The Wong Ohana

Here is a very cool site that I stumbled across. Its a FREE file sharing site.

For example, I am in a Conversational Hawaiian Language class, and I record each weekly class. I can upload the files from my digital recorded to the site and send a link to everyone in the class, and by clicking on the link, they can all listen direct from the site, or download the files to their own computer. This is very handy for those that miss a class, or even if someone wants to review or practice.

The basic package is FREE , and of course you can upgrade for more space, more features, etc., but I find the FREE account is sufficient for me.

So if you have family videos, vacation pictures, or music that you’d like to share with family and friends, just join this site and get 5.0 GB of FREE storage space. You can upload your files, then just send a link to family and friends.

CLICK HERE to check it out!

Filed under:Uncategorized on March 12th, 2008 | 1 Comment »

SERIOUSLY!!

If youʻre an eBay shopper, (and who isnʻt these days?) wouldnʻt it be cool to get cash back each time you make a purchase? Well, now you can.

I just joined this site, and decided to check it out because we are big eBay shoppers. Its really pretty quick and easy, and it works exactly as advertised.

You just sign up for FREE and download the link. Each time you want to shop on eBay, just use their link to log in, then proceed as you normally would. Once you buy something, you will get credited back of a percentage of the sellers fee.

Its quick, its easy, and its FREE! Does it get any better than that??? And you do nothing more than you normally do. All you do is just use a different link (which youʻll bookmark for ease) to get there to make sure that you get credited.

Gilbert just bought something, and sure enough I just got an email saying that our purchase was credited. I logged into my Big Crumbs account, and lo and behold there it was.

They pay whatever you have listed in your cash back history each month direct to your PayPal account! How cool is this!???

And its not just eBay either - they pay cash back for tons of online shopping sites! I LOVE this site! Totally worth a minute to check it out!

PLUS, if you have an eBay store, there is the added bonus that you can list your store on the site for FREE and every Big Crumb member will have access to your store and products.  That’s FREE ADVERTISING!

And if you’re a Seller, just add this line to each listing and include your link each time you ship out your products:  “Click here to get a discount every time you buy”.   You’ll add customer loyalty by offering discounts (which you don’t have to pay!), and you’ll get a commission every time they buy something on eBay in the future even if its not from your store!!!

CLICK HERE to get Cash Back on all your eBay and online Purchases!

Filed under:SAVE Money on March 7th, 2008 | No Comments »

Well, I’ve said it before - - - I’m not a sports person, or a better, didn’t even turn on the TV for Super Bowl. I have no idea who won (OR even who was playing for that matter?), and don’t really care (even though I have a nephew that just got a full ride on a football scholarship). And yet I find that this site is completely addicting! Each night I run to see the scores and if I’ve won or not! I’ve never been so excited over a .10 cents bet.

I can’t believe that I’m all the way up to .58 cents and yet, for some stupid reason, I feel like a Millionaire! Go figure!

This site is a complete Blast, and a well needed respite from the stress and strain of any other internet site I’ve seen!

I have 3 bets on tonights games, and I can’t wait to see how I did in predicting (guessing is more like it) who will win. I’m mostly picking on if the names sound “cool”, I have no idea who these teams are, or if they’re any good. When in doubt, chose the favorite, I guess. But so far I’m doing ok, and I haven’t lost it all just yet, so what the heck??

How fun is this???

Seriously, if you want just a little FREE fun (the sponsors actually GIVE you .10 cents to play with!) check out this site:   CLICK HERE

Filed under:Uncategorized on February 9th, 2008 | No Comments »

Do You Know How Your Credit Score is Calculated?  If not, you should!

There are many things that the Credit Card companies don’t want you to know, and one of them is how your FICO credit score is calculated.  The less you know, the less you can alter or correct and the more interest they will ultimately be able to charge you.  So get in there and be informed!

So what parameters do the 3 Major Credit Bureaus use to determine if you have Good, Poor, or Excellent credit.  Now, you may wonder, what difference does it make HOW its calculated, perhaps you’re just a “Bottom Line” kind of person, and you’ve always just wanted the facts - such as “Do I, or don’t I qualify for that loan?”.  This is a very dangerous stance to take because knowing the formula used gives you the power to not only avoid areas that will negatively affect your rating, but also to make changes in specific areas that could positively improve your final score.

Now, these figures are public information - and although its been printed in books, can be found on the internet, and if you write or call the credit reporting agencies, you might even find someone who will share the formula with you, I’ve found that its something that the average person is typically unaware of, and yet you should be.

PLEASE NOTE, however, that the descriptions below each heading are my own opinions and interpretations, after doing much research, over years, on the subject.  Please be aware that I’m not a professional financial adviser, and while I may be giving my opinion on things that I’ve done, that have positively impacted my own credit rating, you should consult with your own financial adviser before implementing anything posted here. 

So here’s how it goes.  There is a simple mathematical percentage applied to 5 different areas that will either positively or negatively impact your credit rating depending on how your credit activity and history has been reported over a period of time.

Here is the breakdown:

• 35% - Payment History

This is a simple to understand one.  Pay on time = good, late or delinquent payments = bad.  But its really more than just that.  The credit card companies update to the reporting agencies every month.  a 30 day delinquency will affect you less than a 90 day delinquency will.   Anything that goes to collections will obviously hit you harder than just a one time “oops, I forgot to mail that check”.  Total number of infractions also add up to more negative value.  If you have only one bad mark of 30 days past due, that is completely different than 4 accounts all showing 30 days past due.  So the bottom line here is to pay your bills, and pay them on time.

This is fully 35% of your total credit score and one of the easiest to keep under your control.  If you have an electronic bill pay service, use it.  Set it up to pay your bills at least a week prior to the due date so that any holiday, weekend, or whatever won’t cause that payment to go late.  And if you do make that ultimate error and skip a payment, call the company as soon as possible, and explain your circumstances and ask if they can forgive this small indiscretion and promise that it won’t happen again.  If you know in advance that you’re going to be late, or have trouble meeting an obligation, it is also recommended that you call the company as soon as you can to let them know IN ADVANCE that the payment is coming, but will probably be a bit late.  They LOVE it when you communicate with them, and this may keep you from getting reported.  You can even make a request that they write in your file so that it won’t be recorded against you as a late payment.

