Money Management

Mortgage Calculators

October 12, 2009 By Sherry Tingley

Many of us don’t have the talent to make complicated computations to figure out what your mortgage is actually going to cost you and what your monthly payments will be. A mortgage calculator is an automated tool to aid you in doing this before negotiating a mortgage transaction. This tool gives you an overview of your financial responsibility if you choose to get a mortgage on your real estate investment.

When you are shopping for a house you want to own or rent, you first want to think about all aspects regarding the house and the cost before making a decision. Using a mortgage calculator in the privacy of your home is more convenient than doing so in the presence of a mortgage lender.

If you are just starting to have a family and you are not yet earning much, renting is a good option for now. Furthermore, whether you are a first time buyer or an experienced buyer, a mortgage calculator is always the best thing to use for estimating the mortgage costs.

Your income, loans, debts, and available interest rates will determine how much you are allowed to borrow. Although most people know their monthly expenses, their idea of how to compute the monthly mortgage payment is another story. The mortgage calculator is the answer to know what you can afford by comparing the interest rates, loan terms, and down payment.

It estimates your monthly payments. It is a relief to have this type of calculator in determining the mortgage that is most beneficial to you from the different options available. The calculator is a handy tool to use before asking your lender for advice and making a new purchase. It will keep you on the right track. Take time with the numbers to see what you can afford and your financial situation can improve. Putting the information in a spreadsheet is another tool you can use that will help in discussions with the your lender.

Calculating mortgage payments is such a complicated task. Instead of acquiring the services of an agent to make you understand the figures, why not use a cost-free mortgage calculator which has been tested and proven to be authentic. Mortgage calculators are blessings to homeowners interested in real estate. Before these calculators, buyers had to use interest rate tables to compute the variables of the mortgage. It is common knowledge that complex mathematical computations are very hard to comprehend.

Bankrate.com has an online calculator that you can use for free. You will only have to type in all the information asked such as your monthly income and additional earnings, housing expenses, loans and insurances plus the amount to be converted. After this, the calculator will give you the amount and monthly payments that meet your requirements. It can also show you how many years you can shorten your mortgage payment time based on whatever additional payments you think you may be able to make. Using a mortgage payment calculator can be crucial to helping you make one of the most important buying decisions of your lifetime.

Debit Cards

October 12, 2009 By Sherry Tingley

Debit cards are used by millions of people in this era. A debit card is another method of payment instead of using cash when purchasing something. It is a plastic card that is also called a check card or bank card. Having a debit card is like having a credit card minus the credit line. It is a great way of managing your money because you make sure that the things you purchase do no exceed to the amount you have in your bank. Many people regard a debit card as just another way to pay for a purchase.

Opting for a debit card is very easy. You don’t have to worry about your low credit report because the providers don’t check your record. It means everyone gets approved. Go to your bank and ask for an application. Fill out the application form and deposit funds into your deposit account. There are no extra payments involve in this process. After a week, your card will be delivered to you by mail along with a PIN needed for setting up and activating your debit card. A telephone number is included in the mail and you will have to call that number to answer some questions. After the call, type in the PIN and your debit card is activated.

Owning a debit card is very convenient for eliminate the need to write checks and show any identification. A person can freely use the card almost everywhere in many areas around the world. On the other hand, debit cards help you to control your excessive shopping habit because you can’t spend more than the amount in your account. It takes out a lot of tiresome jobs of paperwork to keep tracking your bills. Most importantly, using a debit card to shop on the Internet is the safest for you because it won’t expose your bank details, thus, preventing theft.

On the contrary, there is a risk involved in having debit cards. When your card gets into the wrong hands, expect that they can drain your bank account. Remember that a PIN code is not needed when using debit cards to transact a business. Avoid this problem by keeping your card in a very safe place always. Keeping and hiding your debit card receipts is very helpful to prevent thieves from gathering information through them. If your card is either lost or stolen, report this immediately to your
banking institution.

Debit cards are offered through Mastercard or Visa and these can be used anywhere. They are readily available in ATM’s, POS (Point of sale) terminals, and online as well as over the phone. Debit card registers can be used to record your spending, just like you would use your check register.

Debit card fraud

October 7, 2009 By Sherry Tingley

If you are like millions of people, you use a debit card to make your purchases in grocery stores, restaurants, fast food restaurant and a host of other establishments including the Internet.

Recently a debit card fraud took place and it was only caught because of careful checking of online transactions. Four purchases were made in a local area for Chinese food and pizza. They looked like normal purchases and perhaps would have gone unnoticed until much more damage was done. However, no one had visited these particular restaurants in months.

So how did this happen?

It took a visit to one of the restaurant to shed some light on the problem. The manager examined his receipts and was able to find all three transactions. This then triggered the manager’s memory of the customer who had telephoned in an order and read the debit card number as well as the expiration date. The thief then came in to pick up the order and all he did was sign the receipt. No one asked him for a card and no one cared that the signature was basically not readable.

Fortunately, because the thief had done this three times, the manager could describe the individual. He also had access to photographs of the person that were on his security camera. So there was no question that this was a fraudulent transaction.

Apparently someone who worked at a fast food restaurant had written down the card number and then used it. It was amazingly uncomplicated.

