Understanding Second Chance Banking

by Lianne Gaines With the economic decline raging, a lot of folks have found themselves in either short-term or long-term economic trouble. Unfortunately, these troubles can haunt you across many aspects of your life. Too many individuals do not realize that there are ways to navigate around these financial troubles. Be it bad checks, credit debt, or lack of health care, there are resources that will get around, or at least alleviate whatever is blocking you from achieving a better financial outlook. [more...]

Date: 2009-09-29 10:39:14

Blog posts (480) | Videos (103)
 

How to Hedge Against Inflation With a Home Equity Loan

Home equity loans were a large part of the consumer credit expansion that fueled the economy for more than a decade. The housing market bubble drove up housing asset prices, but without refinancing a homeowner couldn’t spend their new found fortune unless they got a home equity line of credit. If you are unaware of the coming wave of inflation that will threaten to unravel the global financial systems, all I can say is wise up or read some of my previous articles .  If you are aware of [more...]

Date: 2009-09-29 14:00:00

Debt Buyer Beware

If you receive quotes from anyone who does NOT ask you who your creditors are, you better RUN! With so many people in a financial hardship these days, many unscrupulous, untrained or ignorant people are jumping onto the debt consolidation band wagon… unfortunately this could mean big trouble for you! Did you know Citibank, Discover and Bank of America are much more likely to file a lawsuit against you if you make the mistake of enrolling into a bad debt setllement program over 24-30 months. [more...]

Date: 2009-09-29 15:22:37

How To Find The Cheapest Auto Insurance!

One of the most important things to do when looking for cheap car insurance is to take some time to compare offerings by several insurance companies.Everyone wants to know which insurance company is cheaper than everyone else, if this were the case; it would probably only one there. The truth of the matter is that there is no such thing “cheapest.” Thus, while a friend may pay a lower rate with your provider, this does not necessarily mean that they can provide lower rates for others. [more...]

Date: 2009-09-29 23:11:10

The Sad Tale of Gansel and Hetel

The plight of Hansel and Gretel is known to many but have you ever heard the sad story of Gansel and Hetel? Two middle class kids “adrift” in the consumerist shopping mall culture take a bath in debt and almost ruin their lives… can they be saved? Bad Health & Bad Luck Gansel and Hetel had it rough growing up with divorced parents.  Their dad didn’t take care of his health and didn’t buy enough life insurance so their mom was left to raise them totally alone after he passed away.  [more...]

Date: 2009-09-29 12:57:44

The 7 new rules of financial security

In a world turned upside down, you must re-examine some basic assumptions. A good place to start: understanding the true nature of risk.John Maynard Keynes, the Depression-era economist who’s having quite the comeback, once quipped when he was accused of inconsistency: “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”Money has long advocated the benefits of consistency in your investing and financial planning. [more...]

Date: 2009-09-29 10:57:27

We’re Still a Nation of Spenders, Not Squirrels

Will we be spenders or savers? It is a big question for the economy. Without a rise in consumer spending it is hard to get economic growth. It is also a big question for retailers and other businesses relying on consumer demand. The evidence on what has been happening so far is mixed. Official figures suggest that retail spending has held up better than many other parts of the economy, with a 2.1% rise in sales volume last month compared with a year earlier. [more...]

Date: 2009-09-30 18:56:25

We're Still a Nation of Spenders, Not Squirrels

Will we be spenders or savers? It is a big question for the economy. Without a rise in consumer spending it is hard to get economic growth. It is also a big question for retailers and other businesses relying on consumer demand. The evidence on what has been happening so far is mixed. Official figures suggest that retail spending has held up better than many other parts of the economy, with a 2.1% rise in sales volume last month compared with a year earlier. [more...]

Date: 2009-09-30 18:03:11

The Road to Riches Through The Festival Edition

This week, the Festival of Frugality travels to Funny About Money, where it is the Road to Riches edition! Being that my house is the “road to the stomach flu via some strep throat” edition this week, I’ll make this short and sweet with a few of the editor’s picks: The Art of Credit Card Skimming How the bad guys get access to your credit-card accounts, and what to do about it Get Rich Slowly Renter’s Insurance: Peace of Mind for Ten Bucks a Month Dough Roller Discover Card [more...]