The bottom line here, I guess, is that if you can’t afford it, don’t buy it.  Don’t commit to making payments you won’t be able to afford, and don’t stretch your budget so thin that any small emergency will cause you to fall in arrears.  Don’t buy something because you are “expecting to come into some money soon”.  Wait till the money arrives, then buy it, and charge as little as possible.  There is something to be said for trying to maintain a cash lifestyle.  The less you owe, the less interest you will be paying and the more money in your pocket!

So if you have to use credit, please pay your bills, and pay them on time.  This will help you on your way to a good credit score.

• 30% - Amount You Owe

This one also seems simple, we’ve all heard the phrase “debt to income ratio”.  The Readers Digest condensed version is to calculate everything you owe on credit and compare that number with how much money you make.  Hopefully you make more than you owe!  You’d think that was the end of it, but its not.

What Your Credit Score is actually used to determine is “What are the odds that you will be able to repay a debt”.   That’s it in a nutshell.  That is what they are trying to find out.  Yes, they know you want it, and there you are waiting in line to buy it, but what are the odds that you will pay this debt if credit is given to you?

The amount you owe is just part of that equation.  Something a lot of people don’t know is that its not just how much you owe that they are looking at.  Its how much you owe COMPARED TO what your overall credit line is.  In other words, what they want to see is that your total debt on any one individual card falls within 30%-50% of your Available Credit.  For example, lets say you have a $1,000 card and you’ve charged $900 worth of merchandise on it.  The average person would feel that they are well within their rights to do so - and yes you are, but what the credit agency looks at is that you’ve used up 90% of your Available Credit and this is a bad thing.  It would be better to have 3 credit cards all with $1,000 limit and charge $300 on each card.  Now, you still owe the same $900, but what the credit agency looks at is that each card only has 30% of available credit charged to it.  This is what they want to see, and it will result in a higher score.

Now there are a couple of ways to use this information to your advantage.  Either pay down your cards so that your resultant debt falls within the 30%-50% range (obviously this would be the preferred solution if at all possible), transfer some funds from a higher balance to another card with a low or zero balance so they’ll both fall closer to that range, or call the credit card company and ask them to raise the limit on your card.  This will result in your total debt being a smaller percentage of your new higher credit line, and thus increase your credit score.  Just remember DO NOT use that higher limit as an excuse to increase your spending!!

• 15% - Length of Your Credit History

Now this is an interesting subject.  It used to be the common thought that when a credit card was paid off it was a good thing to close the account.  Now we know that is not the case.  The old tried and true credit card that you have had since you were in school buying books will earn you a higher credit score than a new card you just applied for.  The credit reporting agencies want to see that you not only pay your bills on time, but that you have a HISTORY of paying your bills on time.  So the longer you have a credit line, combined with the amount of time since that last activity (as long as you have shown good history on that account), the better your score will be.

Now lets say that you have been transferring funds in order to take advantage of promotional offers, but you use the cards only for paying down the debt and never make a new charge on it.  First I congratulate you on reducing your debt, and your restraint in not using the cards to increase your spending habits, but there comes a time when the card will go “inactive” in the eyes of the credit reporting agency even though you’ve been faithfully making payments.  After 2 years time, if no spending has been reported, that card will cease to be used in calculating your credit score - sucks doesn’t it??  I have a few that fall into this category.  Now if you’ve been faithfully making payments for those 2 years, believe me, you WANT this card to count if possible, so you might go to your local store and buy a couple of bags of chips and put it on that card.  Once you use the card, even once, the old history will suddenly be be brought forward, the card moved to active status, and you can increase your credit score.  If you look at your credit report, there should be somewhere on it next to each card that will let you know if that card is considered “active” not.

Now something to be aware of is that if you have a promotional offer on this card of 5%, and now you make a purchase, your new charge will be calculated on the standard rate that your card holds, which may be quite a bit higher than that 5% promo offer.  Now your credit card company will also pay off the lowest interest rate first, so it will continue to pay down that 5% until the offer expires, and all the while the new purchase, at let’s say 14% standard rate, will continue to increase every month.  So definitely think twice before doing this.  You’ll want to compare what your current score it, how much you think you can positively affect it, and what the monthly cost will be to do so by making a purchase on that card.  These are not things to be taken lightly, and are not suitable for everyone, nor for every situation, so you should always get the advice of a financial expert before attempting this.

• 10% - Types of Credit Used

This one is a little trickier - but basically it means that the credit reporting agencies want to see a well rounded mix in your credit history.  If all you have are a couple of department store cards, or gas cards your score probably won’t be as high as someone with a car payment, a mortgage and a couple of major credit cards.

• 10% - New Credit

Now this is not as straight forward as it looks at first glance.  Yes New Accounts, does mean exactly that.  Number of recently opened up accounts - but it also includes “inquiries” in that total.  That means that if you go “shopping” for a new car, and stop to test drive 3-4 different cars on 3-4 different lots, and each one runs your credit to see if you qualify, each one of those inquiries will count against you.  So, look all you want, and test drive all you want, but don’t let them run your credit until you’re sure that’s the one you want to buy.  Its seems an easy request, “well, just let me check your credit and I’ll show you what you can afford”.  Don’t fall into that trap.  Wait till you’re ready to open up your check book before you let them contact the credit agencies.  Even if you walk away and don’t buy, if they have run your credit, the agencies already know, and they’ll ding you each time it happens.

The bottom line here, is that only 65% of your score is directly due to your actual paying history.  That other 35% also counts.  So the recommendation I will give you is to be aware what is on your Credit Report.  It is legal in the US to get your credit report once a year at no cost.  All you have to do is to call and ask for it, or go online and download it.  Check each and every item.  Make sure that its you, make sure that its correct.  If you find any discrepancies, contact the reporting agency and let them know.  There are millions of people out there, and yes probably even a few with your same name, and who knows if they are as good at paying bills as you are, so make sure your credit report is accurate.  Everything counts in one way or another!  Its either good or its bad, but it does count towards your total credit score, so make sure you stay on top of it and have the most accurate report you can have.

Filed under:FIX / REPAIR Your Credit, Personal Finances on January 18th, 2008 | No Comments »

Aaaaaalrighty then - - - just got my mail, and lo and behold there was a credit card bill. My (not-so-new) favorite pass time. Not paying the bills, but looking for BETTER deals! And guess what I just found! Included in my statement envelope were some “courtesy checks”.

