Do you deal with your credit card debt all by yourself or through a credit counseling agency? As for me, I use AKPK (Agensi Kauseling dan Pengurusan Kredit) to manage my credit card debt. In fact, I have been in the debt management program since October 2008.

Read: AKPK Debt Management Program – Part 1.

Read: AKPK Debt Management Program Part 2.

Read: Back Then in 2008 and Now 2010 for AKPK Debt Management Program Application.

There can be various reasons why people choose to go for a credit counseling and debt management agency.

Some feel that they are not comfortable in dealing with credit card debt by themselves, so they let a credit counselor handle it for them. Some go for a credit counselling and debt management agency because they lack of time to do the research and evaluate options for credit card debt settlement. Others just want professional advice and hence they contact credit card debt management agency.

Whatever be the reason for using a credit counseling agency, a good credit card debt management agency would surely be of help.

However, it’s important that you select a good credit counseling and debt settlement agency.

Never Fall for Ads of Credit Card Debt Management Agencies That Promise to Wipe Off Your Debt Overnight!

No Credit Card Debt Settlement Agency or Anyone Else Can Do That!

You should select a credit counseling and debt settlement agency which has verifiable credentials or a company that you know has a good reputation. If some friends have been through this process previously, they might be able to recommend a reliable credit counseling and debt management  agency to you.

Once you find a reputable credit card debt management agency, be honest with your credit counselor about your debt or/and debt-related information no matter how bad your debt is.

It is important to note that no credit counseling and debt management agency will be able to help you if you are not ready to help yourself. So, follow the advice given by your credit card debt counselor and practice good spending habits.

A Letter to Maybank, Malaysia from the Hubby of Vedis Teh the AKPK Debt Management Plan Blogger.

Attn: Y. Bhg. Dato Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, President & Chief Executive Officer and Encik B. Ravintharan of Head, Credit & Consumer Service. Address: Malayan Banking Berhad, Menara Maybank, 100 Jalan Tun Perak, 50050 Kuala Lumpur.

Hi, I am Vedis Teh from KL but am currently living in Ipoh, Perak.

My hubby has been in AKPK debt management plan for more than 2 1/2 years. Yes, it’s going to be 3 years he is in the debt repayment plan!

However, until today, he hasn’t received any annual statement from your bank, that is Maybank.

What he has been receiving so far is the same monthly credit card statement with retail interest rate of 17.50%, that is more than RM65 while his AKPK monthly repayment distributed to your bank is RM50.

Isn’t it ridiculous? His monthly repayment to your bank is RM50, but there is a RM65 plus finance charge. In other words, his credit card balance remains the same as 2 1/2 years ago?!

Also, late payment charge of RM50 appears occasionally in his monthly credit card statement.

According to AKPK, your bank is supposed to send out annual statements to AKPK fellows like me and hubby.

Okay, maybe your bank prefers to send out monthly statement rather than yearly statement! But, aren’t you supposed to mail the correct monthly statement to my hubby?

So far, Citibank and HSBC are the only 2 banks that post annual statements to hubby. In other words, they keep him updated with the exact amount of balance he still owes them.

From the yearly statements these banks send out, there are NO late payment charges or/and 17.50% retail interest charge.

Besides your bank, Hong Leong Bank Berhad and RHB do the same. I have already written a similar letter to Hong Leong Bank Berhad and will write one to RHB in a few days’ time.

Disclaimer: I call myself Vedis the AKPK Debt Management Plan Blogger, but I absolutely have no connection with the agency. Please do not mistake me for working in AKPK, though many have thought so. :-P

O, my, I love the three-day weekend! Besides being able to spend plenty of time updating my niche blogs, I have been able to replace the WordPress themes for some of the blogs.

