This holiday season many consumers might find themselves maxing out their credit cards. Everyone likes to splurge during the holidays. Our over spending tendencies can lead to financial problems such as impending interest rates; inability to pay the bill off in time; and of course outstanding debt. The inability to pay off credit card bills can cripple your credit score making it harder to attain loans, buy a car or a home. The best way to avoid credit card debt is quite simply; Don't use credit cards. That's right go by the tried and true method of if you don't have the money don't buy it. While that's a great premise more consumers are shopping via the Internet now than ever before. While people need a way to still order items on-line but without the risk of credit card debt. One of the best solutions is to make use of a mastercard prepaid debit card. You add funds that you actually have to the card. This means no credit card bill to pay, if you don't have the money you can't … [Read more...]

The majority of U.S. citizens will at some point in their lives require a loan. People seek loans for many reasons, but a lot of these loans are for new home purchases or mortgages on already owned properties. New home purchases are in fact at an all time low. With the unemployment rate soaring, foreclosures are at an all time high. While this is a terrible sign of economic decline it is a perfect opportunity for buyers. Prices of pre-owned properties have dropped tremendously in the last 5 years. What once would have sold for $100,000.00 may go for as little as $45,000.00 today. With the current state of things it is most certainly a buyers market. This flood of foreclosures and property value decreases mean that this is the perfect opportunity for many first time home owners; property resellers; or anyone who may be interested in acquiring additional homes and properties. So you have made the choice to buy a home, but still there is the process of finding a particular property … [Read more...]

How many of you have dealt with collection agency harassment? I am sure many of you have whether it really was something you owed money on, or something you once owed money on and had already made arrangements to pay the debt back. Did you know collection agencies are not allowed to call and harass you? Thankfully there are laws out there to protect us from these collection agencies. These laws were put into place so that we wouldn't be harassed, not so that we didn't pay our debts. I believe if you have a debt you should repay it, however, sometimes it can take a while to pay it back. I know with the current bills I have, it is sometimes difficult to pay back on some of those medical bills we have accumulated. I know I owe those bills, however, keeping my lights on take priority over those bills, and it really does the collectors no good to call and threaten me, they will not get their money back any sooner. Trust me if I could make money grow I would. Unfortunately things don't … [Read more...]

The holidays are upon us, but don’t let the expense frighten you, with a little bit of planning and a few tips you’ll ready this year. Embrace Black Friday Yes, Black Friday is an overcrowded crazy time to shop, but great deals are everywhere. Planning is crucial, and creating a game plan with family and friends can help you snatch the best buys. Comb through the newspaper ads thoroughly and split up. Later, meet up with your loved ones for breakfast to have fun reminiscing about the great deals you bagged. Another Black Friday strategy is to stock up on discount items for your gifts. For example, Bath and Body Works generally offers a holiday bag filled with their new products. After meeting a minimum spending limit, you can buy one or more and split it up for your gifts this year. Avoid Black Friday For those of you who just can’t face the insane number of deal hungry shoppers, the internet is another great place to locate amazing holiday deals. You may still need to set the … [Read more...]

For many the months of November and December evoke feelings of warmth, family, love, and of course thanks giving. Although, the holidays, and in particular Thanksgiving, can be tough. For those of us who strive for perfection, hosting a holiday get together can be stressful, and really burn a whole in our wallets. By the time the whole family comes around for second servings you could really be strapped for cash. The truth is you do not have to spend an outrageous amount of money to satisfy family and friends. A little comfort food goes a long way, and you certainly don't want to overdo it. It isn't out of line to ask a few people to bring a dish, which can also save you a few bucks. You can have a full Thanksgiving meal without paying so much, and a good one at that! Here are a few ideas to save some dough! (Pun intended) Cook From Scratch There are a few mistakes we make during the holidays when it comes to spending. While commercial products that are highly refined, and filled … [Read more...]

When you were little you might have had a jar or a piggy bank filled with coins that you hid under your mattress or in your closet. This might have been an effective saving strategy when you were young, but now that you are older and your savings fund amounts to more than small change it’s time to start thinking of a different way to hold onto your money. Your savings are important, and where to keep them should be carefully considered. If your savings are not in the optimal account you could be missing out on a lot of money in gathering interest. Whether your savings are short term, mid-term or long term, it is a good idea to keep them somewhere that is accessible, safe, and will allow them to grow. The amount of interest that your chunk of savings will accumulate depends on which type of financial institution you use and which type of account you place the money in. You will also need to think about how accessible you want your money to be. Are you saving this amount of money … [Read more...]

Everyone loves to save money when it comes to buying gifts at Christmas, but not everyone knows the different ways to do so online. Below are 3 great money saving tips that savvy buyers online use that you might not! Daily Deals This is one of the newest ways to save money online. Daily Deals are highly discounted products/services of up to 75% off that only last for one day, and are broken down into locations so you can find deals near by. These kind of deals are well worth a look at Christmas, but remember when you see one you like, be quick, because it wont be their tomorrow! So for example, lets say your looking for spa days or beauty treatments which are near by and you want to good deal. There are plenty of daily deal websites out there but an amazing one which springs to mind is delivermedeals.co.uk, these guys are daily deal aggregators which means they grab deals from a range of deal providers online and display them in one easy to use website. All you … [Read more...]

Everyone keeps blaming the economy for everything. However, it isn't the economy, it is the dumb-asses we have running the Government. Here is the thing, our Government wants us to think the economy is so bad, so that is why certain things are they way they are... But if you honestly sat back and looked at everything the only thing in the economy that has changed is how things are ran... The Government thinks we are stupid, they think if they jack prices up, we will pay for them. They think they have us all figured out... so what do we do, we clip coupons. We search online for the best deals... I mean who wants to pay .50 cents for a roll of toilet paper? Not me. Here are a few ways I use to get around a "bad economy". I use coupons, if I do not have a coupon for something, or it isn't on sale I do not purchase it. I search online for "freebies" I sure do, usually when a company sends you free products they also send you coupons, if you watch for the deals, you can usually get the … [Read more...]