Date: 2009-09-30 02:02:40

Fed decided to Institute Curbs On Issuers of Credit Cards

On Tuesday rules have been proposed by the Federal Reserve to end banks’ ability to apply credit card payments to balances having lowest interest rates first, implementing legislation Congress passed in May. The Fed also proposed that before charging fees for transactions that exceed credit limits creditors obtain consumers’ consent. The Fed said in a statement that restrictions on lending to people under the age of 21 and subprime credit card fees were also included. [more...]

Date: 2009-09-30 12:56:49

Top Eight Pitfalls of Life Insurance

Author : J.J. Yong As life insurance has become a necessity for us today, everyone needs to pay serious attention to details when it comes to insurance policy selections as there are lots of potential gaps and pitfalls of Life Insurance policies By getting yourself acquainted on the possible pitfalls, you will know what to watch out, what to avoid, and what to focus in, when it comes to Insurance plan selections 1 Decreasing coverage - Policies where the 'face value' decreases over the term [more...]

Date: 2009-09-29 04:18:13

How Can Lawsuit Funding May Help To Avoid A Bad Credit

Many lawsuit plaintiffs have financial troubles while they wait for a settlement problem that could make more low their credit level . Credit reports are piled up by firms named credit bureaus that get reports directly from lenders about their customers paying practices. Founded on a debtors history of paying bills and the amount of debt the man has , credit bureaus go with a credit score for each man . [more...]

Date: 2009-09-30 13:20:28

Restoring Your credit Status

by Bob Jones A crucial aspect in maintaining a high credit status is in point of fact the contents of your credit report. The credit report is very much the history of your monetary life, contained in a comprehensive document. The credit report details the credit score, which is a numeric grade typically between 300 and 850. Most lenders use the credit score to help them make their mind up whether you are worthy of credit. Furthermore, the score is also used to conclude your capability of paying a loan. [more...]

Date: 2009-09-29 08:16:24

Restore Your FICO Score – Part Three

In the previous parts of this article we discussed how FICO score can impact your financial status as well as the initial steps that you can take to begin restoring your FICO score. We covered handling collections first since they do have a big impact on your overall score, but there are a few other ways that you can quickly see a big jump in your score. After you have the collections on your account either settled or verified, double check to make sure that they were removed from your credit report. [more...]

Date: 2009-09-29 23:17:33

The Best of Get Rich Slowly (2008 Edition)

The past ten months have been amazing: I quit my job at the family box factory at the beginning of March to become a full-time writer ... to be paid automatically. I’m wary of my credit card company, however, so I process that by hand every ... in no particular order. These offer a great representation of my philosophy and my approach to personal finance [more...]

Date: 2008-12-31 13:00:31

That Giant SUCKUP Sound

Note: This column originally appeared at Pajamas Media on Thursday morning. _________________________________________________ Let’s see ... s separate from the bailout fund. Then there are the “efficient car” loan guarantees already on schedule ... had congressmen known how Treasury would really use the money. Too bad; now it’s too late. It’s not only [more...]

Date: 2008-11-22 13:40:51

Scanning the News: Tough Times Require Decisive Action

Though I get most of my in-depth commentary on business and technology from blogs, I augment that with mainstream news headlines and alerts ... Stocks in U.S. Retreat; S&P 500 Index Falls Below Lowest Close Since 2003 •Berkshire Credit Risk ... ' as Shares Fall •Senate's McConnell Calls for Expediting $25 Billion of Loans to Automakers •Hijacked [more...]

Date: 2008-11-19 16:04:32

No surprise here; FBI and likely other federal agencies abuse the use of National Security Letters. Support the JUSTICE Act unless the Republicans can do better.

I have been railing against the Patriot Act (which is anything but) since its passage and I physically protested same back when AG Ashcroft visited Salt Lake City in circa 2003. Numerous provisions of that Act signed into law by the SOB (Son Of a Bush) were and remain egregious. The Patriot Act assailed our rights on so many fronts, not the least of which was broadening the use of National Security Letters (NSL). [more...]