Now, normally this is a thing to be wary of. ALWAYS read ALL the print, in particular the smallest print front and back. This is where hidden fees and charges will appear, just small enough to require a magnifying glass, a boiling pot of some kind of witches brew, hair of newt, and a few spider webs in order to make sure you catch everything there.

Well, I typically tear these up in shreds and throw them away without even as much as a second glance, but what caught my eye today was another offer for 1.9% until October 2008. That, in itself did make me stop take a peek. On further inspection, I see there is a balance transfer fee, but it has a reasonable cap of $75. This means that as long as I transfer over in excess of $2,500 I will be getting less than the standard 3% fee - and if the offer is good enough I KNOW I have more than $2,500 that I can move around.

Now, what is the first thing I’ve been saying you need to do? That’s right. I opened up my SPREADSHEET and took a look to see what the circumstances of my outstanding debt is. What promotional offers do I have , when are they going to expire, what is the standard rate they will revert to on expiration, and of course the balance due. I see that I have one card with what I consider to be a rate higher than I want to pay. I have a 10.9% fixed rate with a high balance. Now some people might say that 10.9% is pretty good, but you have to understand that I’ve been playing credit card BINGO for years, and this rate is unacceptable for me (and it SHOULD BE for you too, once you learn a few solid principals).

The next thing I do is to go back to my promotional offer sheet and look at all that very fine print to see what the rate will revert to once the promotional offer expires. Oh yeah, way at the bottom of the page in the last paragraph - barely visible the print is so small (but then again, maybe its my old eyes having trouble???). I find that it will revert to the standard rate currently existing on this card. So I flip the page, and see that the standard rate is fixed at 9.9% (remember that 10.9% is what I’m interested in lowering). This fact alone makes this an EXCEPTIONAL OFFER, add to that 1.9% for 9 months and I’m ecstatic! Not only can I transfer my ENTIRE balance to the 1.9%, but subsequent to that offer expiring, the rate will actually be 1% LESS than I’m paying right now! I’ve done a few calculations on the amount of interest I’m paying at 10/9% (what I consider to be an obscene monthly amount), and this one offer alone will save me literally thousands of dollars in interest payments over the amount of time required to pay this particular debt in full!

This also means that within the next week (the time it will take for them to transfer the money to my checking account - and YES I did request that lovely service AGAIN), combined with the time it will take to disburse the funds - - - the highest rate I will have on any debt, anywhere (not withstanding my mortgage which is fixed at 6%) will be 4.9% - - - wait, did I just say that the HIGHEST INTEREST rate I will be paying over the next 9 months will be 4.9%????

Do you get how MONUMENTAL that is when you calculate in that if I continue to make the same payments I’m making right now, the difference in the new interest rate will be going directly to knocking down the PRINCIPAL! And that’s where the real savings comes from. The principal gets paid down quicker, thus the total debt disappears faster, and less money goes to the credit card company!

It doesn’t get any better than THIS! Unless and until the day that I’m completely debt free, which is a serious goal I am currently working towards! Now I won’t have to look at any more offers, or make any more phone calls until after October of this year when my 1.9% expires! By that time, I’m hoping that another 4.9 will show up - and who knows - - - it just might because as I pay off each smaller amount, they keep sending me better offers to move funds right back to them!

Another exciting thing I’m looking forward to is that when I pay off this 10.9% balance - this company is going to immediately call me, send me letters, and basically barrage me with offers of better interest rates. Maybe I can even negotiate them to drop my existing 10.9% fixed for new purchases. After all, this rate just isn’t competitive enough for me, anymore is it???? So in order to keep my business, and this is the card I run all my personal and business purchases through - so trust me when I say they definitely want to keep my business, they will have to mkae a very attractive offer indeed! Should be very interesting to see what they come up with!

Now, ask me if I’m a happy camper today??!!!

Filed under:Credit Card DOs and DON'Ts, Personal Finances on January 17th, 2008 | 2 Comments »

Well, I love it when I can say “I learned something new today”! And that doesn’t happen very often when it comes to playing with Credit Card transfers - I know the game very well, been doing it for a long time - but today I did learn something new, so I thought I’d share - - -

I try to keep all my credit cards “fine tuned” as much as humanly possible. What this means is that I am always on the lookout for better deals, lower rates, etc. So for long periods of time, there is really nothing I can do to improve my situation. I usually have to wait for a balance to get paid down, or a promotional rate to expire before I can do any more tweaking.

Well, that time came for me today. While I was sitting and paying my bills, I noticed that I had a card with a promotional rate ready to expire in a couple of months. What that means for me is that its time to call the Customer Support (800) number on some of my cards and see what offers I can drum up.

You’ll notice that I didn’t say that I got an offer in the mail. While I do get them on a regular basis, this time, I took the initiative and just got out my most recent bill and called them up.

What you want to do is put them in the position of WANTING to make you an offer. This is really quite easy to do if you think about it. What do they want from you? The answer is your business. If you move your money to another company they will no longer be getting your monthly interest. So find one of your credit cards that still has some credit line available - in other words, this won’t work if your card is “maxed out”. Next thing you want to do is to ask “Can you please tell me how much is my pay off amount?” It doesn’t matter if you really want to pay it off or not - you just want them to THINK you are going to pay it off. This typically gets you transferred to the “keep this customer at all costs” Department. The next person you talk to will usually make you a Promotional Offer to stay with them.

If NOT, then you just go to Plan B which is: Tell the person on the line, “What I’m trying to do is to consolidate and eliminate as many of my bills as possible. Therefore, I either have to pay off YOUR card and move it somewhere else, or perhaps I could transfer some of my other debt to THIS card?” This definitely lets them know you are looking for a good rate.

Now here is where it got very interesting today! All of this is very common, and I’ve done it successfully many times before, but what happened today took me by surprise!

A little background is necessary here. Step into the WayBack machine and go back 2 weeks or so. I have a little photo printer that requires special paper, and I find the best place to buy it is from Amazon.com. Nothing complicated there, done it before But when I got to their site, I saw an offer for their VISA card. It said, “Sign up now and get $30″. Well, interesting enough, my purchase was going to be $30, and I’m not an idiot, so naturally I filled in their on-line form and signed up for a VISA card. Now, I certainly don’t need another credit card, and actually I have no intention of ever using this card - BUT it now looks like I can get my printer paper and ink for FREE just for the time it takes to fill out the form, so I did it. I ordered my ink, it arrived, all was well with the world. Never thought twice about it.

