You really should read the entire article and pay attention to the offer you apply for.

By the way, the site is free and also has some really cool tools.

What you buy

Where you shop

If people who were victims of the subprime loan mess happen to shop there

If you live in a state hit hard by foreclosures, such as Florida, Nevada and California

Would these last 2 mean that shopping at Wal-Mart in Florida, Nevada or California would lower your credit limit since they are the largest retail store and most likely subprime borrowers shop there?

The full article is here. Can your lifestyle hurt your credit?

The article also covered ways that the law backfired like:

Lowered limits

Rate increases

Annual Fees

Fees for paper statements

Mixed blessing: credit card reform may shock some

Maybe people will realize that some companies are not their friends.

New CRL Report: Credit Card Issuers Use Loopholes to Bypass New Rules Intended to Curb Abuses

According to a report from the Center for Responsible Lending, the credit card issuers are making it all but impossible for the average person to know what the real cost of their debt is.

Some of the items that were mentioned were

• Manipulation of interest rates including Pick-A-Rate
• Padding of miscellaneous fees
• Deceptive policy on late-payments

In case you’re wondering what Pick-a-Rate is, here is a direct quote from the article

In this example, a card company tells cardholders their interest rate will be pegged to the prime rate, which until now has usually meant the prime rate on the last day of the last billing cycle. But CRL’s analysis of the fine print finds that a growing number of issuers have added language that allows them to pick the highest prime rate in a 90-day period – no longer a single day . This change can significantly raise a cardholder’s cost, often without his or her knowledge. This particular practice alone costs Americans $720 million a year and, CRL predicts, could grow to $2.5 billion annually in a few years as the practice spreads.

The link in the article was broken but here is the direct link to the report

Dodging Reform As Some Credit Card Abuses Are Outlawed New Ones Proliferate

Summary of Practices PDF

A lot of people will make the resolution to read more and learn to take control of their finances.

Here is a good book that I recently finished and it fits 2 of my requirements for a good book. It was easy to read and contained some really good information.

Start Late, Finish Rich

As with all financial/motivation books, it contains some info that will and will not apply to you. The key is to read the book and allow it to open your mind so you can grow. After all, most of the reasons we haven’t reached the level we want is because we just haven’t figured out how or grown to the point of stepping out of our comfort zone to try. This book will teach you some things and may motivate you to take more control of your life.

May this year see you and  your bank account grow.

Have a great year!!!

Get $40 Free from Lending Club

1. It’s not about money

2. It contains profanity

I usually restrain my self while writing because I don’t know who is going to read it and I don’t want something I said today coming back to haunt me 5 years from now, BUT not today…today the gloves are off and I’m disgusted at the hypocrisy of PETA.

If you click the Read More link, you’ve been warned.

If you don’t know who PETA is, they are the People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals. Sounds good right? They champion the ethical treatment of animals!!! They have sites that fight fast food restaurants treatment of animals, celebrity endorsements and    It sounds like to be against them, you’d have to hate animals, you’d probably kick puppies for fun and maybe even fight dogs. You damn sure wouldn’t love animals IF you hated PETA…Right, Right?

Nope, this fucking group under the guise of promoting animal rights KILLED OVER 95% OF THE 2216 PETS IT TOOK IN, IN 2008. They found homes for 7. Yes, 7 out of 2216. As a matter of fact, according to government records, they’ve killed over 19,200 animals since 1998. THEY KILLED MORE THAN 90% OF ALL THE ANIMALS THEY TOOK IN. They even paid 9,370 bucks for a walk in freezer to store the dead bodies and testified in court that they promised to find homes for animals and then killed them and threw them in a dumpster behind a grocery store BEFORE they attempted to find homes for them. The articles I’ve subjected myself to read don’t list them all but they included a mother and 2 kittens, a beagle and at least 1 puppy.

I’m sure you need proof, because I damn sure did.

PETA Documents

PETA Kills Animals and gets busted dumping the bodies

Trial of PETA members with surprising results

Sign the petition to end PETA’s tax exempt status

Overspending on Debit Cards Is a Boon for Banks

On one hand I believe it’s everyone’s responsibility to know how much they have in their account and not spend money they don’t have.  I also feel that most of the people that are affected are the poor and if someone is already living paycheck to paycheck a couple of overdraft fees can put them into a spiral that is difficult to recover from. I also know that it’s really easy for a couple to spend money at the same time and not realize that the account is overdrawn.