one with the highest interest rate – PAY AS MUCH AS YOU CAN OVER the minimum on this card until you pay it off. Then, rotate to the next highest interest rate card and pay AS MUCH AS YOU CAN OVER the minimum on that card until it is paid off. Continue this process until you pay off all your credit cards.

7. Watch for any adjustments at any time in your credit and the guidelines these companies use in dealing with you and your “account.” *See # 1 and # 2 above.

8. Do not cancel your credit cards; put your credit cards in a safe and do not use them. See # 2 above.

While almost everyone tells you to chase your credit score, that’s not what we do at www.middleclassmoney.com. We don’t want you to do anything to harm your credit rating, but we believe you should reduce and eliminate debt. You must look at the companies that provide credit cards as your enemy until you pay them off and then DON’T USE THEM AGAIN.

You can get ahead. You can pay off your credit card debt. You can help yourself and help your family if you take a HARD LINE against these companies and push them out of your life.

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
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www.stickyasset.com