Paying down charge card debt the smart way

If you are working to reduce charge card debt, you’ve a lot of choices to make. Maximizing the amount of money you’ve could be tough. The right decisions can make it work. Decisions about paying down your debt are not always the smartest. Science has shown that you need to re-think how you are paying down.

The technology of how to reduce charge card debt

Studies show a lot of people do not make very good financial choices when it comes to paying off charge card debt. Even with the lowest rate of interest possible, many will pay down the credit card debt they can “get rid of” first. This is the option chosen. Several suggest that you are making more progress when closing a loan or credit card quicker. Even if you get out of debt slower, this is often the choice taken. Get rid of the card with the highest rate of interest. Pay it first.

Facts on charge card debt interest you may question

Consider interest on charge cards first when paying off debt. This will help a lot. You will end up paying more cash on cards with higher interest rates. The annual percentage rate is what the charge card business is charging you just for the privilege of owing money. You don’t want to keep higher interest rates. This is since the money compounds more meaning you’ll have more to pay. Even if you have a small loan that you could repay, it is wiser to put cash toward the highest interest debt.

What you need to do to pay down your credit card debt

How should you pay your charge card debt even though you know which one to pay first?

1. List all your debts. Order them so you are paying the highest Annual Percentage Rate first. Make sure the interest is listed with them.
2. Make a basic household budget if you do not already use one so you know how much money could be spent on paying charge card debt down.
3. Pay more than the minimum amount. You will forever be in debt by paying the minimum. Make sure you are getting it paid.
4. Find extra money to pay down your debt. Find a part-time job or recycle some of your stuff.
5. Leave your savings alone. Several like to just borrow from themselves. You should have that extra cash laying around for emergencies though since otherwise you will just end up using your charge cards again and get put back to the cycle.

Articles cited

Marketplace

marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/09/14/pm-loans-q/

Sugarloaf ski lift breaks - ski patrol evacuates

Sugarloaf ski area is facing an enormous evacuation. A gust of wind broke the lift. The Sugarloaf ski lift brought 5 seats down forty feet and trapped 100 others. Trapped skiers are being separately lowered from the lift. Emergency response teams are estimating two hours to get everyone down. I imagine the resort will probably take out a huge payday loan to repair their lift.

Sugarloaf ski lift collapses and smashes

An enormous gust of wind hit the Sugarloaf ski area at 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday. The cables derailed with the Spillway East Slope lift. Many skiers were hurt as five chairs were thrown 30 to 40 feet down to the snow. There were about one hundred skiers that could not leave the lift. This morning, the wind got up to 20 and 30 miles per hour at the Sugarloaf ski area. The temperature ended up being between 8 and 10 degrees. That means skiers ended up stranded and worried about the cold.

Severe injuries not an issue at Sugarloaf

Though the ski lift failure at Sugarloaf injured several skiers, nobody was critically injured. Sugarloaf was at a “condition yellow” as outlined by Emergency Management for Franklin County, Maine which means there were no deaths or severe traumas. The ski patrol got some help from emergency management crews. This helped get the Sugarloaf Spillway lift clear of skiers. Estimates said that it would take between 90 minutes and 2 hrs to evacuate all of the skiers off the lift.

What the Sugarloaf ski lift evacuation looks like

Ropes and harnesses were used to do the Sugarloaf ski lift evacuation. Teams are throwing ropes over the broken-down ski lift and harnessing skiers to slide down. Skiers are getting from the lift with their skis and everything else even though the procedure is described as “much like rock climbing” by many. The Spillway East will shut down in the Sugarloaf ski resort for a while. This will take weeks to repair the lift, though it may be done faster. All over the coast there have been power outages and shut down cities while this is just the most recent news from the East Coast blizzard.

Citations

WMTV

wmtw.com/r/26299543/detail.html

CNN

news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/28/skiers-fall-from-chairlift-at-maine-resort/?npt=NP1

Assange law enforcement officials report released; legal team enraged

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may be out on bail right now, however that doesn’t mean his lawful team is happy. The British newspaper The Guardian appears to have figured that turnabout is fair play, so they published information on Assange’s leaked out law enforcement officials report. Based on reports, not simply was the statement intended to be private, however the sexually visual facts leaked are apparently incriminating towards Assange.

Julian Assange noted in law enforcement officials statement

The alleged leaked law enforcement officials statement isn't considered a case of turnabout when it comes to Julian Assange's camp trying to determine if it ought to release thousands of cables about intelligence that are private when trying to get free information out there.

Bjorn Hurtig, Julian Assange’s Swedish lawyer, plans to file a formal complaint over the law enforcement officials statement leak.

"It is with great concern that I hear about this because it puts Julian and his defense in a bad position,” Hurtig said.

Press involved in trial

While Assange is currently released on £275,000 ($432,305) bail by super star backers like Jemima Khan, Michael Moore and Bianca Jagger, Assange nevertheless faces criminal allegations in Sweden over multiple counts of sexual assault. The Assange law enforcement official’s statement being released has been characterized as a "smear campaign" meant to bring the 39-year-old journalist/provocateur before the judging eye of the media and circumvent due process.

