How to deal with credit card debt

It's this time of year that reality sets in and we all have to set goals and make plans for our financial future. If you're one of the thousands of Americans that racked up a lot of credit card debt this past year, you might benefit from this AP article I just read in the local paper, the Daily Herald...

"As the holiday credit card bills come flooding in, you may be feeling overwhelmed. But don't despair -- there are strategies you can adopt to regain your financial footing if you're willing to invest the time and effort.

'The fact is, shedding holiday debt can be as daunting as shedding holiday weight,' said June Walbert, a certified financial planner with USAA, a financial services company in San Antonio that specializes in helping U.S. servicemen and their families. 'That doesn't mean it can't be done.'

The first step for those who have overindulged on their credit cards is to stop charging immediately and move to paying cash, Walbert said."

Read more from the Daily Herald

Eight Steps to Fix Your Broken Credit

Debt problems destroy your credit history and isolate you from a host of economic privileges and opportunities. If your credit report was a wake up call to get out of debt, you may be wondering what to do next. The first step to stop the hemorrhaging is simply to not borrow another penny until you are completely out of debt. The rest of this article will only benefit those in debt willing to make this commitment.

1. List your debts.

2. Call every place you owe money.

3. If possible, consolidate all your debt into the lowest possible interest rate.

4. If you can't consolidate everything to one low interest rate, pay as much as you can on the debt with the highest interest rate while paying the minimum on everything else.

5. Put your high interest rate cards someplace safe.

6. Try to reduce your fixed expenses and use the difference saved each month to pay off your debt.

7. Make one-shot reductions in your debt.

8. Take drastic measures until debt-free.

Read more from David John Marotta

Yipes! More ID Theft

"A computer tape containing Social Security numbers and other personal information for 90,000 People's Bank checking account customers was lost late last month as it was shipped by UPS to a credit bureau in Chicago."

If the tape was in fact lost (and not stolen) making it public will give theives something to look for. Isn't that a comforting thought?

From courant.com

H&R Block Mistake Exposes Social Security Numbers - Identity Leak

It's tax season, so how about a little news of identity leak from our good friends at H&R Block. Apparently someone in marketing thought it would be a good idea to use people's social security nubmers as an identifier on the outside of their marketing mailing. Oops! Companies need to start doing a better job safeguarding our personally identifiable information, eh?

"A mistake at U.S. tax return preparation firm H&R Block allowed Social Security numbers to be printed on unsolicited packages mailed out to customers.

The Social Security numbers were embedded in the 47-digit source code that appeared above the mailing label of packages containing H&R Block's TaxCut software.

'The Social Security numbers on the packages had no formatting that would make them stand out, and no one would have been able to easily identify them as a Social Security number,' said Denise Sposato, an H&R spokesperson.

The error affected 3 percent of a mailing that went out in early- to mid-December, Sposato said. 'The people affected had been our customers two to three years ago,' she added. Sposato did not reveal the total size of the mailing or the number of people affected."

From CIO-Today

How to put freeze on credit reports -- New Jersey Law Goes Into Effect

A New Jersey law that took effect Jan. 1 allows residents to prevent anyone from getting access to their credit reports by placing a freeze on them.

That can prevent identity thieves from obtaining a credit card or loan in someone's name, even if they have that person's Social Security number, because the credit card company, bank or other prospective lender cannot check the credit report.

To install a security freeze, consumers must write to each credit agency by certified or overnight mail. They agencies will send instructions, including a PIN code, on how to 'thaw' the reports.

From Newsday.com