I’m going t be upgrading this site and I don’t know what I’m doing… so wish me luck
Bank of America, and Discover have once again arbitrarily raised the rates on their credit cards; others are expected to follow suit as they scramble for money in spite of tax payer bail outs.
I’m not against the bail out exactly. I think Obama is doing the best he can in a horrid situation with a congress that still isn’t doing what the folks who voted them in want.
However, the rate hikes are shameful. I don’t know when we lost the concept of usury. Back in the 300s usury laws prohibited the charging of interest on loans. Period. Gradually, at least in the western world, those laws were loosened and usury laws came along to limit the amount of interest charged. Today, of course, all breaks are off and credit card companies are allowed to charge, for the most part, whatever they want - it’s all in the name of so-called free enterprise.
Although I’m in favor of establishing reasonable limits on interest, there’s another, quicker individual solution:
Stop using your credit cards altogether!
Sound radical? Look at the interest you’re paying… really look. Do you know how long it will take you to pay that off? BankRate.com has a nifty calculator.
Cut the darn things up and figure out how to pay them off. You’ll be far better off, believe me.
If everyone would stop using the darn things our world would be a much different, and I think, better place.
What do you think? Leave a comment.
Love, blessings and prosperity,
Image from http://www.sxc.hu and adapted by me
If you’re a U.S. citizen or living and earning here, I hope you know your federal income taxes are due (gasp) tomorrow at midnight. Here are some sites that may help:
- Tax Tips for 2009 - by the IRS itself - tips on various subjects dealing with taxes.
- I’m Late, I’m Late, I’m Late! - A great post, with serious help, by the Tax Girl, and if you’re reading this on Tuesday, you’re not late yet. That site has bunches of good, clear and gentle tips - one of my favorites.
- TurboTax offers free calculators and other goodies.
Love, blessings and prosperity,
I don’t think of Easter as being a big gift giving holiday, but it’s obvious retailers are trying to make it one. I was startled yesterday at how many gifts my local big name drugstore was more or less shoving in my face yesterday.
It’s tempting, when you’re in debt, to think maybe you shouldn’t give gifts at all. Chances are, however, that isn’t strictly true. The goal of learning how to manage your money isn’t about deprivation, it’s about making good choices.
Here are some things to consider about gifts:
- Are you giving from your heart or out of obligation. If it’s the later are you willing to skip it or at least spend way less? Why?
- Assuming you’ve decided to give a gift, what kind of gift do you want to give? You often find it’s more fun and costs less if you actually plan your gift, even, perhaps, making it yourself if you’re handy or like to do that sort of thing. If not, leave your wallet and credit cards at home and do some looking without buying. See what you’d like to give and then see if you can find something similar for less. Or do this online, but don’t buy during the first shopping trip.
- After 24 hours has passed, which gift would you like to buy now? Can you afford it? Is there something that would work as well that costs less? Decide what you’re going to buy, but wait another 24 hours.
- If, after the next day you’re still comfortable with your decision, go ahead. Buy it, give it and have a great time. Don’t be surprised, however, if, after the two days you decide to spend less. Enjoy that if you do.
As you get clear on your money and learn to earn more and save more, you’ll find gift giving a true joy, not a time of stress.
Love, blessings and prosperity,
These are just some of the thin
gs I hated about being vague about money:
- I felt I had to sneak up to the automatic teller and I was actually afraid to go inside the bank. Sure, sometimes I had to, but I hated it.
- I never was sure of any given check would clear.
- No matter how much money I had I always felt poor and hesitated to spend on much of anything.
- My life was pinched and small.
- I always felt guilty around money.
Since I’ve learned how to get out of vagueness around money these symptoms almost never occur and if they do I know all I need to do is either bring my numbers current or double check exactly what money I’ve spent and need to spend.
How has being vague around money made you feel?
Love, blessings and prosperity,
Yesterday I told you that my gym had failed to credit me $20 that I had been charged in error.
Well now I’m blushing. I send a nice email asking about it and they sent one back saying “please check again.”
I did and they were right. I had been looking at the wrong month!
So I sent an email back, rather profusely apologizing for my mistake, explaining about my confusion of months, etc. etc. etc. I think we’re fine now.
I’ still glad I watch my accounts closely enough to have noticed the mistake in the first place. Clarity around my money is way better than the vagueness I used to live in.
Love, blessings, and prosperity,
Several weeks ago when I was doing my almost weekly checkbook reconciliation I noticed an odd $20 charge from my gym. I hadn’t heard from them and was surprised, when I called, to discover that for some reason my automatic payment had been declined.
It turned out they had tried to send me a notice, but sent it to an old address. (Yes, I had updated my address with them, but the change hadn’t made it to the right spot.) I took copies of my statement down and all agreed that I had indeed been charged when I shouldn’t have been. They agreed to credit me the next month.
Guess what? They didn’t. The credit didn’t show up; instead my normal monthly charge was there.
I really like this place and I can walk to it so I’m more than willing to work with them. I sent them an email and suspect this will work itself out easily and naturally.
There are a couple of things worth noting in this story. The first is I now keep close enough track of my money so I spotted the erroneous charge. That’s the second thing too - I spotted the fact I hadn’t been credited.
I have to wonder how much money I left on the table over the years when I didn’t keep track and just kept my fingers crossed.
How about you? Do you keep track of your money well? Or not?
Love, blessings and prosperity,
Image from http://www.sxc.hu
This video, done in Canada, still gives a darn good overview of the differences between banks and credit unions.
Kind makes me think; how about you?
Love, blessings and prosperity,
Last August I wrote:
Most of the folks I know who are involved in letting go of unsecured debt and under earning also report they have issues with clutter. That is, they report that, like me, paper tends to pile up until it falls over, stuff collects in the car until it’s too embarrassing to take a passenger, and the dishes tend to get done only if there are no more dishes to use.
My hunch, and it’s sort of based on my own experience, is that the hook between debt and clutter is vagueness.
I’m even more convinced today that’s true. In fact, I’m coming to see vagueness as a core issue for me.
I’ve been working at loosing some weight and it wasn’t until yesterday that I realized why keep a food diary was so helpful.
I use Lance Armstrong’s The Daily Plate which, when I log in the food I eat tracks calories for me. It also makes it easy to figure out how many calories I should be eating if I want to loose. Up until I took a close look at my food diary yesterday, I would have looked you straight in the eye and told you I had almost quit binging. Hah. Not true. It turns out I’ve been binging every other day.
This is just another sort of vagueness and I’m not yet sure how vagueness about food applies to earning, spending and debting. Maybe it will turn out it doesn’t. But getting out of vagueness has been such a help with the money, my hunch is it will play a positive role in weight loss.
We’ll see.
Have you had problems with vagueness? Tell us about it.
Love, blessings and prosperity,