GotLongview.com Brings You “DebtSmart”

With so many people struggling with debt today, we wanted to devote a section of GotLongview to address the issue. We have gained permission to use and reprint articles from Scott Bilker of Debtsmart. We appreciate Mr. Bilker's willingness to help our East Texas readers become “debt smart”. We hope his financial advice will prosper individuals, and by extension, prosper our community. We will be adding more articles to the list every few weeks. And here before too long, we'll be adding other money related topics to this page.

“Scott Bilker, author of the best-selling books, Credit Card and Debt Management, How to be more Credit Card and Debt Smart, and Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt, is the creator of DebtSmart.com. 

He is an electrical engineer, with a B.S. from Newark College of Engineering, and a member of Tau Beta Pi (National Engineering Honor Society) as well as the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. His credit card advice has been featured in several magazines, newspapers, and online resources including Consumer Reports, Money Magazine (June & August), The Wall Street Journal (6/08, 9/07, 3/07, 1/07, 1/07, 7/06 & 4/05), Newsweek, The Christian Science Monitor, SmartMoney.com, Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Reader's Digest, CNN/Money, Kiplinger's Success With Your Money,” and many more.

Click on a title to start reading the full article now

Title

Description

Helping a Friend With Debt

...new job pays just enough for rent, food, basic supplies, and his credit card payments....no margin for saving money...

Cutting Up Credit Cards

...have a lot of credit cards. WE would like to cut them up so we don't use them. Should we...

Getting Rid of Annual Fees

...I'd like to get rid of the annual fee, so I tried calling them and asked them to waive it. I used your technique...

Capital One's Brilliance

...Like all of Capital One's customers, I was hit with an interest rate hike from 9.9% ..to 15.4% and 22.9% respectively

Problems with BalanceTransfers

...to transfer balances ($5,000 to $12,000). I go through the whole process and get approved for $1,000. I cancel...

Good Credit, but Too Much Debt

...Our credit rating is excellent, but we are carrying too much debt to acquire lower rate cc to lower our monthly payments.

Living Beyond My Means Too Long

...I've been living above my means for years, using credit cards to pay for the difference from what I make and what I spend. I can't...

Second Mortgage Rate and APR

...Why is there a different price for the quoted loan interest rate? My mortgagө company, Quicken Loans, quoted me 6.55 percent on a second mortgagө. Then when I got the papers to sign, the APR fair credit paper states 7.1 percent