by Jennifer Star
November 12th, 2009
I’m 20 now, never had a credit card or anything like that, not needed one. My motto has been if I haven’t got the cash for it then I cant afford it. But I need a new phone now, and want a half decent one, but I haven’t got hundreds of pounds spare to throw around. So I decided to go contract, but I cant do that because I have’t got a "credit rating". surely the fact I’ve never needed one is a good thing.
I can get a contract but it will have to be in someone elses name for a bit. But I dunno if I should get a credit card, so that I can get a good raiting once I pay it all off, or can you get a credit rating from having a contract phone?
Thanks in advance
Get a Metro Pcs Phone no contracts and ur bill is the same Every Month!!
by Jennifer Star
November 8th, 2009
iam trying to make a payment through paypal, but it only asks me my credit card number and what kind of card i have, i have a debit card, but had not received it yet, bcuz i just openend a account at wachovia, what should i do? card choice is visa,mastercard, american express and discovery, which one would be mine? like just a regular bank card that is debit? ASAP!
your bank account number is different from the one that will be on the debit card. Set up the account using your check account not credit card.
by Jennifer Star
November 8th, 2009
Hey there, i just turned 18 and i want to build a credit rating. first off i am good with not spending money i don’t have, so don’t lecture me on how there evil. i will just use it for somthing small once a month to build a credit rating. what is my best bet?
Also is it better to go with airmiles or cashback?
American Blue Express Credit Card: Apart from no annual fee feature of the American Blue Express it also gives cash returns on specific purchases. Users of the American Blue Express also enjoy protection against fraud for online credit card transactions. This card tries to right the various wrong notions about the American Express credit cards, one of which is that it is a credit card only for rich or those who have money to keep a credit card.
by Jennifer Star
November 8th, 2009
Okay, I’m 19 and know next to nothing about credit ratings. I have a debit card linked to my bank account, but I’ve never had a real credit card of any kind. Can anyone tell me the basics, and how I would go about getting a good credit rating? I want to become a homeowner as soon as possible and I know I need a good credit rating.
Thanks in advance!(ten points to the best answer!)
GOOD for you….have son of 18 with good job and have spent a lot of time with him regarding this very matter.
I would see what type of credit card you can get with your actual bank………you dont actually start out with good credit / or bad at the point you are at you have little to NO credit, it is now up to you to earn good credit.
So go into your normal bank and apply for a credit card, you may find that you have to put a $100.00 deposit on the account but the rates will be good and the are already ok with you as you have the account where they can see money in and out. Opinions vary a GREAT deal as to wether you pay off your balance each month or not,
IF you have acces or are able to join a credit union, open an account with them and have a % of your pay put into that each month / week and they often will give you better deals on loans / mortgages etc.
Remember you are allowed one FREE credit report each year.
I would also advise that you read some books by Suze Orman, she has a few aimed at young people JUST starting out like you. Another great source of info is Clarke Howard, he has a web site as well where he will answer questions,
And the final bit of advice I have always given my son / children is pay your self first………………each pay day put aside something for YOU..this is not for that pair of shoes you want badly it is more your rainy day money, but if you get in the habit NOW you will always have a cushion and any one looking at your accounts will see that no matter how bad things have got [or good] you have always managed to save.
I must say it is truely lovely to see someone focused and wish you luck in getting your first home, there is NOTHING like the feeling of being able to shut that door on the world knowing your hard work and effort made it possible.
by Jennifer Star
November 8th, 2009
A co-worker confessed to police with stealing and using my credit cards and now the credit card company is saying I’m responsible for those charges. Is this true? I had no involvement with the theft or fraud
The police have pressed charges against her for theft and fraud but one of the credit card companies won’t reverse the charges.
I would either a) force your co-worker to pay for the charges OR b) I would file a police report against your co-worker (press charges if you want) and forward all documents to your credit card company. Put your dispute in writing ASAP to your credit card company. You should not be responsible if you didn’t give permission or if your co-worker wasn’t authorized user on your account.
by Jennifer Star
November 7th, 2009
Shop online, or brick and mortar!
