Saving Yourself Financially

Last Minute Shopping

admin — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 16:32:33 +0000

Last minute shopping tips to keep you within your budget.

With only a few shopping days left till christmas this is the time that most people spend over their budgets.

If you are heading out to the stores only do so with your gift list and stick to it. Most people including me, start buying last minute gifts that they hadn’t thought of yet and they are usually an impulse buy. For instance my wife and I were out shopping for one of my kids. The others were all done and she happened to be passing by the clothes rack in one of her favorite stores. She noticed a sweater on sale and thought our youngest would really like it. The problem here was if she bought it, we would then have to add a couple for gifts for the other kids to even it out. She is really big on everybody getting the same amount.

So what happens here is instead of spending the 30 dollars on the sweater for one person, we would have to buy a few more gifts for the other kids. Since we have five children this would add up to another 100 dollars or so that we didn’t count on spending. All of a sudden we are over budget and if we kept shopping would probably increase that amount again.

By only shopping for one person at a time, per shopping trip we are able to keep to the budget and not go overboard. Another issue that puts us over the limit are the last minute small items for the christmas stockings. With four or five stockings to fill this can really add up. So plan your last minute trips to the mall carefully and only shop for one person at a time.

credit card for a home business

admin — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:33:50 +0000

Does your business credit card offer you the best benefits?

With half of small home businesses using credit cards to help meet their capital needs, the use of a business credit card is very important.

How does a business credit card affect a business owner’s personal credit? That depends on if the business is a proprietorship or an individual in a partnership verses a corporation.
With a proprietorship or a partnership, a home business credit card is still a personal responsibility. It is best then, to pay off the balance monthly to help maintain a good credit rating.

A corporation is considered a separate entity from the individual so only the assets of the corporation are subject to liability. For this reason, on the application, full legal structure and accounting records are required when applying for a business credit card. Any new corporation would have to wait a period before the application is approved or may be given a secured business credit card to start with.

A credit card for a small company or a home based business, can now have many other perks such as travel accident insurance, employee liability insurance, collision coverage on rental cars, emergency cash, lost-luggage service and detailed reporting.

More details can be found on the
credit card application

Make sure any expenses are strictly related to business, as the statements will be used to as an accurate expense record at tax time. If your credit card has rewards you can use these for personal use. What I like and what you will like is the free advertising this home based business credit card can give you.

interest free credit card

admin — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 22:09:19 +0000

Business rewards credit card for small and large companies.

Wow! An interest free credit card for your business. That is a pretty good way to save money for at least 90 days.

That’s right its interest free on purchases but you do have to remember it is only a business credit card offer that is good for 90 days and it’s not even a introductory offer.

Advanta Platinum 90-Day Interest Free BusinessCard Details

Appyl Here

Enjoy 90 DAYS INTEREST FREE on all purchases…year after year
- No interest for 90 days on purchases*
  (THIS IS NOT AN INTRODUCTORY OFFER)
- Business Rewards Program with travel, merchandise and cash*
- Get a generous credit limit for your business expenses
- All with no annual fee
This is important *see Terms & Conditions for important information, benefits and limitations

best cash back rewards credit cards

admin — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 05:32:33 +0000

Matching your spending habits with the right credit card reward program is as important as the interest rate you are going to pay if you carry a balance. Go to the bottom of the page to review offers on cash back reward credit cards.

Using cash back rewards credit cards in a way that saves you money

To use this financial method you should have two credit cards. First let’s talk about whether having two credit cards is a good or bad thing. If you are going to use your credit card to track your expenses or keep a record so you can budget better, you have to have two credit cards.

One should be focused on the lowest interest possible, with no annual fees and at least some sort of reward program. The other card should be focused on one of the many cash back reward programs. The reason for this is simple one you will only use one incase of emergencies and the other with the cash back is going to help you pay down this card faster.

The first cash back card we have picked is one of the top 10 credit cards. It is the chase free cash rewards credit card. A couple of the great benefits you can earn 1 point for every eligible dollar spent toward travel on any airline, shopping at your favorite stores or cash! One other card worth mentioning here is the Chase Free Cash Rewards(SM) Visa® Card it gives you the extraordinary benefit of earning points for every purchase and the power to choose your rewards. Redeem your points for great rewards including cash and gift certificates. There is more information at the bottom of the page.

