Frugal Blog

A recent CNN article says: “Bad news about the banking industry may have you wondering about the safety of your hard earned cash at your own bank.” See also my article, How Much Is A Ton Of Interest?

Money Magazine says, “A recent report from the Federal Reserve shows that 15 percent of U.S. banks began tightening credit standards at the end of 2006 - the most since the early 1990s.” Read Getting The Best Loan to learn how to overcome this problem. Also see my article, How Much Is A Ton of Interest?

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.

I found this helpful article to assist in better understanding and interpreting your credit report. See Help! I don’t Understand My Credit Report. For additional information you can also view my article, Credit Scoring Basics and the link within the article called Improving Your Credit Score.

Though I do not agree with all of the article, WGAL.com offers the following discussion:  “If you’re carrying thousands of dollars in credit card debt, struggling to pay the rent every month and getting calls from collections agencies, you might be considering bankruptcy. Yet for almost all circumstances, a good financial advisor will tell you that’s the last thing you should do.”  See Viable Alternative To Bankruptcy.

An Air Force public Affairs office offers this tid bit that is reaching into the pockets of civilians and milittary.  It seems scammers generate random routing and account numbers, into which they try to deposit one cent. Once the one-cent deposit clears, the perpetrators know the account is active and begin to withdraw funds from the account.
Airman Loses $600 to ‘1-cent deposit’ Scam.

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.