What would happen if you returned from work one day to find that your house just burned down, flooded, or was burglarized? As you are trying to sort out what happened, you get a phone call from your landlord, the car dealer, or even one of the utility companies, notifying you that you are late on your payment. They request that you either submit the payment immediately or they will have to take other measures to collect the debt and report your outstanding debt to the credit reporting agencies.



At this point you have two choices, resubmit the payment or prove that you made the payment. Do you have any receipts? Receipts are usually kept at home in a safe place, but remember your house just burned down or flooded.



How can you prove that you made the payment if your receipts just went up in smoke? You will not usually get a receipt when dealing with cash transactions. On the other hand, money orders are very hard to track without the copy or a receipt. Had you paid your debt with a check, all you would need to do is contact your bank and request that they provide you with a copy of the check written to the creditor or utility company. The bank can also tell you if and when the creditor submitted the check for collection of funds.



As discussed in one of our previous articles, most unbanked Latinos prefer a savings account instead of a checking account. I would venture to say that perhaps one of the reasons for choosing a savings account over a checking account is because they believe that there is less writing and math involved. It can be a ...