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Today we tackle the age old question that has plagued mankind since the dawn of time Should you buy or lease that car? A question more perplexing than paper vs. plastic, or even soup vs.
Archive for the ‘Repair Credit’ Category
Buy or Lease a Car? How to Decide
Posted by Oswald Goldstein on September 26th, 2011
Are rewards programs worth it?
Posted by Oswald Goldstein on September 21st, 2011
At the drugstore the other day, I tried to hand a CVS cashier my Duane Reade rewards card (that didn’t work!), then proceeded to spend an eternity shuffling through the 10 other preferred customer cards in my wallet to find the right one.
Turns out I’m normal. The average U.S. household is enrolled in 18 rewards programs, according to a new study by Colloquy, a market research firm in Cincinnati.
I decided to look into the possible pitfalls of our rewards obsession for my column in Redbook‘s October issue (on newsstands now). In it I talk about how to avoid overloading on cards, which can easily lead to overspending. Here are some more good tips:
- Get the most out of flying. For frequent flyer miles, choose just one program, and go with the airline with the most flights in to and out of your usual airport, says Tim Winship, publisher of frequentflier.com. Mo
Finding Mortgage Deals Online
Posted by admin on September 4th, 2011
Mortgage is perhaps the best form of secured loan on the market. You can use it to finance your purchase of property while placing the property itself as collateral. With more lenders competing for larger market shares, it is not difficult at all to find some of the best mortgage deals when you use available online resources to help you.
Dedicated mortgage search tools such as the one offered by Money Supermarket or Mortgage Finder can really help you spot the best deals on the market in a matter of minutes. Make sure you take your time and use more than one online tool so that you can review the available deals objectively,
Homeowners’ forums often have a section dedicated to mortgage, and you can certainly find special offers and great deals on mortgage there. I Read full post…
Inflation, Investing and Everything
Posted by Oswald Goldstein on August 25th, 2011
Days like what we’ve been having recently remind me of why I started this blog in the first place. Looking back at the historical gold prices, in 2004 when I got seriously concerned and started blogging about inflation, gold prices were around the $400 level then.
And now, this week, gold prices have hit record highs above $1600 per troy ounce. That is a 4x increase from the $400 level. It equally reflects the rise in precious metals as it does the corresponding fall in the US dollar, the currency it is benchmarked against. It is a barometer that tells us that all is not right with our financial world. It tells us that, compared to a steady, unchanging store of value with a history of over 6,000 years, the so-called money we have in our wallets and in our bank accounts is decaying steadily. Plus, like most people I know, I don’t think I have received a raise of 4 times my monthly salary in my day job in the past few years.
BofA $5 million Collection Arbitration Settlement May Impact the ARM Industry
Posted by Oswald Goldstein on August 25th, 2011
Bank of America is trying put to rest some lingering consequences of its credit card subsidiary’s decision to use National Arbitration Forum, Inc. to settle disputed consumer credit card debt claims. The nation’s largest bank agreed this week to settle an arbitration lawsuit filed by the City of San Francisco that accused FIA Credit Services of unfair and unlawful business practices.
FIA Card Services agreed to pay the city $5 million and not arbitrate any consumer credit card collections in California for two years. The credit card issuer also will not enforce any of NAF’s arbitration awards that have not been confirmed by a judge or collect attorney fees on those awards that have been confirmed, said Christine Van Aken, deputy attorney for the City of San Francisco.
The latter two provisions could still impact the debt collection industry. Aken said the San Francisco attorney’s office believes there are still some unconfirmed NAF awards to Bank of America out there.
“We don’t know how many, but we believe there are still some unconfirmed awards,” she said.
If some debt buyers or collection agencies have NAF awarded accounts that have not been confirmed by a judge, they may be considered invalid. However, Fred
The efficient way of debt elimination
Posted by admin on April 27th, 2011
According to statistics U.S. citizens in the country had more than $ 886 billion of credit card debt in 2010. If you are struggling to repay debt on your credit card, it is important that you contact a professional to find the best credit consolidation services.
Although debt consolidation may be the best solution to get rid of debt repayment plan with a more affordable consolidation loan, if you keep buying behavior makes you trapped in a troubled debt you will not be able to get out of debt successfully. Therefore, we must stick to a firm commitment to pay the amount you need to pass the strict within your budget. Your budget must be generated based on your financial ability to cover the loan.
Actually, debt consolidation involves borrowing money for new lender to pay existing creditors, and then you focus on the loan with low interest until you pay the entire amount. During the process of getting out of debt, you must stop using credit cards to avoid the winding of the debt that you have decided to eliminate off. Read full post…
How to repay your debt
Posted by admin on July 22nd, 2010
If you are in debt, don’t panic – because repaying it may be easier than you first thought.
Of course, how easy it is to repay your debt really depends on your level of debt (compared with your available income). So, if you’ve only got one or two small debts, and can comfortably afford your monthly repayments, you should be coping ok… but here a few tips to help you repay this small debt at a faster rate:
Create a monthly budget
Creating a monthly budget can help you make sure you are in full control of your finances at all times. It can also help you see if you are wasting your money on anything (non-essentials).
To create your own budget, simply write down all the money you earn in a month, followed by all the money you have to spend in a month (on your essential expenses – mortgage/rent, food, utility bills, etc.). Read full post…
Tags: DebtMy Home’s Value Has Dropped: Will I Pay Mortgage Insurance Forever?
Posted by Nancy Prew on July 8th, 2010
You bought your home with a 10% down payment, thinking in a couple of years, you’d have enough home equity to refinance and dump the mortgage insurance policy. But it’s been four years and your home is worth less than it was when you bought it! Are you doomed to pay for mortgage insurance forever?
No, you aren’t, but it will affect your refinancing decision. The “Homeowners’ Protection Act,” which applies to people who bought their homes after July 29, 1999, says that your lender must automatically cancel your mortgage insurance policy once you have 22 percent equity in your home based on the original property value, if your mortgage payments are current. So if you bought a home for $330,000, and put $30,000 down, you need to get your mortgage balance down to $257,400 to get your mortgage insurance canceled. Your home’s value doesn’t matter.
However, if you refinance, you start the clock over again. If, for example, your home’s value has dropped to $315,000, and you refinance $283,500, you’ll have to pay the loan down to $245,700 to dump the MI automatically. But sometimes a refi