Prime Rate Credit

Have you ever had an in-store credit card, like a Kaufmann’s charge card, or a smaller retail establishment’s credit card before that offers incentives for buying more of your retail needs there? I recently gave in and signed up for an Express credit card, because I buy quite a few of my professional and casual clothes there. I was enticed by the fact that they gave me $15 off my order with sign up, and the fact that with each purchase, I earn points toward what they call “velvet rope rewards”, which is a point system you rack up by making purchases.

When you achieve a given amount of points, you get a card in the mail that is good for various increments of money off of your next purchase. For example, I just got a “velvet rope reward” card good for ten dollars off my next purchase. Not bad, huh? I’m usually against getting retail credit cards, but if you can make sure you pay them off every month, and the incentives are enticing enough, it actually could save you money in the long run. Oh yeah, be careful, the interest rates are usually not good on these types of credit cards, that’s why I say, try to pay them off monthly if you can.

Prior to the 1970’s, there were fewer alternatives available to consumers for credit options. There were federal and state regulations that restricted the kinds of lending the financial institutions were permitted to do. With the 1970’s and 1980’s, major changes took place with financial deregulation.
Today, there are a host of innovative credit alternatives available to consumers. Some have interest rates that are fixed and some are variable. Some loans require collateral and others are made on your promise of repayment alone.

Installment credit is the type of loan utilized usually when purchasing a car, appliances or a motor home. This is also called closed-end credit. Each month you make your payment, the principal of the loan is reduced. Open-ended credit or non-installment credit refers to single payment
loans and also to loans that allow you to make irregular payments and to borrow more without reapplying.

The open-ended credit refers to charge accounts and credit cards. Most credit cards allow you to borrow interest free if you pay your balance in full each month by the due date. The disadvantage of credit cards is the temptation to have too many, overspend or make only minimum payments which will put you into credit troubles.

A home-equity loan uses your equity in your home as collateral for the loan. Usually, these loans are for up to 75% of your home’s appraised value, less the amount still owed on the first mortgage. The advantage of this kind of credit is that it allows you to borrow at a competetive rate. The
disadvantage is for the individual who lacks self discipline for spending. They will be more likely to overspend. If a person is unable to meet the loan payments, their primary residence is at risk.

Other sources of credit include commercial banks, savings and loans, credit unions and consumer finance companies. Before initiating any kind of loan or credit, research your options to determine which avenue is best suited for your situation. Identify the loan you prefer based on your particular borrowing requirements and ability to make payments.

There are so many mortgage loans and programs available today that it can be overwhelming. Which option is best for you depends on your situation. Variables to consider would be how much has been saved for a down payment, your income and whether you’re a first time home buyer or not. The most commonly known type of mortgage program is the conventional fixed rate.

This type of mortgage option is available in ten, fifteen, twenty and thirty year terms. A private mortgage insurance is required if the down payment is less than twenty percent. An adjustable rate mortgage is another option. This is available in fifteen, twenty and thirty year terms. Interest rates are set daily. Interest rate adjustment periods are of one, three, five or seven years from the anniversary date. Private mortgage insurance is required again if the down payment is less than twenty percent.

Construction loans are for those building a home or purchasing in a new development. They are available in fixed or adjustable rates with terms up to thirty years. During construction, the borrower makes interest only payments. When the home is complete, full payments including principle begin.

With an income based special financing loan, as little as three percent down is required and it can be a gift. No private mortgage insurance is required. Finally, closing costs of up to one hundred percent, can be financed. VA loans are an option for eligible veterans. You can see our mortgage calculator for more info on rates and how these would affect your bottom line. Qualification guidelines are flexible. This type of loan can be a fixed or adjustable rate. FHA loans are another special mortgage program with low or no down payment and fixed rates.

With the FHA loan, the seller is permitted to assist with costs and credit guidelines are expanded. There are many other options besides the types mentioned here. If you are thinking of purchasing a home in the near future, research, read and enlist the help of your local realtors and bankers
to determine which option is best for you.

I recently got myself a Key Bank Continental Airlines rewards airline miles card (about six months ago), and am well on my way to earning myself a free ticket to anywhere in the continental US right now! I figured that since I use my credit/debit card so much - I rarely use cash any more - I might as well earn free airline miles while I’m in the process.

