Why do the media and Congress seem surprised about the current credit crisis? I’ve been warning my clients about it for years. The effects of greed, poor money management practices and betrayal of consumers’ trust have been building and are now being exposed in every dark corner of the credit market. The days when practically any business still open could get a bank loan are long gone. The good news is that there are alternatives.

Despite the sub-prime meltdown negatively affecting the credit markets and the dramatic change in the rules of lending, it is still possible to qualify for business equipment leases. Yes, it’s tougher to get the capital you need to grow, but there are things you can do to increase your chances of qualifying for a loan or lease. Here are some suggestions that will help:

Check your credit regularly and take steps to improve your score. Underwriters have always placed a lot of importance on credit scores because it reflects the debtor’s ability to take care of obligations in a timely manner. Lenders are obviously nervous today, so a credit score of 675 or higher is even more critical. It is a smart money management practice to check your score on a regular basis and carefully review the information. In a 2004 study, it was found that 4 out of 5 credit reports contain errors that can be detrimental to your credit standing. These errors include, but are not limited to:

1. Inaccurate personal information and out-of-date addresses.

2. “Closed” accounts listed as “open”, like a student loan paid off but showing delinquent.
   .
3. The same mortgage or loan listed twice.
   
4. Major loans or mortgages that have been paid off or timely serviced not listed at all.

If you find an error on your report, write a letter or e-mail to the credit bureau. The bureau is obligated to contact the creditor who supplied them with the disputed information and then respond to you within 30 days. If you are unhappy with how the claim is settled, you can ask to have a brief written explanation added to the bottom of your credit report.

To improve your score, you need to take steps to resolve any items that are showing up as delinquent and those in which a judgment or lien has been filed. Make it a priority to pay credit cards and loans on time each month.

Pledge additional collateral. Some lenders who might otherwise turn down your application for a business loan or equipment lease may change their minds if you increase the collateral base. This might add a comfort level in the event things to south. Additional collateral might include specific assets from another business that is free and clear, rental property, or equity in a personal residence.

These are the 32 Words in the Bailout Bill intended To End Our Economic Freedom and Destroy the US Constitution as noted by a friend on my email network.

“Decisions by the (Treasury) Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.” – Section 8 of the Paulson Proposal

Bluntly, this clause was put in the Bailout Bill to personally protect the authors of that bill. Why? Because they know it is a bad bill designed to harm the public while protecting the out-ethics companies and company executives whose money management mistakes got them into trouble.

Did you listen to President Bush’s 12 minute address to the nation on the evening of September 24th? In one breath he stated the economic crisis was caused by too much lending of credit. Then 3 times he stated that the solution to the problem is the Bailout Bill which would make it possible for more credit to be given to businesses and families.

So how can what created the problem also be the solution? It CANNOT.

Did you listen to Bush and watch the politicians and so called “experts” being interviewed about the Bailout Bill? Did you notice that rach one of them used the word “hopefully” more than once? – Hopefully this will help, hopefully the housing market will start to recover, hopefully the government can sell the distessed properties that they are buying that ‘We The People’ have to pay for now. The authors of this bill and our political representatives on Capitol Hill doubt this bill will be the real solution. That’s why the authors of the bill added the clause that protects them personally if it doesn’t work – they are merely “hopeful” and are nowhere near certain.

The Great Depression finally materialized when the amount of credit loaned reached a critical mass and far outweighed the public’s ability to pay. That exact same situation has happened and the public cannot pay the credit debt they have incurred. To extend more credit is to send us faster down the slippery slope toward a long and deep recession.

I am against the Bailout Bill. I am for letting the executives who make millions in salaries every year take the hit for their out-ethics money management that created their companys’ and Wall Street’s problems of greed and financial mismanagement. I refuse to bail them out when I have worked so hard to keep my business and household financially sound and out of debt. I don’t want to be punished as the producer while their non-production is rewarded.

President Bush, Mr. McCain, Mr. Obama and all members of Congress, GET OUT OF OUR WALLETS and pay for this out of YOUR multi-million dollar annual salaries instead, since you are so HOPEFUL that this Bailout Bill is the correct solution. Take the billions in salaries made by the executives of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG,  and Wall Street brokerages. You were elected to serve ‘We The People’. We don’t work for you!

The greatest economic threat since the Great Depression has exposed a serious weakness in our collective fiscal management policies. Money management expert Sandra Simmons explains how to avoid the next big economic crisis.

Wow, what a roller coaster ride. Not since the Great Depression has the U.S., nor the world wide economy, come so close to falling off of the financial precipice. And while we are not out of the woods yet financially (not by a long shot), the current economic crisis does serve to illustrate a very harsh fact of life: The lack of an ethical, disciplined money management philosophy will eventually come back to haunt you.

