After spending a year (one of the worst of my life) working at a debt settlement company, I feel that I am obligated to warn as many consumers as possible about how badly you can ruin your financial situation by using one of these companies. My new job is at an all natural bakery, I no longer wish to swerve my truck into a tree on the way to work. Debt settlement is the process of eliminating your debt by ceasing payment to the creditor, and then negotiating with the card companies or collection agency to pay less than the balance owed. The debt settlement company charges a rather hefty fee for this service; however, the consumer should be saving money on the deal because they are paying significantly reduced balances to clear their debt. This is how it is supposed to work. This is not how it usually works.
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Confessions Of A Debt Settlement Company Worker
Scam Watch: Credit Card Shaving
Have you heard of “credit card shaving?” In this version of credit card fraud, thieves try out 16-digit number sequences until hitting one that works. Then they take gift cards from stores and shave off the digits and glue them onto a credit card. They scratch the magnetic strip so the clerk has to enter the credit card number by hand. It’s apparently all the rage in Portland There’s no defense against it except to monitor your statement for suspicious charges.
Recover Lost Money
Frugal For Life points us to four sites that can help provide a lucrative reunion with long-lost cash with only a few minutes of work. We once found our parents several thousand dollars using New York’s unclaimed funds page. Hit the jump for other sources of surprise cash.
Got $250 Video Store Debt Deleted From Credit Report
I had a weird unpaid debt listed on my credit reports, some video store I used to go to in college. I guess they thought I had an overdue video? Anyway, they never sent me any notice about it but yet on my credit report it was listed that I never paid Integral Recovers Inc, who also have never contacted me, some $250. So, about three months ago, I filed a dispute notice with TransUnion, the one credit bureaus report it was listed on, and today I got a nice letter saying they deleted the item. It was all very easy, I just went to annualcreditreport.com, checked my credit report, went to the dispute item area, printed out the one-page form, filled it in saying that I was disputing because I never got any notice about the debt, and mailed it all off. Took less than 10 minutes, tops. Be sure to check your credit report from all three credit bureaus at least once a year for errors and file disputes when information is incorrect. Otherwise, your ability to get credit might be unfairly affected. It’s easier and faster than you might think!
Citigroup Developing Citi-Branded Phone That Can Make Contactless Payments
Do you wish you had a way to spend your money more easily, without all that opening-the-wallet or punching-the-pin-number manual labor? The trade publication Cards & Payments (registration required) says that it’s received a copy of a report filed with the FCC that indicates Citigroup is developing a Near Field Communication, or NFC, mobile phone that would allow its customers to make contactless payments at participating retailers.
38.6% Of Reported Debt Collectors Demand More Money Than Is Legal
Debtors have rights, and sometimes they get violated. The FTC released its annual Fair Debt Collection Practices Act report, part of which documents the number of complaints they get about debt collectors violating consumers rates. FTC received 70,951 DCPA violation complaints in 2007. Of them:
Trinkets Entice College Students To Sign Up For Crappy Credit Cards
What does it take to get hungry, naive, and cash-strapped college students to sign up for crappy credit cards at on-campus booths? Not much. Based on a survey of over 1500 college students, here is the list of the most common and their percentage as documented by the Public Interest Research Group in a new campaign available on their microsite, truthaboutcredit.org. Nothing like a tshirt with a 23% APR.
Driving Over 60MPH Wastes Gas
“In a typical family sedan, every 10 miles per hour you drive over 60 is like the price of gasoline going up about 54 cents a gallon,” reports CNN Money. The faster you drive, the more air builds up in front of the car and the low pressure drag behind the car increases as well. Of course, you’re also getting to your destination faster. So the question is, what’s more important, time or money?
Why You Shouldn't Invest in Your Company's Stock
Stories are emerging of Bear Stearns employees with significant losses in their company stock-based retirement holdings. Examples: a nine-year employee has reported losing $600,000 and a seven-year veteran lost $400,000. Similar stories are likely to emerge in months to come. And though subsequent reports may not feature staggering amounts like these, there are sure to be many with losses that are devastating to their personal finances. This situation underscores a basic guideline of investing: don’t put more than 10% to 20% of your portfolio value into your company’s stock. Why?
Should I Get A Debt-Consolidation Loan?
Consumer advocate radio show host Clark Howards thinks most people are kidding themselves when they spring for a debt-consolidation loan:
It’s been my experience that when people do a debt-consolidation loan, all they really end up doing is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. With one transaction, their credit card bills suddenly stop, and those people then say, “Oh, how nice, it’s all so tidy now, I now just have everything on one convenient bill.”
Tightwads vs Spendthrifts
“Frugality is driven by a pleasure of saving, as compared with tightwaddism, which is driven by a pain of paying.”
That’s one of the findings of a new study comparing people’s spending habits. Here’s how the differences between tightwads and spendthrifts break down, according to the survey of 13,327 people:
Watch Out For High Interest Rates On Store Credit Cards
Seems whenever you check out at a store these days the clerk is always asking if you want to sign up for the store credit card. They’ll tell you that you can save 15% today, but what they’re not telling you is how high the interest rate is: an average of 21.96% and in some cases, as high as 23.99%, says a survey by Congressman Anthony Weiner. That’s almost as high as the default rate you would pay on a normal credit card. Before biting, make sure you read the disclosure agreement in full to find out the APR. If you end up not paying off that balance in full, that one day of savings could eventually be erased by compounding interest. Inside, the interest rates and grace periods for the in-store credit cards of 35 top retailers…
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Research shows that, despite charging high interest rates, payday lenders don’t make much money than typical businesses. [Credit Slips]
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Maybe I’m skimming the wrong articles and half-listening to the wrong news reports, but in all this belly-aching about declining consumer spending one thing seems to be missing. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, I don’t seem to see any mention of the fact that consumers have been overspending for so long and it might actually be economically healthier in the long-run for there to be a cutback. IANAE (I Am Not An Economist) but it seems to me that if you just keep building magic castles on magic castles, eventually there will have to be an implosion. The earlier it happens, the less catastrophic the end result.
How To Haggle
The pricetag is no longer the final word, stores are playing “let’s make a deal,” and haggling is in. Consumer Reports Todd Marks tells The Today Show the secrets to haggling success:Be open and friendly in your discussion with the salesperson, ask for them to “work with you” on the priceBe…
Use A Price Book To Save Money On Groceries
For the ultimate in pricing transparency when shopping for groceries, use a price book. Frugal bloggers everywhere write about it like it’s the GTD of grocery shopping, and our own reader marsneedsrabbits suggested it in a thread earlier this week:
The solution to all this is a price book. It costs whatever a cheap notebook costs you, and saves a surprising amount of money and starts saving you money immediately.
If you’re detail oriented and ready to start cutting costs at the supermarket, here’s more info along with links to downloadable forms, spreadsheets (for those spreadsheet junkies), and advice.
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The IRS is holding $1.2 billion in unclaimed refunds for 1.3 million people who still haven’t filed a 2004 tax return. [IRS]
