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Are You Wasting Money on Credit Card Interest?

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credit card advice, credit card tips, credit card interest

credit card logos

(Guest Post by Jeffrey Weber)

If you have credit card debt and good credit, chances are pretty high that you’re wasting money on interest. Just how much you’re wasting will vary tremendously based on your interest rate and average monthly balance, but here are a few numbers to reflect on:

  1. A person who carries an average balance of $1,000 a month on a credit card with a 12% interest rate will spend $120 a year on interest. A 12% rate on $5,000 of credit card debt costs $600 yearly. Ouch.
  2. If the interest rate is 16%, carrying an average monthly debt of $1,000 will cost $160 a year. And $5,000 – that will cost $800. DOUBLE OUCH!

Despite the fact that credit card debt is astoundingly costly, it is easy to overlook the big ticket headline yearly cost when interest expenses are spread around a couple of credit cards. It may only be $15 a month here or $15 a month there, but when added up and multiplied by 12 months, the expense is pretty daunting.

That’s where 0% balance transfer credit cards come into play. We’ve all seen the offers that arrive in the mail and perhaps some believe them to be too good to be true. They are not.

0% APR balance transfers are essentially the only free lunch in the credit card world. Nevertheless, they are not a magic cure for credit card debt. Instead, they are more like an extremely powerful tool that can be used to save money on debt that cannot be repaid quickly.

Here’s how you can capitalize on balance transfers.

  1. As a way to prevent credit card debt from growing:  While this is not the optimal way to use balance transfers, simply moving debt from a high rate card to one with a 0% APR will result in interest savings. It’s really that simple.
  2. As part of a debt reduction plan:  While getting a year-long reprieve from interest expenses is obviously good for anyone’s finances, the best way to approach a balance transfer is with an eye on reducing debt as much as possible during the 0% period. Because there are no monthly interest charges, every payment helps reduce outstanding debt. Thus, the $800 in interest a person with $5,000 of credit card debt at a 16% rate would pay in a year can not only be saved, but used to reduce outstanding debt by 16%.

Ultimately, it is difficult to argue against the benefits of 0% APR balance transfers. At the very least, they can be used to prevent debt from growing out of control. And, if used as part of a debt reduction plan, they can expedite the process of becoming debt free by freeing up cash that would be spent on interest that can instead be used to pay down the principle owed.

———–
Jeffrey Weber blogs incessantly about how consumers can save money at SmartBalanceTransfers.com/blog, where he has been Editor and Chief Card Analyst since 2007.

**Make sure to do your homework before signing up to any cards – some are much better than others.
Photo by eliazar

6 Ways to Protect Yourself When Facing a “Financial Divorce”

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financial advice, divorce, couple finances

heart break
(Guest Post by Carrie Smith)

Hello DINKS! My name is Carrie and I’m the financial blogger at Careful Cents.  Today Kristina and I have decided to trade blog posts, I will be blogging here on DINKS Finance, while Kristina will be blogging over at Careful Cents.  So be sure to check out her post and leave a little comment love.

When I found my marriage ending, I was not only faced with emotional problems but with financial ones as well. These days, divorce can mean several different things. Many of us are living with partners, roommates or soon-to-be spouses and have already mingled our finances.

However, in the sad event the relationship ends, it can be hard to salvage what little you have left. Here are 6 ways to protect yourself, when going through an unexpected separation of finances.

1. Yours, Mine and Ours

I can speak from experience when I say, everyone should have a “yours, mine and ours” account when it comes to money. By no means should you hide money or avoid financial responsibility, but each of you should have your own account, plus a joint account.

In the event of a death, sudden accident or divorce, you will still have instant access to your money. This prevents any type of confusion about who gets what (which can happen once lawyers and banks get involved) until everything is sorted out.

2. Update Yourself

If you don’t handle the household finances, now is the time to have a money talk with your spouse, and update yourself. No one likes to be taken for a ride and have an “I didn’t see that coming” moment.

Look over the bank statements, insurance policies and other important financial documents to update yourself. It will make any unexpected situations less stressful if you have control over this part of your life.

3. Stay in Contact with Your Network

Your network of friends, families and co-workers are your best assets right now. They can give you emotional support as well as financial support. They can use their resources to help you find a new place live or a new job.