Now jump back into the time machine and come forward to today - - - I’m on the phone with my Credit Card company - NO CONNECTION to Amazon.com AT ALL. I’m talking CitiBank Credit Card Customer Service - I don’t think they’re affiliated with Amazon, I could be wrong, I really don’t know??

Now I’m talking to the Customer Service guy and asking about what offers he can give me and I find he is willing to give me 4.9% till the balance is paid in full - VERY ATTRACTIVE offer! He now has my full attention - - - so I go ahead with my negotiating. I said, “This is a very good offer, and I’d love to take advantage of it, BUT my credit line is only $5,000 and I already have half of it used, so I can’t really transfer that much over - I’m wondering if you can help me out?” My thought was that maybe he’d approve an increase in my credit limit by $1,000 or so????

This is where it got interesting - - - Now remember in another thread where I stated that you’d better be prepared and have all of your information in front of you BEFORE you start your negotiations because THEY certainly will? You’ll never believe what he said to me?????

“I see you have a VISA with Amazon.com”. Surprised, I respond, “Well, why yes I do” - - - hmmmmmm that didn’t take long, I just received my product in the mail a couple of days ago???? THEN, he said something that FLOORED ME! He said, “I see that your Amazon credit limit was approved for $10,000″. I had NO CLUE!!!! I haven’t even received my first bill in the mail yet! Then he said something that KNOCKED ME EVEN FURTHER off my chair!! Are you ready for this????

He said, “Since I wouldn’t be increasing your credit line at all, I could, with your permission, move that credit line over to your CitiBank card”. He was offering to LOWER the credit line on my new Amazon card that I haven’t even received in the mail yet, that I had no intention of ever using, and RAISE the credit line on my existing CitiBank card! I almost couldn’t speak! I could barely get the “OK” out of my mouth in an audible tone!

Then, since I figured he was on a roll, I asked if he could transfer it to my checking account instead of another credit card, since I wanted to pay off a couple of different cards, but didn’t want to pay multiple balance transfer fees, and he said, “sure, that’s easy”!

I swear I thought I was in a DREAM! I just got $10,000 transfered to my checking account that should arrive in 3 business days for an interest rate of 4.9% until the balance is paid in full! That’s better than my Home Equity Line of Credit, better than my Credit Union - heck that’s an incredible offer! Now all I have to do is sit down and look at my spreadsheet and figure out which debt would be most advantageous to pay down first. I’m still in a bit of shock!

I’ve never heard of getting an unsolicited offer to move a credit line from one credit card to another! Add this to my arsenal of financial management tools!!! You KNOW I’ll be requesting this service again in the not too distant future!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention - - - The balance transfer fee “cap” that was quoted was much higher than any other card I have, and when I expressed dissatisfaction about this (not too much, though, I didn’t want him to pull the offer!), he said that while he couldn’t do anything about the rate PRIOR to making the transfer, that if I waited until AFTER the transfer was complete, I could call back and they would reduce the rate down to a more reasonable amount. You can bet your bottom dollar that my calendar is marked with a reminder to call back, AND the phone number!!!

Even if you haven’t gotten any offers in the mail or don’t quite know how to get started, or who to call, don’t let that stop you! Get out your latest credit card bill. There will be an (800) Customer Service Number on it. That’s the number to call. Like I’ve said before - EVERYTHING is NEGOTIABLE!! Now get out there and start negotiating some better rates! It could be yours for the asking, but in order to get it, you have to ASK FOR IT first!

Whew! What a day today was! Very Exciting!

Filed under:Credit Card DOs and DON'Ts, Personal Finances on January 14th, 2008 | No Comments »

• Something you want to BEWARE of and be AWARE of are the Promotional offers for Balance Transfers.

They can look very enticing, but remember the cardinal rule - Read ALL the SMALL PRINT!! I can’t stress enough how VERY important this is. You may think all offers are the same, but it couldn’t be farther than the truth!

The first thing to look for is interest rate/time period ratio. 6% for 1 year can be a better deal than 4% for 3 months. So make sure that you look at the ENTIRE offer and see what is best suited for your circumstances.

Also don’t forget to take notice to see if there is a “transfer fee”. This is where they get you! If you have a 4% offer, it can look very good on the surface, but if its only for 3 months, and there is a 3% transfer fee - you’re not really paying 4% are you???? This has just become a 7% offer for those first 3 months in addition to whatever their normal rate will become for the next 9 months - and don’t forget to add in the additional 3% to that rate too! That 3% applies to the entire balance you transfer over before you start to pay any of it down, so it can add up. Its always best to wait for an offer that has “no balance transfer fee”, or you can call them up and ask if there are any conditions under which they will wave the transfer fee, and/or lower the rate. Also no guarantees there, but it has been known to happen.

Filed under:Credit Card DOs and DON'Ts, Personal Finances on January 14th, 2008 | No Comments »

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard these excuses:

• I can’t afford a Savings Account -
• I don’t make enough to save -
• There is nothing left at the end of the month -
• I don’t know how to get started -
• I’ll start saving next month, or next year, or just “later”, or even
• I don’t need to save, I have a good job, we’re doing just fine -

Well, the hard cold fact is that EVERYONE should have a Savings Account of “some kind”, “somewhere”. EVERYONE should have a Nest Egg to fall back on for that proverbial “Rainy Day”, and brother you never know when it will start raining. You never know when you may or may not end up on a Lay Off list at work, when your company will go broke, or get sold, or when someone in your immediate family will fall ill, or when you might have a car accident, or when a tree might fall on your house from the last storm. These things happen. We don’t plan them, and a lot of people don’t plan “for them”.

Saving isn’t an easy thing to do. It requires a certain amount of planning, diligence, restraint, budgeting, and yes a little bit of research wouldn’t hurt either, but it CAN and SHOULD be done!