 While our economic leaders are scrambling to put out the fires and rescue our economy, the big question on the minds of many is how did this happen and who is responsible?

 “The answer to the question of who is responsible for this economic crisis is both “everyone” and “no-one” from a philosophical perspective,” says well known money management expert Sandra Simmons. “What I mean by that is all of us are responsible for the global economy to a greater or lesser degree, but it is hard to really “blame” anyone because there is no consistent financial money management philosophy that everyone knows and can agree upon.”

 What Simmons is referring to is not necessarily capitalism versus communism, liberal versus conservative, or Republican versus Democrat, for there is a common element that virtually every econo-political philosophy has in common: money.

 “We can-and probably will-debate and argue the pros and cons of the various political philosophies forever,” says Simmons, “but at the end of the day, there is one thing that all governments, corporations, businesses and individuals must manage correctly and that is their money and cash flow. The correct money management philosophy, in fact, undercuts all of the various political points of view and deals in the most basic of financial principles.”

 In other words, the fundamentals of money management are actually the same regardless of your political views, and when those fundamentals are violated, there can be a heavy price to pay.

 “The essential centerpiece of any successful money management system is ethics and discipline,” states Simmons. “If you are not disciplined when it comes to the handling of money and cash flow, it doesn’t matter if you are an individual, small business, Wall Street, or the government. A lack of financial discipline is eventually going to come back to bite you and lead to financial crisis regardless of the scale.”

 Discipline enters into the money management equation because money management, correctly done, is going to lead to a very high level of financial stability. When an entity is financially stable, it can withstand the economic threats that will inevitably arise, and create a rock-solid economic foundation from which to operate.

“When we talk about money management discipline, we are talking about paying your bills and getting out of debt properly, eliminating the over-reliance on credit, building reserves, and always planning and predicting where money and income are going to come from, among other factors,” explains Simmons. “The easiest thing in the world is to fall into the credit trap. It is very seductive. But you can see what happens, and I think our current economic crisis is an excellent lesson of what can happen when governments and the biggest financial institutions in the world fall victim to the allure of living beyond their means.”

 “When we talk about economic or financial “ethics”, we are not necessarily talking about violations of the law,” continues Simmons, referring to the fact that the collapse of Wall Street will not necessarily involve the indictment and prosecution of any corporate executives. “Ethics has a lot more to do with judgment and decision making. A successful money management system is going to automatically encourage this because the objective is security and stability. Obviously ethics was sorely lacking considering our current economic crisis.”

Although we are currently in the middle of crafting an economic bailout that is going to involve astronomical financial numbers, according to Simmons, there is a basic money management principle that is always at play: It’s not how much you make; it’s what you do with it that determines your financial condition.

 Whether you’re a government, corporation, small business, an individual, or Wall Street, the following are the money management principles that Simmons recommends:

 Money Management Principle #1: SPEND LESS THAN YOU MAKE

Cut your expenses back to operate within your income. This may seem difficult, but building a budget that includes everything you need to run your business is essential. If you know exactly how much you are spending to run the business, and where the money is going, you can identify areas of waste or even areas where more needs to be spent to get the income up and increase profitability. Most UNDER-ESTIMATE what they need financially by 10 – 13%–a critical mistake when you are aiming for an income target that is too low.

 Money Management Principle #2: PUT 10% OF YOUR INCOME AWAY IN SAVINGS OR RESERVES

Set aside regular amounts of cash from your income for the future – put the money in savings toward gaining financial freedom and don’t ever spend it. Put a minimum of 10% of income into savings out of every dime earned. Note, even government is recognizing the importance of building reserves as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to see this become a part of that state’s budgetary process.

Money Management Principle #3: DO NOT BUY ON CREDIT

Pay cash instead. Debt is a disease that you should avoid contracting. If you already have some credit debt, a successful money management philosophy will show you how to get it paid off fast.

 This, of course, lies at the very heart of our current economic crisis. Too many people in the U.S., getting into too much debt, played an enormous factor in creating an economic collapse. It can be said with a high degree of confidence that had everyone from end users to financial institutions followed this money management principle, we would not be in financial straits as a nation.

 If you need to buy something that is expensive, put money away towards the purchase every week until you have the cash. If you absolutely must use credit for a home, office, or equipment, only use credit when you are 100% positive that it can easily be paid for without undermining your financial security.