To protect yourself from this kind of debit card fraud, you need to make sure that when you are out and you hand someone your debit card that you can see what they do with it. It should not go out of your sight because writing those numbers down doesn’t take much effort. It just takes a minute. Make it a habit to either pay cash at the drive through fast food restaurants or make sure that you can see your card at all times.

In this fraud case, the debit card owner was checking their banking activity daily so the purchases were caught early enough not to do significant damage, but the consequences were that the card had to be cancelled and reissued with a different number. That can be a major inconvenience. Then there had to be a report filed with the bank that required disputing the charges and signing paperwork to that effect. The bank handled the rest of the dispute and reimbursed the money to the card owner.

So how common is this?

A bank teller recently said that there were at least two to three people a day that come in to dispute purchases that were not made by them. These purchases mostly involved unexplained Internet purchases and not debit card fraud. Debit card fraud is not as common, but it still happens and that should alarm anyone who uses debit cards on a regular basis. To protect yourself from this happening to you, take care when using your card and don’t let it out of your sight for any reason.

Use a debit wallet register

Tracking your expenses with a debit wallet register will help you quickly identify any unauthorized charges to your bank account. Protect yourself by keeping good records.

How People Get Into a Spiral of Credit Card Debt

August 12, 2009 By Sherry Tingley

Credit cards were actually introduced to help people make payment without carrying a lot of cash. The benefits of credit cards are many and people have always been using these cards in different situations to deal with their needs. But, today, it seems like credit cards are loaded with booby-traps and suck people into a spiral of card debt.

There are lots of reasons why credit card debt is really becoming a big problem. The biggest reason is that housing prices are down and people are not interested in home equity loans. It is due to this particular reason that plastic has again become a favorite option for many business persons. They get credit cards, use it irrationally, and find them debt.

The next big reason is the fact that people can not resist the temptation of getting a credit card all adorned with special offers. For instance, people now just love to get a new and shiny business card, airline miles, zero percent interest and discounts on rent-a-cars. Apparently it feels like this card is going to give them a lot, but things always work in a different way. These offers are only used to trap careless borrowers who think there is no better way to get discounts that using a specific credit card. But, they often forget that these credit cards come with very high fees, which is to compensate for lower interest.

That’s exactly another reason behind the fact that more people are now in credit card debt. Since people are no longer interested in high-rate credit cards, companies have to charge a lower interest rate. But, they make up for this lower interest rate by charging higher fees. In fact, it is found that more than 10% of lender’s revenues come from penalties. Late fees, for instance, are extremely high, which are now more than $33.64. When people get one such credit card where interest is low and penalties are high, they often end up getting into card debt. It is so because many people sometimes find it hard to make timely payment, and that’s the point when they start creating problems for them.

These are few of the most important reasons why people get into debt. But, they can always find a solution to deal with this problem. For instance, consolidation is a great solution to these types of problems. Although people consolidate credit card bills when interest is high, you can still make use of it to avoid facing high late fees. So, just connect to the internet to find a right site and consult with a professional to see what you can do to get out of debt fast.

How to get your free triple credit report

May 11, 2009 By Sherry Tingley

Getting your credit report from the major three credit reporting agencies, TransUnion, Equifax and Experian is easy to do and something you should put on your to do list if you haven’t done so already.

Tracking your credit is always a good idea. You never know when there have been errors made that will negatively affect you or if there has been activity on your credit cards that shouldn’t be there. Ordering credit reports can help you be aware of your credit power or in some cases your lack of power.

TransUnion Credit Bureau

TransUnion will send your credit report to you for free:

Phone number: (800) 888-4213.

You can actually get a credit score mailed to you by calling 1-866-726-7388.

You can file a credit dispute online if you see any errors.

Equifax Credit Bureau

The easiest way to get your credit report from Equifax is to call them at: 1-877-SCORE-11.

Their address is:

Equifax Information Services LLC
P.O. Box 105314
Atlanta, GA 30348
(866) 224-9235

Experian Credit Bureau

You can order a credit score for $6 by calling 1-888-322-5583.

You can get unlimited access to your credit report at CreditExpert.com

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Experian has corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and has operational headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif., and Nottingham, UK. The Group employs approximately 15,500 people in 38 countries worldwide, supporting clients in more than 65 countries around the world. Revenue for the year ended March 31, 2008, was $4 billion.

I thought that was interesting. The other interesting thing about Experian is that it owns hitwise.com. Hitwise “provides insights on how 10 million US Internet users interact with more than 1 million websites, across 165+ industries.”

Free Credit Report From All Three Credit Bureaus

Getting a free credit report from all three credit bureaus can be done at AnnualCreditReport.com.

This is recommended by all three credit bureaus and is a free service if it is your one annual credit report.

Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

Here are some of your rights:

You must be told if information in your file has been used against you

You have a right to know what is in your file

You have the right to ask for a credit score

You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information

Consmer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information

Consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information

Access to your file is limited

You must give your consent for reports to be provided to employers

You may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on the information in your credit report by calling 1-888-567-8688

You may seek damages from violators

Identify theft victims and active duty military personnel have additional rights

If you have found some good places to get free credit reports, please let us know in the comment sections.

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