The sex allegations towards Assange within the Guardian were just a "brief summary" supposedly. His lawful team claims that getting Assange convicted within the court of public opinion was the real purpose of it.

It’s a conspiracy theory that Sweden and Americans take part in

Julian Assange maintains that since the facts surrounding his sexual assault claims came to light, Sweden and the U.S. have been working together in a conspiracy to punish him for the release of various sensitive U.S. intelligence cables. Mark Stephens is Julian Assange's lawyer. He states that Assange won’t be extradited and tried under United States treason laws if he has anything to do with it. Assange is not a United States citizen meaning this likely could be the case. He is really Australian. Furthermore, as Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard recently made the pronouncement that Assange had broken no Australian laws, it could be interesting to see how far the United States may go to trigger an international rift.

Citations

The Australian

theaustralian.com.au/news/world/lawyers-cry-foul-over-leak-of-julian-assange-sex-case-papers/story-e6frg6so-1225973548657

Julia Gillard says Assange broke no Australian laws

youtube.com/watch?v=IqaRK_STjdw

Can underwater home loans be preserved with principal reduction?

Government policymakers are arguing about the efficacy of principal reduction as a solution to a growing number of underwater mortgages. The Obama Administration is trying to convince Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to join a program that decreases the balance of underwater mortgage loans. Specialists say the program will not work unless Freddie and Fannie are on board, but the regulator of those agencies opposes their involvement.

Cutting the foreclosure issue off

It is good for both loan companies and borrows to cut back the amount owed on a mortgage, called principal reduction. Foreclosures benefit nobody, and if you are an underwater borrowers, this is meant to help you keep your home. Nearly 25 percent of U.S. home loans are underwater. Home values continuously dropping is causing the number of underwater home values to continue to grow. There are around 1.5 million underwater home loans, and the government hopes to help them out by adding the principal reduction plan to the Home Affordable Refinancing Program.

Fannie and Freddie need to be team participants

To jump start a sputtering HAMP program, in October the Administration started offering banks additional subsidies in return for principal reduction on underwater mortgages. Qualifying borrows have to owe more than 15 percent than what their home is worth and have to be up-do-date on their mortgage payments. The success of this program is weighed heavily on if Freddie and Fannie join in and participate or not. Around half of all home loans are owned by Fannie and Freddie. So far banks have been reluctant to support principal reduction. The consensus is that if Freddie and Fannie join in, the biggest banks in the U.S. will be pressured to do the exact same.

The reason why won't Freddie and Fannie play along

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will not join in unless the Federal Housing Finance Agency grants their approval, and they won't. When the government had to take over the mortgage giants in 2008, FHFA was charged with curbing losses at Freddie and Fannie. $134 billion and rising is the amount of money thus far the mortgage industry has costs tax payers. Fannie and Freddie's participation in also being pushed by the Obama Administration. Long term losses can be lowered with short term principal reduction. But the FHFA claims as long as underwater borrowers keep making their payments as is, Fannie and Freddie will keep taking their cash.

Articles cited

Pro Publica

propublica.org/article/fannie-and-freddies-govt-regulator-opposes-reducing-mortgages-for-strugglin

Wall Street Journal

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703963704576005990436624546.html

Mortgage11.com

mortgage11.com/2010/12/hamp-loan-modification-help-to-know-more-on-principal-reduction-for-underwater-homeowners/

Low-income loans in Baltimore might happen to be more costly

In Baltimore, Maryland, and surrounding areas, there have been accusations of discriminatory lending rates. When taking out a Federal Housing Administration loan, the rate, no matter your income or credit rating, is supposed to be within a narrow range. One group’s research claims that minority neighborhood FHA loans might have had a higher rate.

Need to have a Federal Housing Administration mortgage while in Baltimore?

A study was released that supposedly proves there is discrimination when it comes to obtaining FHA financial loans by a community-organizing group in Baltimore. For all financial loans that are FHA secured, the interest rate should be close to the same. There is not much of an impact on the rate from the credit rating and amount of loan which isn't like traditional house loans. Then there are Veteran's Administration financial loans. They are very similar. In Baltimore, Maryland, something about FHA loans was discovered within the study. It showed that there were higher interest rates for homes in minority and low-income neighborhoods.

Overages may be responsible

The Justice Department has identified "overages" as one place for abuse. This is for FHA financial loans mostly. Some employees are able to make decisions on things like "overages" on financial loans. This includes processing fees. These mortgage overages help determine the commission the salesperson is paid for the GHA mortgage they help set up. Overage charges are generally higher in low-income or minority neighborhoods. This ends up showing discrimination that happens.

