October 2010 Archives

Today marks an important anniversary. This date in 1929 was when The New York Stock Exchange crashed and began the start of The Great Depression. There was plenty of wealth floating around in the Roaring Twenties, but the bull market came to an end on October 29, a day called "Black Tuesday." The consequent slump was devastating for businesses and consumers, and lasted for 10 years. Our latest recession was constantly compared to The Great Depression. While this one wasn't quite as damaging, it had similar effects; unemployment, low stock prices, difficulty securing credit, the closing of businesses, and more.

I think my generation has also learned lasting lessons from this recession. I think some of these lessons will be lasting and have taught us not to take things for granted now that we know how bad things can get.

read on and enjoy this roundup of my 10 favorite credit- and debt-related posts from the past week!

It looks like regulators at the Federal Reserve Board were listening when consumer groups and others lambasted a new database of credit card agreements that debuted in May 2010.

Five months after its less-than-stellar debut, the database has had a quiet makeover.But don't get your hopes up too quickly.

I still can't find my individual credit card agreement on the Fed's site. I searched in vain for my Citi Forward card agreement. No luck for me on that one, but others may have better luck, depending on the issuer and how many of their contracts are posted on the Fed's site.

Want to scare your bank this Halloween? Call up and ask some tough questions about how they treat their customers.

That suggestion -- which is typically good for frightening lenders year round, by the way -- was the focus of my recent blog, "Posing tough credit card questions to your bank."

While the BP oil leak was capped months ago, many problems still linger, and it will take a while to fully clean up and restore the area. This lingering problem reminds me of credit. It takes hard work and discipline to build and maintain a good credit rating. But what happens when we have an emergency or don't quite understand how credit works and find ourselves with bad credit, debt collection notices or even bankruptcy? Once these things happen, they tarnish your reputation, and not just briefly. They stay for a long time, making it hard to clean up.

If we aren't cognizant of the long-term effects of negative actions on our credit, we may find ourselves mopping up the damage for much longer than we expected.

To get tips on how to prevent mopping up your debt-related mistakes, read on for my top 10 favorite personal finance blog posts from the past week.

How often do you write checks these days?

A growing number of people have given up check writing as electronic, plastic and online payment methods have expanded. That's why I'm a bit puzzled by a new campaign called: "Stand up for your right to write checks."

A press release about the campaign quotes the results of a telephone poll of 1,005 adults conducted July 17-21, 2010. More than a third of respondents (38 percent) said they would consider walking out of or not returning to a restaurant or business that refused to accept checks for payment. Three out of four people (75 percent) said they should have the freedom to pay at stores or restaurants with whatever method they choose -- check, credit card, debit card or cash.

But check writing is on a steady decline in the United States -- has been for two decades. Who's really upset about places that don't take checks?

Before making a major purchase -- such as a car, home or costly appliance -- you probably ask the salesperson some tough questions. But do you pose similarly challenging inquiries to the bank when you're applying for a credit card?

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) thinks you should.

On Oct. 12, the rescue mission finally began to save the 33 Chilean miners who had been trapped half a mile below earth since Aug. 5. In a stunning endeavor watched live around the world, the miners were lifted to the surface one-by-one through a narrow capsule, aptly named Phoenix (Fenix in Spanish) after the mythological bird that rose from the ashes. The last miner was lifted out the night of Oct. 13, and the final rescue worker was lifted out a few hours later. Amazingly, officials have reported that the majority of the men are in excellent physical and mental condition.

Being in debt can't truly be compared to being trapped in a mine, but those in massive debt do often have a sense of despair that they will never get out. Severe debt can even cause depression and suicide. It takes a lot of hard work, strict discipline and sometimes the help of professionals, but it is possible to shed your debt and get out of the hole.

Please read on for a roundup of my favorite personal finance blog posts from the past week, many of which offer advice about handling debt.

The CEO of a national non-profit credit counseling group uses the humor of Saturday Night Live to make a point about what ails the U.S. economy and family finances.

Just "FIX IT!," she says in annual speech.

I've never been to Germany, but living in Central Texas can make you feel culturally close to the beer and wurst of Deutschland. And now, one of my blog posts has made a carnival celebrating the country's annual Oktoberfest event.

For the latest Carnival of Personal Finance, host Alpha Consumer has chosen an Oktoberfest theme for her collection of blog posts from "the best of the web's money writers." The carnival includes my recent blog post, "The South: We're poor, overweight -- and we've got low credit scores," which discusses how those scores appear to sink once you head below the Mason-Dixon line.

As a resident of Texas -- which is part of the South, the Southwest or its own country, depending on who you ask -- you don't have to look far to find culinary and cultural connections with Germany.

There have been rumors for years that the iPhone would be available to Verizon Wireless customers, but every time consumers and industry experts thought it was about to happen, it never did. Well, the time has finally come. Verizon customers no longer have to flee their cell phone contracts to get the beloved iPhone. A Verizon-friendly version of the iPhone will be on sale early next year, according to The Wall Street Journal. AT&T's monopoly on the popular mobile device is ending.

For the past few years, anyone who was on a plan other than AT&T was out of luck if they wanted the iPhone. They could wait until their contract ran out, but most contracts are for two years. If they were desperate (like me), they paid a hefty termination fee on their existing plan to switch over, and then paid several hundred more dollars for a new iPhone. If consumers had bad credit, they also had to pay a deposit. That's a lot of work to get your hands on a cell phone. Sometimes it hurts to be patient, but if we can suck it up, it's worth it.

Read on to soak up some of my favorite personal finance advice and insight from blogs in the past week!

It's a sign of the times. As consumers shy away from making credit card purchases and running up debt, layaway programs at retailers like Kmart and Sears are making a resurgence.

But they aren't alone. Now even some pawn shops are getting in on the layaway act. Outside one Value Pawn and Jewelry shop in Tampa, Fla., a banner with Santa Claus, one of his reindeer and a Christmas tree proclaims "Layaway now for Christmas." Put 10 percent down, and the purchase is interest free till the jolly old elf arrives.