OK, so you don’t make a ton of money - you’re not rolling in the dough! How do you get started when you can barely make the bills each month? It can be done. There are things you can do that can get you started. It may not, and most probably won’t get you rich overnight, but this isn’t a get rich kind of thing we’re talking about. Its a slow and steady way to create something that you can build up over time that may help you out in case of that emergency, or in case you want to buy something of substance that doesn’t immediately fit into your budget like a new car, or a house.

Everyone has a dream of some kind, maybe a long needed vacation, a dream car, or a boat, or whatever, but how do you get those things if you don’t have some kind of a plan? The answer is you don’t! So let’s start a plan so that someday you CAN take that trip to Bermuda, enjoy your first cruise, go fishing in Alaska, or drive that new convertible.

Its actually quite easy to get started. Everyone has, at some time in their lives, probably had a penny jar, right? Well it takes a lot of pennies to add up to anything, especially now in the 21st Century where there is no such thing as penny candy anymore, but if loose change is collected over time it will add up to SOMETHING. And if we do a lot of little “Somethings” and put them all together, we can end up with a nice pot in the end. So start by saving that spare change. When you come home for work at the end of the day, empty your pocket or purse of all that change and toss it into a bank of some kind. Now you’ll want to safeguard against the ability to be able to remove the money for treats, movies, cigarettes, or anything else. This has to be a SAFE place to put your change that will ONLY grow, and you won’t be able to dip into for any other reason.

When I was very young, I took a glass Mayonaise jar (at the time the largest kind of jar available in our house). I glued the lid onto the jar so that it couldn’t be opened. This immediately solved one problem - impulse “snitching” from the jar for that odd piece of candy or bubble gum. Also guarded against my younger sister, and cousins that might be tempted by the shiny coins. The lid was securely glued on so there was only one way to get my coins out without breaking the jar - well, not really, but the “other method” required a lot of time and patience, and it wasn’t easy (you don’t think I’m going to tell you do you???), so that took care of most of the “withdrawal” issues. Once the lid was securely glued shut, I took an ice pick (remember ice picks?) and jabbed the lid of the jar to create a slot large enough to drop coins into. Warning, be careful not to jab yourself with the ice pick - ouch!!! The punches from the ice pick created a jagged edge on the inside of the jar so the coins wouldn’t automatically, or easily fall through if the jar were turned over and shaken, so this was a nice kind of homemade piggy bank that couldn’t easily be broken into without some serious efforts.

Once you have your own piggy bank “secured”, and I do STRESS “SECURED” because you will be tempted to dip into it from time to time, which you don’t want to do. OK, you might WANT to, but you’re not going to - right? Now you have a means for starting your savings. Even if you only drop one coin a day it will begin to add up. And don’t mess with that jar until its full. Then go to your local bank, or stationery store and get some coin wrappers. You’ll be surprised how fast it will add up, and once you have your first jar full it will be enough to open a savings account with!

Now when starting a savings account you will want to compare the rates. It will vary from bank to bank, and if you have access to a credit union, you may even find something better. In addition to comparing those rates, don’t forget to look at how liquid your funds are. If you think you want something long term, you might look into “locking in” your funds for a period of time for a guaranteed higher rate, but most times that will require a “minimum deposit” or “minimum balance”. In the beginning you may not meet those minimum requirements, so just look for a good rate with no monthly fees attached. Make sure you check for those monthly fees. If you find a good interest rate, it can be easily overcome if the institution is going to charge you for having that account, so make sure your Savings account doesn’t have a monthly fee attached to it.

Once you are comfortable with dropping your coins, and you find you have adjusted your budget to allow for that without much discomfort, you can up the ante by saving $1.00 bills. I find that no matter where I go, not only do I get a pocketful of change, but I also get a purse full of $1.00 bills. If you do nothing more than fold up and drop your $1.00 bills into your piggy bank, you will be surprised how that will increase your savings quite quickly. If your budget is tight right now, then take out just one of your $1.00 bills and drop that one into your bank occasionally. Eventually you’ll be able to drop more, and your jar will fill quicker, but start with just one and see how you do with that. I think you’ll find that you won’t really miss it. How many times do you drive through and grab a hamburger and soda? How many times do you buy lunch out? Or grab a 6-pack at the liquor store. That $1.00 won’t make that much difference in your spending habits, but it can make a HUGE difference in your saving habits if you just tuck it away and forget about it. Now when THIS jar gets filled, you will be absolutely amazed at how much you have been able to save - so off you go to the bank again and deposit it into your account.

There are also a few tips on getting what I call FREE MONEY. Oh, you say nothing is FREE? Well, there are a couple of ways I’ve found to do exactly just that. I get offers in the mail quite frequently for new banks opening up. Or a local bank that opened up a new branch someplace else. Or maybe even your own bank that wants to promote a new program so they want people to come inside to check it out. The offers usually go like this: Refer a new customer to our bank, and we’ll give you $20 after they sign up. Or Open a Savings account with our bank and we’ll fund it with $50 after your third statement. Or refer a friend and they will get $20, and so will you if they sign up for our FREE checking account. I see these offers all the time. Now all you have to do is to go open a bank account, or refer a friend and they will deposit funds to your account and/or your friends account and the only obligation is typically the account has to stay open for 3-6 months. After which time you are free to take your funds out and close it. This is a nice way to help not only yourself, but your friend/spouse/family member also. I’ve opened an individual account with a minimum $20 deposit, referred “my husband” who also opened up an individual account and we’ve both benefited from the FREE CASH. Keep an eye on your snail mail, the junk fliers, etc. and you may see offers like this. They are legitimate and who knows , you may even want to keep the account once you have funds in it. Both brick and mortar, and online banks have these kinds of offers - you just have to know to look for them. You can even go into your bank and ASK THEM if they have any referral programs, or promotional offers for opening new accounts. You won’t know unless you ask, and a lot of them have the offers, they just don’t always market them openly.

And speaking of online banking. Its very easy to open up either an online NG Account, or Emigrant Direct bank account, and you’ll find they both pay much higher interest rates than any brick and mortar bank or credit union. In fact Emigrant Direct is a very old brick and mortar bank based in Manhattan New York, but the have a fairly new on online product (last few years or so) that pays very good rates. Funds are 100% liquid and you can attach it to your own bank account for deposits/withdrawals. Its also a great way of keeping the money a little farther away from your temptations to withdraw since you can’t just go to an ATM on your way home from work to get cash out. Its free to deposit and free to withdraw.