The other card we have picked is the bp credit card. These are some of the best credit card offers to-date. At a glance you get double rewards for the first 60 days, 10% rewards at BP gas stations, 4% on qualifying restaurants and travel, 2% on all other purchases. Go to the bottom of the page to find out more on this rewards credit card.
Now what you will be doing is taking full advantage of the cash back offers on a daily basis whenever your buy something. The money you get back will be used to pay down your emergency credit card, if it has a zero balance you will put this money in a separate account for a rainy day so to speak.

Why you don’t pay down your main consumer card with this bonus

Your second card or emergency credit card ideally should have a 0 balance at the end of every month because it is your budgeting credit card. If it doesn’t you have used the wrong card for purchases. The credit card that you use to track expenses with can only have a self-imposed limit of 75% of what you take home every two weeks. It takes a tremendous amount of dedication to budget this way but you will find that after awhile your debt will be going down and your savings at the end of every month will be going up. This happens because at the end of every month you will be looking at your credit card statement and seeing exactly what you have been spending your money on. This can be a real eye opener for some people. I can guarantee you that after two or three months of doing this you will be starting to stop buying some of the things that you had previously been purchasing.

This is important - The credit card you are using for tracking expenses must be paid in full every month, otherwise you are defeating the whole purpose of trying to budget. You should use it for gas purchases so you can reduce your travel expenses and it will probably be your most common purchase. By doing this you can see where you can cut down on driving by being better organized. Every little bit is going to help lower your monthly costs and expenses.

Please note; Using credit cards in this way isn’t an easy fix for spending money, it takes a great deal of dedication on your part, and you have to take the time every month to look at your bill to see where you money is going. If you have a spouse or partner using a credit card in the same way, you will both have to come to an agreement by sitting down together to discuss finances, each and every month to make this work. People are starting to use this as a form of budget planning and using credit wisely. You will notice other people doing this if you keep your eyes open for it. Have you ever noticed when you are in a line say to buy a coffee and someone is paying for a small item with a credit card. Chances are it’s not because they haven’t any money it’s because they are tracking where their money is going.

If any of these credit card offers interests you, pick a card from below and apply.

Go here to apply for this free cash rewards credit card - 1 point for every eligible dollar in purchases - 1,000 Bonus Points after your first purchase- Intro 0% Fixed APR for up to 12 months*

apply for the Chase visa credit card with flexible rewards - 0% Intro APR for up to 12 months*- Earn 1 point for every eligible dollar spent toward travel on any airline, shopping at your favorite stores or cash!*- Earn 1000 bonus points after first purchase

Apply here for rewards at any bp gas station - 0% APR for up to 6 months - No Annual Fee - Double Rebates for two months - 5% rebates on all participating BP location purchases - 2% rebates on all eligible travel and dining purchases - No limit on rebates - Redeem every $25 rebates for: BP Gift Card, cash or donation to the Conservation Fund

Blue cash business credit card offer

admin — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 05:30:38 +0000

Can this American express blue cash business credit card actually help you lower your small business expenses!

You bet it can if it’s a American express blue cash business credit card. The amex card offers a low apr, no annual fees and for your first six months 0% apr. Now the benefit to your small business is the cash rebate which is up to 5%.

How this lowers your small business expenses is by using your credit card to make all your purchases that relate to your small business. When you use your blue card to purchase things for your company, including fuel and office supplies the cash back rebates really start to add up. When you apply this rebate to other purchases or to pay down your blue cash credit card it lowers the price for purchases. This in turn lowers your expenses.

Take a small store that buys some of its products from a warehouse supplier. If you buy all your items with your blue card and then apply the cash back to other items that you can’t purchase at a wholesale level, you are then able to lower the costs of these items by a few percent. This may not sound like much but at the end of the year you will notice your costs have been reduced up to at least 5%. Everyone with a small business knows that even this small amount can make a big difference when it comes to accounting. This falls in line with the philosophy of our company billsaddup.com and that is in order to reduce our debts we need to do more with less.

Apply for this small business credit card here

credit card for people with bad credit

admin — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 05:23:14 +0000

One of the easiest ways, besides winning the lottery to improve your bad credit financial situation is to have a credit card for people with bad credit.

Sounds easy enough doesn’t it!

There is a but though. The bad credit, credit card must report to the three major credit bureaus and allow you to have increment credit limit increases. These normally happen when you pay your credit card on time for at least 3 months or more. This is then reported to the credit bureau like equifax and this shows them that you have gained a little more trust with the lending institution and possibly rate a better rating other than poor.