Keep an updated contact list handy, so you can refer to it quickly. It’s also a good idea to update your resume. During this transitional time in your life, you never know what to expect and it’s important to be prepared.

4. Separate Your Credit and Joint Accounts

Depending on your state’s laws (and if you had a prenup), whatever you acquired during the marriage or partnership is joint property. During the duration of the relationship, many couples take out joint mortgages and car loans. Once you both decide to end things, you need to separate any joint property, like loans or credit cards.

In the case of a mortgage you will likely have to sell the property or refinance it into your partner’s name. You should also check your credit report and remove your significant other from your account. That way, their credit decisions won’t affect you in the future and vice versa.

5. Keep a Paper Trail

Some days, my ex and I were fine talking calmly and sorting through our business, other days we were yelling and threatening. In the event you and your ex can’t discuss anything in a calm fashion, you need to have proof of your decisions.

Sending emails or text messages back and forth, is much better than a verbal agreement. You’ll need a paper trail, in case something bad happens or you’re wrongly accused. This also applies to any transactions with creditors or joint accounts where you are separating your finances.

6. Treat It Like a Business

Whether you’re breaking up with your roommate or going through a divorce, the best way to protect yourself is to treat all your decisions like a business. Stay calm, remove your emotions and try to create a well thought out plan.

Trust me when I say I know it’s hard, and it definitely hurts, but sometimes life is unfair and we just have to do our best. By doing treating the situation like a business, you can avoid a lot of drama.

Final Thoughts

It’s never easy to be faced with an unexpected situation like this, but you can make easier on everyone involved. You probably won’t get out unscathed, but you will be able to lessen the damage. A man or woman that is financially prepared will be able to save a lot of time, money and emotional distress. You will be able to move forward as quickly as possible, so you can live and love again.

————–
(Photo by NDrewC)

Stock vs. Stock Piling: Are Tangible Investments Better?

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gold bars bullion
(Guest Post by Kelsey Libert)

When you start to invest beyond having a savings account and a good insurance, you run into a multitude of choices. This is where a lot of people freeze up, and either don’t do anything or just do the first thing that pops into their head. There are literally thousands of stocks, hundreds of mutual funds, and an unbelievable number of bonds. This isn’t even including antiques, stamps, coins, works of art and other types of investments. Every kind has merit, rather like cereal has a place in a balanced breakfast.

One of the major choices every investor has to make is whether they should keep the bulk of their holdings in investments they can physically hold onto or in investments held in accounts. While stock certificates do exist, most people never hold them. Most people don’t keep their jewelry locked in a vault, either. The issue can easily become very complicated, so we’ll keep it fairly general here. What follows is a basic discussion of tangible versus intangible assets. None are perfect, and the best investors have a diverse mix of both kinds.

Intangibles – The Good

Intangible assets such as stocks and bonds can’t be harmed if there is a fire. They also can’t be stolen, considering the protection offered by the SIPC and the fact that brokers are screened almost to the level of doctors. Mutual funds are more tightly regulated than plutonium producers, so your money is unlikely to disappear through shady dealings. While Ponzi schemes draw headlines, no thief breaking into your house can raid your portfolio. That’s why trading commodities online can be one of the safest ways to invest your money.

Another advantage of intangible assets is their extraordinary upside potential. While a stock can go down, it can also go up very, very high.  For instance, $10,000 invested into Berkshire Hathaway in 1961 became $100 million in 2011, despite more than half a dozen recessions.

Intangibles – The Bad

Intangibles often have no intrinsic value. For example, company stock is only worth a percentage of what the company is worth. While one can argue the fundamental merits of valuing a company by its cash flow, sales, etc., the ultimate deciding factor of a stock’s “value” is how much someone else pays for it.  If the market crashes, you may be sitting on a paper fortune that’s all gone up in smoke.

Intangibles – The Ugly

As tightly regulated as they are, there is still the potential for problems within a company. If someone at the top makes a mistake or does something shady, an intangible asset has the potential to lose value. Sometimes forces outside of a company can cause a loss of value such as if an industry becomes unpopular or suffers a scandal. In the 1980s, one company had someone tamper with a few bottles of its medicines. The entire industry took a significant hit. With paper assets, life is a popularity contest.

