How much thought do you give purchase decisions? Are they deliberate or impulsive? How you spend money, even on the seemingly insignificant day-to-day things, has a big impact on your entire financial life. Have you ever wondered why some of your friends or relatives are always broke, even though they seem to make a lot of money? Or others who don’t have the highest income have fewer money problems? Being financially responsible means thinking through your...
One of the biggest shopping seasons of the year is just a few days away. Already, stores are advertising Black Friday sales and no doubt the masses will be lined up waiting to take advantage of those elusive, annual deals. And Black Friday is just the kickoff for a four-week shopping frenzy. It’s easy to get caught up in the hype with advertisements all over the place – television, radio, internet, and the stores - and...
Gift cards are a great option when you don’t know exactly what to buy a person or when you don't have enough time to shop thoroughly. You basically have two options: a store-branded gift card that can only be used for that specific store or chain of stores or a bank/credit card gift card that can be used anywhere that credit card network is accepted. At first glance, the bank/credit card gift may seem like the...
Placing a security freeze on your credit report is one of the ways you can reduce credit card fraud and identity theft. With a security freeze in place, businesses can’t check your credit report to approve credit-based applications. So, if a business isn’t able to assess your creditworthiness, most fraudulent applications will be turned down. Credit freezes, however, shouldn't be used across the board for everyone who wants to avoid identity theft. Unless you’re identity theft...
Using a credit card isn’t hard. Swipe your credit card at the cash register, walk away with your merchandise, and wait for the credit card issuer to tell you how much you owe. Making credit card purchases can feel great because you don’t have to give up your hard-earned cash, but your spending can get out of control if you don’t pay attention to your credit card purchases. Here are some examples of reckless credit card...
Hurricane Sandy slammed the Northeast on Tuesday and left devastation in its wake. Dozens of human lives were lost, millions more have been affected by flooding and power loss, and property has suffered billions of dollars in damage.But the losses don’t end there. After any major disaster, the climate is perfect for the lowest of the low to come out and prey on unsuspecting victims - fraudulent creeps who come up with a number of post-disaster...
The South Carolina Department of Revenue suffered a massive data breach resulting in the theft of approximately 3.6 million social security numbers and 387,000 credit and debit card numbers. The majority of credit and debit card numbers were encrypted, but 16,000 of them were not. Even so, encryption isn’t foolproof. An intelligent hacker may be able to break the encryption. Worse, none of the social security numbers were encrypted. Anyone who has filed taxes in the...
If you recently used your credit card at a Barnes & Noble, you may have been a victim of a data breach. In September (2012), 63 stores were impacted by the data breach. The stores were located in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. In this particular breach, hackers were able to gain access to the keypads where customers swipe their debit or credit cards and enter PIN information....
The rule of checking accounts is that you should only spend as much as you have in your account. As a courtesy, your bank may process transactions that exceed your checking account balance however, that courtesy comes at a price. There’s not a legal limit to overdraft fees banks can charge, but most banks keeps fees at a certain level to remain competitive with other banks. An overdraft is unfortunate, but it’s important to take care...
Payday loan providers are known predators. The loans are generally easy to borrow, but difficult to repay. They’re attractive to many because no credit check is required. However, cash flow problems lead to some borrowers keeping the loans for several months and paying hundreds of dollars in interest. Despite warnings from government agencies and consumer groups, payday loan businesses are growing, even online. Online payday loans may attract borrowers who’ve maxed out the number of outstanding...