It should take you anywhere from 6 months to one year to do this. But at the end the rewards are huge. You can then apply for a card with cash back rewards and other bonuses usually reserved for fair to good credit ratings.

The horizon credit card is for people in different credit situations whether establishing or rebuilding credit. Although this type of credit card offer tends to have higher interest rates and possibly additional fees depending how bad your financial situation is, when compared to cards with rewards, they’ll give you the opportunity to repair your history and improve your credit. Eventually, with regular on-time payments and an improved credit rating, you’ll be able to apply for better offers with a low APR, no fees and rewards.

Best credit card offer for poor credit

This card is designed for most consumers

Apply for this credit card here
There is no reason you can’t improve poor credit, if you have a credit card that is designed to do just that and raise your credit score.

It is now time to look at what we have purchased with a charge card. Now concentrate on taking the next few months to get rid of our bad credit rating and lowering your debt load. I am not going to say pay more on your credit card every month so that you pay less interest, that comes much later. For now all you want to do is be very careful and make sure you make your payments on time. This will have a far bigger impact on improving your credit rating. If you can afford it then at the least pay an extra 5 dollars per month more until you have your spending under control.

You shouldn’t rely solely on your credit card to fix your bad credit you need to do a little research on your credit report and then repair your credit history. You also need to protect yourself and monitor your credit, you can do this with equifax - Equifax Credit Watch™ click here to get more details.

Apply for your first credit card

admin — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:25:44 +0000

Applying for you first credit card is a pretty important decision

Mess this one up and it will affect many aspects of your financial life. Including your ability to apply for a loan. rent a home and possibly even hinder you in getting a good job.

The first time you get a credit card should be for one purpose only and that is to establish credit and a credit history. For students and young adults this is a very important first step. Your rates are going to be a little higher at first becuase credit card companies don’t know anything about you. The credit bureaus would only have limited information for them to review.

There really is only one way you can establish credit and it’s sort of a catch22 situation. You need to either have a loan, mortgage, credit card or store charge card. The problem most people face is how to get financing and credit when no one really wants to lend you money, becaue you have no credit or worse bad credit.

Here the solution so you can apply for your first credit card

There are two credit cards that you should use to establish credit. They both report to the three credit reporting agencies, which is what you need. The horizon credit card is one and the other is a orchard bank credit card.

First choice is the imagine card. They offer cash advances, a quick online decision and apporvals even without a credit history.
The second choice is the orchard bank credit card. They offer more rewards like
purchase protection and periodic credit limit increases. Points for every dollar spent at gas stations, grocery stores, and drug stores. Because of the rewards this card is a little harder to get than the imagine card. You can go here to review orchard bank credit cards or credit cards for people with bad credit

First credit card do’s and dont’s

Dont apply for too many in a short period of time. It will have a negative affect on you.
Don’t miss even one payment (this creates a poor credit history and lowers your fico score)
Don’t use your first credit card for taking your friends out to dinner.
Don’t go above 50% of your credit limit.

Things you should do

Review all credit cards before applying for one
Know your billing cycle, so you can pay your bill before the next statement is processed.
Every 3 to six months review your credit report and look for errors, they can be fixed
Read the fine print on the back of the credit card statement at least for the first time
Every time you receive your statement remind yourself that credit is a financial tool and should not be abused. Then open up your bill and see if this is true.
Review your expenditures every month and see what you could cut back on or didn’t need to buy. By doing this you break everything down in needs and wants.

Blue Credit Cards

admin — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:27:57 +0000

Blue from american express is the better card offer it is a favorite color of american express and should be yours to

What you will notice first about american express and their credit card applications is in order to qualify for a blue card have a pretty good credit rating. The nice thing now is your don’t have to wait more than a minute to find out if you qualify for an american express blue credit card.This also holds true for all American Express cards.

Be honest with yourself before you apply for the blue from american express because being denied a credit application for any card affects your credit history. It’s a fact that if you apply for several credit cards and you are rejected that other lending institutions will take this into consideration when approving you for their card. American express is no different and if they see other denied applications for a credit card in your credit report they may deny you credit for that reason alone.

Now about the Blue card, there are several types offers that you can review. Amex business credit cards, bluesky or cashback rewards like the amex blue cash. Of all the offers Blue from American Express is the best credit card offer for most consumers. They offer you an excellent incentive to apply, 0% APR for the first 15 months. There is also a very low balance transfer rate of 4.99% for the life of the balance. What this means is if you are carrying a large balance with another credit card company at a higher rate you can transfer that balance to Blue and pay interest of only 4.99% versus typical rate of 18% or more. This can result in huge savings for you.

