What percent of your take home pay goes to each expenses?

30% - Housing: Includes rent, mortgage payments, home maintenance,  and property taxes. 

5% - Utilities: Includes gas, electricity, waste disposal, water and phone.

20% - Food: All food items, groceries, take out, food at work, dinners out, kids lunch.

5% - Medical: Includes insurance premiums, prescriptions, dentist, doctor visits, vitamins, counseling.

15% - Transportation: Includes car payments, gas and oil, maintenance and repair, car insurance, commuting expenses.

5% - Clothing: All clothing purchases, alterations, repairs, shoes and accessories.

10% - Savings: Long term and short term goals. (You should already be enrolled in your company pension plan.)

• Never use new credit when budget is out of control
• Read and question contracts before signing
• Communicate with creditors when payment will be missed or late
• Speed up payment of interest-bearing accounts
• Shop for credit to get best interest rate
• Take advantage of community medical clinics
• Reduce to one automobile
• Quit smoking (avg. annual cost for one pack/day is $2,482)
• Spend Time every week on your budget planning
• Be aware that changes and sacrifices are needed durning difficult times
• Keep receipts, warranties and guarantees
• Keep a calendar of due dates to pay bills on time to avoid late charges
• No impulse buying
• Make use of skills for “do-it-yourself” repairs
• Buys cloths out-of-season for greater savings
• Claim more dependants at work (hold one back to be safe)
• Review and reduce payroll deductions
• Establish saving plan of 5% or more of income
• Buy life insurance to protect family
• Seek community benefits, e.g. food stamps, H.E.A.P.

Eligibility Requirements for Homeowners:

·         In order for a borrower to have an application for a Reverse Mortgage, it is required that they attend counseling with a HUD approved counseling agency.

·         All owners must be 62 years of age or older

·         Must occupy home as principal residence [must live in home for over 6 months per year]

Eligible Properties:   

·         Single Family, 1 to 4 unit, owner occupied dwelling

                 o   Condos must be FHA approved

                 o   Manufactured homes are eligible if they meet FHA standards   [borrower must own the land, the home must be permanently affixed to a foundation and it must have been built after 6/15/76].

·         Mobile Homes and Cooperatives NOT eligible

360 degrees of Financial Literacy is FREE Program of the nation’s certified public accountants to help Americans understand their personal finances through every stage of life.

Check out our new feature on our Education page that links you to 360 Degrees of Financial literacy. If you are a homeowner, a college student or approaching retirement, each stage of life presents different goals and financial decisions. This material is designed to help you make informed decisions about your financial life.

As a new parent you may be considering, how to pay for my child’s education? Do I have enough put away for my retirement? How soon can we buy our first home?

As you are planning to answer these questions, use the website to research just some of these topics to help you decide what is your next step to reach those savings goals.

Not sure how to get started , just make an appointment with one of our certified financial counselors and we will help you begin to reach your financial goals.

Certain credit slip-ups can negatively impact your credit score.  Make sure to manage your credit responsibility and avoid the following:

Credit Mistake               If your score is 680           If your score is 780

Maxed-out credit card        Down 10 to 30 pts              Down 25 to 45 pts

30-day late payment          Down 60 to 80 pts              Down 90 to 110 pts

Foreclosure                      Down 85 to 105 pts            Down 140 to 160 pts

Bankruptcy                      Down 130 to 150 pts           Down 220 to 240 pts   

Credit is not free money.  Check the APR on your credit card or loan statement to see what it is costing you.

The interest you will pay each year of your average daily balance is:

APR                    $5,000                    $10,000                    $20,000

12.0%                 $600                       $1,200                      $2,400

15.0%                 $750                       $1,500                      $3,000

20.5%                 $1,025                    $2,050                      $4,100

22.0%                 $1,100                    $2,200                      $4,400

25.0%                $1,250                    $2,500                      $5,000 

The longer you wait, the more you will pay.

Are your money problems keeping you up at night?

Is debt weighing on your mind?

Does your paycheck fall short each month?

Then get your finances in order once and for all.

Let’s get started, put your monthly household bills on paper, and other annual or semi yearly bills to your list (car insurance, Christmas shopping, camps, etc.) divided by 12 (monthly) then add on other sporadic bills (clothes, hair, etc.).  Make sure your list includes all spending that happens during the year.  If you are still not sure how to get started, there’s lots of examples on the web or you can talk to a professional credit counselor.  If you need any help, call: 215-348-8003 or 877-900-4222.  You can also check out our website: www.ccc-credit.com.

Your peace of mind is so worth it!

You can’t walk away from student loan debt and there’s no statute of limitations on how long lenders can pursue you through collections.

The Obama administration’s Income-Based Repayment (IBR) may be of assistance.

IBR is available for many federally guaranteed student loans and can be particularly beneficial for low-income families, the unemployed and people with lower-paying, “public service” jobs in education, government or non-profit organizations.

Under IBR, monthly payments are capped at an affordable level relative to your adjusted gross income, family size and state of residence. For example, if you earn less than 150 percent of the government’s poverty level for your family size, you would pay zero. You still owe the money, but are not required to begin making payments until your income increases. As your income increases, so will your monthly payment – but up to no more than 15 percent of income that exceeds that same 150 percent of poverty level.

In addition, the government will forgive debt still owed after 25 years of consistent repayment. And those with qualifying public service jobs must only repay for 10 years before the balance is discharged.

Other IBR features include:

• All Stafford, PLUS and Consolidation Loans made under either the Direct Loan program or the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program qualify for IBR, except loans in default, Parent PLUS Loans or Consolidation Loans containing Parent PLUS Loans.
• You must submit updated income documentation each year. If your income rises, so will your payment amount.
• Because IBR will likely extend the term of your loan, you’ll probably accrue more interest than under a standard 10-year payoff.
• Private student loans don’t qualify for IBR.

Borrowers with two different types of federal loans – at least one each issued under the Direct Loan and FFEL programs – may consolidate their loans under a new Special Direct Consolidations Loans program between January 1, 2012, and June 30, 2012. This will lower FFEL loan rates by 0.25 percent, plus an additional 0.25 percent discount if you sign up for automatic payments. Visit http://www.studentaid.ed.gov/specialconsolidation for details.

If you expect your financial hardship to be temporary, other loan repayment options, including economic hardship deferment, forbearance and extended repayment, may be better options. For details, visit the Federal Student Aid site, http://www.studentaid.ed.gov and search “Postponing Repayment.” Other good resources include http://www.finaid.org and the Project on Student Debt (www.projectonstudentdebt.org).