Many people shop at brick and mortar stores because they feel shipping charges only raise their total cost, however, unless you live in a high density populous like a major city, most often shipping charges cost less than the gasoline required to travel to and back from a brick and mortar store, especially when looking for bargains, which would probably require a stop off at more than two stores for price comparison, and even then when you find the best price, (even if you researched your favorite stores online) you run the risk of a fuel expense only to find your item not in stock, so by the time you actually come home with your item, your fuel expense was probably greater than most fast shipping costs would be. There is also the consideration of time, I live in a rural area where the nearest grocery store is about 12 miles away, and the discount big box retail stores, over 15 miles away, with an average speed limit of 50 mph, it would take approximately 20-25 minutes travel in each direction, around 20 more minutes to identify and locate the specific item(s) in the store, then there is the line at the check out area, depending what time of day/evening you go, it could be as little as 5 minutes and up to 30, as I have waited in check out lines at big box retail stores, so online shopping is not only green, ecologically, but you get more than an hour and a half of your life freed up to do other more desirable activities!
Is it safe to shop online?
Many people still hold on to the idea that online shopping is very risky, however with the implementation of a number of encryption techniques, your personal, and credit card information, is quite secure, but should you still feel a measure of insecurity inputting your credit card information at a website, there are additional steps you can take to insure zero liability on your part. Most credit cards offer a zero liability rider on their cards for any fraudulent charges if you pay a small monthly fee, usually after a 30 - 90 day free trial, in which case any charges that show up on your statement that are not your authorized purchases, will be unconditionally credited back to your card, and an investigation will most likely ensue to try to prevent a reoccurrence.
Once you get past the apprehension of credit card fraud, there are a number of practices that will ensure a positive experience.
Is the lowest price the best deal?
When price comparing different e-commerce stores there are some things to consider, is the item brand new, refurbished, re-packed, a factory second, or even the name brand that is stated, these are all important factors to consider when comparing prices, and many sites will state what grade of merchandise they carry if it is good for business, for instance, I have seen prices for a specific digital camera range from $99.95 to $279.95 for the exact same camera and the msrp was $229.00, so I ask myself, why so high, or so low, if I choose the lowest price am I getting what I would get if I paid the high price? Well obviously the highest price is not one’s first choice, but here are some answers, the higher prices might be due to a poor choice of wholesaler or distributor, or a lack of buying power due to low volume sales, or a high overhead that needs to be considered by the merchant, or maybe they are also brick and mortar store and do not want to severely undercut the prices in the actual store with their online prices. Now when evaluating low prices consider buying American made, because there are a number of foreign manufacturers that produce cheap knock offs of the original, which are available at much lower prices than their American counterparts, also check the item listing for very small,(fine print) or similar colored text (almost invisible), stating that it is either refurbished or a factory second, and when buying branded items make sure the item picture reflects the advertised brand name, and is not an inferior knock off, this happens most when shopping for accessories like picture cards, removable mass storage devices, and other types of digital media, and similar accessories. Something else to look out for is the price of shipping, and the geographical location of merchant, for instance, compare the shipping charges for the same item on a few sites, that are located in the same area, if one price is much higher, they might be advertising a low price but make it up in the way of a handling charge added to the shipping charge, also if you narrowed down your choice of sites to just a few, then buy from the one geographically close, which will minimize the shipping charge, an example would be if you live in California, and your narrowed down sites are located in New York, Dallas, and Seattle, the lowest shipping charges would likely be from Seattle, now if there is a site also in California, you might still consider the Seattle site to save on sales tax, provided the company does not also have a physical store in California as well, because then they will also be required to charge sales tax, on the positive side, some merchants might show extremely low prices on items that have been discontinued by the manufacturer, and the merchants want to move excess inventory before they lose their profit margin all together, so checking with the manufacturer, if the item is current, will explain such a low price, or they might be a “wholesale to the public” type merchant with tremendous buying power, and warehouse space in which case the savings are passed to you, another explanation for low prices can be the use of drop shippers, and warehouse co-ops, which reduces the overhead for online merchants because they do not need to tie up thousands of dollars in inventory to make minimums, and the expense to house that inventory, all of which can contribute to lower prices, along with being in a very competitive retail venue.
Feedback and ratings!
