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Discover® More Wildlife
Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: 12 Months, APR:
10.99%. |
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Citi® Platinum Select® MasterCard
Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: Up to 12 Months,
APR: As low as 6.74%. |
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Blue from American Express®
Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: Up to 12 Months on
purchases, APR: 2.99% for 12 months on transfers. |
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TrueEarnings® Card from Costco
Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: 3 months on
purchases, APR: 1.99% for 6 months on transfers. |
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IberiaBank Visa® Classic Card
Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: 6 Months, APR:
7.00%. |
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Discover® More Card
Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: 12 Months, APR:
0% for 12 months on transfers. |
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In This
Issue
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Cool Quote |
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I've been gouged for $99! Are bank charges
negotiable? |
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STATISTIC: Identity Fraud Up; Consumer Cost
Down |
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The End of Credit Card Rewards? |
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8 Ways to Consolidate Debt |
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"On my First call to Chase, I had my interest
dropped from 24% to 18% in 5 minutes." |
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Homeownership Myth: Why Not Everyone Should
Be a Homeowner |
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Household Math™: Semiannual Mortgage Payoff |
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Taking control of your kitchen |
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Coder's Half-Million-Dollar Baby Proves
iPhone Gold Rush Is Still On |
Cool Quote
"Prosperity is a way of living and thinking, and not just
money or things. Poverty is a way of living and thinking, and not just a lack of
money or things."
--Eric Butterworth
More cool quotes from past issues
Hi Scott,
This just happened to me in the last few weeks.
I spoke to my bank (Bank of America aka BOA) about
overdraft protection, which they said was a free service. I agreed to sign up
for it. My overdraft protection is linked to our Visa card with BOA.
I wrote a check, which would have caused an overdraft, but
since I had the overdraft protection, they took out 3k on our Visa account. Now
we got the bill from Visa, which has both a transaction fee finance charge of
$99.00 and a periodic rate finance charge (I suppose that's on the 3k we
borrowed).
My question is: Is this a charge that I might successfully
have waived? Or, shall I resign myself to paying? If it is fightable, any tips on
what I might say to them?
Thanks in advance!
Marv
Finish reading the article
Overall Identity Fraud Incidents Increased in the United
States--The number of identity fraud incidents increased by 22 percent over
2007, which brings them back up to levels not seen since 2004. The mean consumer
cost of identity fraud decreased 31 percent from $718 to $496 per incident, its
lowest level since 2005. In cases where identity fraud was reported, 71 percent
of the fraud incidents began occurring in less than one week from when the data
was first stolen, up from 33 percent in 2005. Women were 26 percent more likely
to be victims of identity fraud than men in 2008. Lost or stolen wallets,
checkbooks, and credit and debit cards were still the most likely avenues of
fraudsters' attacks. These avenues totaled 43 percent of all incidents where the
method of access was known. Approximately 1.8 million more adults fell victim to
identity fraud in 2008, compared to 2007. This is the first year-over-year
increase since Javelin began collecting data in 2004, when 4.25 percent of the
overall adult population in the United States was victimized. The greatest
increase occurred in fraud on existing card accounts, rather than the crimes
which have a more severe impact such as opening new accounts.
More credit card and debt statistics
The End of Credit Card Rewards?
Today's guest post comes from Curtis Arnold, author of "How You Can Profit
From Credit Cards." Credit card reward programs, which give consumers everything
from free airline tickets to espresso makers to spa treatments, may be on their
way out.
Scott Bilker, Founder of DebtSmart, suggests, "Banks are definitely cutting
back. Many of my readers have written in with stories of their rewards ending.
The interesting thing is that merchants pay more because of the rewards so you
would think that banks would keep them in place. I'm not sure if these programs
will return when the economy improves. By that I mean they will be back but
probably not work the same way. Maybe there will be more fees or other catches
that make them less beneficial to consumers."
See story here
Next to winning the lottery, a debt
consolidation loan is a debtor's dream. With one monthly payment and a fixed
monthly payment schedule, you can actually see an end to those monthly payments.
In reality, consolidating bills isn't always easy. If you
have a lot of debt, it can be hard to find a consolidation loan at a lower
interest rate. And if you're not careful, you can end up deeper in debt than
when you started.
