If you thought that home foreclosures was the chief problem for some consumers, consider that automotive repossessions are one more sting some people are now facing.

Repos Up Another 10%

According to Thomas Webb, the chief economist for a unit of Atlanta-based Manheim, which sells cars to dealers worldwide, repossessions for 2008 are expected to rise to their highest levels in more than decade, representing a 10% increase over 2007. What’s more, the repossessions for 2007 were 10% higher than 2006. In all, more than 1.6 million cars are expected to be taken back this year.

Consumers Can’t Make Payments

True, consumers may shoulder the bulk of the blame as some have were enticed to buy more car than they could possibly afford and payment terms that were longer than average. Indeed, with the proliferation of 60-month and 72-month notes out there, some drivers are wearing out their wheels faster than they can pay them off.

Stay In Touch With Your Lender

If you find yourself in trouble, the best thing to do is notify your lender that you will be late with a payment. It doesn’t take long, usually 2 or 3 months of being behind in payments, before lenders take action.

Even though repos are filling up lots across the country, lenders are usually not hesitating to take action, especially if they believe that consumers aren’t being honest with them.

Fortunately, you do have some rights as a consumer when it comes to debt and how debt collectors interact with you. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act offers you protection by placing limitations on the way that bill collectors attempt to collect money from you. The Federal Trade Commission, which regulates the industry, has stipulated that the following conduct cannot be used when contacting you:

Phone contact window: Consumers can only be contacted between the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Outside of this window, calls are prohibited.

Contacting you at work: Bill collectors can contact you at work, until you expressly tell them that they cannot.

Contacting you after you demand that they stop: You can demand that a debt collector stop contacting you if you put this demand in writing. The only exception to this rule is if the collector is contacting you that they are proceeding with litigation against you.

Attorney representation: If you an attorney is representing you, the collector can contact the attorney, but they cannot call you.

Bad debt lists: Your name cannot be added to a bad debt list nor can your information be shared with third parties (other than your spouse or your attorney) and the collector may not use threatening or abusive language in order to collect your debt.

Your credit report: Only factual information may be added to your credit report. Debt collectors may not threaten to add false or unsubstantiated information to your personal credit report.

In addition, debt collectors can not use deceit in order to collect a debt nor can they send to you a letter, post card or other embarrassing media suggesting that they are a bill collector. A debt collector can use their name on the envelope provided that it doesn’t mention that they are a debt collection business.

For consumers wanting to register a complaint, they may contact the Association of Credit and Collections Professionals for assistance.

Photo courtesy of Steve Woods.

Bad seed is a robbery of the worst kind: for your pocket-book not only suffers by it, but your preparations are lost and a season passes away unimproved — George Washington

Today is the birth date for George Washington, the first President of these United States. Recently, I had the opportunity to read a brief biography of our first Commander-in-Chief and realized what a humble man that he was.

Unlike so many politicians of our day, George wanted to help people and live a quiet life. Certainly, he desired to free the colonies from British rule, but beyond that he wasn’t someone with strong political ambitions.

What I am about to share with you really has nothing to do with our first president other than offering you, the reader, some good links which may be of benefit to you. Please read on as I’ve compiled a list of sites worthy of visiting:

Gather Little By Little — Personal finance with a Christian Perspective.

Get Rich Slowly — Personal finance that makes cents.

The Dough Roller — Control your money, control your life.

Where Your Treasure Is — Merging faith & personal finance.

Being Frugal — Making every penny count.

ChristianPF — Save money. Make money. Give money.

Sense to Save — Join me on my journey to live a more frugal lifestyle. Here, you’ll find common sense and not-so-common sense on ways you can save money.

Money Saving Mom — Helping you be a better home economist.

The Simple Dollar — Financial talk for the rest of us.

Working For Financial Freedom — One Family. $58,000 in debt. This is how they pay it off.

Frugal Babe — A rich life without a lot of money.