There are many opportunities to give feedback or rate your experience with a site. What do you choose, a highly rated store with higher prices, or a store with little or no rating with lower prices, well I for one have many times, passed on offering a rating, by not responding to the email sent, just because of the lack of time, so these should be considered on the lighter side, for instance, a high number of ratings may not all be positive, or they might have lost sight of a customers value because business is so good they no longer feel the need to go the extra mile to make or keep a satisfied customer, on the other hand, no ratings at all might only mean it is a reasonably new store and has not received the customer count of the big guys, but my thought is this, give the little guy a shot, in their pursuit of sales they are more likely to go the extra mile to win over a customer, and possibly offer an incentive to return to them for future purchases.
How to search for your purchase!
I would recommend getting as much information about a product or products from the original manufacturer’s website, they usually offer the most comprehensive information about their products and usually a suggested retail price, but generally do not sell direct, but instead provide a list of sites you can purchase from, with that said, consider this, after visiting the manufacturer’s site you probably made the decision as to which product model you want to purchase, when doing a search engine search, include the make and model in your search query, rather then a general search term like “fish finder” or “digital camera” this will accomplish a few things, first it will reduce the number of results, and make the results you do get the most relevant, then search engines usually, under these circumstances, will provide a “price compare” link, for instance Google will provide Froogle results, or a Yahoo! Search might provide a Yahoo! Shopping link to a price compared list of possible merchants, and then there are the links like Shopzilla, Price grabber, Next tag, or shop.com, to name a few, these links all provide easy access to price comparing, but be advised that many of these results are “sponsored” which means merchants paid to show up in that search result, and may not be the only relevant sites to choose from!
Where do I go to shop for many items?
Many e-commerce sites are pretty specialized, in as much as they offer a comprehensive selection of the type of merchandise they specialize in, a metal detector store for metal detectors and accessories, or a camera store for digital cameras, picture cards, and batteries, etcetera. Although these stores often have the most competitive prices they might not be your best choice when shopping for many different items, that’s where your Internet department stores might be a better choice, and I will tell you why, if you were to buy a metal detector for your Nephew, and a digital camera for your Mom, and a GPS fish finder for your Dad, and a paintball gun for your Brother, and some jewelry for your Niece, buying these items each from a different store will not be as cost efficient as taking some time to find a department type store that has all these different items for offer, even if their prices are a little bit higher, because all the shipping will be calculated by the total weight of the order, not rounding up each item to the next whole pound as when purchased from separate stores.
May all your Internet shopping experiences be positive ones!
Copyright © Daniel Chiapperino 11/2006
http://www.gardeningsphere.com
Daniel Chiapperino
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/internet-shopping-guide-74534.html
by Jennifer Star
November 6th, 2009
Whether you want to buy a home, finance your education or redo your house, there are many kinds of loans that can help you achieve your goals. Here is a helpful loan guide to introduce some of the most common loans available today.
Bad Credit Personal Loan
A Bad Credit Personal Loan is a loan ideal for people bad credit ratings. Your past record of County Court Judgments, mortgage or other loan arrears can live on to deny you access to finance that other people regard as normal.
If you own a home and have equity in your property, a Bad Credit Personal Loan can bring control back to your life. Secured on your home, a Bad Credit Personal Loan can give you financial freedom.
With a Bad Credit Personal Loan you can borrow up to 125% of your property value in some cases, which can help you.
Bridging Loan
When you need a loan to “bride” the financial gap between monies required for your new property completion prior to your existing property having been sold, a bridging loan can help.
Bridging loans are short-term loans arranged when you need to purchase a house but can’t arrange the mortgage for some reason, such as there is a delay in selling your current home.
A useful factor about bridging loans is that a bridging loan can be used to cover the financial gap when buying one property before the existing one is sold.
A bridging loan can also be used to raise capital pending the sale of a property.
Bridging loans can be arranged for any sum and can be borrowed for periods from a week to up to six months.
Similar to a mortgage where the amount borrowed is secured on your home, the bridging loan advantage of a mortgage is that it attracts a lower interest rate.
While bridging loans are convenient, the truth is that the interest rates can be very high.
Business Loan
Designed for an array of startup business needs including the purchase, refinance, expansion of a business, development loans or any type of commercial investment, a business loan helps startup businesses.
