By Patrick on Oct 22, 2007 in Credit and Debt, Personal Finance | 27 Comments
Credit cards and guns - what do the two of them have in common? A lot more than people think. Both are powerful and useful tools that can provide a valuable service. And both can be abused with devastating results.
Credit cards and guns both have positive and negative aspects about them, but ultimately, the outcome [...]
By Patrick on Oct 11, 2007 in Credit and Debt, Personal Finance | 15 Comments
Yesterday I wrote about the 5 types of credit card users from the credit card company perspective. At the end of my article, I stated that I am a Max Payer. I only charge items to my credit card that I have the ability to pay for immediately. If I don’t already have the money [...]
By Patrick on Oct 10, 2007 in Credit and Debt | 3 Comments
The topic of credit cards is one that elicits varied responses from individuals based on their personal experiences with them. In my opinion, there are many good things about credit cards. Others, however, feel the opposite. Like them or not, credit cards are a part of mainstream society and they are here to stay.
Most people [...]
By Patrick on Sep 30, 2007 in Credit and Debt | 10 Comments
Hello everyone, I am currently away on vacation. This is a guest post from Ana, the author of the blog Debt-Free Revolution. Ana is “an Army wife, an Iraq veteran, a college student, a mom, family CFO, and a “Pizza Delivery Expert” a.k.a. a Domino’s pizza delivery driver to get her family out of the [...]
By Patrick on Sep 14, 2007 in Credit and Debt, Personal Finance | 28 Comments
It all started with a t-shirt that read: “I know the credit card is for emergencies, but she was hot!”
Of course, a shirt like that is great for a laugh, but unfortunately, too many young people act that way. That “emergency” ends up being a round of drinks in a bar, concert tickets, or buying [...]
By Patrick on Aug 16, 2007 in Credit and Debt | 2 Comments
Yesterday I wrote about an Indiana man who paid his $12,000 tax bill with coins and $1 bills. This is entirely legal, though admittedly a painful process for all involved. According to Wikipedia, legal tender is payment that, by law, cannot be refused in settlement of a debt denominated in the same currency.
From the US [...]
By Patrick on Aug 12, 2007 in Credit and Debt | 0 Comments
Discover Card recently announced that changes to the Discover Cardmember Agreement will take place for the billing periods after October 1, 2007.
The change to the minimum monthly payment is particularly important for those of you who practice credit card arbitrage, or The 0% Game (as described by My Money Blog). The new rate will increase [...]
By Patrick on Jul 10, 2007 in Credit and Debt, Personal Finance | 5 Comments
Every so often I go to the Yahoo Personal Finance section where people submit questions, and regular readers (read, not financial professionals) submit answers. The best answer, as voted, is shown to the unassuming public. Is this advice actually good?
Here is a question I saw the other day on Yahoo Personal Finance Questions and [...]
By Patrick on Jul 5, 2007 in Credit and Debt | 0 Comments
Ok, here I am spouting out financial news and advice and I go and make a late payment on my credit card. Actually, it was my wife’s credit card, which is worse! I guess it goes to say that no one is perfect!
There was a $29 late fee for the missed payment, which [...]
By Patrick on Jun 26, 2007 in Credit and Debt | 0 Comments
Nickel, the author of the personal finance blog Five Cent Nickel, is away on vacation. Instead of balancing work and pleasure, he asked bloggers from the personal finance community to act as guest bloggers for him and write a few posts. Today Nickel posted one of my submissions: The 5 Worst Credit Card Practices. The [...]
By Patrick on May 23, 2007 in Credit and Debt | 4 Comments
I recently read an article on MSN Money about how Debit Cards are improving. I planned on writing about it, but Might Bargain Hunter beat me to it!
MBH’s article “Debit, schmebit!” is in response to the same MSN article. For the most part MBH decides not to use debit cards and makes three [...]
By Patrick on Apr 25, 2007 in Cars, Credit and Debt | 0 Comments
At least, the offer is good for up to $50,000 based on preset criteria for credit-worthiness. It’s a legitimate offer too, as it is from my bank. I paid off my auto loan with them about 6 months ago, and I guess they think it’s time for me to upgrade. I have a very reliable [...]
By Patrick on Mar 27, 2007 in Cars, Credit and Debt, Deals | 1 Comment
My neighbor just told me how he purchased his new vehicle and I had to share how he did it.
First, he did his research for what he wanted to buy and how much it should cost (all the usual places, Consumer Reports, Edmunds.com, etc.). Then, he went to the dealership at the end of the [...]