Nowadays, the news of the economy recovering and the recession being finally over seems to be bombarding us very much. But has the economy really recovered? Think about the huge percentage of unemployed people in the country. A few months ago, it shot up to about 10 % and has remained there till now, when the year has almost come to end. With so many people not able to earn their livelihood would you call this recovery in the true sense of the word? A Mintblog infographic finds out why there is a disparity between the official numbers of unemployed people and the number actually unemployed. An interesting observation is that according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics you may not be counted amongst the unemployed heads if you’ve lost your job during the economic depression because you [...]

 

Christmas is just round the corner and you must be busy shopping around to fill Santa’s bag. It’s not only you, but the retailers too who are eagerly trying to push things into Santa’s bag by promoting themselves to their hearts’ content. Apart from print media, they are using internet technology to the maximum to entice you with compelling offers! One of the most widely used methods to draw your attention is to send sale mails to your inbox. Nowadays, when I open my mail box, I usually come across dozens of mails with attractive discounts suggesting that I buy this and I buy that. Though in one way, I like these mails as they keep me informed about the best deals without my having to physically visit malls to find out on my own, at times these tend to get on my nerves- owing to [...]

 

Thinking of relocating to a new city for a better paying job? The Mintblog’s city-wise infographic has a list of 80 careers and the best and worst paying cities for the careers. If you are in a city that pays you less than the national average for that career, it’s better for you to pack up your luggage from that city and move towards the city that pays the best. Relocation involves a lot of expenditure and you should know the expenses that you can claim and those that you can’t from your new employer. Your employer will have a policy for funding your relocation and make it a point to know them before you plan shifting. Don’t shift at your own expense first and then think of claiming the finances because you don’t know the terns and conditions of relocation payment set by your [...]

 

The real estate market has been on rocky waters throughout this year. There were times when it looked as though you had hit upon the most opportune moment for buying your house and there were other times when the idea of buying a house or property did not look a profitable proposition. The government’s tax credits for first time home buyers boosted the morale of some buyers and they hurriedly went and bought some properties. Added to this, the interest rates on mortgage loans for 30 years have lowered remarkably and are significantly lower than the lowest of last year’s interest rates. According to Yahoo, presently the interest rate is 4.78%, which is lower than the 4.83 percent of April 2009, which happens to be the lowest of this year till this new reading. Compared to this year, last [...]

 

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 [...]

 

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 [...]

 

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 [...]

 

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 [...]

 

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 [...]

 

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 [...]