Tangible Holdings – The Good

Tangible holdings are great when there’s a natural catastrophe, a civil insurrection or when zombies rise from the grave–otherwise known as really, really bad times. With tangible holdings, you have some guarantee of value regardless of what someone else will pay for what you own. An original Picasso will be as beautiful valued at $5 million as it would if no one would pay five dollars for it.

Gold is useful in a variety of industrial applications, and can actually be used as a play-dough if you love spoiling your children rotten. If you know how to alloy metals, it can even be used to make your own fillings. Just be sure to practice that before trying it in another living person’s mouth.

Tangible Holdings – The Bad

Tangible holdings can literally be held, but only if they’re in your physical possession. Simply having gold, silver, oil or any other tangible holding “somewhere” doesn’t help you in the slightest. Unless you have them in hand, during a truly dire situation, you will not practically be able to gain access to them, which makes them next to useless. If you happen to be in a time and place experiencing a revolution, your distant holdings are as good as gone.

In addition to the need to keep them close, another downside to tangible assets is that they pay you nothing. While stocks can pay dividends and bonds pay interest, a lump of gold will never pay you anything unless you sell it. As any child could tell you, when you sell something you no longer own it, so you only get one chance to make a profit.

Returning once more to truly dire theoretical situations, tangible assets will only do you good if you know how to use them properly. If you have gold but do not know that it can be used for a wide variety of purposes, it’s just a shiny toy to you. Holdings without knowledge are like wings without air.

Tangible Holdings – The Ugly

During a truly dire situation, when having a large amount of gold bullion and antiques to barter for food and ammunition could be useful, you need to face some facts about human nature. If someone wants what you have, they may try to hurt you to get it. Bartering is good, but conquest is often considered faster and easier, and the law is notorious for being absent during these dire circumstances.

Bringing Them Together

Tangible and intangible assets are great when paired carefully. Everything goes up and everything comes down–this is the nature of markets. Just be sure to remember that buying things when they’re cheap is the best way to ultimately profit from them.

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Post by Kelsey Libert, on behalf of UFXMarkets

(Photo by digitalmoneyworld)

Calculating & Submitting Your Quarterly Estimated Tax Payments

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taxes design
(Guest Post by David Bakke)

As someone who is relatively new to the world of entrepreneurship, I recently began making quarterly tax payments for the first time. Figuring out what to pay, when to pay it, and how to submit your payments is certainly a learning process.

Being self-employed has enough of its own difficulties and challenges, so don’t add to them by irking the IRS. Taxes are not something to be swept under the rug – penalties do apply if you don’t make timely payments.

How to Calculate Your Estimated Tax

If you are an established entrepreneur, use your past income to estimate quarterly tax payments with these three steps:

  1. Determine Your Tax Rate Based on Last Year’s Return. Divide the amount of taxes you paid (found on line 43 of your 1040) by your Adjusted Gross Income, or AGI, (found on line 37) to determine your base percentage. If you expect to make more this year, add 1% to 2% to your base percentage per every $500 increase in revenue.
  2. Multiply This Year’s Projected Income by Last Year’s Base Tax Rate. This projects the total tax you will owe this year if your earnings estimates are accurate.
  3. Divide Total Estimated Tax by Four to Determine Your  Payment. This calculates your quarterly estimated tax payments.

If you are a rookie entrepreneur, however, consider this approach:

  1. Estimate Your Annual Income. Determine your income after the first quarter of the year and subtract all of your business expenses and deductions. If you expect your income and expenses to stay relatively constant throughout the year, multiply this number by four.
  2. Determine Your Self-Employment Tax. Next, multiply your estimated annual income by 92.35%, then by 15.3% to project your self-employment tax for the year. Deduct half of your self-employment tax from the income you determined above. This is your estimated AGI.
  3. Determine Your Quarterly Estimated Tax Payment. Lastly, determine and apply last year’s base tax rate (as above) to your estimated AGI. Then, to that number, add your self-employment tax to determine your estimated annual tax. If this number is less than $1,000, you do not need to pay estimated taxes quarterly. Otherwise, divide the number by four to arrive at your quarterly estimated tax payment.

