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Now, you should not panic. Collection accounts are actually uncollected debts that are now being handled by a collection agency instead of your won creditor. To verify this, you should first obtain a copy of your latest credit report. This is possible easily online. As soon as you have the report in front of you, check whether the collection account entry is actually correct. If the entry shows an amount and a creditor that you have dealt with in the past, you should try to contact them at once to clarify this collection account. If you are lucky, they would have your file archived in their database. If not, you simply ask them which collection agency handles your account.

Speaking with the collection agency will not be as pleasant. They will, of course demand payment in full. You should try to explain to them that you are sorting out the records in case there were mistakes. Promising to get back to them as soon as possible, you hang up the phone and make sense of your financial situation. The best thing to do is look for old credit reports that could show the exact date the delinquency was reported before it was sold to the collection agency. It is not unheard of that some collection agencies would reset the date to the time when they received or purchased the collection account.

If you have finally traced the original debt and found it to be fully paid, you must report to the credit bureau at once as well as contact the collection agency. On the other hand, if the debt really does exist, then you should at least make sure that the date is correct. Collection accounts stay for seven years in your credit report and you should not allow the date to be reset by the collection agency.

You should always keep your credit reports so that situations like this can be avoided in the future. It is also important that you keep track of all your debts including that date you paid them and the amounts you paid. Although it may sound like a lot of work, organizing your financial life and keeping track of all relevant documents, it will certainly pay off in the future.

Learn how to Delete Collections accounts from your credit report from Credit Expert Frank Bruno: http://www.DisputeDemon.com

OK, now picture this in your mind. You're driving through a seedier section of the city and look over on the street corner and observe a person standing there trying to blend into the background. Soon a car pulls up to him and he approaches the window of the occupant. The questionable character reaches in and presents the driver with an unknown item. I know, you're thinking this shady clown is a drug dealer. Are you sure he's not your local banker?

I think you may have to consider a few things here. The local drug dealer stands on the street corner and sells drugs and he makes more money than most of us do. The banker sits behind a desk and presents you with an unsecured line of credit that is represented by a piece of plastic that will fit in your wallet and charge you not only up to 24% interest but service charges and annual fees. Just think, you run up that plastic nose candy to the point where you can't pay it off every month, He Owns You.... Oh sure, it sounded great in the beginning. Zero Interest, No Annual Fees, No Service Charges, but now the honeymoon is over.

I remember when I got my first credit card, The first thing I did was to go out and buy something that I really did not need and I had the money to pay for the Item. That was my first experience with credit drug abuse. The next thing I know, I'm in deep. I had collected some really cool electronic toys and other things that were not even material items. I had no clue of my spending habits with the plastic until the end of the month. By then I loved using the plastic.

The next thing I know, I'm sitting on the wrong side of the same bankers desk asking to refinance my house to pay off my plastic habit. The banker was sitting there with a smirk on his face filling out the appropriate paper work that makes me a slave to my house for another five years. He then reassures me that this is a wise move because it would take me 15 years to pay off the plastic habit doing the minimum payment thing. There I was, Mr. Responsible. That great unsecured line of credit had turned into a loan secured by my home with nothing to show for it.

I know, I know, society has dictated that we must have carry one of these pieces of plastic in order to avoid walking while on vacation to rent a car or staying at a no tell motel for 30 minutes at a time. Retailers love plastic because it cuts down on employee theft and ease of record keeping. Business people love plastic because the credit card companies do most of the accounting, not to mention the rewards.

I am pleading with you. Don't fall into the credit abuse world. Live within your means. If you have a high interest credit card go to www.easygetacreditcard.com and transfer your balance to a true low interest rate card. You'll save more money that you can imagine. If you are having trouble getting a card to build your credit score go to www.easygetacreditcard.com they will help you and keep you on the right track.

By Warren Milliman
Financial Adviser/ Credit Support

Video can be a little plain and boring if its just a talking head or maybe some action with no narration.

One way to spice up your videos is to add some stock audio and/or stock video footage. There are lots of sources for audio and video, but Id caution you to be sure you are getting it from a source where you have permission to use it.

Personally, I use Stock20 for audio. They release a fresh batch of royalty free songs at affordable prices every month.

Its important that you use royalty free music, as you are simply not allowed to use somebody elses music without their permission.

You can buy songs from Stock20 in packages, or you can grab individual songs for less than $10. When you buy a song, you get a variety of lengths to use for various projects in both MP3 and WAV formats.

Stock video is available via iStockphoto. The pricing there depends on the resolution of the video you purchase.

iStockphoto has a system where you purchase credits and the video clip costs typically start at about $5 and go up to $50 or so for really high resolution.

If youre going to just use the video on the Internet, you wont need the more expensive, high definition versions of the video clips.