These loans are generally available at really competitive interest rates from leading commercial loan lenders.
A business loan can be secured by all types of business property, commercial and residential properties.
These loans can offer up to 79% LTV (Loan to Valuation) with variable rates, depending on status and how long the term is.
Business loans are usually offered on Freehold and long Leasehold properties with Bricks and Mortar valuations required. Legal and valuation fees are payable by the client.
Car Loan
There are basic types of car loans available are Hire Purchase and Manufacturer’s schemes. Hire purchase car finance is arranged by a car dealership, and in essence means that you are hiring the car from the dealer until the final payment on the loan has been paid, when you receive ownership of the car, usually through a deed.
A Manufacturers’ scheme is a type of loan that is combined and advertised by the car manufacturer and can be arranged directly with them or through a local car dealership. You will not own the car until you pay back the loan in full, and the car could be repossessed if you didn’t pay your bills.
Cash Loan
Cash Loans are also known as Payday Loans, and these loans are ideal for people who hold down jobs who find themselves in a situation where they are short of immediate funds.
A Cash Loan can assist you in this situation with short-term loans, which is useful.
Loans are repayable on your next payday, although it is possible to renew your loan until further paydays down the road.
To apply for a Cash Loan you have to have a job and a bank account with a checkbook. A poor credit rating or debt history is initially not a problem.
Debt Consolidation Loan
Debt consolidation loans can give you a fresh start, allowing you to consolidate all of your loans into one simple loan, which will give you just one easy-to-manage payment, and in most cases, at a lower rate of interest.
These debt consolidation loans are secured on your home and can sweep away the pile of repayments to your credit and store cards, HP, loans and replace them with one, low cost, monthly payment that is calculated to be well within your means.
With a Debt Consolidation Loan, you can borrow up to 125% of your property value in some cases, which depends on the lender.
This type of loan can reduce your interest costs and monthly payments. Finally, you can get your life back in control.
Home Loan
A Home Loan is a loan secured on your home. You can unlock the value tied up in your property with a secured Home loan, and many people choose to do so with this kind of loan.
The loan can be used for any purpose you wish, and is available to anyone who owns a home. Home loans can be used for home improvements, buying a new car, taking a vacation, paying of credit cards and debt consolidation.
Home Improvement Loan
A Home Improvement Loan is a low-interest loan secured on the property you own, and is only for homeowners.
With a Home Improvement Loan, you can borrow money with low monthly repayments.
The loan can be repaid over any term between 5 and 25 years, depending on your available income and the amount of equity in the property that is to provide the security for the loan. You need to talk to your lender about that aspect.
A Home Improvement Loan can help you with installing a new kitchen, bathroom, extension, loft conversion, conservatory, landscaping your garden or purchasing new furniture. You can even use it on non-house expenditure like a new car or repaying credit card or other debts, which makes it convenient and useful for multi purposes.
Home Owner Loan
A Home Owner Loan is a loan secured on your home that you own. You can unlock the value tied up in your property with a secured Home Owner loan. The loan can be used for any purpose, and is available to anyone who owns their home. Home owner loans can be used for any purpose such as, home improvements, new car, luxury holiday, pay of store card or credit card debt and debt consolidation.
Payday Loan
Payday Loans also known as Cash Loans are arranged for people in employment who find themselves in a situation where they are short of immediate funds.
A Payday Loan can assist you in this situation with short-term loans to help you get through tough financial times.
Payday Loans are repayable on your next payday, although it is possible to renew your loan until subsequent paydays. To apply for a loan you have to be employed and have a bank account with a checkbook. A poor credit rating or debt history is initially not a problem.
Personal Loan
There are two categories of personal loans: secured personal loans and unsecured personal loans – See individual titles below. Homeowners can apply for a Secured personal loan (using their property as security), whereas tenants only have the option of an unsecured personal loan.
Remortgage Loan
To help you change your mortgage rate without moving, you may want to look into getting a remortgage loan. Remortgaging is the process of switching your mortgage to another lender that is offering a better deal than your current lender. This process is done to help you save money. A remortgage can also be used to raise additional finances by releasing equity in your property.
You can borrow money and rates are variable, depending on status.
