How To Fight Credit Card Company Interest Rate Increases

by

With Congress passing legislation to reign in some of the worst credit card abuses, credit card companies have been scrambling to get their terms and conditions, also known as the card contract, changed to terms more favorable to them before the new rules take affect. By changing your credit card agreement before the new credit card law takes affect, these card issuers can avoid having to play fairly as dictated by the new rules. However, this can mean bad things for customers and credit card account holders. Apparently, the banks aren’t concerned about losing business, because they are modifying terms on credit accounts left and right regardless of the person’s credit score or credit history. What can the average credit card customer do to fight back? Unfortunately, not too much, but there are some things that you can do to keep the credit card companies from cheating you out of your hard earned money. Credit Card Interest Rate Increases Under the old law, whenever a bank wanted to increase the interest rate it charged customers, it just sent out a letter saying that they were changing raising the interest rate. Consumers had no rights to do anything about it. The …

Read More

Give Gift Cards for Christmas The Finances Pros and Cons

by

Thinking about giving someone a gift card for Christmas? You are not alone. Last year, billions of dollars of gift cards were purchased in the days and weeks leading up until Christmas. In fact, Google reports that searches for "Gift Cards" continue to rise until December 26th when they finally peak. I guess some people are looking for after last-minute gift ideas. Not long ago, Gift Cards replaced the gift certificate as the present to give to someone that either you don’t really know what to get for them, for people who are very picky (and thus better off picking out their own gift), for people you don’t want to bother shopping for, and for people on your gift list who live far away because gift cards can be shipped easily and cheaply tucked into a Christmas card. Reports about gift card tricks and things to beware of when buying gift cards have those with savvy financial planning skills looking for unbiased financial advice about whether or not giving gift cards is a good idea. Fortunately, in most cases, giving them as presents works out just fine for everyone. Gift Cards Losing Value There are some concerns regarding Gift Cards, …

Read More

End Of Year Tax Tips – Save Money On Taxes By Donating Clothing and More

by

As the end of the year races toward us, the opportunities to find and take advantage of tax deductions and loopholes to save money on income taxes are growing scarce. Fortunately, there are still plenty of tax saving strategies that you can implement even with just a few weeks to go until the end of the tax year. One of the most effective ways for typical households to lower their tax bill is by donating items to charities. Unlike cash donations, donating used goods to charity is a free way to reduce the income taxes you pay. A quick trip to the basement or storage closet could turn up several trash bags worth of used clothing that no longer fits your children, or you. Other items like shirts, pants, suits, jackets, shoes and more may just be out of style, or no longer fit your current dressing manner. For example, workers who used to have to wear a suit and tie to the office may now work in a business casual environment. Unless you live on the East Coast, suit and tie occasions don’t come up all that often. Hold onto one dark suite for funerals and formal weddings, and …

Read More

Online Bargains Aren’t Always Great Deals Check The Details First

by

Black Friday has come and gone. Cyber Monday is history. Yet, online shopping continues in full force. Various reports suggest that online shopping has increased dramatically this year, likely due to the increasing usage of broadband connections in the home, and the draw of huge savings secretly located on the Internet if you can just find the right combination of coupon codes, discount websites, and wholesalers online. However, as always, when it comes to personal finance what you don’t know can hurt you. Make sure you understand all of the details regarding online shopping for bargains. Otherwise, you may get burned. Amazon Makes Online Shopping OK Not long ago, online shopping was the exclusive providence of very specific people, typically techies, and ultra-bargain shoppers who linked together in electronic discount finding groups reminiscent of the old coupon clubs. A few appearances on Oprah by folks like "Coupon Mom" helped drive online shopping and deal finding to the forefront of the American consciousness. But, what finally pushed online shopping over the edge from the wary, angst filled, activity it used to be to a common shopping method used by teenagers, little old ladies, and the technological inept alike was the legitimizing …