There are lots of other royalty free sources for music and video that you can find in the search engines. These are the companies I use and Ive been happy with the quality and pricing.

http://www.makevideo.info

I originally wrote this article 30 years ago for a military collectors newsletter that I published. It has occurred to me that many of the ideas and techniques described here are just as valid for collectors of duck decoys, potholders, tractor seats or anything else, as they are for German military collectibles. I hope you will find it enlightening and fun!

Somewhere there is a line between "getting a good buy" and "ripping off the rube". Where that line lies is beyond the scope of this article. I'll let you decide, and determine which side you want to stay on....

COLLECTING ON A BUDGET

Although most of us build our collections by trading with collectors and dealers, there are many in our fraternity who have been able to put together a very fine grouping of Thrid Reich items by purchasing from noncollectors. Even at this late date there is a vast quantity of all types of militaria in the hands of vets, their families and friends. If you have never made any attempt to contact any of these people, you are perhaps missing out on some very good opportunities. There are many ways to go about finding the goodies.

First, and most obvious, is by asking around amoung your friends, relatives, co-workers etc. This won't take long to do, and before long you will know if there is anything out there, after that, it takes a little more work and effort. The best bet is to advertize in some of the local newspapers and neighborhood publications such as the trade sheets. I've been at this for quite some time and have met with some successes, and I can assure you that it has very definately been worthwhile. Over the years I have learned a couple of things about this type of collecting and I would like to pass on some tips to any of you who want to try it.

First and formost, NEVER NEVER use the word "NAZI" in an advertisement! That will guarantee some calls from screwballs and weird-o's! Also, I suggest you "buffer" your ad by requesting other types of militaria, whether you collect it or not. A good example is WANTED: War Souvenirs from Japan, Germany and Italy" or "U.S. ,Japanese and German war relics of all types wanted". By including the other countries you appear to be a military collector and not a "Nazi sympathizer".

When you receive a phone call try to get as much information about the items as possible. Ask about where the caller got them and verify that they didn't come from the flea market, caus' if they did - they're probably going to be junk or fakes: Remember that you are talking to someone who probably knows nothing about this type of thing, so when the old lady on the phone tells you she has a "Nazi Colonel's cross with "Der Deutschen Mutter" on it, don't break into hilarious laughter. You are going to find that people have some strange ideas about these things and the best way to handle it is to take them seriously now and laugh later when you have the goodies.. After you have got enough information to determine that they have something worth going after, try to make an appointment to see it. It is very important to make the appointment as soon as possible, don't waste a lot of time on the phone getting more details, get them to let you come see it, and if it can be that same day, all the better. As the saying goes--strike while the iron is hot-- the longer you wait the less your chances.

Many people will ask you about the value of items on the phone. My advise is NEVER EVER price an item before you have seen it, because the chances of misidentification are too great and that can blow it for you. If you thought it was a Knight's cross and its only a 2nd class IC, then you've made a fool of yourself and have to try to explain your "slight" error which is almost impossible. When you visit the person with the goodies, be patient and if they want to tell war stories, let them, this will get you on a friendly basis. Offer NO information about the items, but if they ask, answer the questions with a minimum of info.

The more you tell them the more they are going to think the item is worth, and I presume you will want to try to buy it as cheaply as possible. If there are several items, try to avoid priceing them individually and make an offer for the group. Of course it is better if you can get them to tell you what they want for the stuff, but you will find that they usually will tell you that they don't know anything about it and want you to make an offer. Naturally, I suggest you make that offer as low as possible, but try to make it high enough so they will accept your first offer. It is very bad to have to raise the offer because this will give them the idea that you are holding out on them and can make it even more difficult for you to pry the items loose. IF THEY EVER GET THE IDEA THAT THE ITEMS ARE WORTH SOME "REAL" MONEY" you're sunk. I don't wish to sound like a con-man but thats the way it works.

Some final thoughts: Always take cash, not checks, and when I make an offer I take the cash out of my wallet so they can see it (you sly devil you!). Never show a special interest in any one particular item, look at all of them equally, if you stare to hard at one piece, they might decide to let you have the rest and keep the one you really want. If you are going to run a "display ad" the sports section is the best. Never mention another collector to them, try to give the impression that you're the only source of cash around. And finally, prepare yourself for a lot of useless phone calls. If you're lucky, you might get something good from one in every ten calls and something great in one in a hundred. Patience is what it takes, but if you hang in there and keep trying, something will eventually turn up and it will all have been worth it....

This article was written to help militaria collectors acqurie pieces for their collections. The author does not believe in, or support the ideals represented by these collectibles.

Bob Treend ( http://germanmilitariacollectibles.com ) has been involved in militaria for over 35 years as a collector, dealer, publisher and author. He has written numerous articles on the different aspects of militaria collecting.