Since I’ve gotten the card, which has an annual fee of $30 for the priveledge of earning free airline miles, which believe me, are at a premium these days, I’ve earned at least half of what I need for a full priced ticket to anywhere in the continental US. Does this exclude places like HI and other far off destinations?

Probably, to be honest I haven’t really read the fine print on my card yet, but I do know that flying anywhere in the continental US just for using my debit card for a year would be a great deal to almost anyone!

I do use my debit card quite a bit, so I may be a little out of the ordinary user loop, but I do know a lot of other people like me! One thing’s for sure, there is a reason why these airline miles rewards credit cards are so popular today for the travelling crowd!

OK, second time’s a charm. For some reason the first time I wrote this post, it didn’t save - ARGH, the wonders of the internet. Ok, I wanted to talk a little about the incredibly addictive investment and stock picking show on Fox called Bulls and Bears. I would compare this show to the stock and investment enthusiast’s version of an NFL pregame show. There’s plenty of ego, plenty of schmaltzy banter and plenty of good old fashioned entertainment to be had.

But more importantly, watching this show, you’ll actually learn something, and likely be able to add some stocks to your watch list, or even to purchase immediately if you’re convinced the particular analyst that is recommending it knows what he/she is talking about in this instance.

There are several stock analysts, financial analysts and stockbrokers that make regular appearances on the show, all with their own views, sometimes of which agree with other analysts, and some of which completely clash. And therein the fun of watching this show lies. You get to see agreeing and conflicting views regarding the future of certain stocks.

It’s genuinely fun, and more importantly you educate yourself and you come out of it not feeling like you just wasted a half hour of your time, but rather “invested” in yourself and your knowledge of the stock market today, the movers and the shakers, and how you can possibly build a future of wealth and stability. Very cool. What more could you ask for? This show is on at 10 am where I live on the Fox network.

Have you noticed the amount of fast food joints that now take credit cards and debit cards, and many of them with no minimum purchase, as was common in the past, before the “age of the debit card” almost forceably made them accept these highly popular forms of payment.

These days, fast food restaurants realize that people really use their debit cards a lot, so much so that that don’t even carry around cash very much any more. Rather, they use their debit cards as both a cash supply and as another form of credit, only they know there is a finite limit to that credit based on how much they hold in their related checking account, unless they are millionaires!

I’ve seen the Credit and Debit cards accepted signs now on almost every fast food restaurant, including the immensely popular McDonald’s, Arby’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, and many many others that are kind of on the sidelines in popularity, but nonetheless offer their customers the convenience of paying by debit or credit instead of having to lug around cash with them for the priveledge of getting a bite to eat on the go. No doubt fast food restaurants have seen this help their business. How many times have you really wanted to order a Big Mac value meal, only to find you had no cash?

There are warning signs, in regards to credit card debt, that you are in over your head. If you are making just the minimum payments on your credit card debt each month, you are incurring huge interest rates from purchases made months or even years ago. If you have no savings and are paying only the minimum on credit card charges per month, you are headed for,or already have debt problems.

Possessing more than two or three credit cards is another unwise financial decision. If you have a really hard time budgeting, consider prepaid credit cards, since you will not be tempted to spend more than you know you can spend.

Paying minimum payments and increasing the credit card balance by the same or greater amounts each month surely means you have an ongoing problem with spending habits versus income. Taking out cash advances on credit cards to pay other bills is another warning sign of excessive debt. Floating checks to pay bills hoping the funds will be available by the time the check clears the bank only compounds financial troubles.

Being declined for credit when applying is a warning sign. Also when making a purchase, if you have been declined, you are in credit card trouble.
Calls from collectors or letters of collection add to the list of financial woes.The biggest part of the solution to these problems is to recognize that you have a problem and resolve to take steps to get out of debt. Enlist the help of consumer credit counselling services to assist you to get out of debt.

Local churches even offer financial debt counselling for individuals who need it. Start with a personal budget sheet for daily needs. Learn to differentiate between wants and needs. Initiate changes in spending habits. Spend cash only. Don’t use credit. Cut up credit cards if you need to.
The solution sounds so simple. Just spend less than what you earn. It’s changing our behaviors and habits that is the hard part. For already existing large balances, transfer your balance to a credit card with a zero percent or low introductory rate. Another solution is to ask your present credit card companies to lower your interest rate.

Freeze your spending. Clip coupons.Pride yourself on bargain hunting for necessities. It will be worthwhile to reduce the stress created by a mountain of debt.