Yup, I have changed the WP theme for www.FreeDebtManagementProgram.com too! It looks as plain as the previous Thesis theme, right? Mmmm, maybe a bit uglier! Argh, who cares? It’s the ctr that I am concerned about now. ^.^

Why can’t I be like my blogging pals who can stick to their same WordPress themes year after year? You know, I have to change the theme whenever I feel bored with it. I am kind of more motivated to blog after seeing a new/fresh look. >.<

In addition, I have also had time to check and file in some newly-arrived bank statements from Hong Leong Bank Berhad, RHB, MayBank and Public Bank.

Speaking of credit card statements, I wrote an online letter to Hong Leong Bank Berhad titled, ‘A Letter to Hong Leong Bank Berhad Malaysia from Vedis the AKPK DMP Blogger‘ on Friday requesting the bank to send out correctly-charged annual/monthly statements to me and others who are in AKPK debt management plan.

I will also write a similar online letter to RHB and MayBank respectively in a few days’ time in the hope that they can be more ethical like Public Bank, Citibank, HSBC and Standard & Chartered Bank to send out correctly-charged annual/monthly statements to me and others who are in AKPK debt management plan.

Attn: Ms Yvonne Chia, the Group Managing Director/CEO and Ms Elaine Lee Yin Ling, the Manager. Address: Hong Leong Bank Berhad, Level 2, Tower A, PJ City Development, 15A, Jalan 219, Section 51A, 46100 Petaling Jaya.

Hi, I am Vedis Teh from Kuala Lumpur but currently residing in Ipoh, Perak.

I have been in AKPK debt management program since October 2008. Yes, it’s going to be 3 years since I enrolled in the debt repayment plan!

However, until today, I haven’t received any annual statement from your bank, that is Hong Leong Bank Berhad.

What I have received month after month is still the same credit card statement with late charges of RM50 being charged to it every month! Besides late charges of RM50, there is also this cash advance interest fee.

Isn’t it ridiculous? My monthly repayment to your bank is RM40, but there is a RM50 late charge fee and a few ringgit cash advance interest fee. In other words, my credit card balance is still the same as 3 years ago??

I have been told by AKPK that banks are to post annual statements to me.

Okay, maybe your bank prefers to send out monthly statement rather than yearly statement! But, aren’t you supposed to mail the correct monthly statement to me?

Public Bank, Citibank, HSBC and Standard & Chartered Bank are by far the only 3 banks that post annual statements to me. In other words, they keep me updated with the exact amount of balance I still owe them.

From the yearly statements these banks send out, there are NO late charge fees at all.

Besides your bank, RHB and MayBank do the same. I am going to write a similar letter to RHB and MayBank respectively in a few days’ time.

Disclaimer: I call myself Vedis the AKPK Debt Management Program Blogger, but I absolutely have no connection with the agency. Please do not mistake me for working in AKPK, though many have thought so. :-P

I keep telling myself that I should be blessed to have a zero car loan, 2 emergency fund accounts, a full time job generating RM1,000 income every month, some online income and a hubby who is bringing home RM2,000 a month, BUT, I keep thinking about what has been bothering me for the past few weeks.

First, I Feel Like Quitting My Current Accounting Job. Way too much work to do! I feel that my stress is mounting with the load of increasing workload of unrelated work like photostating, answering phone calls, keeping records after records, …

I keep convincing myself that I am contributing some of my time and effort to the school, so it’s okay with the current RM1,000 monthly salary. BUT, spending 8 hours on week days and 4 hours on two Saturdays for just RM1,000 is just, sigh, … ==

Maybe if I quit my job and work 8 hours a day online, I can get that RM1,000 too. Maybe not! I don’t know.

I don’t know because my online income has fluctuated from making more than RM2,500 a month to between RM1,200 (low season) and RM2,000 (peak season).

I would just say goodbye to my current job if I made RM2,500 a month, but the fact is that I don’t. It’s between RM1,200 and RM2,000, so it’s risky and uncertain.

Second, Hubby Has Turned Part Time Due To His Health Problem. From making RM2,000 a month, he will get around RM1,000 a month.