I’ve Paid For This Twice Already — From financial imprisonment to financial independence, a penny at a time. This is one family’s story.

By George, I think that I’m done!

The article, Many Baby Boomers Concerned About Retirement Savings…, mentioned that 61% of the people in this group are spending less money today, but the money that they are saving isn’t going toward retirement.

Specifically, the Scottrade/BetterInvesting 2008 American Retirement Study states:

Even if confronted with a small wind-fall of $5,000, only 15 percent would deposit the money in an IRA or other retirement account, and almost half (48 percent) would pay down debt, while 32 percent would put the money in a savings account. Just three percent would go on a shopping spree.

The study revealed that most Americans are very concerned about their retirement, but the number of people who are actively doing what they can to ensure a financially secure future doesn’t match up.

With IRAs, 401(k)s, and other investment vehicles at their disposal, many Americans are expressing concern, but are failing to translate concern into real action.

Six years after starting school your son or daughter has a Master’s degree from a top notch university such as Brown, Duke, or Gonzaga. Years of hard work and reaching for their best has paid off as your offspring has landed a plum position with a research company in the Dallas area. That $50,000 per year starting salary certainly is competitive but your adult child has one big problem: student loan debt in the neighborhood of $106,000! Yes, school is done but much debt remains; enough so that it could take a full 20 years to retire his or her obligations.

Nobody wants to be saddled with too much debt, unfortunately many university graduates are faced with that proposition. Eventually, additional types of loans will need to be considered including loans for a new car or a first home; having student loan debt on top of it all of that can make it very difficult to make payments on that new car or house.

There are some options you need to know about at this point in the student loan repayment game. These options include:

A Direct Consolidation Loan – Yes, chances are your adult child’s student loans are through a variety of lenders making it difficult to juggle different payment due dates throughout the month. Thankfully, you can consolidate these loans into one payment to just one lender saving the hassle of sending out multiple payments throughout the month.

Variable Repayment Plans – Unlike the standard student loan, borrowers can elect to repay their students loans by choosing a variety of repayment plans. If you consolidate your loan through the U.S. Department of Education, you have as many as four repayment plans available to you. These plans include: a standard repayment plan where your repayment amount stay fixed for ten years; an extended repayment plan where the monthly bill is lower but the repayment period is longer from 12 to 30 years; a graduated repayment plan where you have 12 to 30 years to repay your loan and where payments bump up every two years; and an income contingent repayment plan that is based upon your salary and can be spread out for as long as 25 years.

Of course, former students must know that if they choose a student loan consolidation loan at any time during their 180 day grace repayment period that starts upon their graduating from school, then the repayment on the consolidated student loan must begin at once. Therefore, if you are considering consolidating your loans you may want to time it so that you are either ready to make your first payment ahead of time or have the consolidated loan kick in after your grace period has expired. Yes, you may have to make payments to a variety of lenders until that happens, but once the consolidated student loan has been approved then you will only have to make one monthly payment.

So, who is eligible for a government student loan consolidation? Well, if you have at least one Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) or Direct Loan that is in its grace, deferment, repayment, or default status than you are eligible for this type of loan. In addition, you can consolidate a PLUS loan, a Perkins loan (provided that you also have a direct loan or FFEL loan too), and you can even consolidate some health profession loans.

Finally, in many cases you are allowed to change your repayment plan options as time goes by. Perhaps the standard repayment plan was working well for you, but you since married and had a child. You may find that mortgage payments are putting enough of a squeeze on your finances, therefore an income contingent repayment plan may be the best choice for you at this time. Regardless, you have some options available to you when you select a direct consolidation loan, options that several different student loans may not have made available to you.

So, should you consider consolidating your student loans? That answer is “yes” if you are looking for more options than what you have available to you now and you are looking to save money, reduce your hassles, or extend your repayment period. Please visit the U.S. Department of Education’s student loan site at LoanConsolidation.Ed.Gov to learn more about the options which are currently available to you.

(c) 2006; You may republish this article to your website with the following author resource information and link left in place.