Read More

More Tax Deductions for Small Business Owners and Sole-Proprietorships

by

A great tax saving strategy, particularly for higher-income taxpayers is to start a small business. Many expenses that are not deductible for regular Federal Income Taxes are deductible to a business. For example, the mileage deduction is not deductible for personal driving purposes, and mileage driving to work is also not deductible. However, mileage driven for business purposes is tax deductible. While starting a phony small business is not a good idea, no matter how big of tax savings can be achieved, there are many legitimate businesses that people can start. The key aspect of being legally considered a business for tax purposes is that there must be a profit motive to the activity. That profit motive must outweigh other reasons for engaging in the activity, otherwise, the enterprise could be considered a hobby instead of a business. Formally incorporate the business with the Secretary of State in your state. Set up a LLC, it makes a great business structure for single-owner small businesses and is typically cheap and easy to setup. Filling out an online form and paying a registration fee is usually all that is required. Then, get an Employee Identification Number, or EIN from the IRS. Unofficially …

Read More

End of Year Tax Strategies – Calculate Dollar Amount of Tax Moves

by

Ah, November, when the American mind turns toward Thanksgiving, Christmas shopping, and strategies to avoid paying too much taxes. Yes, you should be doing tax planning year round to achieve the maximum savings on taxes, but reality isn’t always so kind. Still, there are some end of year tax moves that are smart and some that just aren’t worthwhile tax strategies when you add up your tax savings. Figuring out which is which is a critical part of personal finance. To avoid making tax moves that aren’t worth the trouble, there is a simple strategy. Always calculate the real dollar amount of any tax strategy prior to implementation. Tax Savings Strategy Example #1: The Top 10 End of Year Tax Strategy Tips lists always include the barely usable advice to pay your January mortgage early. By paying your January mortgage bill in December, you get to deduct the interest from your payment in 2009. There is a big, fat catch, however. Although you do get to deduct 13 months worth of mortgage interest in 2009, you will only get to deduct 11 months worth of interest in 2010 unless you make sure to make that January payment in December again …

Read More

Google Posts Higher Than Expected 3rd Quarter Numbers – Is The Recession Over

by

To hear many of the newspapers and other media outlets tell it, Google’s blowout third quarter is the official signal that the recession is over and that businesses are spending again, because customers are spending again, and everything is fine again. The logic goes something like this. Google is not only the largest search engine, but it is also the largest provider of Internet advertising, particularly in America where its ad market share is something like 75% or so. Thus, Google acts as a bit of a proxy for the online advertising market in general. Online advertisers, then, spend money on online advertising only when, a) they have the money available to spend, and b) there are customers out there spending money to attract. So, theory is that since Google’s earnings came in above expectations, then that shows that advertisers are spending more money on online ads, which therefore means that more consumers are spending money online. That’s the idea, anyway. Google Is Not The Economy It is tempting to pronounce everything that Google does and everything that happens to Google as very important to major aspects of American life, including the overall business environment, and the U.S. economy. After …

Read More

Preventing Identity Theft – Paper Shredder Files and Documents

by

Identity theft can happen in a lot of different ways. Some of them are difficult to avoid, if not impossible. Others are easily preventable with a little knowledge, experience, and understanding, plus a little bit of effort. Preventing identity theft with a paper shredder to destroy junk mail and other documents is an important start. Shred Records Files and Documents to Protect Against Identity Theft One of the easier methods how to steal someone’s identity is to obtain documents or other papers that have personal information printed on them. Everything from old tax returns, to receipts, to old contracts, or even a utility bill can be a wealth of information for an identity thief. Easier still is to do identity theft while getting a fraudulent credit card at the same time. This is frighteningly easy thanks to banks and credit card companies sending out hundreds of thousands of credit card offers, complete with pre-filled information like your name and address. While neither your nor the identity thief would be able to interpret it, the various letter and  number combinations printed on the credit card application or special zero percent interest balance transfer offer can also direct the credit card company …

Read More

Find Best Car Insurance Rates

by

There is more to the suggestion to check around every few years for auto insurance rates than just which company offers the lowest rates. Get the inside scoop on why and how to get better car insurance premiums by making regular rate checks.