There is no annual fee which is a good deal, many card companies will charge you annual fees that could go as high as 125 dollars. This might not sound like much for the year and many people will pay annual fees to earn the rewards that are offered thinking that is why they charge a yearly fee. Not true for the Blue from American Express. This credit card provides you with the option to join their travel and merchandise rewards program at no cost.

Click here if you would like to see all amex blue credit card offers in order to pick one to apply for.

For consumers and even businesses with good credit and currently are carry a balance on another card, Blue is the perfect option. Apply for the blue card and transfer your higher rate credit card to start saving immediately. If you don’t want to transfer a balance the 15 month interest free period is something that you will benefit from. An introductory 0% APR of 15 months is a very high industry standard, with most other credit companies only offering 6 month introductory periods.

Lifelock Identiy Theft Protection

admin — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 04:03:52 +0000

What’s in a name! Just about every bit of information that you could think of can be found this way. The newest threat is call silent banker and is a very scary virus. It is also the best example of why this year 2008 you are going to need a identity theft service like lifelock.

Lifelock is the company that most people are turning to because they don’t just report problems, their program actively monitors your credit and accounts. Lifelock takes a proactive stance towards criminals and the theft of your identity by locking down your credit information.
This can happen anywhere anytime. You could be using your debit card at starbucks or buying a shirt at your local clothing store and become a victim.

Review Lifelock if you would like to know how this service can help protect you.

Take my son for instance, he got a phone call the other day to say his debit card was canceled by the bank and he would have to come in to get another one. The reason was they had identified a popular fast food restaurant that he had used in the city as being a place of concern with card monitoring that day. his account was safe that day but that wouldn’t stop the theft of his identity that would cause bigger problems.

Money can be replaced but not a bad credit history if a thief opens up new accounts under your name. It can take years to get things cleaned up. Anyway he got back to the company he works for the next day and it turns out 6 other employees that he worked with all had their debit cards canceled by different banks. (They all ate at the same place that day.)

In each case and this was from four different banks, they recommended that they get an identity theft monitoring service to keep a look out for fraudulent activity under their names.

I helped my son research which was the best credit and personal information monitoring service to use and each time we reviewed a different company we would go back to lifelock.com.
Lifelock is an identity theft service that really is the most thorough and diligent in protecting their customers accounts, credit and personal information.

If you would like to know more about lifelock identity theft protection go here

Credit Report Scores

admin — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 03:32:36 +0000

Credit reports and credit scoring is an impersonal act when it determines your credit worthiness.

At first a credit score was developed as a guide to help point our certain deficiencies with a persons loan or credit card application. At first banks and credit card companies relied on their own professional decision makers to approve or disapprove your application. I remember when loan officers used to go into the managers office and discuss your loan. Basically they would just ask each other, what they thought about you and your situation. They relied on human intuition and there own gut feelings.

Along came computers and a credit scoring system that replaced a persons personalized decision. This system uses technology that assigns a numbered valuation of your credit worthiness based on what someone else reports. This then bases a number from your past performance and assigns a number as a lending risk. These are all based on your income, how long you have lived in your home and employment history.

This is a good system for lenders but it’s a poor way to evaluate a person financial situation. A computer cannot report or consider any extenuating circumstances. This is also one of the reasons billsaddup.com only recommends you use your local bank to apply for a mortgage or to refinance.

One example is if the company you work for has a fire and you are laid off for a short term. It would be hard to make all your payments on time until you got back to work. If you miss a payment or are late, it will only report that with no other reason. The computer would score you the same as if you always had late payments or and your credit score would go down. This is a good example of why you should always strive to have at least a minimum of 6 months income in the bank to hole you over until you are back on your feet.

True and false questions about your credit report

False - credit bureaus do not determine your credit rating, they only record what is reported to them

True - If you apply for too many credit cards or loans. This is recorded in your report every time you apply. Do this too many times in a short time frame and you file will be flagged.

False - Your credit rating cannot be changed is false you can always have incorrect information changed. Sometimes not easily but it can be done.

All creditors report to the credit agencies is false, they are not required to do so.

Bankruptcy only appears on your file for six years is false, it will be there for at least 7 or more and if you file twice it will be there for at least 14 years.

If you are near your credit spending limit this could look bad and affect your credit history or rating. This is true.

What can you do?

Get a copy of your free credit report or spend a couple of dollars and signup with a credit reporting service and get a detailed report.