Matthew C. Keegan invites you to learn more about personal finances via The Article Writer site.

Every single one of us knows how to spend money, but do we really know how to save our money? No, I am not necessarily talking about setting aside funds for an investments purposes – a good thing – but saving money on everyday items. Here are seven simple ways you can save money:

1. Use Appliances That Are Energy Efficient. Chances are your old refrigerator or washer is a pig on fuel. When shopping for a new unit, make sure that the energy rating is high. However, do not pay hundreds of extra dollars for a product if only a slightly higher energy rating is achieved. Instead, find out which model gives to you the highest possible energy rating for the buck.

2. Clip Coupons. You can save money on shopping by clipping coupons. Many stores will even double or triple manufacturers’ coupons up to a certain amount as an added “come on” to get you to shop.

3. Shop The Wholesale Clubs. BJs, Sam’s Club, and Costco all offer savings generally 10-30% lower than the supermarkets. They take coupons too.

4. Get Free Samples. Manufacturers enjoy giving away samples of their products. Sometimes all it takes is a letter or an email to the appropriate department and your freebie will arrive in the mail in the form of a product or as a coupon allowing you to purchase the item locally for free.

5. Go To The Library. Barnes and Noble and Borders offer a wide selection of books to their customers as does Amazon. However, you may be able to find that same title at your free public library. If not, ask a librarian if they would order the book for you. Hey, a free book is better than the $25 you will pay for a bestseller!

6. Shop And Compare. The internet allows consumers the opportunity to shop and compare on almost any product sold anywhere. Find the best price and order online if the items is cheaper than ordering in person. Don’t forget to take into consideration shipping, handling, and taxes when ordering via the web!

7. Reuse And Recycle. Chances are the item you are throwing away can be used again. If you definitely have no use for the item sell it at a garage sale and pocket the proceeds. In any case, you are contributing to a sound environment by not sending your unused good to the trash dump.

There are countless ways for you to save even beyond these seven. You need not be a skinflint to reap true benefits either, so start with these seven and come up with another seven ways for you to save too.

Please visit The Article Writer for articles that are informative, engaging, stimulating, provocative, interesting, and fun.

We all know how to spend our money, but do we fully understand how to save it? I am not talking about setting aside a reserve for an investment or rainy day purposes – both of which are good things – rather, saving money on everyday items. Here are some simple ways you can save money:

Clip Coupons. You can save on your shopping excursions by clipping coupons. Some stores will even double or triple manufacturers’ coupons up to a specified amount [typically, one dollar] as an added incentive to bring you in.

Comparison Shop. The worldwide web gives shoppers the opportunity to compare prices and shop right online for almost any product available. Order online if the item is cheaper than ordering in person. Don’t forget to take into consideration shipping, handling, and taxes when ordering via the web, however many online retailers offer free shipping and taxes are not always universally assessed.

Energy Efficient Appliances. Your old refrigerator or washer is an energy eater. When you shop for a new unit, check to make sure that the energy rating is high. Do not, however, pay hundreds of dollars more for a product if only a slightly higher energy rating is promised. Learn which models produce the highest possible energy rating for the money.

Get Free Samples. Manufacturers enjoy giving away samples of their products. Sometimes all it takes is a letter or an email to the appropriate department and your freebie will arrive in the mail in the form of merchandise or as a coupon allowing you to purchase the item locally for free.

Shop The Clubs. Warehouse clubs such as BJ’s, Sam’s Club, and Costco offer savings that shave 10-30% off of supermarket prices. Many take coupons too!

Sssh! Go To The Library. The big book retailers offer a wide selection of books to their customers. However, you may be able to find that same title at your free public library. If not, ask a librarian if she would order the book for you. A free book is better than the $30 you would have paid for a bestseller, plus latte!

Use it Again; Recycle. Maybe the item you are tossing can be used again. If you definitely have no use for it, sell it at a garage sale [or online via an auction site] and keep the earnings. In any case, you are contributing to a clean environment by not adding to already overcrowded landfills.