Now that you have a habit of saving your coins, and the occasional $1.00 bill, you can think of starting an automatic deposit to your Savings Account. Start with something simple like $1-5 per month. TRUST ME, you won’t miss it. If you can commit to $1-5 per month, you are on your way to something that can really make a difference. What you want to do is either quarterly, or bi-annually look at your budget and see how you’re doing. If you are in a comfortable position, and you think you can manage on what you’re doing, do yourself a favor, and up your automated savings by just a couple of dollars. Depending on your own situation, just a $1 increase may be advisable for you. But if you are in a little better position, up the amount by enough that you’re not making your budget too tight, but enough that will be an increase of some kind. I think if you do this on a regular basis, you will be amazed at how much your budget can actually allow without you even noticing too much of a change at all. Its not HOW MUCH you save, it HOW OFTEN YOU DO IT that will make the difference. If you do it regularly (that’s why I advise the automatic deposit), it will make a definite difference very quickly.

Your ultimate goal is to be able to save for that purchase and have the money to buy with cash instead of paying on a credit card. When you pay with credit, you are paying a higher rate because of the interest charged, so by paying cash, its like getting a discount right up front because not only are you NOT PAYING INTEREST you should be GETTING INTEREST on what you have in the bank. If you can figure out what you could afford by way of credit card payment, and put that much in your savings and then buy with cash, its much better in the long run. Why pay the bank when you could be paying yourself??? Just by paying cash instead of using a credit card you can save a lot of money. Go look at your credit card statements and look at how much you are already paying in interest. If that was going into your bank, instead of going to the credit card agency, and IF you were adding that to your balance and getting paid interest on it, how much of a difference would that alone make in your monthly budget?

One other thing to keep in mind, especially when making large purchases on anything that offers “timed payments”, or credit card purchases - - - remember that vendors will often give a discount if you pay WITH CASH, but only if YOU ASK FOR IT. If you charge something, they have to pay a fee to the credit card company for financing it, which you may know if you accept credit cards for services or products - there is always a fee involved. If you save the vendor that fee, they will often times pass the savings along to you. All you have to do is to ask - “Do you give discounts for CASH?” You’ll be surprised how many will offer you a lower price. More savings right up front just for the asking. But you have to KNOW to ask for it. They’re not insulted, they’re usually quite happy to give you a discount, and they may even consider that an “under the table sale” which saves them even more money if they don’t report it. So always ask. The worst thing that can happen is that they will say No, and you’re no worse off than if you hadn’t asked, but you might get lucky and get a discount, and that’s always a good thing! Now go home and put the money you just saved into your piggy bank. I mean after all, you WERE going to pay the marked price anyway weren’t you?

Another thing you can do is to pay yourself for some of your household “chores”. If you are out mowing your lawn - stop and think, what would I pay the neighbor kid to do this for me. Then instead of hiring a kid down the street to mow the lawn for $10 - continue mowing your lawn, then go put that $10 in your piggy bank. Look at the money you just saved my mowing your own lawn. OK, so maybe you wouldn’t have hired someone normally, but if you could afford it, you might have, so do yourself a favor and pay yourself for the job. You’ll probably do a better job than the kid would have anyways!

If your house needs a thorough Spring Cleaning (coming up pretty soon, right around the corner here), call your local Molly Maid service, and ask how much they charge for that - guaranteed minimum of $50 or up depending on the size of your house and what you want done. Then don’t hire them, do the cleaning yourself, but put aside that $50 (or even a small portion of it) into your piggy bank. If you’d pay your teenage neighbor $5 for doing your dishes, or raking leaves, or dusting your furniture, then put that $5 into your savings. Its a nice way of getting your chores done (which you have to do anyway - right?), and also paying yourself for doing it while at the same time increasing your savings account.

What I told my children when they were growing up and looking for their first apartment was that they had to have 6 months rent saved up or they couldn’t move out. That’s a good rule of thumb. You should have at least 6 months rent put aside somewhere in some kind of savings program to protect you against an emergency. Saving your nickels and dimes won’t get you there overnight, but its a beginning - and like my Dad always told us, “You wont win, if you’re not in the race!”. So get in the “Savings” race, and get started! Its more important than you think!

So even if you only start with coins, or $1 per month, you need to START. I KNOW you can afford $1 a month. And who knows, in 3-6 months when you look back at how you’ve done, you may find you can even afford $2? That’s the way you do it, slow and easy. Its really an easy pattern to follow, and what you really need is to get in the habit of doing it. So here is what you have to do to get started. Follow these simple steps in this order and see where it gets you.

• A penny at a time in the piggy bank
• All spare coins into the piggy bank
• $1 at a time occasionally dropped in
• All $1 bills into the piggy bank
• $1 a month commitment auto deposited in addition to the above
• Pay yourself for chores and add that to your savings
• Look for banks that offer free money for opening new accounts or referrals
• Ask your bank if they have referral programs
• Evaluate your monthly commitment on a 3-6 month basis and increase by very small amounts until you find what fits your budget

I can be done, its not impossible - it just takes time to get into new habits. So start now, its not hard. Write up this small list and put it in a predominantly visible location to remind you until it becomes second nature.

Another thing to remember is that you can always lower your commitment if you fall on hard times, or know a tight period is coming up. Just remember to LOWER it, NOT cancel it. Even if you have to drop all the way back to the $1 per month, keep that $1 per month going in. Eventually, you will be in a better position, then you can raise it again as your budget allows, just don’t ever stop completely.

And if you have children, encourage them to join in with their own savings. It will be a great way to prepare them for the day when they’ll have to manage their own budgets. Can you imagine what you’d have saved up, and the good habits you would have formed if you had started this as a child?

So start saving NOW. Go to your purse or dig into your pocket right now, and see what change you have in there. Even if its only an old penny, make your first “drop” into your piggy bank today! Then post back here and let me know how you’re doing, what’s working for you, what you find challenging, and what new ideas you’ve come up with to continue growing your savings.

Filed under:Personal Finances on January 11th, 2008 | No Comments »

• Be aware that Credit Card agencies have the legal right to change your interest rate at their whim, or if you have made any changes in your recent purchasing activity.

