subject: Debt Reduction Help – What You Should Know About Debt Relief [print this page] Debt Reduction Help What You Should Know About Debt Relief
Debt reduction is a goal for most consumers right now. Realizing that the weakened economy has resulted in job losses and decreases in salaries, the idea of debt reduction or getting out of debt completely is important as a safeguard. Many Americans are cutting back on credit card spending and pulling in their horns on all spending, and that can help. But, for the many consumers who didn't foresee a virtual crash of the economy, they were caught with huge debt.
In order to achieve debt reduction that is truly productive, the consumer can look at any number of methods. Simply cutting up credit cards and closing accounts is one way, but it also decreases and can harm a credit rating. And that means that if there's reason to look for credit or a loan in the future, there may be negative effects. It is worth time spent investigating other avenues of debt reduction before making any decision.
Debt reduction today can be sought through various programs. Debt consolidation, debt settlement and debt management are the top three way, and each works differently. Consolidating debts means rolling all unsecured, monthly debts into one amount. Generally, the interest rate is reduced and late fees are waived, and the consumer agrees on a long term payout of the entire combined balance. It is a long process and often entails obtaining a debt consolidation loan in order to secure the arrangement. These loans are secured agains property like a home or other expensive asset. They are held as collateral until the loan is paid off. Not only are hard assets put on the block until the loan is paid back, but the loans work like most second mortgages or home equity loans. They are long term. The use of a consolidated loan is also reflected on credit reports, and obtaining lower interest rates on credit cards or other loans will be difficult if not impossible.
Both debt management and debt settlement work toward ultimate debt reduction but without obtaining a loan. Credit relief companies work with the consumer's creditors to lower the amount of the principle by as much as half. Those amounts are then rolled into one monthly payment at reduced interest rates. Most people can see their way to being debt free in twelve to thirty-six months. These methods have different requirements for qualification, but are certainly good methods for those who don't wish to add a long term loan to their financial worries.
Debt reduction is very important in today's climate, and consumers should know that they have options. Very different options.
var LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_TOP_SIZE = new LeoHighlightsDimension(LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_TOP_WIDTH,LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_TOP_HEIGHT);
var LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_BOTTOM_HOVER_SIZE = new LeoHighlightsDimension(LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_BOTTOM_COLLAPSED_WIDTH,LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_BOTTOM_COLLAPSED_HEIGHT);
var LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_BOTTOM_CLICK_SIZE = new LeoHighlightsDimension(LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_BOTTOM_EXPANDED_WIDTH,LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_BOTTOM_EXPANDED_HEIGHT); var LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_DIV_HOVER_SIZE = new LeoHighlightsDimension(LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_TOTAL_COLLAPSED_WIDTH,LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_TOTAL_COLLAPSED_HEIGHT);
var LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_DIV_CLICK_SIZE = new LeoHighlightsDimension(LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_TOTAL_EXPANDED_WIDTH,LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_TOTAL_EXPANDED_HEIGHT); /** * Sets the size of the passed in element * * @param elem * @param dim * @return */
function _leoHighlightsSetSize(elem,dim)
{ try { // Set the popup location elem.style.width = dim.width + "px"; if(elem.width) elem.width=dim.width; elem.style.height = dim.height + "px"; if(elem.height) elem.height=dim.height; } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("_leoHighlightsSetSize()",e); } } /** * This can be used for a simple one argument callback * * @param callName * @param argName * @param argVal * @return */
