Credit

All right. You guys have been reading a lot on personal finance, debt, credit, etc. Lets see how much you really take to heart and follow the advice:) Jokes apart, here is a big chance to be creative and practical at the same time. Flexo has asked for your advice and tips on a real life situation of one Katie. Although he has some ideas, its time for collective brainstorming…read the article at Advice Needed: Newly Found Debt and Debt Collectors and see if you can help.

Check this out from consumerism commentary:

Money has been said to change people’s motivation (mainly for the better) and their behavior toward others (mainly for the worse). The results of nine experiments suggest that money brings about a self-sufficient orientation in which people prefer to be free of dependency and dependents. Reminders of money, relative to nonmoney reminders, led to reduced requests for help and reduced helpfulness toward others. Relative to participants primed with neutral concepts, participants primed with money preferred to play alone, work alone, and put more physical distance between themselves and a new acquaintance….

Check out the full post at Study: Money Makes People Mean….Interesting read.

 

 

Check out Carnival of Personal Finance #80 on the personal finance blog. Some interesting data there regarding the following.

Truth About Interest Rates
Why should I pay off my low interest rate loan (mortgage or otherwise) when I could make so much more by investing in the market?

Tips To Reduce Debt & Stay Out Of Bankruptcy

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Credit Cards, Part 1: The Good  (from consumerismcommentary)

Wells Fargo’s Debit & Credit Rewards Program - Associated Content
A review of Wells Fargo’s Credit & Debit Card Rewards program, and why they’re probably not worth your time.

Protect Your Card From Its Issuer

This is interesting reading for the avid personal finance solution tracker. Let me know if you find anything interesting I may have missed:)

Keep an eye on your own credit report. You get to know which companies are accessing your report to figure out the offers to be sent to you. Interesting? Well not so much if you do not need those offers anymore.

And how do you check your credit report? Visite AnnualCreditReport.com to get one of the three free annual credit reports available there. Did you know that all citizens of the United States are legally entitled to these reports? Get more of this at Credit Cards at T.J. Maxx Hacked, Checked My Credit Report. Time to gain some common sense knowledge that is sort of uncommon:)  

I am a regular reader of consumerismcommentary and must admit I get some really sound tips time and again. Just when I thought that the post on choosing the right card for balance transfer was very informative, here comes another extension to this post. That too in the form of an instant messenger transcript. This one provides a decent understanding of both Discover and Amex simplycash cards. You should check out Discover Business Card or AmEx SimplyCash Business FreedomPass if you are a balance transfer enthusiast.

Have a great day!

For the interested, “Women and Money” author Suze Orman is making news with a new relationship. No I do not mean a personal one…..Suze Orman is now partnering with TD Ameritrade. She will be promoting their account and providing the save yourself plan to subscribers. You can get the details here at Suze Orman Teams Up With TD Ameritrade.

I have been watching her call-in show for sometime, although not religiously. I am not so sure how well people relate to this show but I guess the information is handy. You definitely get a tip or two when it comes to personal finance, don’t you? I think it would be interesting to know how many people have actually benefitted from this advice practically. Its good to hear it from some one who is an authority on the subject but implementation is the key, remember?   Check the article at Suze Orman Teams Up With TD Ameritrade

Have you ever thought of credit card arbitrage? I mean balance transfers here.

I used to wonder how to make sure that I am gaining money through balance transfers and not making the credit card company rich instead. And most importantly, I wanted to know which cards would provide the best balance transfer options in my given situation. I found some answers to my query at Best Credit Cards for 0% Balance Transfers.

This article provides quite a few interesting  tips to follow while selecting a card from an  arbitrage perspective. Things like avoiding fees and interest and checking that these cards do not charge you any annual fees. Worth a read….check it out.

How many times before have you heard of a paypal account getting compromised by an intruder? And how many of these have been able to get their money back? Not many. Often touted as an easy way to process payments, we tend to forgive the fact that it can be hacked into and result in a big loss of money.

Well, there is good news in the pipeline. Paypal is now concerned about this issue and is introducing secure ID tags. I liked this concept of  security. Heard about HSBC doing a similar stuff for its online customers sometime back. Assurance from paypal that my money is safe, adds to the convenience that it already provides. Read more