Credit Management School

no Title

2008-03-24T02:03:00.000-07:00

I have just remembered that I've been missing one important thing in my blog. i'm mad about vintage ads and I collect them in my PC (no printed versions so far). Here is one of the ads I tenderly love - some years ago people were afraid of e-mails!!!

Spring is the time of the new and fresh!

2008-03-21T02:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been staying out of my blog for aa long time, really. And now it is spring all around - it is sunny from morning till evening and I feel so energetic thanks to this!
Web always contains someting new and intriguing, so I decided to make a bit of Internet surfing last night. And my interest lay in finance and beauty issues.
I'm fond of 2 things - fashion and gossip and frugal living - not a harmonic combination of interests.
One of my discoveries is perezhilton.com site which is a rather curious collection of juicy pictures and hot gossip! I liked it so much that it is among my bookmarks now. I don't feel ashamed, really.
Another resut of my investigation is a serious web source for credit card information and orders. It is notable that CreditBreak.com was specially designed for consumers with good credit history who want to keep frugal with their credit card spendings.
The site is new, unlike the previous one, so the information is being added presently.

Continuing the Topic of Financial Recession...

2008-02-14T04:29:00.000-08:00

Personal finance sites go on discussing the hot topic of lending market fall and crisis. Banks seem to invent new authentic ways to cut the risks as much as possible. Egg bank in Britain made something just outstanding: they cancel the card of the customer after he pays off his balance. That is not damaging for a person's credit score. Hmm... It is better to read the original article - Applying for a Credit Card after Canceling One. In fact, it didn't add any optimism to me...

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T04:14:00.000-08:00

It is great that there is a holiday when everyone of us can confess our love without confusion. You can look at the person you love and smile and tell him you love him - just without any reason! You can dress in pink and red and buy a heap of sweets - without feeling ashamed! beautiful holiday for beautiful souls.

Providing Safety for Credit Card Payments at Restaurant

2008-02-04T04:01:00.000-08:00

My sister had a misfortune last Saturday: after visiting a posh restaurant she found her credit card number was stolen. Thanks God the bank practices great security methods and she didn't lose anything. However, the whole thing was absolutely stressing.
We decided to find out whether there is anything in this country that can prevent such breaches. Google gave a very interesting result: an article about credit card payment security at restaurants tells about pay-at-table devices to control how your credit card is processed by the waiter. they also say the device is widely used in Europe, while in the US it is not well-known. We are looking forward to seeing the gadget in our restaurants... Using cash so far.

2008-02-01T03:44:00.000-08:00

Credit management, money saving... so many things to think over every day! And I wonder: are the rich think of how much they spend daily, too? Is anyone of you worried about his/her finance as much as I am about mine? I'm going mad about being frugal... using an old shampoo indtead of shower gel is not the worst thing to do, believe me....

Another Issue Concerning Recession

2008-01-30T04:02:00.000-08:00

The end of the Christmas spending time coincided with the recession in the financial market in the US. The article Credit And Cash Spending Cut tells us what possible results we can face in the nearest future, since we are up to our ears in debt and we have suddenly stopped spending with our plastics... No need to retell, just go to the link.

2008-01-27T23:25:00.000-08:00

After months of toil, I finally passed my test in driving and now I've got the cherished driving license!!! But... I have no car!!
In my plans there is a small cute low-consuming car... corean or japanese... and I'm going to start looking for my dream very soon.
An auto loan will not be cheap for me, I know, since my credit score is someting that needs considerable improvement)))) However, the bank says it is possible to refinance the loan later... Not sure, but hope for the better...

Economy Recession in the US - Is It True???!!!

2008-01-24T22:05:00.000-08:00

The newspapers and info portals are bursting with reports and reviews of the processes taking place in the American economy. The widely-discussed recession or CRISIS in this country really makes me and all the residents anxious. I'm not speaking about the stock markets. I speak about my friends and relatives being in huge debt and unable to pay it off. Who is to blame - them or the banks for issuing so much credit to them?
However, all is not so bad, according the the article on Financial Crisis And Credit Cards I recently came across. they said the rates will fall. And indeed, yesterday there was a message in the news that federal reserve announced the prime rate decrease which will result in lower interest rates... we'll see what'll come of this.

