25,000 Customers - Simply Budgets is a ‘Best Seller’!

It’s really exciting times here at Simply Budgets. We did it; 25,000 copies of Simply Budgets have now gone out to people all over the globe and the orders keep coming!

I thought it would be a good idea to celebrate this major milestone and so that is what we have done. Over 100 people responded to the special offer of great bonuses and the chance to be the major prize winner over the last few weeks.

Lorelle Urquhart from Brisbane was the lucky 25,000th customer and she won over $3,500 worth of prizes including a holiday for two in Fiji!

With all the talk of global fiinancial melt-down and debt concerns everywhere more and more people are asking for budgeting help. All celebrations aside, that is what Simply Budgets is all about and I am proud to have helped so many people as we reached this milestone.

More next time.

Regards
David Wright

‘Credit Rating Gone Wrong’

Clarissa,

This is very disturbing information. If it was not your partner’s phone bill that has caused all the problems we should all be pretty concerned about the possible implications this has for everyone! It is quite possible that identity fraud is the cause of this dilemma. Someone else has used your partners identity details to obtain phone services and has then disappeared.

I wonder how often something like this happens to other innocent people.

The people who are responsible for keeping credit file records that you need to talk to are at ‘Veda Advantage’ (was Baycorp) on 1300 762 207 (Australia).

Ask to speak to the investigation team.

You could also go to their web-site at www.mycreditfile.com.au and http://www.vedaadvantage.com

Veda Advantage have a monitoring service for $40 a year. Every time something changes on your Credit Report they notify you of the change. This would have allowed you to know the moment the above problem occurred. You could have gotten on to it straight away rather than now going through the problems you have had.

There is another avenue you can try as well. A company called Credit Repair will help get to the bottom of the problem and remove any incorrect information from your file. However you need to be aware that it will cost you money to get them to look into this, but it might be money well spent if you can turn your rent payments into mortgage repayments.

‘Credit Repair’ 1300 349 273 www.creditrepairaustralia.com

I hope this information helps.

Regards
David Wright

I received the following information from one of my readers after first publishing the information above.

Hi David,

I read the story “credit rating gone wrong” (above) with interest as I work as a Telstra fraud investigator and deal with people having stolen Id and investigating wrong default listing. I agree, it can be hell when one is a victim of identity theft. It’s very rare we find the perpetrators, but we offer to help the victim as best we can. People are very quick to place blame with Telstra but more than often Telstra is also the victim.

In this day and age everyone should be security conscience and aware who they give out their personal information too.

Beat regards….
Joanne

‘Line of Credit’ mortgage confusion

Francine,

Thanks for your enquiry.

I am deeply concerned by the fact that you had to go back to your bank to ask them if you had a Line of Credit. I would have thought you should have been aware of the loan type you chose or accepted at the time you signed on the dotted line. I wonder who is at fault there?

I notice you made reference to ‘monthly interest’ a number of times in your e-mail but it sounds to me like you are confusing your ‘monthly repayments’ (which will be the same each month with an Offset Account type mortgage) with ‘monthly interest’ which will vary from month to month with a Line of Credit.

You said that with your previous Line of Credit loan your interest reduced each month. I would be very surprised if it did not fluctuate both up and down because there are times of the year when you tend to have higher expenses and your loan balance would be likely to rise at this time rather than fall (causing the interest to rise as well). Just an thought and maybe you were aggressively paying it down each month.

Your bank manager is sort-of correct in his response to you. As far as overall interest charged by the bank is concerned he is correct, but a Line of Credit has different uses than a Mortgage Offset account attached to a mortgage.

Most people will be far better off without a Line of Credit because it is too dangerous. Your mortgage becomes your day to day bank account and there is no requirement for you to pay it off. Without a budget plan you might never reduce your level of debt and even then it takes nerves of steel and the discipline and focus of a Tibetan Monk.

It sounds to me like you really need to get that budget happening because it is the key to paying off your credit card successfully (and your mortgage as well for that matter). If your Credit Card is not being paid off in full each month then you should not be using it at all unless there is an essential payment that you can not make any other way. You should pay with cash, EFT, or EFTPOS using money you do have rather than money you will need to pay back later with interest.

For this reason, when you are setting up your ‘Simply Budgets’ budget I would recommend that you do not activate the Credit Card facility until you can pay the Credit Card off in full each month. In the meantime, treat it as if it is a personal loan that requires regular repayments and budget for these each month in the Regular Expenses part of your budget.

Go to http://www.simplybudgets.com.au/hints-tips/8.html to find out more about Line of Credit loans and ‘interest free’ Credit Cards.

I hope this helps.

Regards
David Wright

Some other comments that apply to this issue:-

A line of Credit can be very useful once you have created enough equity that you are in a position to be looking around for investment opportunities. You have the ability to pay instantly without having to wait for a loan approval and that could mean the difference between missing out and not missing out on the deal.

In certain instances an investment opportunity will require you to hold an asset while improvements are being made. I’ll use purchasing a house and renovating it before putting it back on the market is an example. If you have enough equity available in a line of credit you may be in a position to make no repayments at all while you do the renovation and wait for it to be re-sold. The interest will accumulate, but your personal cash-flow is not affected.

You can not do this with a normal mortgage because regular repayments are mandatory and you would find yourself having to make repayments the whole time you are renovating and marketng the property whereas with a Line of Credit there is only one requirement; Do not go over your limit.

You should get financial advice before taking any action of this nature. The above is merely an example and your personal circumstances need to be carefully considered before attempting something of this nature.

Moving in together - Second time around

Hi David

My partner moved in with me approx 4 mths ago and we
both see a long term future together.. I am paying off my house ( the one
we live in ) and I am struggling to pay it and am just paying interest…
though I have about $200,000 in equity in the house and don’t wish to get rid
of it as I love it… and he presently has savings just sitting Read more

When you’re just getting started