In the Smart Money article The Coming Credit Card Crunch is the following argument: “THE SUBPRIME-MORTGAGE crisis has cost millions of homeowners their homes. Now it threatens to put the squeeze on even more consumers by spilling into the credit-card market”. See also my article Credit Cards Dirty Little Secrets
Associated Press writers say, “Americans are falling behind on their credit card payments at an alarming rate…”. See Unpaid Credit Cards Bedevil Americans. Also see my article Credit Card’s Dirty Little Secrets.
The CNN article, November Foreclosures Take a Dip, may have some offsetting news. It seems “Home prices are falling and threaten to drop further through 2008. These trends could add to foreclosures because lower prices mean strapped home owners can’t tap into home equity as easily. Cash-flow shortages can leave them vulnerable. The states with the biggest foreclosure problems remain those from the Sun Belt, where high price appreciation during the boom years left many homes over-valued, and the Rust Belt, where collapsing industries have led to economic stagnation and job loss.”
The Bush administration has come up with a plan to help strapped homeowners facing a daunting jump in their monthly mortgage payments. But Clinton says it doesn’t go far enough. See article Bush To Unveil Plan.
US News reports: “As New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo continues his probe into questionable practices of universities and college lenders, a new survey reveals that 63% of those with college debt spent “little or no time” comparison shopping for student loans and 78% spent less than a day researching their financing options.” Read more at National Poll Highlights Student Loan Crisis.
The Boston News offers a very intelligent article based upon a Harvard study which says, “Some people make money mistakes that cost them dearly. Those people, who tend to be poorer and less well educated, end up ’subsidizing’ the more well-to-do by overpaying for financial products and services, according to new research from Harvard University.” The article also offers tremendous ideas to overcome these money mistakes. See Correcting Your Money Mistakes.
Here is one for the books. If you have good credit, please, please, please do not follow this latest trend. It seems you can now rent out your good credit for sometimes as much as $2000 to allow another consumer with poor scores to become an authorized user. But in so doing, the chance of you loosing every ounce of good credit is beyond measurement. Read more at Credit Scores For Sale .
“We’ve all been reading stories about the subprime-mortgage meltdown for months, but last week it came home to Philadelphia with the release of a comprehensive study by the Reinvestment Fund, a nonprofit group that works to stimulate growth in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.” See philly.coms article Take The Pain Out Of Sub Prime
“For some, the lesson learned is: ‘buyer beware.’ But a series of interviews with subprime borrowers, mortgage lenders, appraisers, current and former regulators, and the inspector general of the Department of Housing and Urban Development paints a different picture — of a widespread pattern of questionable lending practices and outright fraud that has already sparked a wave of criminal and civil actions.” Read more at this MSNBC article Mortgage Woes Could Be tip of the Iceburg
Frugal Corners is about resources to save you money. Whether you are looking to reduce your debt or eliminate it entirely, the affect will be the same. You will save “tons” of money. And the best part is, the money you save is like extra money you earn simply by doing things differently… and its all tax free. See this lost of money saving sites at Frugal Corners