How to Submit Quarterly Tax Payments

There are two ways to pay quarterly estimated tax. First, you can mail your estimated tax payment to your local IRS servicing center using Form 1040-ES. Make your check payable to the “United States Treasury” and include your social security number on your check.

The alternative way is to use the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (or EFTPS). You can set up automatic drafts to pull estimated tax payments from your bank account each quarter, or you can make one-time tax payments online. You will also have full access to your payment history through this website. However, you need to register first to receive a PIN in order to use the system. Make sure to register well before the due date of your first quarterly payment, as it will take at least 14 days to receive your PIN. In fact, the PIN I requested took more than two weeks to arrive, so I had to make my first payment through regular mail and barely got it in on time.

Also be aware that the IRS’s schedule of “quarterly” tax payments is somewhat counter-intuitive. Ordinarily, you might expect a quarterly schedule to be evenly broken down into four consecutive three-month periods. Not so here.

The first quarter consists of the expected three months. However, the second quarter consists of only two months: April and May. Moreover, the fourth quarter consists of four months: September through December. This schedule can be particularly confusing to those new to “quarterly” tax payments. Know it well to avoid late penalties.

Payment Schedule

To further assist you, here is a schedule of when these payments are due:

  • Q1: Income gained from 1/1 through 3/31; due 4/17/2012
  • Q2: Income gained from 4/1 through 5/30; due 6/15/2012
  • Q3: Income gained from 6/1 through 8/31; due 9/17/2012
  • Q4: Income gained from 9/1 through 12/31; due 1/15/2013

You are not required to make the final tax payment if you plan to file your return by January 31, 2012 and pay the entire balance due.

Final Thoughts

The process of making quarterly tax payments can be confusing and time consuming, but it’s absolutely necessary to avoid trouble with the IRS. The penalty for not making timely quarterly tax payments can be as much as 9%. I didn’t make any quarterly payments in 2010 and ultimately paid a penalty of more than $300.

Remember, you don’t have to make quarterly tax payments if you expect to owe less than $1,000 in annual taxes, so make sure you keep records of all of your business expenses and take advantage of tax deductions for small business owners. Claiming all deductions for which you’re eligible can significantly minimize your tax liability, and is one of the great advantages of being self-employed.

What are your experiences with self-employment taxes? What tips can you suggest to keep organized to make timely, accurate payments?

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David Bakke owns an online reselling business and shares his insights on personal finance and money tips on Money Crashers.

(Photo by DonkeyHotey)

Don’t Get Screwed By Big Banks: Tips for the 99%

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bank advice, bank tips, financial institution scoop

(Guest Post by Kristen from FindTheBest.com)

The earth is quaking with “movements” but these tectonic activities are not rumbling beneath the surface. They are happening right in front of us; they are happening on “The Street”- Wall Street, that is.  And the “occupiers”, currently embroiled and immutable in their habitation of urban economic centers across the U.S., are creating some visible ripple effects.

One of those shock waves was Bank Transfer Day (BTD).

Though not officially associated with the “Occupy” movement, the initiative represents a disillusionment of the “99%”, a self-titled meme that refers to the U.S. income distribution among the households with the lowest (99%) and highest (%1) incomes.   Kristen Christen, creator of the provocative BTD on November 5, called for a voluntary transfer of accounts from big, commercial banks to credit unions, in the face of, what she called “ridiculous fees and poor customer service.” Right or wrong, I’m guessing her grievances have a lot to do with the following banks and their recent behavior.

6 Banks Raising Fees and Eyebrows:

  1. Bank of America increased MyAccess checking monthly maintenance fees from $8.95 to $12.00 earlier this year. Also, don’t loose your debit card – that will cost you a 5-spot…or 20 bucks for rush delivery.
  2. Citigroup basic checking account fee increased from $8 to $10. (Most of these customers were not pervious charged any fees.)
  3. Chase quietly hiked their entry-level checking fees. raised the fee on its standard checking account to $12 a month.
  4. Citibank charges for switching out of a middle-tier checking account, which carries a $20-a-month fee, into a basic account, which doesn’t charge fees.
  5. U.S. Bancorp now charges 50 cents per check deposit via mobile phone.
  6. TD Bank, starting in December, will charge $15 for each incoming domestic payment.
  7. Note: Last year, a Pew Charitable Trusts study revealed that bank customers could theoretically incur 49 different fees on a standard checking account. (WTF?)

