Prime Rate Credit

I did a little more research on prepaid credit cards, and here’s what I found:

They seem like a really good idea for people who either don’t like credit cards and just want to be able to buy things with a credit card ie. online purchases or something where a credit card is required. 

Prepaid credit cards also seem like a good idea for people who have been in credit card trouble before who do not want the temptation of having more credit card debt accrue, and so feel safer paying it ahead of time, when they know they have the money to pay it.

People with bad credit who can’t get a regular credit card or who can’t get a card with a decent rate due to high risk credit, also seem to like the prepaid concept.

There do seem to also be some decent deals.  Some require a certain down payment, or almost a like a charge for using it. 

Some of them you can reload online, and also help to rebuild your credit.  One I saw actually came with an automatic notification service to the credit bureau to notify how your credit is being rebuilt.

I’ll have more on this I’m sure.  This didn’t used to be as popular as it is now, but now I’m seeing tons of choices for prepaid credit.

Just had a quick tip to share on how PDA’s (handheld multitasking mini computers), or more commonly known as Palm Pilots, are really handy for keeping track of and budgeting bills, spending, monthly budgets and expenditures for everything from food and entertainment to electricity and other utilities. 

I just have a cheaper model, and am probably going to upgrade soon, but mine is one I bought on Ebay for like $60.  It’s the Palm Zire, and it’s just a small handheld that is black and white and has minimal features.

Why the Palm Pilot Helps:

Did you ever have a thought about paying off a certain bill, or checking your credit, or paying off a certain credit card for the month.  Basically, did you ever just have a random financial thought?  I do, all the time.  Sometimes it’ll be something as small as paying an extra 50 bucks on my next Visa bill, or switching this over to this account, or depositing a check - whatever, you get the point. 

Well, if you have a Palm Pilot or other type of PDA, you usually will have a little scribble pad that uses a pen like instrument that you can write down any thought any time.  This comes in handy a lot for me.  Not only that, I made a special part of the PDA into my own personal little bill paying tracker. 

You can kind of use your imagination and set it up the way you know it will work best for you, but I ended up just using the scheduler to remind myself of the days that bills were due, so I could avoid the common mistake so many of us make, and miss the due date - not out of not having the money, but out of just forgetting and letting the days go by - and then you end up accruing all these late fees. 

You know how that goes, an endless mess of debt - that’s what!

I’m gonna go over a few more ways you can keep track of your financial orders.  Some are downright obvious, but they’ve all helped me get to where I’m at now.

I mentioned the “credit card game in Getting out of Debt Tips Part 2.  Two things to note when playing the “Credit Card Game”:

Yep, apparently there a few places that offer prepaid credit cards, just like a prepaid phone card.  I guess Western Union offers a prepaid credit card where you pay in advance for the privelege of using the credit card, but I’m not sure who else does.  I passed a check n’go or check into cash place yesterday and saw the offer for the prepaid credit card, and thought it was an interesting concept.  I’ll look into it more and share what I find out…

 This is part 2 of my “getting out of debt” tips from me, a regular every day person who got out of debt using these guidelines.  You should be able to apply them in some ways, to your own financial situation and lifestyle (I’m hoping - if not, wait for Part 3).

I couldn’t even believe it when I read it.  50 years mortgage.  That’s right - a half of a century, and more than half of a lot of people’s time on earth, is now being offered as a possibility for home mortgage loan durations. 

With the price of housing and interest rates consistently rising, mortgage lenders wanted to think of a way to let more people realize their dream of owning a  home, and of course to drum up more business. 

The solution is the newly offered 50 year loan, which allows people to make smaller payments on their home, and perhaps to afford a better home from the get go.

So far, just a hanful of smaller mortgage companies are offering this option, but it may soon expand into larger markets if it proves a successful and profitable strategy for lenders.

One mortgage company offering the 50 year option, Statewide, has already received about 220 applications for the loan and just started offering it in March.

This is a great thing for consumers because it makes the financial and home buyers market more competitive between lenders, which many times drives the good deals being offered, or other incentives to get your business.

In a process that is going to span a few years, and take place in increments rather than all at once, the Federal Reserve, under the new chairman Ben Bernanke who replaced Alan Greenspan, will take the rate hike in increments, with meetings in between to determine the next step and next interest rate hike. 

What does this mean for us?

It would mean an increase in interest rates on borrowed money for millions of consumers and businesses as commercial banks make the same adjustment, which is a quarter-point jump in the prime lending rate, pushing it to 8 percent.

Some economists and financial experts believe the Federal Reserve will stop with the funds rate at 5 percent, which is significantly higher than the forty six year low of 1 percent, which was in effect before the rate increases even began.

I’ve been noticing this one commercial playing a lot on my radio on the way in to work, about making a fortune on the internet. They offer a free CD, which I’m sure is only the tip of the iceberg, then you have to pay for the rest of something, which is supposed to make it “easy” for you to make money in the comfort of you own home, on the internet.

Years ago, when I found myself deep in debt to the tune of about $10,000 from college books, partying, car fixing and everything else under the sun, and nothing to fall back on except credit cards, I thought it was hopeless and I would never be completely out of credit card debt.  I had a couple of high interest cards too, so it seemed like paying over the minimum was futile since the balances still never seemed to budge under the weight of excessive interest rates.

Then, about five years ago, I consulted the biggest nonprofit consumer credit foundation - Consumer Credit Counseling, or as I call it CCC.  The friendly counselor was an older guy, I remember him because he had a bit of an accent and his last name was Houston, pronounced like “House” then “ton”. 

Anyways, he set me up on a payment plan of $210 every month, and negotiated the interest rates with each of my credit cards individually.  About 4 years later, and 50 money orders later, I was debt free.  At least from the first round of debt. Sad thing is, as I was paying off that debt, I racked up a little more!  TO be continued…. 

Many financial analysts and planners recommend that before you go to buy a house, or any other major investment such as a car, boat, house repairs and improvement  or second home, that you get your credit checked - in other words, either pay for a credit report from the credit bureau, or get a free credit report, as we so frequently see advertised.  So what is the catch to the free credit report?

Usually, most free credit report sites will try relentlessly to get you to pay a monthly or yearly service charge to get updates and special reports on the status of your credit, and they may even offer some other fringe benefits if you order your free credit report with them.  Usually, the free one is a one time deal of course.  Some will even only give you a partial report, and charge additional for details or other needed information.

Regardless, most credit reports end up being fairly accurate.  There are some times though, that I’ll hear through the grapevine that someone had an outstanding debt listed that should not still be listed and is paid off, but it still shows for some reason.  This is exactly why you should be concerned with your credit score when purchasing any major investment. 

You may have items on there that you either have forgotten about, or just never knew about to be able to pay off.  This happens all the time.  You want to make sure you go in to get the best rate, and you won’t get that unless your credit is good.