Owner: Beyond the Consumer URL:http://beyondtheconsumer.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2007 18:26:47 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Personal finance, consumerism, and business news. Site statistics:Click here
Debt paydown adviser from Bankrate.com 2007-06-21 13:46:00 I just tried out this debt paydown adviser from Bankrate. It's a great little tool that figures out how to "snowball" your debts to get them paid off. It appears to do it by the highest interest rates first. This is a great place for someone to start out when tackling paying off debt.
Media Cart - as if food wasn't expensive enough 2007-06-21 13:08:00 Here's a novel idea from Media Cart, Inc. Its a scanner and screen attached to the cart that allows you to scan your items as you shop. I like the idea, but what will it cost to implement? Sure I save time at the checkout lane, but is that really worth spending more on the food products I buy to equip the hundreds of carts at each grocery store with a scanner and LCD screen?
Unfortunately the
Finally - mortgage rates by credit score 2007-06-21 11:07:00 I was looking for this information when I was purchasing a house. I knew what my score was, and I knew what the "prime" interest rate was. What I didn't know was the average rate I should expect to get based on what my score was.
Here it is! A chart from bankrate showing just that.
Credit
score
Interest
rate
Monthly
payment
Savings earned
if score was high**
760-850
6.274%
$1,019
0
700-759 Read more:Finally
, credit
Firing your bank 2007-06-21 09:56:00 Who knew firing your bank would be so hard? I have been mulling over taking my primary bill paying checking account out of Wells Fargo and over to ING, to take advantage of their interest bearing checking accounts. For my tiny deposits, I can get a 3.8% interest rate. That's a lot better than 0%. The question is, how can I set all of it up with the system I use?
Maybe my system is too complex!
Assume collectors are scams 2007-06-20 11:01:00 A friend of mine recently received a collection call. It sounded legit, they had a balance owed, a name, to what company the debt was owed, etc. But during their entire conversation, the collector refused to answer where she was calling from, what their phone number was, or who they were.
Is this common? They wanted her to make a payment over the phone, but refused to tell her who they were or Read more:Assume
, collectors
Two big mistakes, related? 2007-06-20 10:02:00 I was going through my finances this morning and came across 2 pretty big mistakes. The first was with my credit card. I pay my balance every month, and it has been quite a while since I have ever been hit with a finance charge. However this month I was double-checking my bills and noticed that I paid a total of $390 towards my card...but the balance due was $397! Of course now the billing cycle Read more:related
Signs of bankruptcy 2007-06-20 09:29:00 Are you in danger of filing for bankruptcy
? Would you be able to recognize the warning signs if you were?
The AICCCA released its top 5 warning signs that may indicate a path towards hitting rock bottom.
1) Living paycheck to paycheck
If all of your paychecks are wrapped up in bills, especially if those bills include minimum monthly payments on credit cards or other loans, you may be headed
House financial services meeting 2007-06-19 13:16:00 The house financial services committee met today to discuss consumer rights to dispute information on credit reports. Unfortunately I missed a good portion of the beginning, but was able to see the live webcast of some of it. Nothing came of it, but it was interesting to hear the different sides of the issue. Most interesting was that some members of the panel apparently did not believe consumers Read more:House
, meeting
State of hybrid tax credits 2007-06-19 12:03:00 The tax credits available for hybrid vehicle purchases is declining. One article gave the amount of the credits for each vehicle. There was quite a big range (1,300-2,600), so I was curious how the tax credit was being applied to vehicles. What determined how much credit you should get?
In spirit of the whole idea of this tax credit, one would think that you gain a tax credit based on how much Read more:State
A warranty on my mouse? Um, no 2007-06-19 10:17:00 I recently went into Best Buy to purchase a $20 mouse for my computer. The cashier offered me a $5 extended warranty on it. I of course declined; here's why.