What Would You Do?

2008-01-18T01:33:00.000-08:00

Today it is Friday and tomorrow I'm going to have a party at my place. I can't believe it - there is going to be 12 people!!! And my tiny tiny apartment will be just bulging at the seams!
What would you do if all your friends decided to go and have fun ay you mini-apartment?
But I keep encouraged by the well-known 'the more the merrier'... The food will be fancy, the music will be great! So, you are welcome, too)))

Keeping Frugal To Stay The Most Of A Woman

2008-01-14T22:17:00.000-08:00

All my life I was fond of buying the best cosmetics and I've always had heaps of it. But since I started to learn frugal living, the issue of saving on cosmetics became urgent. Large cosmetic stores are my passion, so I frequently use store credit cards there. Although it doesn't take me long to pay the balances off, I tend to spend more when using a credit card in these cases.
Now I will share some principles I worked out for keeping the beauty budget up to the frugal mark.

I avoid buying expensive skincare products - face creams like Vichy are full of hormones or can cause allergy. Olay is my favourite brand for facial beauty. As for body care, I prefer products for children, like Johnson's Baby...
I avoid buying on impulse which is more often caused by advertizing. My friend who works for an ads agency, told me that the price of a beauty product depends partly on the worth of promotion campaign. Plus, the price can never be a reflexion of the quality.
The products you use rarely (for example, black nail polish or sparkling eyeliner), should be kept cheap.
Products you use daily should be economic and of high quality, let them be more expensive.

When spending on beauty products, I prefer using debit cards, in order to avoid balances accumulating. After a bit of calculation, I understood that store credit cards are less advantageous than usual low APR credit cards, as the rewards they give are useless under such high interest rates.

Preparing for a next piece of writing...

2007-12-13T06:45:00.000-08:00

Now, I'm very busy at work, so I have too little time to get prepared for a serious post. Holiday time is hot, I must say, partly because I have absolutely no ideas about the present and the whole celebration. Besides, much time is taken by my driving course))) Very soon you will be able to see me on the road, with my eye wide open and my back wet)))
I have just read a number of posts from www.getrichslowly.org - fabulous blog! I'm just fond of it!

Is My Govt Protecting Me?

2007-12-05T21:07:00.000-08:00

As I'm putting a start to this blog, I would like to investigate the issue that seems to explain many things in the credit card market. This issue is government regulations in this market - the one we have become rather a frequent visitor of.
I came to the idea of investigating this topic a bit, afetr I read the article devoted to minimum credit card purchases at RequestCredit.com (sometimes they have interesting articles there).
So, what can an ordinary consumer expect from a bank as well as from the Govt when he entrusts his money or identity to the first?
As a matter of fact, the banks do not have a carefree prosperous life that we can imagine. Financial institutions are being widely controlled by different agencies. The Comptroller of the Currency, The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, The Office of Thrift Supervision and a number of others are in charge of regulating the banks' credit card and loan practices.
Everybody knows that the govt determine caps which the banks cannot exceed when issuing credit (Regulation Q). However, in some states the limitations are not that strict (I heard about South Dakota), that's why some irresponsible banks prefer locating their head offices in these states.
As you see, the over-regulating has some flaws, and the banks cannot but use this to their advantage. Super-tiny-absolutely-incomprehensible terms and conditions (fine print) is one of the examples: banks are obliged to show all the terms, but they are not entitled to write them in capitals...
But, I should say, my research gave me a measure of hope. Now, thanks to bnet.com I know that:
- The bank HAS to explain to mae why I was denied for a credit or plastic.
- The bank MUST report infarmation about the way how accurately I pay for my credit to the major credit bureaus
- The bank should be open for govt, it should report its income, policies and other aspects to the above mentioned offeces, otherwise it is closed
- No one will consider my race or sex when regarding my application for credit

Hi, it's me)))

2007-11-30T03:45:00.000-08:00

I started this blog because my greatest interest (after clubbing and shopping and partly because of them;-)) is personal finance. Hope it will be a good school for newbies in credit and those who have experience will teach me something!