By Tim McMahon, editor
I just recently received an email that made me mad. I get extremely upset when I see bad financial advice being palmed off to an unsuspecting public.
What made me so mad?
It was an email with the subject line:Â “The answer to getting caught up financially is here.”
Sounds interesting right? Who doesn’t want to get “caught up financially”?
If you saw that headline what would you think?  Ahh.. a magic formula to help me pay off my bills, reduce my debt, and perhaps even start being able to save a bit?
Not at all!
Here is what it said:
Short on cash? No problem, we’ve got you covered. Our lender network can hook you up with everything you need to get caught up or just get away, and we’ll give you plenty of time to pay it back.
So what is their magic program to get caught up financially? More Debt!
I know our government thinks it can solve the national debt by borrowing more and printing more money but I don’t think it is going to work for them either.
To make matters even worse the message went on to say:
No FICO-score checks (Translation: No matter how bad your credit and how much debt you have we can get you further into debt)
No hassle (Translation: We make it easy for you to destroy your financial life)
We deliver funds same day! (Translation: Get into more debt quickly before you come to your senses)
And for the Grand Finale… Drum Roll Please…Â Dum… Da Dum
Book your vacation today (with a hyperlink)… where are you headed? (not where are you headed– where you headed) (Translation: Spend this new money on a foolish consumer item rather than paying off old debt or even on a productive asset… just spend it so you will be deeper in the hole when you get back. Plus we’re assuming you’re stupid and can’t speak proper English or else you’d be too smart to take our “Deal”)
I did what any intelligent person would do… I hit the delete key!
The only system that I have ever come across that can use more debt to help eliminate debt is the use of low or no-interest credit cards to buy you some time to pay off your debt. By reducing (or temporarily eliminating) your interest payments you can use that extra money to go toward paying off your old debt.
But you need to have a plan and be focused on paying off that debt once you transfer the balance to the low or zero-rate card. This system can buy you between 6 and 18 months in which eliminates (or at least drastically reduces) that debt. Here are a couple of links that allow you to compare low interest cards with a balance transfer option if you are interested in trying to use this system.
Balance Transfer Credit Cards             Low Interest Rate Credit Cards
Don’t fall for the tricks plan ahead and eliminate debt.
Image Courtesy of Sean MacEntee on Flickr
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