Author Archives: Jay Butchko
What Could Possibly Go Wrong With Debt Settlement?
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could pay $500 to make an $800 debt go away? Sometimes you can. When creditors despair of collecting the full amount of a debt, they are sometimes willing to discount the amount that they originally asked for, based on the principle that getting some money is better than… Read More »
How To Finance A House So Small That It Doesn’t Qualify For A Mortgage
Home ownership remains the mark of financial stability, and for everyone except the wealthiest people, the only way to buy a house is by taking out a mortgage loan. Of course, mortgage loans come with their own mountain of stress. People spend years trying to get their finances in order so that they can… Read More »
Can Debt Settlement Companies Really Get You Out Of Debt?
If you had a dime for every time you saw an advertisement by someone promising to get you out of debt, you would have become debt-free a long time ago and stayed that way. It is easy enough to spot the ads that are outright scams, because they promise solutions that are too good… Read More »
3 Hard Truths About Credit Repair
Numbers are convenient for setting goals. Perhaps you want the scale to read a certain number by this time next year, you want to walk a certain number of steps each day, or you want to save a certain amount of money in an emergency fund. Those numbers don’t tell the whole story, though. … Read More »
Don’t Ignore Calls From Creditors, But Don’t Give Away Too Much Information
A common feature of lawyers, diplomats, and the most successful social hosts is that, when put on the spot, they can think of something to say that sounds appropriate but cannot be used against them later. They have spent years practicing this skill. You should also employ this tactic when dealing with debt collectors;… Read More »
Does Your Income Affect Your Credit Score?
Credit scores are stubborn and enigmatic things. As soon as you miss a payment on a credit card or buy now pay later (BNPL) installment plan, your credit score gets lower. Meanwhile, when you have been paying your rent, utilities, and BNPL payments on time, your credit score does not budge? This can only… Read More »
Filing For Bankruptcy Protection Can Solve Some Of Your Financial Problems, But Not All Of Them
Bankruptcy can make you debt-free virtually overnight, but it can also sharply decrease your credit score and require you to give up valuable assets. Does filing for bankruptcy make your financial situation better or worse, then? Everyone has the right to file for bankruptcy protection as long as a certain amount of time has… Read More »
Beware Of Fake Medical Bills
Healthcare in the United States is obscenely expensive, even for people with employer-provided health insurance and public marketplace insurance. Some people’s response to getting a medical bill in the mail is to put it in a drawer or the trash can, despairing of ever being able to pay it. Others call the number listed… Read More »
The Nursing Home Debt Nightmare
“Don’t get sick” is both the truest piece of financial advice and the most difficult to follow. Approximately half of adults in the United States have medical debt, and what you should do to address the debt depends largely on whether or not you are still young enough and healthy enough to work. If… Read More »
What Are Charge Offs?
In horror movies, sometimes the scariest sound is silence and the scariest sight is nothing at all. The same thing can be true with debt-related communications. As nerve-wracking as it is to receive constant reminders about debts you can’t pay, whether these reminders arrive by postal mail, email, or phone, it is even scarier… Read More »