Date: 2009-09-28 19:56:34

Important Points to Be Pondered Over While Opting for a Debt Management Company

by Edwood Woodward 1. Pick the Best: Selecting the best company to manage your financial matters requires a lot of contemplation. There are some good names and some bad names; therefore, it can sometimes become hard for a new customer to select the right one. 2. Opt For the Safer Hands: Since the debt management program handles the fiscal matters with debt and credit, which involves your money, picking the right hands that are skilled as well as safe is very important. 3. [more...]

Date: 2009-09-30 08:22:11

Credit Repair! You May Have A Bad Credit Rating And Not Even Know It

When we talk about credit repair, most of us believe that repairing our credit rating is directly related to our mis management of our finance s, and in most cases that is true! However, many of us don’t realize that thousands of men and women every year find out they have bad credit due to credit fraud, and if you’re not 1% sure on how this happens, it’s a method by criminal organizations that are stealing your identity and using it for financial criminal activities. [more...]

Date: 2009-09-30 14:31:03

Daily Dose: 10/15/08

» Gecko-like Glue is Said to be Stickiest Yet » Doctors Often Skip Key Test Before Surgery » Man Shot to Death in Sunset District Identified » David Chiu Files Formal Ethics Complaint » Angel Island’s 740 Acres Hold a Lot of History » USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association Debate Viewing and Discussion » Margaret Cho Extends Relationship with [more...]

Date: 2008-10-15 22:00:57

Avivah Litan: Nothing that Goes Through the Browser Can Be Relied Upon!

Yesterday, I spent a lot of time on a post : Another Lawsuit Against Weak Online Banking Authentication.  Today, (ironically and thankfully!) Bank Technology News came out with an article on the same subject.  I'm tickled, because there's a quote from Avivah Litan, distinguished analyst and VP at Gartner Research that is as powerful as they come. [more...]

Date: 2009-09-29 20:14:00

Beating Credit Card Debt Collectors at Their Own Game

September 30, 2009 | By Matthew Highlander In Finance | by Matthew HighlanderConsumer debt collectors! Credit Card debt collectors! There ought to be a law against them! Fortunately, there is a law, and educated consumers have learned how to use it to fend off these debt collectors by making their job difficult.Time is money for a credit card debt collector, who is in the business of collecting unsecured consumer debt, most of which happens to be credit card debt. [more...]

Date: 2009-09-30 20:24:54

Why Use A Safe Travel Guide?

by James Redder Unfamiliar locations, when we are on vacation for instance, seem to be the most likely times when things will start to go wrong. The trouble is when this happens it leaves you with bad memories of what should have been a happy ... with you; are all your credit cards, passport and airline tickets for example necessary where [more...]

Date: 2009-01-16 09:39:08

Progressives Have Come Up With A Bill Worth Backing But Will Rahm Emanuel And His Allies Kill It?

Yesterday Alan Grayson, the Blue America endorsed candidate for the Orlando congressional seat held by pathetic Bush rubber stamp Ric Keller, ... bad choices, then "credit" (mortgages, car loans, business loans, etc.) will disappear ... was created, whenever there was a need to ease credit, the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates and bought [more...]

Date: 2008-10-01 09:30:00

Welcome to History

It's helpful to think of how to address the current financial crisis (and I don't use that word casually) ... -to-illegal business practices. As cheap credit pushed up the market price of houses, homeowners began ... . All these effects are just examples of greater levels of debt secured against the market prices of homes. Here's [more...]

Date: 2008-09-19 21:39:38

Welcome to History

It’s helpful to think of how to address the current financial crisis (and I don’t use that word casually) ... -to-illegal business practices. As cheap credit pushed up the market price of houses, homeowners began ... who previously would not have received credit for a mortgage got them. Simultaneously, many homeowners were [more...]

Date: 2008-09-19 20:04:15

Fed To Begin Quantitative Easing in January

A: Would love some reader feedback on this as I always like to educate myself on fed policies in times of distress, and this certainly qualifies ... that directly puts newly minted electronic money into the accounts of primary dealers and ultimately ... from the banks to the government. Time will tell if the situation is bad enough to warrant [more...]

