Finally you are in the holiday season and you want to make it a real big thing, don’t you? With the recessional economy in the background, you might be wondering if you lost the chance to celebrate a good holiday this year. Don’t be crestfallen! Despite our money hassles we still can celebrate to our hearts’ content during the festivals. Here are some good ways to do so. No, these are not one of those easy-to-preach and hard to follow tips. Most budgeting tips don’t work because they ask you to curtail your pleasures. I’m not asking you for such a sacrifice. I’m asking you to only identify the areas where you are wasting money and then bridle your expenditures there. Buy Gifts Only For People Who Matter This might look unethical to you, but why do you want to buy gifts for all [...]

The Obama government of today seems to be more concerned with the welfare of the consumer. One reform after the other is being made to bring corrupt and stringent practices of business authorities under control. The Credit Card Act of 2009 was one such reform which aims to put an end to the unfair practices adopted by credit card holders. But the credit card world is not the only sphere of consumer victimization. Other areas such as mortgaging, financial aiding, and others are also replete with instances where consumers have been treated very badly by the concerned authorities. The Consumer Financial Protection Agency aims to address and rectify all these issues. One of the first improvements that you can see coming with the Consumer Financial Protection Act is that the statements of your transactions [...]

On the 6th of November the first time home buyer’s credit has been extended and liberalized through the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009. There’s reason for you to rejoice but just wait. There are certain things that you should know about this act. As expected the home purchase deadline has been extended till the 30th of November next year for all the principal residences of the United States.. If on that date your purchase is in the middle of a deal you can expect your deadline to be relaxed for a couple of months from then. If you are an existing homeowner who bought a replacement of the US principle residence after the sixth of November this year, you qualify for the tax credit though it’s a reduced one. The first time home buyers as defined by the federation [...]

Recent statistics show that swine flu, the deadly epidemic caused by the H1NI virus hasn’t shown any signs of abating yet and not even in the near future. The supply of the vaccine is short. So how are you going to manage a shot for yourself? The problem of getting the supplies becomes difficult with the mighty disputes going on within Senate about the health care bill and the common Americans struggle with the class distinctions in health care. It’s when corporate houses like Citigroup and Gold and Sachs buy a big chunk of the supplies for their employees while many people in the high risk group are left unprotected due to shortage of supplies. So how are those biggies managing supplies while others are left out? It looks as though only those having access to resources are the ones who [...]

Recession and Flyer Comfort Recession does not seem to have negatively impacted all. Flyers find the recession a blessing in disguise as there was less traffic leading to easy availability of tickets, easy navigation to and from terminals and flights were more punctual. But the airports have a different story to tell. As business fell, they stalled construction work and hiked the landing fees of flights and passenger parking. Fewer people may mean lesser security check hassles, but is there a reason for us, the passengers to rejoice yet? A lean customer size causes a brief temporary relief from the long security lines. But as soon as the economy will normalize in a few months, the traffic will increase again. Faulty and old fashioned security systems will cause a really pathetic situation once [...]

A lot of credit card companies are changing policies. In August, the Citigroup announced annual fees for its credit card holders. In October, Bank of America followed suit by announcing an annual fees too for its credit card holders. Now, industry psyche points to aping behavior by other credit card companies. It looks like it won’t be long before most credit card companies will charge an annual fee. Apart from that with the government being strict with credit card companies regarding their fee policies you can expect their nefarious money extracting tactics to reincarnate themselves in other forms to squeeze out bucks from you. So do you think this is the time for you to shift loyalty to the debit card system of plastic money? The rate of purchase of credit cards has increased in the last [...]

Finding it difficult to pay your life insurance premiums? Already agents who promise to relieve you of the burden of paying up monthly premiums might have contacted you -especially when you are a veteran struggling to meet your livelihood expenditure in the present times. Life settlements have become pretty popular as they look so very attractive. Think about the human psyche. Life insurance gives you death benefits and life settlement deals give you life benefits. Who cares for what happens after death?  When you are alive you get a sizeable hunk of cash when you are alive don’t you? And during these economically lean times doesn’t this financial aid come like a life jacket to you who’s already drowned in penury and debt? Of course it looks a great deal doesn’t it? If you buy a policy [...]

In the present times, 7 out of 10 friends of mine have switched over completely to the usage of cellphone services to meet their communication needs. But the remaining three still prefer to keep their classic landline phones actively functioning because they are not quite comfortable with the idea of depending totally on cellphones, especially when the wireless services have become so very costly. But then again, landline calls are affordable only as far as the local area is concerned. If you were to make a long distance call, you’ve had it! If long distance call charges are making you unhappy, here are three tips which can help you in slashing down the costs. Profitable usage of communication technology calls for a wise mix of both landline and cellular services. Many people depend on either [...]

Ever since I got a huge cellphone bill four months ago, every time I make a call, I note down the duration of my call along with the charges for the call. But every time I find that my billed amount is more than my calculations. Can someone tell me the reason for this? Maybe this cellphone expenses infographic from Billshrink has an answer to my query. Here are certain charges that you pay in addition to the talk-time charges: Media Files Exchange Firstly, this infographic reveals that our wireless services providers are not charging us merely on talk time. You might be shocked to hear this, but if you use a smartphone, a lot of data exchange is taking place from your phone and you are being charged for all this. Data carrier service charges are calculated in technical lingo which is generally [...]

Ideally, how would you imagine a successful business person - a slick executive who sits in a chamber in his plush office or a person in casual clothes working with his laptop from his living room or study? Obviously, conventionally we’ve been trained to view the former as one having a strong career while the latter as one working to make some income on a temporary basis. But times have changed. Nowadays, a lot of jobs related to the IT/ITES service industry can be done from home. In the present recession torn times, working from home is a beneficial option for both the employer and employed. Let’s see how: Advantages to the Employer Save up on office space and infrastructure The more the number of people attending office, the more space the employer will require accommodating them. Also [...]

Till a couple of decades ago when conventionally the man was the breadwinner and financial supporter of the family, all was fine for women who instrumentally assumed the role of the homemaker rather than the financier. But now, with increasing role reversal trends and economical hardships, women have to make financial contributions to their family. With the increase in divorce rates, you never know when your man might call it quits and you are left unprotected midway. Don’t be a fool and work towards making yourself financially independent. Also wives should be made financially prudent so that they adopt the correct financial behavior. Don’t Keep Yourself Unaware Of Family Finances I’m surprised that even to this day, many men and their facilities raise an eyebrow when the daughter-in-law [...]

I’ve been one of the lucky few people of this planet to have managed to steer myself clear of the bad economic times without a dime of debt on my name. But I’m amazed to see my friends, mostly people with sound financial cushioning and stable careers succumbing to the pressures of the recession and now burdened with heavy debts. If you are one of them, here are some things that you should do, without fail, to relieve yourself of the crisis soon. Don’t Get Psyched First of all don’t be embarrassed because you are not alone. Professional debt collectors say that these days there are a large number of middle class and rich people under huge debt. They are first timers and don’t have adequate strategies to cope with the situation. Being first timers they are dismayed and are not focused [...]