Find a Neighborhood That’s Rebounding

Before the housing and job markets collapsed, many people relied on credit reports to give them an accurate assessment of an individual’s net worth. Today, even the best credit rating or the most prestigious job can hide the fact that a layoff or firing is looming. Therefore, when assessing a neighborhood, it’s not enough to look at average income levels and credit situations. Instead, ask a real estate agent to help you identify a neighborhood that’s been through the worst of the economic collapse and is showing signs of rebuilding.

Studying the Job Market

Unless you’re independently wealthy or own your own business, you’ll need to consider the job market in the areas you want to move to. Check to be sure that there are jobs in the area that you can apply for and obtain – moving in to a neighborhood that’s heavy on automotive manufacturing won’t help you if you’re a banker. That said, statistics won’t help you determine if the job market in a particular neighborhood is healthy, let alone whether or not it will stay that way.

In many cases, it’s best to review local newspapers for several months. Keep an eye on major business developments, as well as the employee turnover rates in your job sector. At the very least, this should help give you some insight into the day-to-day workings of the community.

Your Safety

While law enforcement officers do their best, neighborhoods that were once considered safe are now becoming dangerous. Therefore, before you move into a community, it’s important to know what types of crime seem to be occurring most frequently. You can try to obtain police blotters from specific precincts to get this information, or you may also find that online city guides are of enormous benefit. These resources will give you an opportunity to read comments from people already established in the community. Among other things, they’ll let you know how safe current residents feel in the area, as well as provide insight into the general nature of the people living there.

Although being constantly ready to move can be tedious, it can save you an enormous amount of money and trouble. If you’ve been studying a particular location for some time, you may suddenly spot an ideal job or a cheaper place to live. If you have to downsize your shelter costs in a hurry, you can at least rent an efficiency apartment in the area while you look for more permanent housing.

Credit Card Settlements

Once you miss a certain number of credit card payments, your creditors must write the whole amount off as a bad debt. While they can still take legal action to force you to pay your bill, they also have to stop charging interest. In some cases, you’ll find that your creditors will send you settlement offers – their attempts to recoup any money on these bad debts. Typically, their offers will be anywhere from 30 - 70% of the final balance. You may also be able to obtain these reductions yourself by calling and trying to negotiate with your creditors.

For the most part, these settlements will damage your credit report – however, they’re still better than going to court or filing for bankruptcy. If at all possible, if you’ve stopped paying your credit cards, try to set aside a little extra money each week, so that you can take advantage of these settlement offers when they come in.

Managing Medical Bills

Catastrophic medical bills have left many people homeless, on top of suffering from life threatening illnesses. If you don’t have medical insurance, there’s no question that you’re at an enormous disadvantage should you develop a serious illness or injury. Even if you can’t afford full HMO coverage on your own, look into whether you qualify for a high deductible health plan or temporary health insurance. At the very least, this will cover hospitalization and other major medical expenses without sending you to the poor house.

If you’ve already accrued a large number of bills, you have the right to know what billing codes are being used to ensure that your bills are accurate. Ask the Medicaid representatives in your state about their maximum payment rates. In many cases, you’ll find that your bill is as much as 75% higher than this amount. From there, you can try writing a letter to your medical provider explaining your circumstances, as well as your research on payment amounts. If you aren’t able to discharge your debt, you can ask for a hardship-based discount or try to make long-term payment arrangements.

Paying Off One Debt at a Time

If you have too many debts, it may be necessary to focus on just one or two of them before you start working on the other ones. For example, if you have five credit cards, you may want to pool all of your money into paying the card with the highest interest rate. Even if you run late on the others, you can try to catch up and pay them off as you go. While this will damage your credit report, leading to higher interest rates, you’ll still be making progress in getting rid of other debts. Of course, if you use this method, it’s crucial to destroy your credit cards once they’ve been paid off and never use them again.

Although you may not like being in debt, getting out of it may seem impossible. That said, even if you’re on a tight budget, it’s still important to do what you can. Some debtors will be satisfied with the fact that you’re making some payments, while other cases may require using strategies that will damage your credit rating. As you might expect, it’s best to seek competent financial and legal advice in order to find the option that works best for you.

Defensive Driving Classes

Depending on the carrier you’re with, you may be able to reduce the cost of car insurance by taking a defensive driving class. Even if you don’t have any tickets or collisions on your driving record, you may still qualify to receive this discount if you complete a carrier-approved course. That said, if you do get a ticket after taking these classes, you won’t be able to use your prior training in order to reduce the number of points on your license.

Avoid Tickets and Traffic Problems

Without question, the best thing you can do to lower your car insurance premiums is to not receive tickets and other driving infractions in the first place! This means turning off the cell phone while you’re driving and avoiding other distracting behaviors. Driving while distracted is similar to driving drunk – even though you think you’re in control of the vehicle, you’re actually a serious hazard to yourself and everyone around you. Being safe can also save you money – most states offer a discount to drivers who have gone a certain period of time without an accident.

Check Your Credit Score

It doesn’t seem fair, but many car insurance carriers will actually look at your credit report to try and predict whether or not you’ll have a collision. Their line of reasoning is that people who have been responsible with their financial lives will carry these habits over to their driving style – resulting in greater attentiveness and fewer accidents. Whether or not this is true, you’ll save money on your car insurance if your credit score is higher, so it’s important to do everything you can to reduce your debt and make timely payments on your outstanding balances.

Alternatives to Having A Car

If you find that the cost of car insurance is too expensive – not to mention the cost of gas and maintenance – you may need to get rid of your car. First, check to see if there are any car-sharing programs in your area. These programs own a certain number of cars that they loan out to members of their program for a small fee. If you don’t travel often, this can be an ideal solution. You may also want to consider moving to an area where you can take advantage of mass transit, like bus or subway systems. And if you’re in reasonably good health, you may also want to consider walking or riding a bicycle.

Car insurance is one of those necessary evils that always seems to cost more than we’d like. Unfortunately, most states mandate certain underwriting guidelines that force you to carry insurance if you plan to operate a vehicle. However, there’s no reason that you can’t lower the amount you pay with these suggestions and by shopping around to find a policy and provider that best meets your needs.