So You Missed a PaymentThere are three reasons that you

So You Missed a Payment
There are three reasons that you might have missed a payment on your credit card: either you can't afford to pay, the payment didn't get there in time or you just plain forgot. I sympathise: paying credit card bills is a surprisingly difficult thing to do reliably and consistently. Sooner or later, something is bound to go wrong.

Whatever happened, though, there's one thing you need to do, and quickly - get on the phone.

Phone and Grovel.

Apologise like you've never apologised before. Don't panic, stay calm, but make it clear to whoever you get through to that you're very sorry, and things like this never happen to you. If you just forgot, then tell the truth about what happened - and if you can't afford to pay, then you should say that too.

You will be surprised at how lenient credit card companies usually are if you phone and apologise - after all, the sensible ones want to keep you paying interest to them for a long time to come, so it's not really in their interest to punish you.

Remember to be very grateful when they let you off, and tell them it won't happen again. Whatever you do, don't get angry or frustrated. It's you that's in the wrong here!

You have to think and act like you're a model customer, and be willing to transfer your balance elsewhere as a punishment for them if they won't let you off this one mistake. Transferring your entire balance to another card will make them sit up, take notice, and start making you much better offers than you ever got before.

Try to Keep It Off Your Credit Report.

You need to do everything you can to persuade them not to add your late payment to your credit report, at least if you want to apply for any credit in the next few years. Remember that any late payment could be a black mark against your name for as long as ten years.

On the other hand, if the worst happens and it does get onto your credit report, don't worry about it too much. As long as there's only one late payment, it doesn't matter too much, especially once a year or so has gone by. It's the people who consistently pay late who get the truly terrible credit ratings.

In the Future, Always Post Early.

This goes especially for the people whose payments didn't make it in time, but it's good advice anyway - it saves you trying to find money at the last minute. It is a bad idea to wait until the day before the deadline to make your credit card payment, as there are just too many things that can go wrong.

Also, it's generally a bad idea to let bills of any kind stack up until you get around to them, because bills aren't fun, and you just won't. Pay your bills on the day you get them, and you'll live a much less stressful life.

Speak the same language - Learn the lingo of loansDon't

Speak the same language - Learn the lingo of loans
Don't assume that because you can speak the lingo of mortgage fluently you can also speak to jingoistic lenders with equal fluency. Here, we explain basic loan lingo related to home loans that cut across all income brackets. Read through the various mortgage loan options and see what they are all about.

Government or conventional loans: The United States is a large player in the residential mortgage market. About 20 percent of home loans are either guaranteed or insured by an agency of the federal government. These mortgages are also called government loans. The remaining 80 percent of residential mortgages are referred to as conventional loans. These loans are mortgage loans usually provided by lenders who are not government-sponsored such as the FHA, VA or RHS.

Federal Housing Administration (FHA): Set up in 1934 during the Great Depression to encourage the U.S. housing industry, this body encourages people of low-to-moderate income to get mortgages by giving federal insurance against losses to those lenders who make FHA loans. The FHA, however is not a money lender. In fact, borrowers must look for an FHA-approved lender such as a bank or financial institution that will give them a mortgage which the FHA will then insure.

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): This provision enables people on active duty and veterans to buy homes. The VA does not have money of its own but acts as a lender that guarantees mortgages and loans granted by lending institutions. In fact, VA loans are usually sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. They offer competitive interest rates, little or no down payments and very little declaration of income.

Farmers Home Administration (FHA): Like the above two bodies, this one too is not a direct lender. Contrary to its name, one doesn't have to be a farmer to obtain a loan from this institution. But you do need to buy a home in the countryside for which the FHA insures mortgages. These loans come with minimal down payment and are easier to obtain than others. These loans are FHA loans are overseen by the Federal Housing Administration.

These loans come from lenders with attractive features such as minimal cash down payments, long loan terms, penalty-free if you repay before time, and lower interest rates. But these loans are targeted towards specific kinds of home buyers, have comparatively low maximum mortgage amounts, but take very long to obtain approval.

Apart from these three basic loan types, you can also choose from:

Fixed rate loans: Easy to qualify for, lenders to this mortgage offer you this loan which comes in 20 and 30 year schemes and gives you a good chance to keep your mortgage payments easy on the pocket over a long duration. If you plan to live in your home for several years and keep your expenses at a minimum, this loan is for you.

Adjustable rate loans (ARMs): Though this loan scheme has a low adjustable rate, it is not unusual for lenders to give you a maximum period of 10 years for repayment. The rule is that the low start rate means a short time before you start paying the first mortgage installment.

Combination (hybrid) loans: These loans combine a fixed rate with ARM loans. They have a built-in delayed adjustment period of which the initial period is fixed. They carry very little risk-usually lesser than one year and come with an interest rate that's lesser than fixed-rate loans. Though they begin as fixed rates loans, they adjust to ARM after a few years. This is meant for people on the move as lenders of a combination loan allow buyers to make use of low interest rates for repayment in the initial years of the mortgage scheme.

Balloon mortgages and pledge asset loans: Here, your monthly mortgage installments are based on a fixed term up to 30 or 15 years amortization. At the end of this balloon period, your lender will tell you that the remaining mortgage loan amount is due for payment. Pledged asset mortgages are loans meant for those with sufficient income to pledge their investments as collateral in place of a cash down payment.