Exactly what discrimination offense had the Federal Reserve Expressing

2008 was when Communities United did its study. The FHA loans had an analysis that year that countered the offense of discrimination from the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve studied these same Baltimore Federal Housing Administration loans, using information that is not readily accessible to the public. In order to preserve privacy, the exact dates mortgages are offered aren’t published. The dive in home prices in late 2008 is what the Federal Reserve attributes the anomaly in mortgage cost to come from. The Baltimore FHA mortgages might really be discriminatory. In that case, more research needs to be done with the 2009 and on data to see if it is true.

Articles cited

Baltimore Sun

weblogs.baltimoresun.com/business/realestate/blog/2010/11/study_raises_questions_about_disparities_in_fha_loans.html

Long-time sweetheart Gibson says yes to Michaels proposal

Bret Michaels has proposed to his longtime girlfriend Gibson. This is after sixteen years of on-again, off-again dating and two children. Michaels got on one knee and proposed to Gibson while they were filming his reality show. The rest of the episode focused on the fact it was the couple’s anniversary. The pair has not yet set a wedding date, however info is soon to follow. This wedding ceremony may need the use of a personel loan to plan it correctly. Source of article – Bret Michaels engaged – Gibson promises to have, hold, and smoke by MoneyBlogNewz.

Getting married is Michaels

The climax of his VH1 show “Bret Michaels: Life as I Know It,” centered on the question of if Bret would propose to his sweetheart. Kristi Gibson and Bret Michaels have had an on-again, off-again relationship for the last 16 years. The couple also has 2 children together, 10 year old Raine and 5 year old Jorja. Kristi did say yes to Michael’s proposal, and the pair is now officially engaged to be married.

Michaels proposal

There was a twist to the proposal. He did end up engaged still. He ended up saying, “I bought you that ring, not to be a friendship with benefits… we’ve had that for a while. It is just one of those things. I love you and I respect you and you’ve been through so much with me. It means something to me.” Both Gibson and Michaels are committed to their children and being parents while Gibson was seen at his side both times this year when he had stints even though they’re on again, off again at times. Michaels spoke about his heart surgery in the proposal too. He said, “if it does not work out and I die during the operation, will you roll my ashes and smoke me?”

Abnormal relationship for Bret Michaels

Though they have been together for sixteen years, Bret Michaels and Kristi Gibson are bucking a trend in relationships. The pair is odd because they have children together, have stayed together and are financially well off. In fact, only 6 percent of children not born within a marriage will end up with parents who have a college degree or higher. A lot of people don’t end up marrying the parent of their child. That makes the couple highly unusual.

Citations

MTV

mtv.com/news/articles/1654705/20101221/bret_michaels.jhtml

BMW emblem burned into the retinas of unsuspecting movie viewers

The Bavarian Motor Works emblem made quite an impression in a marketing demonstration at a German movie theater recently. An audience watching a Bavarian Motor Works commercial had a Bavarian Motor Works logo imprinted on their retinas with a flash they could see after shutting their eyes. Target audience people were fascinated with the cleverness of the ad, while others questioned the safety and integrity of such a method. In any case, you know the company took out an enormous payday installment loan to have something such as this carried out. Source of article – BMW logo burned into the retinas of unsuspecting movie audience by MoneyBlogNewz.

Projecting the BMW logo

The BMW logo has gone where no logo has gone before. Using a type of flash projection technology employed in digital cameras, marketing producers stamped an after-image of the BMW logo on the brains of unsuspecting viewers. The reason why this gimmick was done was clear. It was based off the fact you get the image of the sun imprinted on your retina each time you check out it. It seems to be on the back of your eyelids when they’re closed for a moment. A studio flash unit called Profoto Pro-7B was used behind the screen at a German movie theater. A stencil of the BMW logo was placed in front of the flash.

All about the BMW commercial

An ad for BMW motorcycles with the Superbike world champion Ruben Xaus in it was when the BMW logo was projected into people's retinas. Producers say the goal is to "literally get inside people's heads" like this. This is what the BMW brand afterimage will do. They called the technique a “harmless photo flash.”. First Xaus talks. He says, "I am living my dream. ‘What dream?’ you ask. Just close your eyes and look deep inside yourself. Possibly it’s your dream too. It is in you.” At this moment the BMW logo is projected at the audience. The flash is all the audience notices. Xaus then says “Close your eyes and you also will see it.”

The BMW logo flash got the audience saying

There were a lot of audience members very fascinated with it. They didn't care that they were being tested out. Others question the safety of having a BMW logo burned to the retinas at the movies. It only lasts for about 1/3,000 to 1/400 of a second with the Profoto Pro-7B flash. The light is very bright though. It is common knowledge that looking at the sun can hurt your eyesight. Brief flashes of light that are bright enough are bad too. Epileptic seizures are caused by them.

BMW logo flash projection

youtube.com/watch?v=GR_vDq2iXJ4

Info from

Christian Science Monitor

csmonitor.com/Innovation/Latest-News-Wires/2010/1217/BMW-logo-branded-on-eyelids-How-did-they-do-that-video

CNET

news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20025875-71.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=TechnicallyIncorrect

The Epoch Times

theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/47641/