With about 50%’s cut on his salary, it makes thinking of quitting my job even harder. T.T

I have been praying to God for improving my online income from Google AdSense earnings, Amazon advertising fees and the latest Vemma nutritional drink products.

I have also been praying to God to help make selling the house to our tenants or their friends easier/faster. Sell it so that there will be no more mortgage installments, quit rent fees and overdraft facility interest charges that consume RM850 every month!

Without any car loan and home mortgage installments, hubby and I just need to tackle our AKPK monthly repayments of RM680, flat rental RM270, internet and phone line fees RM110, cell phone charges RM65, RM50 utility bills and meal expenses.

See, I am not always the one who inspires/motivates you? I need to be motivated too and now! ==

When you don’t bother to read the About Me page regarding link exchanges, let me tell you now, it’s NOOOOO, okay?

When you don’t bother to find out the gender of this blog’s author, your Dear Mr/Ms email will be sent straight to the bin too.

When you don’t bother to get familiar with the author for this blog, your questions about how to make money online will be left unanswered.

When you don’t bother to google a bit about AKPK such as its toll free number, telephone number, main office address and branches, your questions related to the abovementioned stuff will not be cared much by me.

Enough ranting for now! ^.^

Hubby’s plan of turning to becoming a part-time teacher didn’t come true. For the time being, he is still a full time teacher taking the same amount of salary but with fewer classes. ^.^

I am grateful that the school principal is very concerned about his health and financial conditions.

Although hubby has repeatedly told the principal that earning a part time salary will not affect our finances, he still thinks hubby deserve to be paid a full time salary.

It’s my hope that hubby’s health condition can improve little by little by i) drinking fresh juice twice a day, ii) consuming Chinese herbs every day, iii) taking slow, deep breaths more often throughout the day, and iv) giving himself less stress.

Although hubby is still getting a full time pay for the time being, I still see possibility of him turning to part time teaching should his health condition get worse.

I am constantly praying to God to heal hubby while at the same time, I am pushing myself to work harder on my niche blogs to bring in more Amazon sales and Google AdSense earnings.

To increase sales and earnings, I have recently invested on BuildMyRank aka BMR to help with building backlinks. 10 free links during trial period, then there is US$59 (roughly RM180) subscription fee per month.

I have also gone back to using InstantArticleWizard aka IAW to help with generating short snippets to be submitted to BMR although the version I am using is still an old one, that is 2.37. It’s a one-time payment when I first bought it, but now, it’s $7 for a 7-day trial, then US$77 per year.

Ya, I got in early for IAW, but I got in late for TheBestSpinner aka TBS. I paid $7 for a 7-day trial, then US$77 per year.

Also, I am praying that our house gets to be sold to the current tenants to free us from any home mortgage burden. Having freed from zero car loan since last July, hubby and I have been hoping to sell the house as well to further release us from loan burden.

Imagine if the home mortgage was gone as well, phew, then our monthly expenses will drop to RM2,000 or less. AKPK repayments amounting to RM680, flat rental RM270, internet fee RM110, utility bills RM50, meal and grocery expenses RM800, …

Mmm, the amount of meal and grocery expenses can be cut down a bit! How nice if the school had free accommodation for staff! @.@

It’d been a long time since I last hung out at FB AKPK, so a few days ago, I went to check out the happenings there.

Phew, I am glad that I have since picked up some new information from there! Some old rules/regulations/terms/conditions are no longer applicable to new AKPK applicants.

New applicants are so fortunate that they can now submit their application and details via AKPK website. This definitely saves the time and hassle of traveling a few times to and fro the agency to submit form and necessary documents.

Guess that I should rewrite my post of Back Then in 2008 & Now 2010 for AKPK Debt Management Program Application or write a new post when I am free so as not to confuse people. ^.^

As I have been able to pay down credit card and loan debts on time while buffing up big and small emergency funds, I like to encourage people who are loaded with debt to consider AKPK’s debt management plan to help them pay down their debt.

I still do, but I make sure I re-tell them that if they are thinking of buying a car/house in future, then they have to think twice whether they should enroll in the debt repayment plan.