Secured Loan
A secured loan is a loan that uses your home as security against the loan. Secured loans are suitable for when you are trying to raise a large amount; are having difficulty getting an unsecured loan; or, have a poor credit history. Lenders can be more flexible when it comes to secured loans, making a secured loan possible when you may have been turned down for an unsecured loan. Secured loans are another option if you need a new car, or need to make home improvements, or take that vacation. You can borrow any amount of money and repay it over any period from 5 to 25 years. You can choose a monthly payment that fits in your current circumstances and makes life easier on you.
Secured Personal Loan
A Secured Personal Loan is another useful type of loan that is secured against property. Secured personal loans are suitable for when you are trying to raise a large amount; are having difficulty getting an unsecured personal loan; or, have a poor credit history. Lenders can be more flexible when it comes to Secured personal loans, making a Secured personal loan possible when you may have been turned down for an unsecured personal loan. Secured personal loans are also worth considering if you need a new car, or need to make home improvements, or take that luxury holiday of a lifetime.
You can borrow any amount you need with a secured personal loan and repay it over any period from 5 to 25 years.
Student Loan
For students in college, a student loan is used to help students fund the cost of their education. Applications are made through a private institution or the government. A student loan is a way of receiving money to help with your living costs when you’re attending college. You start paying back the loan once you have graduated, provided your income has reached a certain level.
Tenant Loan
A tenant loan is an unsecured loan that is given to people that do not own their own property. A tenant loan is always unsecured because in most cases, if you are renting an apartment, you do not have an asset against which you can secure your loan. Tenants sometimes find that some loan companies will only lend money to homeowners, which can be frustrating. If you are a tenant you need to look for a company, bank or building society willing to give you an unsecured loan.
Unsecured Loan
An unsecured loan is a useful personal loan where the lender has no claim on a homeowner’s property should they fail to repay. Instead, the lender is relying solely on the ability of a borrower to meet their loan borrowing repayments. Because you not securing the money you are borrowing, lenders tend to limit the value of unsecured loans to protect themselves.
The repayment period will range from anywhere between six months and ten years, depending on the lender. Unsecured loans are offered by traditional financial institutions like building societies and banks but also recently by the larger supermarkets chains.
An unsecured loan can be used for almost anything you may want, from a vacation to buying a new car, funding a wedding or adding on home improvements.
An unsecured loan is ideal for those who do not own homes and cannot obtain a secured loan for example; a tenant living in rented accommodation.
Unsecured Personal Loan
An Unsecured personal loan is a useful personal loan that happens when the lender has no claim on a homeowner’s property should they fail to repay. Instead, the lender is relying solely on the ability of a borrower to meet their loan borrowing repayments.
The amount you are able to borrow with this type of loan can vary. The repayment period will range from anywhere between six months and ten years. An Unsecured personal loan can be used for almost anything – a luxury holiday, a new car, a wedding, or home improvements.
An Unsecured personal loan is ideal for people who are not homeowners and cannot get a secured loan. For example, this is a good program for renters.
David Peters
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/loans-various-kinds-but-which-one-can-help-you-56221.html
by Jennifer Star
November 4th, 2009
In continuation of our exploration of the 12 most popular ways of getting out of debt, we come to our last article in the series. For all those of you who have still not found the right way to get yourself out of debt, donât despair for we have some more solutions for you here:-
Retirement Benefits
If you have any type of pension plan or a 401(k) then most employers will allow you to borrow against your retirement account. Compared to withdrawal, borrowing is a better option as you will be saved from paying extra taxes and a 10% penalty which is levied by the Internal Revenue Service if you donât pay back the loan within 5 years. Also, in case you lose your job, you will be required to pay back the loan immediately and pay taxes for premature withdrawal of money. Having said that, this type of loan offers low interest rates and is much easier to handle than other loans.
Credit Union
There are lots of credit unions that offer loans are low interest rates. If you are not already a member then check your eligibility by talking to your employer or other organizations that you may be a member of.
Home Equity Loan
Here you can tap the value of your home for borrowing a fixed amount for a set period of time. The interest rate is competitive and you need to repay in low payment schemes. If you itemize then the interest is usually also minus tax. The downside is that interest can vary according to the economy and incase you are unable to repay the loan, you will lose your home.