What Gives?

Banks are hoping consumers won’t see the surreptitious increase of existing and additional fees, or won’t do anything about it. “We’ll see if our customers complain and move, or just complain,” said Richard K. Davis, U.S. Bancorp’s chief executive. (Uhhh…Seriously?)

Davis’ patience might be strategically warranted. Despite the 79,000 “Likes” on the Bank Transfer Day Facebook event page, many people are sticking with their banks after being confronted with the onerous task of moving numerous online bill-paying arrangements elsewhere.

So What Can the “99%er” Do To Keep Bank Accounts Good?

  1. Credit Union: You’ll be in good company. Nonprofit, credit unions, often offer lower fees and better rates on bank services. Credit Unions are smaller, community-based organizations, they encourage clients to develop regular savings habits while promoting thoughtful borrowing for big purchases, emergencies or educational needs. Like traditional banks, credit unions offer a variety of different savings and checking accounts, credit programs and other services.
  2. Banks or thrifts: Institutions with deposit insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are also good options.
  3. Read the fine print: If you want to stick with a commercial bank, and all you need is basic checking, bill pay, ATM access and a debit card, then look for accounts that don’t charge fees for a minimum balance or checks written. Web sites like mybanktracker.com and FindTheBest.com are good resources for this information.
  4. Keep Cash Under Your Bed. Just kidding…Kind of.

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Guest post by Kristen Brophy of FindTheBest, unbiased data-driven comparison engine designed to help you find the best of anything from a checking account to credit card.

(Photo by jesse.millan)

How to Talk About Money With Your Spouse

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marriage advice, couples advice, money tips

(Guest Post by Nick Charles)

Living and sharing your money with someone isn’t always an easy task. When you choose to share your life in close quarters with someone, you start to learn more intimate details about their life – their bathroom habits, the little eccentricities that drive you nuts, those you can live with, and even their more personal spending habits.

When it comes to a relationship, being in the same page as far as spending and financial goals is highly important. Unfortunately, it is a conversation that few couples have until it is too late. If you are wondering what some of your significant other’s financial plans are for the future, don’t neglect the convo. Simply approach it with the following in mind:

Don’t Be Aggressive

Money is always a sensitive topic for everyone, especially if you are the person in the relationship that makes less than the other. When approaching your significant other about the topic of money, be sure to be sensitive to their emotions. Don’t be accusatory or condescending. They have their reasons for spending and saving just like you do. The goal of your financial discussion is to get both of you on the same page, especially if you are in this for the long haul.

Find Some Common Goals

If you find that you and your spouse have joined finances, but don’t have any common goals in sight, then sharing your finances isn’t really necessary. You combine your finances to work towards a common goal generally, not so one person can benefit from the other’s higher salary. When you approach your spouse about spending, see if you can’t come up with common goals. Ask yourselves some big questions:

  • Do you want to purchase a new car?
  • Are you planning on investing in a home later on down the road?
  • Do you wish to retire by the time you are 50?
  • Will you want children later on?

These are the types of financial goals that you will need to discuss to determine if you are on the same page, because ultimately you will have to work together to achieve these financial goals.

Create a Financial Plan

Once you realize that you are on the same page as far as spending habits and financial goals are concerned, consider making a financial plan so that you and your spouse can actually see how you will reach your goals. Be sure to include dates and major milestones such as amounts you would like to have saved for retirement by the time you are 30, 35, etc, and other purchases like new cars or a home. This way you will actually be able to have something to celebrate as an achievement, and be able to actually see yourselves accomplishing your goals.

While it is never fun having to question some of the larger aspects of a relationship, it is often necessary if you wish to have a long and happy union. Finances are a leading cause of break ups and divorce, and if you wait until later to determine if you are financially compatible, you may catch poor spending habits or find that your goals are much different after it is too late to correct your habits. So before you let spending become resentful, have a conversation about finances with your spouse.