There are many other ways for you to save even beyond those that I have mentioned. All it takes is a little bit of imagination and some initiative and you will soon find yourself saving money on in ways you previously did not think of.

Copyright 2005-2008 — Matthew Keegan is The Article Writer who writes on a variety of topics including: advocacy, automobiles, aviation, business, Christian themes, family, news, product reviews, travel, writing, and more. Samples from his portfolio are available right online.

If you are taking prescription medicines, you know that one of the chief complaints of users is the outrageous cost for some medications. Even if you have a prescription plan through your employer or via the government you are likely paying much more for these medications today than just a few years ago. Many newer medications cost a mint to buy, but you literally cannot live without them. Here are three suggestions to help you reign in prescription costs.

1. Split your pills in half. That’s right if you only need 10 mg of a certain medication, see if your doctor can prescribe 20 mg. The price for both medications should be just about the same. Some drug stores sell pill splitters that will help you cut them in half. Check with your doctor first to make sure that the drug does not lose its efficacy when cut in half.

2. Use expired drugs. Expiration dates on prescription drugs are not accurate. In fact, in many cases they are made up! Some studies have shown that medications used for up to five years after their expiration date retained nine tenths of their potency.

3. Shop around. You may learn that one drugstore sells your medication for “X” amount while another sells it for “Y” amount. Depending on the prescription the savings to you can be significant.

We’re not likely to see cheap prescription medications any time soon. Sure, you could order from Canada, but you cannot be sure that the drugs you order outside of the US are of the same quality as the ones you purchase locally.

Matthew Keegan is the owner of a successful article writing, web design, and marketing business based in North Carolina, USA. He manages several sites including the WordJourney and the TravelDuties. Please visit The Article Writer to review selections from his portfolio.

If you are overwhelmed by debt, there are options you can take that will help you pay off what you owe without the stigma of filing for bankruptcy. We’ll examine four ways you can get your debt under control and start working back on the road to financial recovery.

1. Contact your credit card companies. Ask each credit card company for help. They aren’t likely to forgive you your loan, but they may be willing to reduce your interest rate. If your interest rate is currently 12% or more, ask if they would be willing to cut their rate in half. Why would they consider doing this? Well, creditors do not want you to default on your loan and they want their principle back. Sure, a nice fat interest charge would be ideal too, but if they sense you are ready to default on your loan, you can expect that a lower rate will be offered instead.

2. Consider a debt consolidation loan. You can pull all of your debt together into one account, preferably one featuring a fixed, low interest rate. You can use the proceeds from the loan to pay back your other creditors and then make monthly payments back to the loan consolidator.

3. Home refinancing. Refinancing your loan may be just the debt reduction help you need as the funds saved by you each month with lower mortgage payments could be used to pay off other debt. Caution: you are placing your home “at risk” if you opt for this choice.

4. Visit a credit counselor. There are credit counseling companies who help consumers by offering debt reduction plans to tackle debt. Essentially the way this works is that you will meet with an advisor and lay out a plan to repay your loans. The counselor will negotiate with lenders on your behalf for the lower rate which, in turn, will reduce your monthly payments as well as keep your credit rating intact. Credit counselors work for private companies as well as for government agencies or nonprofit firms. Be careful: a lot of what these people do you can do on your own. Read the fine print to make sure you understand any fees involved; make sure that your credit rating is not adversely affected too.

Don’t despair if you are well over your head in debt. Recent changes in U.S. bankruptcy laws have made filing for personal bankruptcy a less attractive option for consumers. Still, if it is your only resort visit an attorney specializing in personal bankruptcy to learn what your options are. Do not be bullied by anyone to make a decision that you will regret later.

Matthew Keegan is the owner of a successful article writing, web design, and marketing business based in North Carolina, USA. He manages several sites including Matthew Keegan and WordJourney. Please visit The Article Writer to review selections from his portfolio.