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271
(1 vote, average 5.00 out of 5)
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Personal Finance -
Credit Cards
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Written by Omie Ismail
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Tuesday, 09 March 2010 11:12 |
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A question from LiveCheap reader J E: "I have a $20,000+ loan currently at 17.99% interest rate for 55 months and I am considering refinancing it with a peer-to-peer  lender at 11% plus a $500 origination fee for 36 months. The payment on the new loan will be $681 vs $570 on the old loan. I am leery of peer-to-peer lending. I am a nurse with plenty of opportunity for overtime and I plan on at least paying double the payment, if not $800 or more. Can you tell me anything about peer-to-peer lending and whether I can trust them?"
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Read more: Does Refinancing Into a Peer-to-Peer Loan Make Sense?
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261
(8 votes, average 4.75 out of 5)
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Personal Finance -
Credit Cards
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Written by Omie Ismail
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Monday, 22 February 2010 03:00 |
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The New Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act takes full effect today. As I pointed out in 10 Big Changes that Affect Your Credit Cards , there are a number of provisions in the bill that mitigate the most egregious practices that credit card companies used to gouge consumers. So there is no denying that the law makes many needed changes and provides some protection to credit card holders. That said, there are a number of loopholes and omissions that makes it much less protective than it could have been. And, in making financial decisions, every consumer should be aware of the law's limitations so that they can fend for themselves against financial industry players that will take full advantage of any loopholes they can get.
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Read more: The New Credit Card Law: Omissions and Loopholes
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240
(4 votes, average 5.00 out of 5)
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Personal Finance -
Credit Cards
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Written by Karl Wolf
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Wednesday, 27 January 2010 10:59 |
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When it comes to exercising discipline over your spending habits, debit cards are often considered a more financially responsible choice over their credit card cousins. S ince consumers access their own money and there is only the occasional small fee on certain transactions, a visa or mastercard debit card is touted as the less costly option. But for many people, that might not work out to be the case. This might come as a surprise, but bank debit cards can end up being a very expensive option - in many cases, more expensive than the vilified credit card. Read on and find why the debit card is the bank’s new weapon of choice for gouging consumers.
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Read more: Debit Cards: Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
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226
(4 votes, average 4.75 out of 5)
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Personal Finance -
Credit Cards
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Written by Omie Ismail
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Tuesday, 12 January 2010 05:36 |
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Anybody who really wants to live cheaply needs to start by casting away some of the bad habits that banks, car dealerships, and real estate professionals have reinforced in the last 30 years. They are the enablers that sell consumers on the toxic 'monthly payment affordability' trap. I'm sure you all have a relative or friend that shops for a house or a car with a sign on their back that says "I want a monthly payment of X." Every time I hear that phrase, it makes me cringe. The monthly payment mentality is probably the single biggest factor that leads to debt overload. It starts innocently enough but can quickly spiral out of control.
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Read more: Debt: The Monthly Payment Trap
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216
(3 votes, average 5.00 out of 5)
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Personal Finance -
Credit Cards
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Written by Karl Wolf
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Sunday, 03 January 2010 09:01 |
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After all the holiday largess with family and friends, a funny thing happened to me the other day that might be worth sharing. I was picking up a prescription at a CVS pharmacy and as I walked in, I couldn't help but notice a 'Cash Only' sign, written in horribly poor penmanship. That might help explain why the parking lot was so empty. If you happened to miss the sign at the enterance, there were more of them posted all over the store to remind customers that credit and debit cards would no longer be accepted. What was this all about? Just for the record, the timeline for this article is the twenty first century. Had this pharmacy finally gotten fed up with the high fees that credit card companies charge merchants?
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Read more: Use Cash, You Might Just Get Smarter
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