Week of 10/24/2007

Identity Theft

With Christmas just around the corner, it's time to be concerned about identity theft. The year's prime shopping season is  the busiest season for identity thieves. So what can you do about it?

First of all, secure a copy of your credit report at AnnualCreditReport.com . This is the governments only authorized site for free reports. You want ot make sure that someone hasn't already stolen your identity.

Second, don't pay for anything with a personal check. There is far too much information on a check that ID thieves can use. Pay for everything with cash or a credit card. Of course, you have to remember not to charge more than you can pay off in 30 days.

Third, and this can't be stressed enough, never leave your wallet or your purse in the car -- even if you lock it up in the trunk and it's only for a very short time.

Fourth, if you do buy gifts this season, shop online. ID theft is more likely to occur by completing paper forms by mail or in person (think checks) than online. To save money in addition, shop at someplace like Amazon.com  where you can find almost every conceivable product at fair prices, Gift Certificates and FREE delivery with a $25 purchase. You'll save money by sticking to a gift list, not burning gas running from store to store, avoiding theft of merchandise from the car and preventing identity theft as well.

Week of 10/31/2007

Pay Yourself First

Whether you're living in a room in your parent's home, an apartment or your own home, you have a tendency to grow into the space you occupy. If you don't believe it, just move and you'll be asking yourself how you managed to accumulate so much.

Paychecks are the same way. You manage to spend all of your paycheck before you pay yourself. You've grown into the space your paycheck occupies.

If you pay yourself first, the paycheck may be less, but you'll grow into that space as well. The rule of thumb is to pay yourself 10% of your paycheck BEFORE you pay for anything else. Can't afford 10%?  Try starting small by paying yourself somewhere between $10 and 1%. When you've grown into the smaller paycheck, increase the amount you pay yourself by another $10 or another 1%. Write yourself a check and deposit it in a savings account.

Paying yourself first will help you discover many more ways to save and where you may be spening your money less than frugally.

Week of 11/7/2007

Credit Card Roulette

The Christmas shoppping season is only weeks away so talking about credit card debt seems like an odd topic to bring up. Actually, it's a great time to talk about it -- BEFORE you pile on any more debt. In fact, some people are still trying to dig themselves out from last year's binge. If you're one of those people, don't even think about charging anything. Instead start playing credit card roulette.

You can only play credit card roulettte if you have good credit otherwise you probably won't be getting deals from the card companies in the mail. The idea of the game is to keep transferring balances from card to card to take advantage of a 0% interest rate for as long as possible. The reason for this is to help pay off the credit card balances faster than if you were paying interest every month. When the 0% interest rate expires on one, transfer the balance to another card with a 0% introductory interest rate. Repeat until balance is paid in full then cancel the credit cards that you've accumulated

Here is an example of how much faster you can pay off credit card debt using this method. If you have a credit card balance of $5,000 at 18% interest and a monthly payment of $150, it will take 47 months to pay it off. Transfer the debt to 0% interest credit cards with the same monthly payment, and you pay the debt off in 33 months. 

And if you can't afford to buy presents for Christmas, don't!! Give of yourself -- house cleaning, babysitting, garage clean-out, car washes.  All these things cost are a little bit of time and will be remembered a lot longer than another toy, tie or Christmas sweater.

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