Date: 2008-12-31 15:09:43

Why we need a bailout, even if not this bailout

Having (hopefully) scared you appropriately with the previous post, I now point out that the money markets were only one part of the picture ... , and we've been living on borrowed money. We need to cut back to our natural, credit-free level ... looks like, there are two rules of financial system change: 1) Very rapid change is very bad [more...]

Date: 2008-09-23 02:18:49

Dave Ramsey’s Seven Steps

David Ramsey changed my life. Before David, I never had much money saved, and could never keep it in savings. I had revolving debt. I paid late fees. I paid silly amounts of interest. I worried about losing my job. I was at the mercy of my own bad financial management. It was like a crazed controller handled my accounts, and I was him. After [more...]

Date: 2009-01-17 20:29:43

Who Wins, Who Loses Under Proposed Bailout Plan?

WASHINGTON — The proposal to bail out U.S. financial markets to the tune of up to $700 billion creates a lot of potential short-term winners, ... winners, too, if the bailout works as intended: anyone soon trying to borrow money _ for cars, student loans, even to open new credit card accounts. Top executives at troubled financial institutions [more...]

Date: 2008-09-28 23:35:52

Stephanopoulos on Congress' options

From George Stephanopoulos at ABC: Congressional sources tell ABC News that what they're talking about right now are three or four basic baskets of ... on the fence will be swayed by seeing what the markets do tomorrow, which could be more bad news ... have said is absolutely necessary for the FDIC to guarantee all deposits in transaction accounts [more...]

Date: 2008-09-30 01:54:26

Book Review: Investing in an Uncertain Economy for Dummies

The winner of the book Killing Sacred Cows is Jane’s Friend. Please contact me at livingalmost at gmail dot com! I hope to hear back from you ... , improving your credit score, setting financial goals, and not letting yourself sabotage your plans because ... it’s a bad idea for 99% of people. The fees are OUTRAGEOUS and not worth it. Sure it sounds [more...]

Date: 2008-12-04 14:00:11

You Tell Me: Financial Meltdown

I’ll confess that while we’ve been spending so much time and effort on our house, I haven’t been keeping the closest eye on the news ... Fargo statement from a credit card we never applied for.  The only reason we had an account ... m seriously considering moving my accounts to this bank.  I honestly don’t worry about losing [more...]

Date: 2008-09-19 11:00:39

Breaking Down the Cost of E-commerce

E-commerce took off right along with the internet, providing consumers with the convenience to purchase nearly any product or service they desire ... is that many companies will now offer an unlimited amount of disk storage and bandwidth along in affordable hosting packages.  The bad thing is that even more of these companies are not holding true [more...]

Date: 2008-10-15 18:51:14

FACING SOUTH INVESTIGATION: How did Republicans get an $8 million bailout from failing Wachovia?

UPDATE: A version of this story is now the top-ranked diary at DailyKos -- go visit for more information and discussion Wachovia Corp ... charges of favoritism, as Wachovia denies credit and freezes assets for thousands of other customers ... back on making loans. By July 2008, Wachovia branches were turning down most loan requests that came [more...]

Date: 2008-10-09 19:33:45

Balance your checkbook with Clearcheckbook

I have to confess I am rather into money management apps, although I never actually got into any of them, except for one of the best, Clearcheckbook ... . You can have standard accounts like checking, savings, credit but you can also enter your own types ... stuff from your bank account. The reason I found it so good is exactly this, since I don’ [more...]

Date: 2008-12-25 00:23:33

We just got really close to carrying a balance

I felt like we dodged a bullet tonight. I was checking balances on some of my accounts and I loaded up the balance on our primary checking account ... through.  It actually popped in my head that we could just not pay our full credit card bill next month ... . Getting into credit card debt, of course, is way easier than getting out of it.  (Just ask [more...]

Date: 2008-09-28 07:10:59

State of the Stimulus Report

In the spirit of scrambling to keep tabs on federal attempts to grease our economic machine, ... to buy debt from ten issuers. Money market funds are chock-full of bad assets. The Fed’s move ... of what we know only as the “credit crunch” every time it takes a step forward. Thoughts: -Trickle-down [more...]

Date: 2008-10-21 18:15:10

As Good As It Gets

George Will has a terrific lead in his obituary for the McCain campaign: Time was, the Baltimore Orioles' manager was Earl Weaver, a short, ... of the third-quarter losses in their 401(k) and other retirement accounts -- telling each household its portion of the nearly $2 trillion that Americans' accounts have recently shed. In this context [more...]