The reason? Well, so long as you are in the program, you will be coded in CCRIS (Central Credit Reference Information System) as being in AKPK!

This means when you want to apply for a car/home loan, the bank will refer to your CCRIS report. Seeing that you are in a debt repayment plan, will the bank give you the loan? Maybe. Maybe not.

According to AKPK, it really depends on the bank. Till today, I am still waiting to hear from someone that he has got a new loan although he is in AKPK or he has been out of the program.

Hello, any AKPK member out there who is still in the program or has been out the plan HAS SINCE BEEN ABLE TO GET A NEW CAR OR HOME LOAN?? Mind sharing? ^.^

I am supposed to blog about my situation next week, but I can’t withhold it any longer. I need to let out of my worry/concern a bit so that I won’t keep thinking about it.

So, what is it that has been bothering me since last week? Well, it’s hubby’s decision to turn part time after suffering constant dizziness and headache.

Since two months ago, he has been plagued by dizziness or/and headache very often. From once a week to two times a week to now, almost every day!

The initial blood test shows that it’s his ESR that causes all the dizziness and headache.

According to the doctor’s advice,  he should cut down on his workload and stress simultaneously so that he can sleep better and longer at night. Decreased workload also means he will have time to rest and do exercise. Subsequently, his health condition will get better.

Switching from full time employment to part time basis means hubby’s income will be slashed by half. Instead of bringing home RM2,200 per month, his income will be RM1,100 or even less.

Will the decrease of RM1,000 affect our finances and thus bring us more debt? Of course not. It’s just that our plan of hitting RM10,000 for our Joint Account Fund, RM10,000 for our E-Fund account by the end of the year will be slowed down tremendously.

This means the amount of RM1,000 that could previously be saved up is gone with the wind. It’s RM12,000 a year, you know.

Hello, Vedis the AKPK DMP Blogger, you have come a long way, so please stay positive!

I am thinking if there are ways to squeeze out RM500 or more to be saved up. What about cutting down on eat outs? What about working even harder on building links to my niche blogs so that they can bring in more sales?

Phew, thank God that hubby and I are in AKPK Debt Management Plan! I am even grateful that we have zero car loan and the home loan installment is partially paid by the existing tenants.

What am I hoping/praying? I am praying to God that there is a way I can still keep saving for the emergency funds at my current speed.

Three weeks ago, I was so excited to have reached RM7,100 for my E-Fund Account.

At that time, I was certain that I would reach my goal of RM10,000 within 3 months, that’s by the end of May.

But now, it won’t be reaching RM10,000 within 3 months or by the end of May as anticipated by me!

It will take longer as I just dug out RM1,210 for a new cpu and a regulator after my almost-5-year-old cpu finally stopped working three weeks ago.

My initial plan was to buy a laptop/notebook so that i) hubby could carry it to school to use, or ii) I could do my online work when traveling to KL or other places.

But then with a budget of RM1,500, the closest I could get was model like Acer Aspire 4253-E352G32L with 1.60GHz, Acer Aspire 4738Z-622G32L with 2.13GHz or Asus A42F-VX203 with 2.13GHz.

According to a colleague, I should get a laptop since I have already had another desktop computer in the house. My sister’s opinion is that I can do my online work in Kuala Lumpur if I have a portable notebook.

After weighing different opinions given by family members, friends and colleagues, hubby and I thought getting a new cpu would be the most practical option in terms of price and GHz.

Hubby’s buddy helped pick an Intel Dual Core E5700 3.0GHz cpu for us at RM1,100 and a regulator at RM110.

Maybe when my earnings of Amazon Associates Program brings me a steady income of USD $1,000 every month, I will reward myself with a notebook powered by Intel Core i7 Processor. ^.^

I am still very grateful to be placed in AKPK’s debt management program. Had (hubby and I) not been in the program, it wouldn’t have been possible for us to i) pay big expenses in cash or ii) bump up our emergency funds.