Its a new year, and things have been going exceptionally well for me. Strange, right? Not only are people across the United States panicking about high credit card statements, but interest rates on those cards are nearing record highs. 2012 is starting out as the Year of Billy Bad Score.
According to an article on CreditCards.com, credit card interest rates are hovering over 15 percent. Even though the average dipped a couple weeks ago from 15.22 to 15.19 percent, Time reports these numbers to be the highest since September 2011.
Average APRs for other cards have also reached new highs:
- Cash back and rewards 14.9 percent
- Airline 14.5 percent
- Balance transfer 13 percent
Several credit card companies offer low or zero-percent balance transfer APRs on cards to convince consumers to put all of the debt on a single card. When these people cant pay off the balance before the offer expires, theyre left with large balances and higher interest rates. These credit card companies are helping me ruin credit scores in new and inventive ways.
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[Note: The following is a guest post by Norm Klatt, Senior Vice-President at Concentra Financial, which made a winning bid of $5,000 in the Bloggers for Charity initiative. I thank them for the generous donation to charity.]
In today’s uncertain economic times, there’s value in taking a closer look at a group of reliable financial institutions that are operating within an under-utilized and largely misunderstood alternative business model. These organizations, which began in December 1900, are positioning themselves to re-assert their differences and become more prominent in the financial industry.
This alternative business model is a co-operative; the institutions are credit unions.
Adhering to a basic philosophy that the most important business strategy is to serve the member/owners has enabled credit unions to develop into the competitive organizations they are today. Understanding of, and adherence to, the co-operative principles is the raison d’etre for Canada’s credit unions.
If you weren’t already aware, 2012 has been designated International Year of Co-operatives by the United Nations. What bett
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A friend from high school visited me last weekend and we got to talking. Her salary is solid but not high in comparison to some of our other friends. She loves what she does and she’s great at it. And despite making a somewhat modest salary, she has a cute apartment, a cool wardrobe and the lifestyle she wants. How does she do it?
• She lives in an affordable city. My city, on the other hand, is pretty cha-ching. We compared notes and she pays $500 less in rent than I do for about the same square footage. Wow. • She takes good care of her car. A special fund for ongoing car maintenance keeps her older bmw on the road. No monthly payments on a shiny new model for her. And since its older, her insurance is lower too. • She gets a produce box and cooks in. She found a community produce organization that sells organic weekly produce boxes for cheap. Each week, she uses the goods to make large batches of soups, curries, pastas and stirfrys—then she takes them to work. •
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This report is for Active for Sale and Sold statistics for homes and condos in Laguna Niguel . This article is generated by the realtor professionals at eVantage Real Estate here in Orange County, CA. Today, there are 140 detached homes for sale, which have a median price of $795,000 with an average price per square foot of $341 . These homes are priced from a low of $399,000 for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1,190 square foot home situated in the subdivision tract called Crown Valley Highlands . On up to a maximum price of $6,900,000 for a fine home boasting of 5 bedrooms, 8 baths, with 11,000 square feet of living area, which is located in the Bear Brand Ranch Custom Tract.
For properties currently under contract in Laguna Niguel there are 92 detached homes in escrow, with a median value of $599,000 . These detached homes range in price from a low of $349,000 for a 2 bedroom, 3 bath, 1,326 square foot property located in the Del Prado Villas Tract.
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Life can be accompanied by a large amount of debt. A person’s accumulation of fees usually starts right at college. Once a person has started to make a decent income after school, he or she can then start paying off this student debt. As time goes on, people go into further debt in order to make housing and vehicle payments. People then establish a pattern of borrowing and debt accumulation that can haunt them for the remainder of their lives.
People should realize that there are ways to do credit repair on one’s financial records. This type of plan can be executed by an independent individual or by a company that specializes in the amending of credit. These two methods are effective and defective in their own ways and a person must understand these discrepancies before deciding upon an eventual method.
If an individual chooses to repair his or her credit without the assistance of a company then there are several steps that must take place. A credit bureau should be contacted in order to gain access to one’s financial reports. Read more…
— Marcus Kieran @ 2:24 am — 
January 25, 2012