Archive for April, 2011

Debt Payoff Calculator Review

Debt Payoff Calculator

Who would like to use the same debt calculator used by our Men and Women in uniform?

Well now you can

President Obama has declared the Month of April as National Financial Literacy Month.The President blames those on Wall Street for running rampant over Americans on Main Street.

To help American Consumers make wise financial decisions, the United States Government is offering a virtual library full of financial tools and information, to help Debtors (Consumers) make better and more informed financial decisions.

One of the tools you might find impressive is the Debt Payoff Calculator.

The good thing about this debt calculator is that it is super easy to use. All you have to do is enter your amount of debt. Next simply use the slider bars to indicate your loan interest rate and minimum monthly payment.

The bad thing about the debt calculator is that it only goes up to 20% interest. I’ll bet you already know that interest rates for loans can far exceed 20%.

Another negative is that you can not save any of the information entered into the calculator. If you want to update your payoff information, you’ll have to start all over (each and every time). With that said, it is still a fun calculator to play around with.

4 Foolish Way’s Millions Lose Their Money

Don't Be A Fool After April First

Every Year on the first of April, American’s play a fascinating game called “April Fool’s.”

On April Fool’s Day, the only rule is to fool someone. During the rest of the year, millions of other Americans unknowingly act like fool’s financially.

There are 4 foolish ways to that people loose their money.

1. Failing To Check The Contract’s Fine Print

A while ago, I was looking for a part-time job. I interviewed at a place that sold products over the internet. I was being interviewed by a Man named Jason. He told me that they sold health products. His company was searching for people to help start-up the company.

After accepting the Job, I went to training. Then what I learned at training triggered a suspicious response in me. What I heard my trainer say to me was, “We offer free trials of health products…and the contract states, if the person does not cancel before the trial period, their card will be charged. He said it was a well established business model based on the following:

• 80% of people who accept free try-out’s don’t read the Contract’s terms and conditions

• 50% of people don’t cancel before the trial period ends

• Up to 25% of those extend their purchase for at least 3 months

The problem was that the average price after the trial was up to $70 per month! The average customer would be charged for a three month supply before they would cancel. That adds up to $210. Imagine what you could do with that $210?

To make the problem worse, the company knew they would make $140 per average customer .That’s because the majority of people charged would wait to long to stop the first and second payments.

” I said to myself, “whoa…what they were trying to do was unethical.”

So I quit that Job at the next break and I never returned. I could not allow myself to be involved contracted scheme to snip a minimum of $140 from anyone.

2.  Credit Card Defaults

When the Credit Card ACT of 2009 was signed, some frightening fact’s were left largely unspoken. The most shocking fact is that when a Credit Card Holder misses a payment, they can legally be punished. A Default Credit Card has higher rates. These rates can double and even triple your monthly payment.

Some Credit Cards have Default Clauses that claim that the Credit Card Company can increase your rates to astounding amounts. Look at it this way…if someone is paying $100 per month in minimum monthly payments, they are loosing $1,200 per year.

The Credit Card ACT of 2009 does protect against ‘Retroactive Rate Increases’ but sadly not on rates due to Credit Card Default in the future. Millions of people loose money every month because they are not aware of Credit Card Default Provisions.

3. Bad Budgeting Skills

For many people, budgeting is like planning their own funeral. Nobody likes to pay for anything that they don’t want. But every one has to pay for the thing’s they need. Budgeting is essential to living a better life. More people are finding that budgeting can be fun with the right budgeting tools.

Sadly, many people don’t know that having higher level budgeting skills can put money back into their pocket. Budgeting is about more than just paying bills. Budgeting also includes finding ways to save more money every month.

Last summer my electric bill was about $250 per month or $3,000 over the year. I had a goal to get the bill down by $50 which would save me an extra $600 over a year. So, replaced all high watt bulbs with energy saving ones, I kept the air conditioner low while at work and turned off lights when not in use.

The last two months my electric bill dropped to an average of $180…about a 60% savings from the months before

4. Failing To Inform Family About Finances

Too many people fail to inform their family about their financial situation. This fault is one of the most foolish ways to lose money. Couples rarely discuss money unless they are arguing about it. Rarely do couples sit down and build a budget together. This is a shame. When it comes to budgeting two heads are better than one.

The good news is it is easy to avoid the financial failures that come with the lack of providing family members with information. Try the exercise below?

1. Go to your husband, wife or significant other
2. Declare that you are broke
3. Check for their reaction

What you are hoping is that they are understanding and willing to discuss finances. If they get angry about it tell them that you were testing their “Financial Communication” skills. But whatever happens at least you’ll know you have broken the ice on talking about money issues.