function _leoHighlightsSimpleGwCallBack(callName,argName, argVal)
{ try { var gwObj = new Gateway(); if(argName) gwObj.addParam(argName,argVal); gwObj.callName(callName); } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("_leoHighlightsSimpleGwCallBack() "+callName,e); }
} /** * This gets a url argument from the current document. * * @param url * @return */
function _leoHighlightsGetUrlArg(url, name )
{ name = name.replace(/[[]/,"\[").replace(/[]]/,"\]"); var regexS = "[\?&]"+name+"=([^&#]*)"; var regex = new RegExp( regexS ); var results = regex.exec(url); if( results == null ) return ""; else return results[1];
} /** * This allows to redirect the top window to the passed in url * * @param url * @return */
} /** * This will find an element by Id * * @param elemId * @return */
function _leoHighlightsFindElementById(elemId,doc)
{ try { if(doc==null) doc=document; var elem=doc.getElementById(elemId); if(elem) return elem; /* This is the handling for IE */ if(doc.all) { elem=doc.all[elemId]; if(elem) return elem; for ( var i = (document.all.length-1); i >= 0; i--) { elem=doc.all; if(elem.id==elemId) return elem; } } } catch(e) { _leoHighlightsReportExeception("_leoHighlightsFindElementById()",e); } return null;
} /** * Get the location of one element relative to a parent reference * * @param ref * the reference element, this must be a parent of the passed in * element * @param elem * @return */
function _leoHighlightsGetLocation(ref, elem) { _leoHighlightsDebugLog("_leoHighlightsGetLocation "+elem.id); var count = 0; var location = new LeoHighlightsPosition(0,0); var walk = elem; while (walk != null && walk != ref && count < LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_INFINITE_LOOP_COUNT) { location.x += walk.offsetLeft; location.y += walk.offsetTop; walk = walk.offsetParent; count++; } _leoHighlightsDebugLog("Location is: "+elem.id+" - "+location); return location;
} /** * This is used to update the position of an element as a popup * * @param IFrame * @param anchor * @return */
function _leoHighlightsUpdatePopupPos(iFrame,anchor)
{ try { // Gets the scrolled location for x and y var scrolledPos=new LeoHighlightsPosition(0,0); if( self.pageYOffset ) { scrolledPos.x = self.pageXOffset; scrolledPos.y = self.pageYOffset; } else if( document.documentElement && document.documentElement.scrollTop ) { scrolledPos.x = document.documentElement.scrollLeft; scrolledPos.y = document.documentElement.scrollTop; } else if( document.body ) { scrolledPos.x = document.body.scrollLeft; scrolledPos.y = document.body.scrollTop; } /* Get the total dimensions to see what scroll bars might be active */ var totalDim=new LeoHighlightsDimension(0,0) if (document.all && document.documentElement && document.documentElement.clientHeight&&document;.documentElement.clientWidth) { totalDim.width = document.documentElement.scrollWidth; totalDim.height = document.documentElement.scrollHeight; } else if (document.all) { /* This is in IE */ totalDim.width = document.body.scrollWidth; totalDim.height = document.body.scrollHeight; } else { totalDim.width = document.width; totalDim.height = document.height; } // Gets the location of the available screen space var centerDim=new LeoHighlightsDimension(0,0); if(self.innerWidth && self.innerHeight ) { centerDim.width = self.innerWidth-(totalDim.height>self.innerHeight?16:0); // subtracting scroll bar offsets for firefox centerDim.height = self.innerHeight-(totalDim.width>self.innerWidth?16:0); // subtracting scroll bar offsets for firefox } else if( document.documentElement && document.documentElement.clientHeight ) { centerDim.width = document.documentElement.clientWidth; centerDim.height = document.documentElement.clientHeight; } else if( document.body ) { centerDim.width = document.body.clientWidth; centerDim.height = document.body.clientHeight; } // Get the current dimension of the popup element var iFrameDim=new LeoHighlightsDimension(iFrame.offsetWidth,iFrame.offsetHeight) if (iFrameDim.width 0) position.x = anchorPos.x + anchorDim.width; else if (anchorScreenPos.x - anchorDim.width - iFrameDim.width > 0) position.x = anchorPos.x - anchorDim.width; else // default to below position.y = anchorPos.y + anchorDim.height; _leoHighlightsDebugLog("_leoHighlightsUpdatePopupPos() - sideBottom: "+position); } } /* Make sure that we don't go passed the right hand border */ if(position.x+iFrameDim.width>centerDim.width-20) position.x=centerDim.width-(iFrameDim.width+20); // Make sure that we didn't go passed the start if(position.x
