Dump High Interest
Get Thee to a Credit Union
By Daniel Muniz

For people crushed by credit card debt, nothing gets their blood boiling more than outrageous interest rates and completely unreasonable fees and gimmicks. Unfortunately for a lot of individuals, some of the pain is self-inflicted because so little effort has been taken to locate financial institutions that offer decent interest rates and good terms.

But I am still amazed at the number of people who continue to gripe at their financial arrangements. People seem to always flock to departmental or national sub-prime credit card companies. And then they are shocked by the outrageous interest rates and the terrible fees and gimmicks.

A sub-prime financial institution, by its very nature, is not in the business to offer low interest rates or decent financing terms even if you do have a very good credit score. Instead, they do business with individuals who are not “prime” or “super prime” customers but have a few dings in their credit report. As a result, the financing terms are awful.

But because of heavy advertising and the allure of the materialism of department stores, sub-prime finance companies still thrive and flourish while plunging more people deeper into credit card debt.

However there are plenty of ways to escape the immense burden of high interest rate credit card debt.

The first step is to end the loathsome financial arrangements by getting that debt moved into either a bill’s consolidation loan or transferred to a low interest credit card.

If you are already crushed by debt, then the odds are pretty slim that you would be able to qualify for a debt consolidation loan. Your only recourse would be to continue to pay down all of your debts until your debt-to-income ratio because more reasonable. You would also be in the same situation in getting declined for a lower interest credit card.

But the moment that you do have your debt ratio trimmed down, then you need to do some serious shopping.

First take a look at the following web site:

http://creditunionaccess.com/

Credit Union Access has over 9,000 credit unions listed by state and city. This web site makes finding a credit union in your area a snap.

The reason I emphasize credit unions is because if you are not already a prime or super prime customer, then most commercial banks will not be very receptive to you. Or course there are exceptions, but overall, credit unions tend to be so much more forgiving if you have sub-prime credit.

And today, it is easy to join them since many of them have relaxed their membership requirements. Admittedly, some credit unions require you to do a few contortions if you want to become a member while others, you just need to breathe oxygen to join.

There are even a growing number of credit unions that have national memberships and look for customers across the country.

But it is vitally important to locate these type of financial institutions. It will require time and effort but that is the first step to getting out of the high interest credit card racket.

I currently have three credit cards in which each one comes from a different credit union. Each credit union offers low interest rates, no annual fees, and very reasonable fees if you are late or are over your credit limit. And they don’t pull the kind of gimmicks or stupid tricks that the national sub-prime outfits do.

I also have two bill’s consolidation loans that come from separate credit unions. Again, I have low interest rates along with long payment plans.

But suppose you do get turned down for a low interest credit card and/or bill’s consolidation loan?

Well, it is not the end of the world. Try again next year and take advantage of that entire year to continue to pay down your debt. If you are declined again, then there is always next year.

Yes, this is not instant solution but then again, you didn’t plunge deep into debt instantly either.

But once you do get your high interest debt moved over into lower interest financial arrangements, don’t do what most Americans, including myself, have done. That is, go ahead and find new debt to drown in.

That is where your own personal self-restraint comes in even though we live in materialistic consumer driven culture.

And I know how it feels like. Every time I step into Circuit City, there is a 42-inch, wide screen, high definition, plasma TV that calls out my name. It then tells me how good it would look inside my living room and that everyone up and down my street already has one. But the real kicker is when that TV tells me how good it would be to watch Spurs games on it. That is hitting below the belt!

But the only way to attain a debt free financial picture is to resist those temptations and to stick with the financial institutions that offer good rates and good terms.