Your goal in consolidating your debt should be to lower
your overall costs. To accomplish this, there are two things to keep in mind...
Finish reading the article
Hi Scott,
This is Awesome!
I purchased your books a few months ago and read each one from cover to
cover. On my First call to Chase, I had my interest dropped from 24% to 18% in 5
minutes. I tried to speak with a supervisor and was told " the supervisor would
not be able to lower it any further". Yeah, right.! I told them I was thinking
of paying the card off, to no avail. But it was still too much interest, and I
would keep trying again.
I then decided to borrow against my 401k at 4% (of which, the principle and
interest is paid back to myself), and paid off the Chase credit card 16k. I am
also juggling around other ideas for lowering interest on another credit card
with a balance of about 15k @ 15%).
Yesterday, I was in the Chase bank on other business and had some questions
about a problem I was having with online access. Of course, the banker wanted to
view my account, and noticed the card was recently paid off. In the first five
minutes, I was offered another card at 0% for 6 months with 6.24% variable, I
believe there is a $75 fee of some sort, but after I get the card, I will return
to the bank as they "would be happy to go over all of the fine print." Can I
waive the "Fee"? We will see.
I informed the banker that I was thinking about moving All of my accounts
(Personal and Business) to Schwab (they pay 1% on balances and have Free ATM
worldwide). Maybe this made them nervous,,,,I hope so!
I informed them I did not appreciate them offering 6.24% to me now when they
were unwilling to go lower previously, and told them to "look at all the money I
lost at 18% .... they could have offered 6.24% at that time". The reply was,
"that's a different card, and the call center person only has a small window in
which to operate". Ha.......Ha.......Ha
In conclusion, this one, un-planned meeting at the bank has solved my
problem. You see, when I payoff the other card at 0% for six months, they also
offer 4% for balance transfers...let's see now, 6 months at 0%, 6 months at
4%...maybe I'll get another 0% for 6 or 12 months...you get the picture.
Thanks again, Scott, and good luck for 2009!
Robert Childers
Learn how to "Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt"
Homeownership Myth: Why Not Everyone Should Be a Homeowner
Part of what has gotten the economy into such a mess is
the belief that everyone should be a homeowner. Everyone from the government, to
the mortgage brokers, to the banks, to the realtors and the homebuilders thinks
that everyone in this country has the "right" and "duty" to own their own home.
"It's the American Dream!" they cry. While it's true that property ownership is
a right in the U.S., the truth that no one wants to put out there is that not
everyone should or can afford to take advantage of that right.
Sure, owning a home is great, most of the time. Sometimes
it stinks. I own a home and enjoy it. But I also didn't mind living in an
apartment. There are good and bad tradeoffs to both. When we made the decision
to become homeowners, we put a lot of thought and research into the process and
decided that it made sense for us. But it doesn't make sense for everyone. Yet
so many people...
See story here
This question from a DebtSmart Reader, Margie: I purchased
property for $27,515.00 at 7.5% for 8 years on a semiannual payment of $2318.00.
The first year, three payments were made of $2,318.00; we have paid three years
so far. This year, on our due date, we would like to pay off the mortgage. What
will be the amount due? (NOTE: Assume that the third payment in year one was
made with the second payment.)
Answer this math problem
Those who keep a watchful eye on where their money is
spent, have long conquered the kitchen woes. No last minute panic trips to the
market. No longer needing the "give-the-kids-$20-for-fast-food" solution. This
is no longer a problem or even a concern for the "Kitchen Master".
You, too, can be a 'Master Of Your Kitchen'. All it takes is
a little time and planning!
Now you might be saying "I don't have time to plan meals,
let alone control my kitchen!" That's fine. Wait until you do have some time.
All you need is just a couple of hours some Saturday or
Sunday where you can really "dive" into your kitchen.
Where To Start...
Finish reading this article
Coder's Half-Million-Dollar Baby Proves iPhone Gold Rush
Is Still On
Apple's iPhone application store is as crowded as a
Beyonce concert, with more than 20,000 apps available. But one independent
developer still managed to rake in $600,000 in a single month with a single
iPhone game.
Ethan Nicholas, developer of a tank artillery game called
iShoot, told Wired.com he quit his job the day his app rose to No. 1 in the App
Store, earning him $37,000 in a single day.
See story here
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