————
Guest post by Nick Charles – a huge fan of personal finance

(Photo by HayleeBee)

The Most Optimal Way to Use Your Flier Miles

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flier miles, rewards miles, airplane miles

(Guest Post by Sunil, from Extra Money Blog)

My wife and I do a lot of traveling and I don’t know why, but  recently we started discussing when and where we should be using our frequent flier miles.

In addition to frequent traveling, we take advantage of attractive promotions that give away miles such as credit card offers. As you can imagine, the miles add up quickly, but more importantly spread across multiple carriers which inherently posses a challenge not only in managing what is where, and when it expires, but also when and where to utilize which ones (I purposely did that).

I want to share with you a synopsis of our discussion, including some helpful resources that we have been using along the way.  So however little or much you travel, for a budget conscious individual, this could mean stretching your benefit dollars as much as possible.

Because redeeming airline miles for a reasonably mile-priced seat is getting more and more ridiculous these days, most people end up burning their miles on lame upgrades on local flights.  A half hour local flight can cost you triple the miles you redeemed for the seat, which itself is likely a high number to begin with.

From our experience travelling to Europe and Asia, we have found that the best bang for your miles can be obtained by redeeming them on flights to destinations overseas. So far we haven’t noticed any seasonality trends, so the general rule appears to apply throughout the year.

Over the years we have come across a few websites to further validate our experience.
For example:

  • MileWise.com is a website that you can use to get some estimates of how many miles you will have to redeem for travel to certain destinations.
  • GoMiles.com is another one that we have recently come across that is pretty good.

Ready for the best part? Provide your account information to these sites and you will automatically be alerted when there are good deals to your destination of choice during the timelines you prefer.  They will also notify you when your miles are nearing expiration.

I have been testing this and it works like a charm. I am now looking for an aggregator that can help me manage hotel points, airline miles and car rental credits all in one spot. Anyone know of a good suggestion?

  • Key Findings:  Southwest is the easiest and most flexible to redeem with, while Delta is a nightmare. You will never get a ticket at a reasonable mileage amount.
  • Tip: Because you may find that not all airlines are part of this program, here is a manual tip to ensure you get the best deal. Just because you have made a reservation doesn’t mean you have to keep it. Some airlines allow you to make a change to a seat booked using frequent flier miles easier than if it was paid for by cash.
  • Set yourself a weekly reminder to call in and check to see if a low mileage seat has opened up. If so, you can trade yours in and get the remaining miles deposited back into your account.

I hope you found these tips helpful.  I would love to hear from you if you have anything to add to a better frequent flier experience!

Safe Traveling,
Sunil

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Sunil owns over a dozen profitable niche websites and is the author of “How to Go from $0 to $1,000 a month in Passive and Residual Income in Under 180 Days All in Your Spare Time”, a FREE report you can download instantly from his blog, where he discusses expedited wealth building through solid personal finance, entrepreneurship and internet marketing.  In 2007, he sold his ecommerce website for $250,000 to a top Ebay Power Seller and since then has sold several niche sites for five figures each. You can read more about him on the Money Blog.

(Photo by nathanmac87)

A DINK No More

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cut kid ice cream(Guest Post by Eveline Bernices)

Good afternoon to all of my DINK friends. As some of you might have heard, we have lost several members of our special little society over the past couple of weeks. According to sources like the New York Times, the population of Earth has reached over 7 billion people. While most of this growth is accounted for in lower socioeconomic countries, there are still rapid population increases throughout developed lands like the US and Europe.

If you end up changing your mind about your lifestyle, you are probably already aware of some of the major changes you will have to make. You might have to take off work more, attend school plays, and do other things you would have never imagined.

There are also some financial and lifestyle changes that having a child will drastically alter:

Retirement

If you were never planning on expecting children, then you and your partner probably had a nice stash of cash placed away and a solid grasp on your 401K. You may have even had a vacation or retirement property already in the works. With a child on the way you are going to have to give consideration to using some of your built up capital in order to pay for specific needs the child will have. A child will become a random variable when you start to calculate your retirement.