This is a very powerful statement - and its TRUE. So UNDERSTAND IT, and take precautionary actions to ensure that you always know what you are being charged. Something you do on Card “A” can cause Credit Card Company “B” to make a change in your rates - so be diligent and stay on top of it. KNOW what your rate should be, and VERIFY each month that it hasn’t changed.

Just because you haven’t used that card recently doesn’t mean that they aren’t watching what you are doing everywhere else. They can change your rates anytime they want to, so make sure that they don’t, or if they do, make sure you know about it as soon as possible so you can call them and work out a better rate.

If you make a large purchase like a car or a hot tub, that can change your debt to income ratio - - - even if you didn’t use Credit Card “A” for that purpose, you may find that your rate has changed because of it. Call them and work it out. You can ask them to lower the rate back down again.

If you weren’t checking your monthly statement (which you WILL be doing NOW because you know better, right??), you would never have noticee the change. You think you should be paying 7%, but you could actually be paying 12% because of something you bought somewhere else. And that could have been happening for months and months and you’d never be the wiser. They are NOT required to notify you that they changed your rate! And if they are nice enough, because you have asked them NICELY to help you, you can ask that they make it retroactive back to when they raised it. No guarantees that they’ll do it, but it has been known to happen, and you lose nothing by ASKING.

Filed under:Credit Card DOs and DON'Ts, Personal Finances on January 11th, 2008 | No Comments »

Now, I have been known to play a game affectionately called Credit Card Bingo in my house. I have a couple of cards that I use strictly for the purpose of moving funds back and forth to get the best rate available. I NEVER charge on these cards. I don’t even keep the card in my purse - its locked up in my file cabinet with the statements. You have to be very controlled, diligent, and a good case of anal retentiveness will come in very handy if you choose to play this game. It is not for the lighthearted, the reckless, or anyone that cannot control themselves where their money or budget is concerned.

I DON’T recommend that anyone do this, but I have found that for myself, in my own personal situation it has served me very well.

Here is how the game is played:

First and Foremost, I keep an Excel Spreadsheet with all my Credit Card information on it. I have Balances, minimum monthly requirement, amount actually paid, interest rate, promotional offers and expiration dates, total indebtedness, etc. all on one sheet.

When I get the mail from the mail box, I don’t sit on the couch, in the back yard, or at the kitchen table to open it - I don’t do it watching TV, or having a conversation with my husband. I go straight to my desk and open up my Excel Sheet, THEN I open the mail. This way, I never forget, and I don’t have to keep track of what has been entered and what hasn’t. Only after I have made my entries, and paid the appropriate bills from my Bill Pay do I file my paperwork and statements - and I keep ALL my paperwork. I have files and files of archives in the garage going back years including the first mortgage papers from the first house I bought and all refinances in between.

When I see a bill from a Credit Card company I open it up at my desk with my Excel Spreadsheet open. The first thing I do is to type in the new balance. I then CHECK THE STATEMENT to make sure that my interest rate is as it should be. If there is any discrepancy, I call the Credit Card Company immediately before doing anything else. Next I check to see what the minimum due is, and what I have marked on my spreadsheet that I paid last month. I also color code the column that I have calculated is in my best interest to pay off first. That is where any extra funds go at the end of the month. I always pay the minimum due, PLUS any interest due, PLUS what I feel I can afford as extra to the principal. This is the best way to get things paid off quickly. If you don’t have a program for paying down your credit cards it can take you up to 40 years if all you are doing is paying what the credit card company decides is your minimum requirements. Why do you think they do it that way? It keeps you paying and owing them forever. And while this may be in the best interest of the credit card company, it most certainly is NOT in your best interest - so I never recommend paying only the minimum posted on your statement! Always pay more, even if its only a dollar. ALWAYS pay more.

Once I’m sure that the interest rate is as it should be, I check my spreadsheet to see when my promotional offer ends. If its 1-2 months out (I never transfer balances unless I get 9 months or longer on a promotional offer. Less than that just isn’t worth the hassle and trouble) I’ll call the Credit Card company and ask if they’ll extend my offer. If they say “No”, I stay NICE and POLITE and ask if I can speak to a Manager. If that doesn’t work, I’ll ask for THAT person’s Manager. If it still doesn’t work, I’ll ask if they can extend it IF I make another balance transfer (there is usually no minimum transfer required, so you can transfer as low as $100 from another card and get your offer extended. I also ensure that there won’t be a balance transfer fee. Even if they only extend if for a couple of months, that’s a good thing. I make a note on my Excel File of the new expiration date, and call them again in a month or two.

When a promotional offer expires, I use another card to transfer the balance to. Always make sure that the offer you are transferring TO is better than what the standard rate will become if the promotional offer expires. If not leave this one alone and wait until you get an offer in the mail.

I find that as soon as one card is paid off, they will start sending offers out, so once you start doing this, you should start receiving regular offers in the mail. Always try to move enough funds to create a zero balance or as close as you can get so that you will pay the remainder off in a month or 2. This will keep the offers coming. Also, try staggering your offers if at all possible. That way you never have to make a dozen calls all in one day, but it does also mean that you will always be calling SOMEONE, so its a kind of double edged blade.

Its always a good idea to keep a card with a zero balance solely for the purpose of moving funds when your promo rate expires. Then if you don’t get an extension, and you have no new offers, you at least have somewhere you can transfer your balance to, because typically your zero balance card will have a lower rate than what your balance will revert to once the promotional offer ends.

I also find that even if they are insistent that they have no new offers that you qualify for - once you take that balance and transfer it to another card, you’ll get a new offer in the mail immediately with a better offer than you were asking for in the first place. Go figure! But it never fails.

As soon as a card is paid off, they are getting nothing from you, so they will do whatever they need to to retain or re-capture your business. So when you move your funds off one card onto another DON’T close down your account. Just pay it down to a zero balance and then wait patiently. It won’t be long before they make you another offer which you can then use to transfer another balance back to them again.

You can keep this game up indefinitely - I’ve been doing it for almost 10 years now, and I only have one card with an interest rate higher than 9%. At present almost all of them are 4% until the balance is paid in full, except for a Discover card that I lucked out on. They were offering a 0% interest rate until the balance is paid in full as long as I make a minimum of ONE purchase each month. What I did was to sign up for their credit card protection program for $2 per month which qualifies me for the program and continued 0% offer. I pay only the minimum on that card, and concentrate on the others in order to get them paid down sooner. That 0% balance is coming down, but I’d rather pay off something that is charging me interest - that one was a no-brainer.

