We have read numerous articles like ‘5 tips to save money’, ‘10 steps to pay off your credit card debt’, ‘15 tips to recover from recession’, and blah, blah, blah. Okay, quite motivating and entertaining articles. In fact, many of us actually saved enormous funds with the help of these sermons. However, it’s not possible for every individual to save a fortune or even come out of debts. And if they attempt, the poor economic conditions, rising unemployment rate, and inflation would not let them succeed. With debt, comes the non-detachable disgrace and the coyness of seeking help. It’s obvious that people seek shelter under the only alternative visible to them. And that’s Bankruptcy. I know you endeavor filing bankruptcy because you did everything you could to get out of debts. [...]

The most significant factor affecting any US citizen’s lifestyle is the anxiety of maintaining the required credit score (also known as FICO score). And the anxiety is obvious because this score decides whether your request for a mortgage will be approved or rejected. If approved, than the applicable interest rates are influenced by it. Jobs, credit cards, and almost every financial activity or item is the result of one’s credit score. I have spent all the years of my life to keep up this magical figure. According to me, there are five major factors that influence the volatility of the score. Understanding these factors will definitely help any individual to focus on important issues rather than inconsequential ones. Your Payment History: 35% I am not very sure about the exact figure but [...]

I wouldn’t want to name the professor and the institute, but if our universities have such law professors I would rather prefer not to educate my kids. A law professor in Arizona teaches his students to walk away from the house and refuse repaying mortgage even if it loan amount exceeds one dollar than the current house value. Wow! What an insightful thought. And he wants the kids to be proud about it rather than guilty. Is he trying to be witty? Or may be he is simply foolish? I don’t know about his wittiness or foolishness but he is definitely trying to be famous around the globe. At least that’s what you can conclude from the new educational paper he has released that urges more than 15 million American citizens to stop paying mortgage amount because it is not worth than the cost price. [...]

My son didn’t really need a checking account until he started going to college. It wasn’t a necessity when he was in high school because he wasn’t working. To cash the checks he used our checking account and kept all his savings in his closet. So, I didn’t bother about opening his bank account. Or rater, I didn’t allow him to do so. However, a month before he went to college, we planned to set up a checking account for him. We randomly picked up a bank and noticed that it offers excellent service in one category and poor in other. Same happened with the other pick. So, I and my son decided to jot down the list of services that would be quite helpful, convenient, and economical for Richard. That’s his name. Availability of ATMs in the university campuses so he can withdraw cash [...]

In all my articles I suggest ways to save money by shopping smartly. However, I keep getting mails from people about how they got into a bad deal and what they can do with a product purchased unwisely. They have tried returning it, but not every retailer is that courteous. I know it’s quite disappointing to repeatedly come across the clothes in your cabinet with tags not even touched or a crockery set not used since 11 months because you don’t like the design. So what do you do with these items? Try swapping If you own a gift card that you hate even watching at, try to sell it or swap it on websites like cardavenue.com, certificateswap.com, and swapagift.com. Here, you can list your card for free. However, you it sells, you have to pay an amount starting from $1 to some % of the cost [...]

What cannot be achieved through negotiation? Countries settle disputes by negotiating. Salaries are raised through proper negotiation. Argument among a couple in a relationship is resolved by negotiating. And you thought it’s difficult to lower you credit card interest rate? Let’s negotiate. How can you negotiate with the credit card provider in 6 steps? Collect various offers Before going to any credit card company to negotiate, try to collect as many offers as you can. No, it’s necessary to collect hundreds of them (you wont get hundreds anyway) but make sure you have at least 5-6 genuine offers. Most of you keep getting zero percent credit card offers in your inbox or mail. That’s what you want. Collect some of these to have a proof that you are actually getting good offers that [...]

Economical shopping is not only about slashing down your expenditure on non-essential goods and services, but also about cleverly understanding the loopholes in your style of shopping and molding them for a more economical experience. So here are certain aspects with respect to your shopping style that you could focus upon to come up with more frugal alternatives. Shop With Cash, Not Cards Although credit cards come with a lot advantages when it comes to shopping, try to use cash. At least that way you can limit your spending. Credit card processing might also take a longer time than cash processing, especially when the stores have older processing machines. Make a Planned Shopping When I go shopping, I go with a predetermined plan to buy certain things and come back home with those many things [...]

I am not being very optimistic here but there are definitely few benefits that you can avail due to recession. Vendors have cut down their profit margins and are offering various commodities at quite a reasonable price. If you are not aware about such constructive change, visit any shopping precinct nearby. However, they variety of products that can be browsed on the internet is far greater than products in limited spaces of a mall. Also, it’s much convenient. Along with these benefits, let us complement our online shopping with some great tactics to get the best deal. Ready? Here we go. Compare the prices To get the best product with most economical price we physically cannot keep driving all around the city. That’s why we use internet. However, searching for the best deal on internet [...]

Everyone is being hit by recession including you. Then why is it that sometimes you shop more than required, sometimes you buy useless things, and sometimes overpriced articles? However, I don’t blame you. I know it’s no fault of yours. Why would you squander your hard earned money? It happens because you miss out some basic steps before getting out for a big purchase. Planning Create an expensive shopping list By expensive, I don’t mean keep including expensive goods in your shopping list. What I mean is prepare a shopping list of the big purchase you are about to make or a list of things that you need. Wish-list Now, complement the commodities with a period before which you want to buy them. Like you want to buy some things this month and some major things next month, put it on [...]

When I talk about economy, what do you think it comprises of? It is an overall behavior of the total population or consumers. And you cannot deny when I say that much of this consumer behavior is based on the reports (or rather propaganda) of the media. You would definitely not have a bit of confidence in the state’s economy when you see the crashing stock market, increasing food prices, number of employees laid off each day, or every penny rise in the gas prices. Oh, it’s so horrifying. Or you have to be so damn rich that these major changes just don’t seem to affect you. However, I am talking about the majority of population that’s facing the consequences. But is it right to blame the media just because they give you price updates? Is it ethical to hold the media responsible because [...]

This is the holiday season and you must have already bought tickets to your favorite holiday destination. If you are flying, you might be already aware of how flights are getting delayed, diverted or cancelled in the last few months. In the month of September, about 14 percent of the flights did not fly as promised to the passengers because they were either delayed, diverted or cancelled altogether. The recession has played a major part in disrupting the normal performance of airline companies as they were one of the worst hit by it. Expecting to travel well after buying the ticket is a natural desire of any person. But if hassles crop up in between your travel can become a pain in the neck. See what best you can do in such situations. A Flight Cancellation or Delay Flight cancellations and [...]

Saving money has never been easy without planning a budget. However, are you sure that your existing budget is really working for you? Yes, some major flaws with conservative budgeting can start working against you without your attention. To save huge amount, you definitely need something better than a conservative budget. Here are three key points you must avoid while planning your budget. Greater Focus on Trivial Expenditures Carry meal at your workplace. Cut down in consumption of desserts. Fewer bottles of beer every week. Great! You are now working according to your budget and probably saving some amount every day. But are these cut in expenses assembling a huge amount? Is it making any difference in your lifestyle except for less calorie consumption everyday? Is this your goal? No, [...]