The mouse itself already has a warranty with the manufacturer. The only benefit that $5 would get me is being able to return it to the store and get it replaced instantly. However the likelihood of it failing within the 1-2 year term is
$10 at&t DSL plan 2007-06-19 08:51:00 at&t has apparently been forced to offer a DSL Lite plan for $10 a month. It requires a one year contract with a $50 termination fee. My local one offers 768 kps downloads and 128 kps uploads. It's specifically called the "AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet Basic Package". It doesn't let you take advantage of any other deals though, like the 1 month free, and you must be a new Internet customer.
Mortgage scams 2007-06-18 14:24:00 I can only describe this as a scam. I also expect to see more of these in the future from different lenders trying to bring more paying customers to their home lending divisions. With all of the media hype surrounding skyrocketing subprime foreclosures, it is no surprise that other lenders (even some who are neck deep in financial troubles themselves) are going to start marketing to secure Read more:Mortgage
Boomers put off retiring 2007-06-18 11:26:00 Is it any real surprise that boomers can't retire? At 27, I'm worried that I'm not putting enough into my retirement funds. I can't imagine waiting until 35-45 to start really thinking about where my retirement funds are going to come from, but apparently many baby boomers did just that. Worse, they had fewer children to support, more education, and greater access to jobs (a family could double Read more:Boomers
Online restaurant reservations? 2007-06-18 10:10:00 Apparently restaurant
s are now catching on to the idea of reserving tables online. The article says how it is necessary for restaurants to embrace this new technology (while paying the online reservation service a fee of course), but is this really a needed service?
Granted, I do not live in New York City, nor do I eat regularly out at fancy restaurants. Frankly, if a restaurant is so overbooked
Disney dangles the carrot, leaves us high and dry 2007-06-18 09:51:00 This is actually old news, but my wife and I recently discovered that Disney
long ago canceled its Chronological collector series. We had purchased the first two volumes of the Donald Duck DVD sets and loved them. Each was about $30. They were going to issue a new volume until they had released all of the shorts.
After waiting for volume 3 to be released, we couldn't find it anywhere on their Read more:leaves
Summer water saving tips 2007-06-15 20:32:00 As summer is upon us, here are some helpful water
saving tips to reduce your consumption (and your bill).
IN THE HOME
Use the dishwasher only when it is full
Thaw frozen food overnight in the fridge or in the microwave, don't run water over it
Use the proper load settings on your clothing washer, don't use long wash cycles unless clothes are very dirty
Rinse veggies in a sink full of cold water Read more:Summer
Maximize your odds of business failure 2007-06-15 14:19:00 The rate of failure
for any startup business is pretty high. It takes a lot of hard work, countless hours, more money than most people have, and produces a ton of stress. If you'd like to increase your odds of failure and toss your dreams of business ownership into the trash, here's a sure fire way to do it: open a video store. Better yet, open a VHS-only video store.
Two things are guaranteed Read more:Maximize
Friday Linkfest 2007-06-15 11:10:00 In celebration of Father's Day, this Friday
's linkfest contains all of the fluffy (or not so fluffy) dads day pieces.
Women in business: here's to dads - Here's to dads, an article about how women are struggling in the workforce...wait a minute...
Many employees see CEO as father figure - But its a bad thing.
Working moms and dads - Not surprisingly, dads wish they could take more time off with
What is an electrolyte anyway? 2007-06-14 18:28:00 I was standing in a convenience store trying to find the Red Bull (because every once and a while I like to enjoy a useless heavily caffeinated cold beverage, and its cheaper than a Starbucks frappawhataever) and found myself staring at the Gatorade. Gatorade, it claims, restores valuable electrolytes after exercise. That sounds pretty important.
Does anyone know what an electrolyte is?
I
Cable TV - Gone too far? 2007-06-14 10:45:00 Comcast, apparently, has decided its goal should be to have 400 high-definition channels available by the end of this year. I will assume these are replacing the already 200 channels that are not in high-def rather than adding more. Its long term goal is to have 800 high definition channels by 2008.
