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Posted
Aug 26 2008, 10:49 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
To borrow a phrase from Dave Ramsey, bad financial behavior has become acceptable and "normal." Are you engaging in all-too-common practices that can lead to ruin? "Mr. ToughMoneyLove" of the deliciously snarky Tough Money Love blog describes 10 common financial practices that really should be avoided. For example: "You are comfortable being upside down." Somehow, owing more on your house, car, etc., than they're worth has became routine, Mr. ToughMoneyLove laments.
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Posted
Aug 11 2008, 01:27 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Guess what country this paragraph from a New York Times story describes: Outstanding card debt here ballooned to nearly $18 billion last year, six times the level five years earlier. Default rates spiked and consumer groups protested sky-high interest charges. It's Turkey, where less than a generation ago consumer debt was almost unheard of and came with a heavy burden of shame.
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Posted
Aug 07 2008, 06:17 PM
by
Karen Datko
Chances are Mom and Dad don't have what it takes to spring for the entire cost of your college education. That doesn't necessarily mean you'll finish school with a mountain of debt. Plenty of information can be found online about limiting your spending and your debt while pursuing a higher education. Luckily, "Broke Grad Student" volunteered to be a human filter and come up with the good stuff.
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Posted
Aug 05 2008, 10:51 AM
by
Karen Datko
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People are a bit more likely to talk about secret subjects like salaries and their love lives with someone they've just met than to discuss how much they owe on their credit cards. In fact, religion and politics are much more palatable topics among strangers than any of those three, according to a poll done for CreditCards.com.
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Posted
Jul 31 2008, 09:59 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
If you're paying big bucks to credit-repair companies to piggyback on other people's good credit and artificially increase your score, the credit-score police will no longer be fooled.
So says Fair Isaac Corp., the company that devised the widely used FICO credit score. Fair Isaac has figured out a way to detect when people are abusing the privilege of authorized-user status on other people's credit cards. "Fortunately, we were able to come up with technology that makes it much harder to game the system," Fair Isaac chief operations officer Mike Campbell told CreditCards.com.
This is good news for consumers.
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Posted
Jul 27 2008, 12:43 PM
by
Karen Datko
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The headline on JW's post at We Need To Be Debt Free says it all: "What's the use?" He's been working hard to aggressively pay off about $41,000 in non-mortgage debt, and then his wife revealed at a marriage-counseling session that she's been hiding -- and using -- two credit cards. "When she mentioned it, I felt completely broadsided. It was like being run over by a truck," he wrote. The damage to his debt-reduction plans? Just over $4,300.
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Posted
Jul 23 2008, 12:09 PM
by
Karen Datko
Here's bad news for people shopping for a house or looking to refinance an adjustable-rate or interest-only mortgage: The average mortgage rate just reached a five-year high. The rate on Tuesday for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.71%. It's not crazy high by a long shot, but it's more than people have been accustomed to paying in recent years. The higher rate is due to the pressing problems at mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, says a New York Times article, even though Congress is poised to bail them out.
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Posted
Jul 16 2008, 02:27 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Would you rather eliminate your debt with a snowball, or smack it down with an avalanche? "Flexo" at Consumerism Commentary says, "By choosing the debt avalanche method, you will pay off your total debt faster, you will pay less interest, and you are mathematically efficient." We're all for being mathematically efficient.
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Posted
Jul 16 2008, 12:44 PM
by
Karen Datko
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Catherine at Frugal Homemaker Plus and Crystal at Money Saving Mom have heard this comment from others: "You and your husband make good money. Why don't you spend more on a nicer home/car/vacation/TV?" Why? Because they have different -- and impressive -- priorities for their money, if you really must know. As Crystal said -- in response to a rude comment apparently questioning her sanity for repairing her old van rather than buying a new one -- "We're living like no one else so that someday we can live and give like no one else." (Yes, she is a fan of Dave Ramsey.)
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Posted
Jul 15 2008, 11:02 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
We like the new blogger who posts at Sallie's Niece. She "went to school thanks to my Aunt Sallie Mae," her site says. "Now watch me struggle to pay and pay." She owes $72,735 to Sallie Mae, and that's not including a nearly equal amount in private loans. Sometimes it is a struggle. She has done battle with the "Evil Overdraft Monster" and payday loans. Her latest nemesis -- now vanquished after two years -- was the gyros truck outside her workplace. "At five days a week for three months each year, I am just now realizing that I spent $900, a whole emergency fund's worth of George Washingtons, on very thinly cut lamb rolled in pita bread with some tomatoes and onions!" Our foodie heart goes out to you, Sallie's Niece.
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