Insurance
If you are holding any life insurance policy then you can take a loan against the premium already paid. This has competitive interest rates but the biggest advantage is that you donât even need to repay the loan. The amount is deducted from the proceedings on the maturity of the policy.
Credit Cards
If you have a good credit rating you can get a credit card with low or no interest or an initial period. Check with your current issuer what they would offer if you were to transfer the balances from other credit cards to this one.
Bankruptcy
This is definitely the last option you should consider as it affects your credit ratings for the next 10 years. It also affects future job and loan prospects. However, in case the debts are too much to handle, chapter 7 & chapter 13 are ways of gaining temporary relief.
Adamheist
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/12-most-popular-methods-to-get-out-of-debt-part-3-88012.html
by Jennifer Star
November 4th, 2009
If you own a small business there’s a good chance you are already shopping at a Costco store near you. Based on sales volume Costco has become the largest wholesale membership chain in the world. So you might just have a store around the corner from you. Of course this wasn’t always so. Now to say that Costco was ever really a small business wouldn’t exactly be true. But how did the Costco we know today come about?
Well the history of Costco can actually be traced back to one man. He’s known as the pioneer of the warehouse store? retail concept. His name is Sol Price and he started the original warehouse store known as FedMart back in 1954. Eventually he would wind up selling this chain which is how we come to PriceClub. Sol’s next effort came in 1976. That is the year he started PriceClub along with his son Robert Price. Together they would build PriceClub into the largest warehouse store operation in the country.
They started the business on the outskirts of San Diego, California. Initially they had just one store that was 100,000 square feet. Sol had managed to raise a little over 2 million dollars to start the business. During that very first year they managed about 16 million dollars in sales but they lost $750,000. It almost ruined them. Then one day Sol asked a customer what they were doing wrong? That’s when he found out that they needed to open membership up to government employees. From there the business took off.
They catered primarily to small businesses and government employees. Knowing that they were less likely to bounce a check. They refused for many years to accept credit cards so that they could keep costs down. Credit card fees for retailers can really add up. They also kept their selection to a minimum but made it cheap to buy in bulk. They would typically only charge about 10 percent above wholesale cost. They made their profits through sheer volume. And they kept their overhead low.
So what does all this information about PriceClub have to do with Costco? Well Costco was started in 1983 by a former PriceClub employee named James D. Sinegal who had been a PriceClub executive vice president and who had worked with Sol Price at FedMart. James in fact was along with Sam’s Club run by Wal-Mart PriceClub’s main source of competition. But by 1992 Sam’s Club was overtaking them both. So it was decided that PriceClub and Costco would merge into one company. Robert Price became chairman of the board and James Sinegal became CEO.
The new company was named PriceCostco Inc. This was an arrangement that was never going to work. Within a year the writing was on the wall so the company was once again split up. Only this time the company which would soon after be renamed Costco Wholesale Inc. managed to retain most of the store locations. Robert Price took other assets with him and formed Price Enterprises Inc.
Ultimately James D. Sinegal who had helped to found Costco would end up back in charge and to this day he still is. Along with Jeffrey Brotman another founder and chairman of the board. The company does over 60 billion a year in sales and has over 130,000 employees. It’s only real rival is Sam’s Club but Costco is the leader in its industry.
We mentioned Sol Price because without him Costco probably would not exist. He had an idea that turned out to be revolutionary. He essentially created a whole new way of selling to the public. He took a huge risk in doing so and almost lost it all. But he succeeded against the odds and instead of leaving a company as his legacy he left a whole industry. He is a man that had the drive to succeed and did. Do you have that kind of drive in you?
Cash Miller
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/from-small-business-to-big-business-costco-wholesale-756120.html
by Jennifer Star
November 3rd, 2009
If I have a credit card that I do not use, how does this account reflect on my credit report? Does it show an open account in good standing?
It shows on your credit report as X number of dollars credit allowed, zero for maximum use and zero for outstanding balance. But it does a
dd to your credit score just because someone issued it to you.
if you are looking for the free credit report usa national site, check out this site
http://free-credit-report-national.com/
Here you can check your 3-in-1 Report from all three credit reporting agencies and your credit score rating.