Recently I’ve had the first-time experience of shopping around for my first home. That’s right, for me, the days of care-free, maintenance-free renting, small storage spaces, and restrictive landlord policies on everything from decor to parking spots have grown tiresome, and I’m ready to finally take the plunge into full fledged homeownership. The challenges of home shopping have proven to be more than just where to get the best mortgage deal, definitely.

In just a few short days of house hunting, I’ve discovered there are definitely some frustrations to deal with, as well as “expectation adjustments” that I have to personally make if I expect to find a house I will be happy in for at least ten years, that I can both afford and find aesthetically pleasing.

Another potential challenge I can foresee in my home shopping endeavor is choosing a home that I can feel relatively confident will have a good resale value when we sell it ten or fifteen years down the road. This is a tough one though, that can be changed in the blink of an eye sometimes by variables that are beyond your personal control.

Unless you purchase your home in a desirable “gated community” or some other exclusive community, which often comes with price tags in the mid six figures, or upper six figures, and also has enormous property taxes, you pretty much cannot “guarantee” a home’s resale value will go up in relation to inflation and housing costs.

There are always going to be unforseen circumstances that could potentially come into play in the future that you may not have any control over. For example, a sewage treatment plant or other chemical or hazardous material plant may be built in the area, which could cause property and housing value to drop. On the other hand, these types of variables can also work in your favor.

Some people who have been in their homes for fifty years have realized tremendous profits from selling, especially if their home is in an area that has been built up in recent years. Many professionals may be willing to pay big bucks for the opportunity to live closer to where they work, and with metropolitan development, comes more big, corporate jobs and more community money and income.

There are other issues that have to do with affordability, convenience, and functionality as well that I didn’t necessarily give much thought to before I started seriously perusing the new home listings. Issues like well water vs. city water and sewage, and the type of heating and cooling system used can make a huge impact on your home buying decision.

So far I’ve concluded that for us, buying a home with gas heat is important, as that will keep our heating costs down and seems to be the most efficient heating method. You may even want to ask the owner or the realtor if they can provide you with the owner’s heating and electric bills for the past few months so you gauge whether you can properly budget these types of every day living expenses.

You will also want to remember to ask or at least confirm which appliances the owners will be leaving behind. For example, do they plan on leaving the referigerator, the dishwasher, the stove and oven? Most times the kitchen appliances are standard, but sometimes owners plan on taking these with them, and you’d want to consider that as well.

Other minor considerations are things like garbage disposals, window treatments like blinds and curtains and other more cosmetic or minor conveniences that can definitely add to the appeal of the house. Some owners will leave behind the window treatments and other items that are more of a decorative nature, because they may not fit the windows of their new residence.

As you can see, there are so many considerations to think of when looking for a new home and then weighing your options when you’ve narrowed your search down to a few select homes. In the end, you will usually go with the home you feel you could most picture yourself in though. I’d suggest writing down the things that are most important to you in a home, and remembering to bring this list along on your showings. You’ll be glad you did.

The man who was best known for giving away over one million dollars anonymously, has succumbed to cancer recently. The man, whose name is Larry Stewart, died at the age of 58 (why do the good always die young?), and was known for just walking to streets around the holidays and giving various people money for no apparent reason, only that it was the holiday season and he was like Santa Clause!

He only recently revealed that he was the anonymous “Secret Santa” that so many people had heard about and talked about, a few months ago, and said he only did so before his death because he wanted to make sure he inspired others to random acts of kindness. It’s a cruel world, and I’m so glad that men like Larry Stewart made it a kinder, gentler place. I’m sure he will be missed!

Money markets are an excellent alternative to often very low return savings accounts, especially, if like me, you are saving for something and want your money to earn a little more in return than a lousy 1 or 2%, which is the typical APR earned on savings accounts held at traditional savings and loan banks.

Money markets are also a great alternative because they are still easily liquidated when they are needed, versus say something like a stock or bond that may not be as easy to extract when you are ready to buy a home or make that big purchase you’ve been saving up for. Some of the services that offer money markets can be found online right now, and are offering as much as 5% returns and even a little higher, depending on the markets.

If you are looking at a savings account of over $5k, you are looking at a fairly decent return on your money with a money market! I would highly suggest looking in to the money market account, it may be well worth your time, especially if you are saving for a year or more, you might just build up a nice tidy sum of interest!