Remember the first day you hold your first paycheck in your hands after a long month of harder than usual work in an alien environment that is your first workplace? The feeling of excited and happiness will lead you to spend your first monthly earnings buying that plasma TV that you desired since ages ago, or a shopping spree with your fellow mates to enjoy the freedom of spending your own cash on whatever you like.

Soon the credit card bill starts to pile and every month you are only paying the minimum amount to be due until the next month with not much left to spend. This is when personal finance management comes in to help you reduce your debts. A good financial plan is one of the main tool to help you do that, by clearly listing down who and how much you owe, whom to pay first and who’s next, and most importantly when is the latest to pay and also a budget allocated to save up instead of spending.

Financial planners are professional planners working for wealthy businessmen doing the same financial management as what mentioned earlier. An individual would not need such professional help from someone but the determination and discipline to keep with one’s own financial plan will get a troubled debtor out of debts and with a little more effort he or she can control the future expenditures so that there will be less outstanding debts. In one’s plan, the knowledge of different types of loans also help them to understand about which loans to pay less if it is overdue, or loan packages that has zero interest as an added benefit to greatly reduce the chances of increasing debts without the knowledge of the debtors themselves.

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When a consumer or a business owner borrows money form a creditor such as a credit company or a bank, he or she may one day find out that she has overspent the money or his business had went bust. The failure of business and also the inability to control one’s own self from overspending is the starting point that leads to filing a bankruptcy, which is a process that is meant to help those in credit trouble to repay all their overdue debts so that they can be cleared of all debts.

Among the many types of bankruptcy available there is the chapter 7 “liquidations” bankruptcy which is, if you have opted for this then the consumer is either being spending too much or unwisely and ended up with a large sum of debts, or a business went bust over a period of time. Filing the chapter 7 will cause the properties of the consumers being taken away and auctioned or sold off to pay the debts, and in return the bankrupt will be cleared of all previous debts.

There is a catch though, not everyone can file for the chapter 7 “liquidation” bankruptcy. If one’s income is enough to repay the total debts monthly over a period of time, it is wiser for the consumer to file for a chapter 13 “repayment plan” instead. However, not all properties can be taken away to be auctioned or sold off, there are also exempted properties such as clothing, car, furnishings which are stated in a list of exemptible items which many whom filed for the chapter 7 will be relieved to find that most of their properties are exempted from liquidation – including properties like their residing house or car so at least they have a shelter for the family.

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If you own and operate a business of your own – even if that means being self-employed as a sole proprietor – having a business credit card in your business’ name is a good idea. Not only to business credit cards allow you to easily separate tax-deductible business expenses from personal ones, but when you apply for a business credit card under an Employer Identification Number (to which everyone is legally entitled, regardless of whether or not they employ anyone other than themselves), it enables you to shield your personal credit should your business run into hard times.

Business credit cards make accounting and filing taxes much easier because all your business purchases such as ink and toner, office supplies, tools, vehicle maintenance and even computer software and hardware is all in one place. Some issuers of business credit cards such as Chase will even provide you with quarterly reports which you can access on the World Wide Web, 24/7.

In fact, the benefits of business credit cards are virtually endless. In addition to simplifying accounting and record-keeping, many business credit cards offer generous introductory rates as low as 0% for as long as 15 months and standard APRs as low as 6.99% thereafter. The Advanta Platinum BusinessCard With Rewards is exceptional in this regard; in addition to the extended introductory and low standard interest rates, this business credit card offers 5% rebates on purchases as well as travel expenses as well as total protection from fraud liability.

The American Express Business Gold Rewards Card does not offer an introductory rate, but has many advantages for those whose credit scores are 750 or above. These include discounts on shipping, airlines, hotel stays and other such business expenses. The Business Gold does have an annual fee of $125 (waived the first year), however, there are no spending limits and no finance charges. Cardholders can earn up to 100,000 points during the first year which can be redeemed for travel expenses, office supplies and even gift cards for your employees.

The Discover® Business Card is among those business credit cards that offer a 0% introductory rate as well as generous rebates on office supplies, motor fuel and other purchases. This card even allows the holder to write checks on the account for those merchants and suppliers that do not accept credit cards.

The Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card may be a choice for someone opening a new business. This business credit card does offer an introductory APR of 0% for the first six months. After this, it goes to 18.24%; in addition, there is an annual fee of $85 after the first year. However, this card is relatively easy to qualify for, and the cardholder is awarded 15,000 frequent flyer miles with the first purchase and accumulates these miles at the rate of one for every dollar spend.

About Author

Susan Slobac is a personal financial advisor. She specializes in working with individuals to improve their credit rating, build assets and maximize the benefits of cash back credit cards.

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