Money Management Principle #4: FIND WAYS TO MAKE MORE MONEY

The cost of doing business goes up about 8.5% every year, so you need to make more money just to keep up. Look over your line of products and services and figure out how to sell more of the profitable items. Be willing to discontinue items that are not bringing in enough profit for the time, effort and cost to sell them. Find out what new products and services you can offer your clients to increase your gross income. Look at every financial decision you make with an eye on the return on investment you will get for the money you spend. Don’t spend your hard-earned income on “fruitless” expenditures.

 Money Management Principle #5: USE YOUR MONEY TO INCREASE YOUR INCOME

After paying the 10% into savings and paying your bills, use any money left over in ways that increase your ability to produce more income.

 Why is controlling the flow of money so important? It is the energy and life blood of a business. It is necessary to pump it through the income producing areas first to keep it running well. Everything runs smoother when cash is available.

 “I hate to say “I told you so” but I saw the current financial debacle coming several years ago,” says Simmons. “When the fundamental principles of sound money management are violated, it becomes a ticking time bomb. Without the right kind of fiscal discipline, economic pressure is going to expose money management weaknesses.”

 If we survive the current economic crash, perhaps the biggest tragedy will be the next time this happens if all of us don’t get our financial houses in order.

Sandra Simmons, President of Money Management Solutions has years of experience helping business owners and individuals manage their money to achieve financial freedom. Claim your FREE Debt Reduction Solutions Guide.

With all of the doomsday news about THE ECONOMY as if it were an entity unto itself, it should be pointed out that THE ECONOMY is actually made up of millions of smaller “economies” called businesses, companies, corporations, and sole proprietorships. The indicator of how well each of these smaller entities handles their money management responsibilities is what makes up the general condition of THE ECONOMY.

I saw the economic crisis coming years ago, and I’ve been warning my readers and my business owner clients about this dangerous financial condition for the past several years. The current economic condition is never the fault of THE ECONOMY. The money management practices of businesses, the government and American households create the economic condition.

Let’s take AIG (American International Group, Inc.) for example, since they just received a bailout loan of $85 billion from the Federal Government. This is a multi-national company selling insurance, investments and retirement accounts. That means their income comes out of the pockets of individuals and other companies, and they have a fiduciary responsibility to pay their clients’ insurance claims and invest their investor clients’ money in things that are supposed to make the client money.

This company, with trillions of dollars in assets, is not just experiencing financial instability, they are beyond broke. They had to have a huge bailout loan to have a prayer of surviving for one more day. And what did their press release say? They said, “Policyholders of AIG companies around the world can rest assured that AIG’s commitments will continue to be honored.” What I feel must be said is that they committed TREASON [Treason: Betrayal After Trust] against their policyholders and drove their company to the brink of bankruptcy and could not honor their commitments to their policy holders, so ‘We The People’ have to bail them out and now We The People own this company which is collateral against the loan.

Is this debacle the fault of regulatory mistakes? To a degree it possibly is. Is it due to the current “economic scene”? No way! This is a company that is so large that it has massive effects on creating the economic scene. You don’t drive a trillion dollar company into bankruptcy overnight or over a few months. And I’m not singling out AIG here. Look at what is happening to the banking, mortgage, real estate and investment companies.

There is no confusion in my mind about how this happened. The treason starts with small violations of sound financial policies and continues to evolve into gross financial irregularities, all in the name of posting a profit and making the stockholders happy. The senior executives of any publicly owned company consider it their first duty to please the stockholders every quarter, year after year, even if it is at the expense of their clients. The senior executives in power at any given time do not want to be the ones bearing the bad news to the stockholders and, in doing so, put their personal reputation and their million dollar salaries on the line. So little violations begin, and then bigger and bigger ones, until complete betrayal of not only the policy holders but, the shareholders as well, becomes reality.

And make no mistake, the consumers and clients of those companies are also committing treason against themselves. According to the newest data from the Federal Reserve, as of December last year revolving consumer credit card debt stood at 943 billion dollars. Revolving debt is set to reach one trillion dollars later this year. That’s *trillion* with a “tr”. Earlier in 2008, a Vice President of a U.S. bank stated that over 24 Billion dollars was paid out in interest, late fees and over-limit fees last year on credit cards. That means Americans are committing financial irregularities and treasonous acts against their own households’ economic well-being. But the credit companies are equally to blame for granting that much credit to consumers who can’t pay the bill.

The early warning signs of this economic crisis were evident 3 years ago. It’s been in the news for that long as well. Were the corporate executives and the American consumers just not paying attention? Did they hear the warning signs and ignore them? Well, the financial condition of THE ECONOMY that each of us as individuals create with our financial actions is going down for the count. So what are YOU going to do to take responsibility for your own financial condition?