Just like you built up your retirement with careful investing, make sure to spend on the best things for a child instead of falling victim to scams and shoddy products. Invest in quality baby products in order to ensure the safety of your child and avoid repeat purchases. Don’t invest in designer clothing at a young age because they will rapidly grow out of it.

Food

The days of eating at expensive or ethnic restaurants at every dinner are over when you have a kid. This doesn’t mean that you will be able to not afford them, it just means that you are going to have a child who will want to eat plain cheese pizza or McDonald’s instead of Pad Thai and truffle oil mushroom pasta. Purchasing a babysitter, sending the kid off with a relative, or simply choosing a place that caters to families is the only option for satiating your child. According to Bloomberg, McDonald’s sales keep going up and it’s for a reason.

Entertainment

Entertaining your new found bundle of love will be a monumental task. Back when my parents raised me, I was forced to either go to bed before Dallas came on or get locked in my closet. Now, almost every home has more than two televisions, a couple of laptops, several smartphones, and an endless array of video game consoles and other electronic distractions.

This might make it seem like there will be no problem raising a kid, but it makes it even worse. You will have to spend countless dollars and tedious hours purchasing and installing software and programs that keep your kids safe while online and watching TV. The things you once took for granted while living as a DINK are now set to sail with several other aspects of adulthood freedom.

Having a child is a massive responsibility that takes careful planning, and a lot of good advice to properly take care of. If you are not ready for one or are having second thoughts about getting pregnant, it is a good idea to hold off on the idea until you are completely sure.

———-
Eveline Bernices is a freelance writer contributing her expertise on finance and couple’s counseling.

(Photo by limaoscarjuliet)

Chicago Bound on a Budget

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(Guest Post by Holly Watson)

My fiancé and I enjoy taking road trips whenever we can. Chicago is one of our favorite destinations, so recently we decided to head there for a three-day weekend. We’re saving money for our wedding and couldn’t afford a lavish trip but we needed a vacation before our honeymoon, which is still months away.

Thanks to a little planning and a budget, we were able to enjoy our outing without depleting our savings account.

Knowing how much I like to visit The Art Institute, my parents bought me a membership for my birthday, which enabled me and fiancé to go to the museum for free. We saw exhibits about Japanese kimonos, Indian art, African art, and Marc Chagall’s “America Windows,” an exhibit that was featured in one of my favorite movies: “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” We each spent under $20 at the gift shop, taking home a Seurat poster for my fiancé and a purple glass vase for me. We kept our costs low for the rest of the day by dining with relatives at their home and spending the night, which left us with only one night to cover with a Chicago hotel stay.

The next day, we got a late start and headed for Millennium Park in the early afternoon. We took a free self-guided audio tour, which was a great way to learn more about the park – from the Crown Fountain to the McCormick Ice Rink. Unfortunately, we were in Chicago too early to go ice skating, but we’re hoping to get back before the year ends. Our visit to the park also included taking in a couple of exhibits. I was a big fan of “Interconnected,” a collection of sculptures by Mexican artist Yvonne Domenge. My fiancé preferred “Design for a Living World,” a photo display that featured the work of photojournalist Ami Vitale. We were chatting about both on our way to dinner, an expense we had budgeted for, but passed a bodega on the way back to our hotel and chose to duck in for sandwich fixings, which we then enjoyed back at our hotel with a night of HBO.

We didn’t have much time on Sunday as we had to make it to the train station to get home, but we did have time to take our dinner leftovers (and some brunch supplements) and sit by the Buckingham Fountain for a little while. We hope to be there at night sometime to see the spotlights that accompany the fountain’s hourly show but I do have to say it’s still impressive during the day. We were sad, as always, to bid goodbye to Chicago but so happy that we were able to get away without breaking the bank. Given the variety of free things there are to do in the city, we’ll be sure to plan another visit soon.

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About the author: Holly Watson is a self-proclaimed fashionista who is studying towards her doctorate in literature. She enjoys blogging about fashion, traveling and saving money! You can follow her daily thoughts on Twitter @hollyemily7.

(Photo by bryce_edwards)

How Safe is Your Credit Card Information?

