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simplify your life & save some money Escape the Credit Card Monster Life as we know it today wouldn't be possible without credit. However, credit has its dark side as well. Credit cards have been compared to drugs; they offer short-term pleasure in exchange for long-term pain. Saying "charge it" is quick and easy, but that habit, uncontrolled, can lead you down the road to financial oblivion. Once you become hooked on credit cards, it can be painfully difficult (and sometimes impossible) to free yourself. Independent studies continue to show that the more credit cards you carry around, the more likely you are to dig yourself into a bottomless financial pit. Equally important—if your wallet, heavy with plastic, is lost or stolen, the risk of identity theft skyrockets. Now is the time to relieve yourself of that hazardous burden. Perhaps you have a card for personal use and a separate card for business. That's all you need. Dump the rest and your wallet will be bulging with the money you've saved, instead of all that plastic. Caution: avoid cancelling several credit cards all at once; that could affect your all-important credit score. Instead, cancel them over a period of months, and be sure to keep the two cards that you have had the longest. The credit scoring companies like to see a long history of good credit performance. Dig Out from under All That Paper With all the paper you're required to slog through for business purposes, you don't need to add to the burden by hanging on to reams of paper because of the worry that you might need it some day. Most of it will never again see the light of day. If that sounds like you, organizing guru Maria Gracia, founder of Get Organized Now, suggests these guidelines to help end the nightmare of out-of-control paper: • Use the four Ds—do it, delay it (file it in an action file), delegate it, or dump it. • Open mail over the wastebasket. • Immediately get rid of mail you don't need, such as catalogs or advertising offers of no interest. Then, use the four Ds on what's left. www.abmp.com. See what benefits await you. 85