While I somehow doubt that Comcast will deliver on its promise of 800 HD channels by 2008, it is Read more:Cable
Should I buy or finance a car? 2007-06-14 09:07:00 I am already biased; I do not believe in financing vehicles. I decided to sit down and do some math, because while my personal opinion may be enough for me, I need some hard numbers to convince someone else - like my wife - to get on board. Since I do just about all of the maintenance on our vehicles, we can keep them running for relatively little money over their lifetime. Yes, big repair costs Read more:finance
Read the terms, read the terms, read the terms! 2007-06-13 15:25:00 Are you tripped up by your credit card terms? Do you have a love hate relationship with your cards? Are you plagued by the consequences of your card use?
Do you even know how much debt you have? According to this study, you probably don't. The average household has over $9k in credit card debt (not including the mortgage, car loans, and student loans). 7 out of 10 people felt they had less
Walmart's prepaid VISA fees revealed 2007-06-13 09:07:00 A little while ago I wrote about Walmart
announcing its prepaid VISA card. One question I was left with from the original article was; what kind of fees would there be? There was a vague reference to fees, but nothing concrete.
Finally, here it is: the Walmart Prepaid Card official website. The card has a Walmart logo, but like many card services it is actually operated by a company called
Are airline vouchers worth it? 2007-06-12 11:50:00 Are airline vouchers worth the effort?
My wife and I returned from a trip and were scheduled on an early morning flight. As it turned out, the airport was packed, the flight was overbooked, and the rep at the desk called for any volunteers to accept a later flight. I immediately jumped up and volunteered us. They gave us a $400 voucher each. That ends up being a couple of round trip tickets to
Walmart to offer prepaid VISA card 2007-06-06 11:56:00 Walmart is going to start offering a prepaid VISA card, which in principle basically works like a debit card. Customers go to Walmart with a paycheck, load up their card, and can spend their card anywhere that accepts VISA. Basically, anywhere except 2 convenience stores in southern Alabama.
But Walmart already offers check cashing. In fact, they do it for $3, a flat fee. Their average check Read more:Walmart
Target doesn't support my 10 year old vacuum 2007-06-24 13:32:00 I have two busted vacuum cleaners. The first is a Dirt Devil that is a few years old. The second is a Hoover that is about 10 years old. As near as I can tell, vacuum cleaners have become expensive throw-away items. The average price for a vacuum cleaner at Target
is $100. However they only sell the belts and accessories for the vacuum cleaners that they stock, and the models change every single
What is an emergency fund anyway? 2007-06-24 12:47:00 A post about "How much emergency fund is too much" over at The Simple Dollar blog got me to thinking about my own emergency fund. How much should you have in an emergency fund? No Credit Needed says 12 months. Smart Money recommends 3-6 months. I personally feel a good 6 months is ideal.
But when I say I need 6 months of expenses, I'm thinking of what would happen if we had a sudden loss in
Why work? Con your way to success! 2007-06-24 12:15:00 I usually enjoy Money's articles, if only for entertainment value, but the July 2007 issue made me want to cancel my subscription.
The article was entitled "How to Marry a Billionaire" and filled 7 full pages of absolute garbage. Apparently Money magazine, along with tips on how to diversify your portfolio, stay away from crooked financial advisers, and encouraging you to safely start your own
Friday Linkfest 2007-06-22 12:25:00 13 great fuel efficient cars - Is CNN getting kickbacks from the auto industry? Their 13 fuel efficient cars includes a couple of hybrids and a MINI Cooper. The rest are vans and trucks. No mention of the Yaris, Camry, Suzuki Reno, and many other cars that are actually fuel efficient.
Consumer groups decry debt collection horror stories - Why is it not the collectors burden to prove a debt is Read more:Friday
Newlywed Budgeting 2007-06-28 15:38:00 Most of the financial problems I hear or read about in marriages have to do with miscommunication or just lack of cooperation between a couple. Typically one spouse handles all the finances and/or wants to relieve themselves of debt, build a budget, etc and the other just isn't interested. I heard a Dave Ramsey caller the other night who complained that despite being neck deep in debt, her Read more:Budgeting
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