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credit card information, credit card details, secured credit card

freaky credit card bill
(Guest Post by Ross)

Credit card fraud has been a enormous problem since the credit card was first introduced in the 1950’s. Before the internet, the main way that this type of theft was committed was by stealing and using the physical card.

Today, this type of theft has grown to become much more sophisticated. Organized hacking groups attack websites specifically to steal personal and credit card information. Illegal websites that are hosted in foreign countries, are used sell this data to the highest bidder all over in the world. These activities generate huge profits for those committing theft and huge headaches for those that have their information stolen.

Credit card and I.D. theft has become a billion dollar per year problem that law enforcement, credit card companies, and consumer groups can not seem to get a handle on. It is extremely common for consumers to have experienced this type of theft, often multiple times in their life. Theft can cause loss to finances, reduction in good credit score numbers, and stress from dealing with a difficult situation. Fraudulent charges are usually taken care of by credit card issuers fairly quickly, but consumers always end up paying for them in the end with higher fees.

How Do Frauders Get Your Credit Card Information?

One way that credit card thieves can get personal information is through a process called phishing. Frauders and identity thieves send out millions of spam emails under the guise they are from a bank or credit card company. The emails make a consumer believe that their is “trouble with their account”. They are then prompted to enter their C.C. number, pin, and/or social security number. Sometimes a link in these phishing emails will redirect users to a site that replicates the exact look of their bank or credit card company. The purpose of these “fake” sites is solely to collect usernames and passwords. If you believe that you have accidentally entered your username and password into a site that is not legitimate, your should contact the fraud department immediately.

It can be very confusing when banks and credit card companies send out legitimate emails. So how can you tell the difference between a “phishing” site and the real site? One way that you can tell a fake site, is to check the root of the domain.

  • For example, the legitimate domain for American Express is www.americanexpress.com. A phishing site trying to steal your data might look like this: americanexpress.xyz.com.
  • Notice that the root domain for the fraudulent site is “xyz.com”, not “americanexpress.com”.

Another indicator that you are on the real site, is that the url should start with “https://, not http://”. HTTPS means that the site has a security seal. Phishing sites will most likely not have a valid security seal. Most browsers will also show a “green lock” to the left of the url, showing that you are on a secure site. (visit americanexpress.com, for an example)

Another way that hackers can get passwords and credit card data is through computer viruses. Viruses called “keyloggers” track the keystrokes entered into infected computers. If a computer is infected by this type of virus, passwords and credit card information are recorded and transmitted to a perpetrators via the internet. To prevent keyloggers or other types of malware from infecting a computer, it is important to regularly run anti-virus software. You should also try to avoid infection by not downloading (or executing) email attachments from unknown senders.

How to Spot Fraud or Theft

If fraud is caught in its early stages, major problems and damages can mostly be avoided. Monitoring bank and credit card statements closely can help you catch any fraudulent charges that you did not make. If you see payments you do not recognize, contact your company’s fraud department immediately.

Another important thing you should do is keep close tabs on your credit history. You can monitor this history by ordering a credit report yearly from AnnualCreditReport.com. This website is run by the 3 main credit bureaus (Equifax, Transunion, Experian) in order to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This act allows all consumers to have access to their credit information absolutely free, once each year. By visiting this site, you can check your reports at all 3 bureaus and make sure no fraudulent accounts have been opened under you name. Checking this information at least once per year is recommended to watch for fraud.

Another service that might help you watch your credit, is a credit monitoring service. This service will alert you by phone or email every time a new credit card or loan is taken out in your name. Some programs will also insure you in case i.d. theft is committed while enrolled in this program. The amount of insurance depends on the program and the teir of service you apply for. Prices for a credit monitoring services vary, but usually range between $5-$20 per month.

As credit card and identity theft become more commonplace, it becomes necessary to take proactive steps to prevent it. Regular monitoring of financial information is important to stop fraud before it causes serious damage. If not handled properly, this theft can affect your credit rating and cause you to be denied for loans or credit cards. All credit card companies have fraud departments and will work with you to handle fraud, but preventing it is always the best course of action.

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Ross has taken a life long interest in personal finance and runs the website GreatCreditScore.org. This site focuses on providing free information to consumers about credit, debt, and investing.

(Photo by xJasonRogersx)

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