I’ve also noticed recently that all the new offers from Discover now require 2 purchases per month (no minimum amount) so if you are good about following rules, you could buy a candy bar each month, sign up for the credit card protection program and still make out like a bandit! The catch on that one is that the new purchases will be at the normal interest rate, not the 0%, and since Credit Card companies have a policy of always paying off the lowest interest rate first, if you have multiple rates on one card, those purchases will continue to grow each month until that 0% balance is paid in full. That’s why you want to keep the new amount going onto your card as low as possible and less than $2-3 per month if at all possible, otherwise you are negating your 0% rate by racking up a higher balance that is getting charged a regular interest rate.

SO, if you want to think about this a bit, please keep in mind that there are a few rules you MUST follow.

• Never make a purchase on these cards. They are for balance transfer only
• Keep your balances low enough so that if you do run out a promotional offer you can afford the payment with the higher interest rate until a new offer comes in the mail. It shouldn’t take too long once you pay off one of your cards. Which you should be continually doing.
• Never use a transfer offer that requires a balance transfer fee UNLESS the total of the promotional interest rate PLUS the 3% transfer fee is STILL lower than what you are presently paying.
• Never use a transfer offer for a period of time less than 9 months
• Try to hold out for those “until paid in full” offers. These are the treasure you are looking for. In this case it might be worth it to pay for the transfer fee if the promotional offer is low enough. Save these for larger transfers. If you are trying to move $5,000 or more, it is probably going to take you longer than a year to pay if off, so the transfer fee will only affect your first years’ rate. After that, you can calculate on the promotional offer, so if its a 4% or 5% offer, that would be a good rate to lock in until your balance is paid in full
• You must NEVER be late - not even ONCE!! This will negate any promotional offer
• You must NEVER miss a payment - not even ONCE!! This will also negate your promo offer
• You must keep track of when your offers expire and check it every month so you’ll know which one you need to move next
• You must have a Credit Score high enough that will allow you to have 3 cards solely for the purpose of moving funds around. And if you can manage another one that will always have a zero balance that would be good too.
• And you MUST have the ability to do all of this WITHOUT stressing out, or SCREWING UP!

This is a game, but it has very strict rules and like I said above is not for the lighthearted! Be very careful should you think this is something you might attempt. It can have extremely good results if you are good at managing your money, but it can have extremely DIRE EFFECTS if you blow it!

When making a balance transfer - be aware that in the event that you are not transferring an entire balance, but just a portion of it, you will be creating another bill coming in the mail. So while you may be paying less “interest”, your monthly requirement may have gone up because you are now paying 2 credit card payments each month instead of only one.

On the good side of this coin, this will have the effect of paying your total indebtedness quicker because you ARE paying more monthly, but you have to make sure that you can afford this additional payment before making the decision to do the transfer.

Another good piece of advice I can offer is that if you get a 0% offer like I just did for 9-12 months (remember, we don’t want to accept any offers less than 9 months), and there is a 3% transfer fee, in reality, this is NOT a 0% offer, but a 3% offer. Now a 3% offer is pretty good - and should be less than any other card you have (if its not, please contact me IMMEDIATELY and let me know who is charging less than 3% - this is NEED TO KNOW information! hahahhahaha!).

My advice in this situation would be to calculate out exactly how much you can afford to pay per month. For example, you have gone over your bills and realize that you could afford $150 per month maximum added to your budget. I’d take that $150 and multiply it by 9 (for a 9 month offer), or 12 (for a 12 month offer) - you get the idea - and then transfer EXACTLY that much +$150 onto your new card. This will allow you to pay off the balance within your promotional time frame with just $150 left on the card (that you can afford to pay, right?) that will be charged at whatever the new rate will be, which will be nominal because no matter what it is, its only being charged on that $150 balance once. And in reality, it won’t really add exactly $150 to your monthly bills, but a little less, because you will have reduced the “old” card by the amount of your transfer, so the liability on that card has decreased. I do calculate my budget on that full amount, though because I always believe in leaving a little “wiggle room” when it comes to figuring out your budget. This ensures that you have not been overzealous and made things too tight!

SO, Remember not to transfer over more than you can afford to pay as your new minimum payment, and make sure that you STICK to that amount regardless of what is listed on the bill as your payment amount. Its very tempting when that bill comes in to pay only the minimum amount they have listed which will be CONSIDERABLY LESS than the $150 you have allotted, but don’t be suckered into this. If you’ve calculated on $150, then PAY THE $150 each and every month! This ensures that you got the full benefit from this offer and basically moved approx. $1350-$1800 onto as near of a “free loan” situation as you can be.

Actually, the only thing that would be better is if you actually found one with NO balance transfer fee. They are out there, not easy to find, and they come few and far between, but if you get into the habit of reading all the small print on the back of your offers, you may stumble onto one. If you do - - - GRAB it, it may be awhile before you get another one!

Don’t gamble with your Credit, or with your Money. If you are not 150% POSITIVE that you can handle this don’t even attempt it! If you have to read this 2-3 times to understand it, then don’t attempt it! If there is anything here that is even the slightest bit fuzzy or that you have to think over, don’t try it.

And NEVER do something just because someone else said it worked for them.

This has worked for me, but that doesn’t mean it will work for you! I am the kind of person that balances my checkbook every month when the statement comes in, in addition to checking periodically with my online statement. If I am off by .24 cents, I’ll spend hours or days with a calculator and my checkbook until I find out what happened and where my error is. I WILL call the bank if I think the error is on their part. I WILL call the Credit Card Company if I think I can get a better offer, or if I feel they can do better, or if my rate hasn’t changed in a year or more. I have no problem asking for a Manager, and I can maintain my cool and be nice and polite even when I feel like driving a dagger through the heart of their first born child!

I am the person my boss and husband will put on the phone when there is a problem, and they will run and hide, stay out of my way, and offer me treats until my issue is resolved to my satisfaction! But that’s just me!

Please exercise EXTREME CAUTION when handling your financial affairs!

Filed under:Credit Card DOs and DON'Ts, FIX / REPAIR Your Credit, Personal Finances on January 11th, 2008 | No Comments »