Bad Time Of Year
December 18, 2006
It’s a bad time of year to have credit cards and very little cash. You want your loved ones to have a great holiday and it’s just too easy to charge all your gifts.
It’s better to use cash if you have it, because you are more likely to use some self control. Those extra dollars seem like they don’t even exist when you charge them on one of your credit cards.
There will be an after holiday when those bills will start coming due and most of the time the regrets come with them.
Make a list of what you will buy and spend and try to stick to it if you must use cards. It may feel like free money at the time you use them, but remember you will pay even more with interest afterwards.
Nigerian Scams Never Stop
December 15, 2006
What is the biggest cause of these Nigerian scams working? The answer is greed. People want easy money and somehow believe that if they give you $10,000 you will give them back $10,000,000. That is the simplicity of the scam. Get around all the big words and jargon and that is what that scam email is telling you in a round about way. Put like that, I don’t think anyone would believe it, but for some reason they fall for these fake emails claiming a Nigerian Prince has lots of money to give them, for a small fee of course. People be careful with your emails and learn to know a scam just by the title of that email before you even open it. Here are a few examples of the different types of Nigerian Scams going around.
Claims to be an African Prince who needs you to send them some money to get millions of dollars out of the country. They will of course give you half or close to that.
Same type of scam, except this time its a retired general or official that needs you and your money’s help to get there millions out of the country.
Another scam says that they found oil and they need your help because the land must be bought by an American contractor or something to that effect.
Or this great one. You had a relative you’ve never met but they left you hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars and they just need a small fee before you can collect the money.
Here’s another. We had to hide our millions of dollars by dying them black. We’ll give you some of the millions but you need to spend thousands or hundreds of thousands to buy the special chemicals that will get the black ink/dye off and turn it back to real money. Truth is, the black paper is just that paper, its fake and you just spent a fortune on contact paper.
Visit Quatloos to find out more about these scams 419
Credit Card Late Fees
December 15, 2006
The worst thing about that credit card isn’t the high balance on it. The late is what can really kill you. Especially since some banks seem to be doing everything they possibly can to make your payment late. The truth is late fees give banks billions of dollars a year (yes that billions with a capital B) and they love it when your payment comes in late, even by a millisecond. Read the horror story of one such individual who was unlucky enough to misplace a bill.
Young and In Debt Series
December 15, 2006
There is a weekly series going on online at USAToday. It is all about young people, many college age kids who are already deeper in debt than they should be for their age. Imagine being in your late teens to early twenties and having a debt of $60,000 or more. That is enough to make any sick. Find out the how’s, the why’s and what no to do in this great ongoing series.
They See Em Coming
December 15, 2006
Almost as soon as my son turned 18, the credit card offers started to come in.
We explained all we knew about the pros and cons of having credit cards to him. He opened up a checking account and got himself a couple of cards.
He is doing pretty good with them but learning some costly lessons along the way.
For instance the due date. Both his cards came due on the same day. After work he sat at his computer and transferred a couple payments from his checking to the card companies.
A couple weeks later when he checked his accounts he was livid to find out they hit him with late fees and over the limit fees, which totaled over one hundred and forty dollars for both accounts.
His fist costly lesson was it’s not enough to pay on the day they are due, there is also a time of day they are due, which was by three on that day, he paid at five.
What can I say? It’s a cruel cold world out there, get used to it and read the fine print.
Credit Card Fraud Restaurant Schemes
December 11, 2006
Be very careful especially around the holidays when you go to restaurants and pay with a credit card. Usually you have to give your card to a waiter or waitress and they take it to the back and swipe your card. This whole process is done out of your view so you have no idea what is going on.
The problem comes when you check your statements and notice a bigger restaurant bill than you thought. The culprits actually add fictitious charges to your card and pocket the amount they overcharged you. Some even copy down the credit card information and charge other things to your credit cards. Police say that this is not a new crime but it does become a bigger one around the holidays.
New Holiday Season, New Debt
December 11, 2006
Every year around the holiday season people go wild with their spending and figure they will work it out after the new year. However, the Christmas season is a big reason that many find themselves living paycheck to paycheck. For the rest of the year they will be paying off huge credit card bills and this cycle will continue through to the next Christmas season, where it starts all over again. There are ways to either cut down on your spending or make some smart choices.
Opening accounts at the cash register can hurt.
Sure, you receive the 10 percent discount. But you may be paying a higher interest rate down the line than you could have found by shopping around for credit. “Shoppers often don’t ask about the terms,” said Lucy Duni, director of consumer education for TrueCredit.com, a unit of the credit bureau TransUnion.
I’m usually asked if I want to get a store card and save a percentage but I generally turn it down because I don’t shop at those stores often enough to really make the card worth it.
Rebate Checks and Credit Card Scam (Sort of)
December 11, 2006
There is a new thing going on with rebate checks that is not really a scam but it is untruthful and can bite you hard. You check the mail to find a rebate check. It is usually less than $5.00. If you are not paying attention and fill it out and cash it, you can find yourself in a circle of hell. I recently saw a story on this and promptly forgot about it, until I recieved one in the mail myself. The problem with the rebate is that once you fill it out, you are giving permission to the company to sign you up for a credit card you neither want nor need. It can and probably will have large fees and is a bit hard to get out of, so be careful when cashing those rebates. If you didn’t send in for a rebate check, then you should probably smell scam.
Don’t Refinance Your Home
December 8, 2006
So many families are deep in debt and falling deeper and a go to option that too many choose is to refinance their home to help pay off those rising credit card statements. However there are better options that you can look into and this article talks about one which is debt settlements. With debt settlement you can get the bills bundled into one and have it cut down as much as 60%. There is no need to risk your home to pay the bills.
Lower Your Card Payments
December 6, 2006
This site explains how to lower your credit card payments with a phone call to your credit card company. For example:
1. Get a Handle on History – Knowing your account history is step one; if you don’t pay late, tell that to the credit card company’s customer service representative.
2. Know the Score – Most consumers have a credit score in the 700-range, which is considered good. You can find out your credit score for free via FreeCreditReport.com. This free credit score is truly unique, since most of the time they cost up to US$14.95. If you have a score around 700, tell the card representative.