Date: 2008-10-09 18:14:08

Lis on Law: The Bailout Bill: Immoral, Unconstitutional… and Necessary?

By Lis Wiehl FOX News Legal Analyst Feeling the sense of urgency to rescue the nation from financial turmoil, ... . Without financing, Americans are unable to acquire a loan to purchase an appliance or pay for college ... the government to spend billions of dollars to buy bad mortgage-related securities and other assets [more...]

Date: 2008-10-09 02:16:22

Some Observations on Where We Stand In the Financial Situation

By Irwin Nowick I had hesitated to make too many observations about the financial sector because it keeps on changing daily ... McCain - is now talking tough on debt instruments such as credit-default swaps and wants ... . More importantly, they are also the one’s who have problems getting loans and maintaining lines of credit [more...]

Date: 2008-09-24 04:51:03

savings accounts in problem banks. Gen X Finance asks if you got suckered into a fake gas price hike from hurricane Ike ... Posts:A Credit Card Survey, Passive Income, Car Payments @ The Carnival Money Articles To Make ... 29. Rich Credit Debt Loan suggests ways to undo the results of financial trauma. Money Ning [more...]

Date: 2008-09-16 16:36:41

Where was I in 2005? (by Russell Roberts)

Reader Tim Allen asks a very good question. I'm going to quote his entire email and then try to answer his question:I am a frequent visitor of your blog, Cafe Hayek. I saw your post about the new collection of essays about the financial meltdown. I feel compelled to write to you and Don although up to this point I have restrained myself [more...]

Date: 2008-11-17 18:01:06

Monday morning links

TOP STORIES Fed, Treasury revamp AIG support - MarketWatch China Unveils Sweeping Plan for Economy - NY Times Fed Defies Transparency Aim in Refusal ... For U.S. Banks - Washington Post Why banks are boosting credit card interest rates - USA Today Bear Stearns ... a bigger boom imply a bigger bust? - CFR How Low, How Bad, How Long? - Hussman Funds Laying [more...]

Date: 2008-11-10 14:24:06

The Shadow Gold Price

“The Shadow Gold Price” Paul Brodsky & Lee Quaintance run QB Partners, a private macro-oriented investment fund based in New York.” ~~~~ Conclusions: Spot Gold is fundamentally cheap versus its intrinsic monetary value by a factor greater than 10 Stocks are empirically very cheap versus the current quantity of paper money bank reserves [more...]

Date: 2008-12-10 13:00:25

End of The Year Market Report for Charlottesville Region

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you are not reading this at RealCentralVA.com the site you see is likely stealing content ... ‘em … wait! yes he does , Auto Bailouts, Investment Banking Bailouts, Credit Card companies ... - - Interest rates are ridiculously low, and loans are absolutely still available. - It is a Buyer’ [more...]

Date: 2008-12-22 14:00:36

Retail gasoline prices drift to 58-month low

Retail gasoline prices tumbled Friday to the lowest level in nearly five years. And while crude futures rose, analysts believed it was a temporary pause in an extended, downward arc as the recession spreads. “We’re paying about a billion dollars per day less than we were in July” for gasoline, said Tom Kloza, [more...]

Date: 2008-12-27 04:46:03

Does Bank Of America (BAC) Get The Next Bailout?

The Paulson/Bernanke bailout is now spreading across the financial system like a prairie fire in a stiff wind. AIG (AIG) got one deal ... on credit card, home, and auto loans increase, and commercial real estate and corporate loans fail ... of mortgages with its buyout of Countrywide, may not be a bad candidate. Neither is Morgan Stanly [more...]

Date: 2008-11-24 11:16:38

The First To Fall And The Last To Rise

The Manteca Bulletin reports from California. “In the go-go days of stratospheric housing price increases some newer neighborhoods - such as Woodward Park, Diamond Oaks, and Villa Ticino - were seeing prices jump as much as $5,000 a month. Now those neighborhoods have returned back to earth as closed deals so far this month signal that banks are [more...]

Date: 2008-10-11 18:59:11

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