COOL QUOTE " Money doesn't always bring happiness. People with ten million dollars are no happier than people with nine million dollars." --Hobart Brown Quotes from all previous newsletters IN THIS ISSUE #167 Letter from the Publisher Cool Quote Problems with balance transfers DebtSmart® Recommended Products and Services Accidentally late indeed VIDEO: Debit vs. Credit STATISTICS: Late Accounts Up "Your books should be required reading..." Household Math(tm): Cutting the budget Every Penny Counts--another thought DebtSmart® Column for your use in-print, ezine, or website DebtSmart® books and software, and other products Update Your Email Address, Subscribe, Unsubscribe, and Disclaimer Information Publisher: Scott Bilker Editor: Larissa S. Bilker Assistant Editor: Denise Troy ISSN 1538-6740 Advertising Information You can add DebtSmart® News RSS feeds to your newsreader pages. Note: RSS feeds are not a replacement for the email newsletter but a fast method of finding out what's new here at DebtSmart.com. Late Accounts Up The value of credit card accounts at least 30 days late jumped 26 percent to $17.3 billion in October from a year earlier at 17 large credit card trusts. That represented more than 4 percent of the total outstanding principal balances owed to the trusts on credit cards that were issued by banks such as Bank of America and Capital One and for retailers like Home Depot and Wal-Mart. Read more credit card and debt statistics DebtSmart® Recommended Discover® More Wildlife Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: 12 Months, APR: 10.99%. Advanta Platinum BusinessCard with Unlimited Rewards Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: 16 Months, APR: 7.99%. 37 Days to Clean Credit How I Deleted 9 Inquiries, 5 Negative Accounts, 4 Major Default Accounts, 1 Judgment, and Boosted My Credit Score 135 Points In Only 37 Days! Citi® Platinum Select® MasterCard Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: Up to 12 Months, APR: As low as 8.49%. Blue from American Express® Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: 15 Months, APR: 4.99% (for life on transferred balances). Stop Debt Collectors Cold! Stop Debt Collectors Cold! Plus, for a limited time, 4 bonus reports: (1) How to Get Collection Accounts Off Your Credit Report; (2) How to Avoid Losing Your Home In A Foreclosure; (3) What to Do if You Are Behind on Your Car Payments; and (4) Confidential Interview With A Former Debt Collector Advanta Life of Balance Platinum Card Intro Rate: 2.99%, Time Period: Until Paid Chase Platinum Visa® Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: 12 Months, APR: 14.24%. Discover® More Card Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: 12 Months, APR: 10.99%. Credit Secrets Bible The Credit Secrets Bible contains more step-by-step, easy-to-learn, easy-to-use insider consumer credit secrets than any other home study course on the market.

Hi,

I hope you had a wonderful New Year celebration!

How are those resolutions going? It's been nine days, and you should be doing just fine-- working on paying off debts, lowering your interest rates, you know the deal.

IN THE NEWS
FICO is changing their scoring model. Touted as FICO 08, Fair Isaac Corp. is launching new mathematical process to compute our credit scores. This latest model will make things better for people with good credit and more difficult for those who repeat bad behaviors, such as paying late. As I always say, your credit report is your financial résumé. You want to make sure it looks good--always! Translation: pay on time! Even if you have to borrow from one card to pay another, pay on time!

FICO Score Estimator
Speaking of the FICO score. FICO has a Score Estimator at their site. It's pretty good. I took the short quiz, and it did estimate my score within 20 points. So, if you don't feel like shelling out the cash to get your score, then try the estimator. It's online here.

GUARD YOUR SNAIL MAIL!
This is just amazing. A couple towns over from me, a woman had her credit card stolen from her mailbox by a neighbor. Lacey woman charged in $2,500 credit swipe from neighbor.

SHOPPING TIP OF THE WEEK
"Hey, did you know you could go into most any retail store and offer to buy anything at a 10% discount? If they refuse to give it to you, then you can simply say you'll take your business elsewhere. And, 8 out of 10 times, as you're walking away, they will call you back. A sale at 10% to them is better than no sale at all. I applied that technique today while in Radio Shack, and sure enough, they said they'd give me a 10% discount. Pretty cool huh? We, as consumers, can always negotiate. Sadly, many people do not realize this. Why not go try it just for fun? You may be surprised."--Barry Wainwright

READER COMMENTS
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"Love your stuff. I'm a believer."--David Moore

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"I love this newsletter--with every issue, I always take away at least one or two new or good pieces of information!"--Toni Felts

Best,
Scott

Hi Scott,

I have gone through the trouble the past few months to get a permanent, lower-interest credit card and also to get a promotional rate on the new card to transfer balances ($5,000 to $12,000). I go through the whole process and get approved for $1,000. I cancel the card immediately, because it's just not worth it. I canceled a card with $29,000 credit earlier in the year because I didn't want to support the company.

What might be the problem?

Seth

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"Accidentally" late indeed! I had the same issue arise recently (that you talked about in One Day Late, Yeah Right)--was running short on time (my card gives me essentially a weekend to get the payoff--we don't keep a balance) to get my check in the mail. No way can the bill just sit here a few days--we gotta move on it!

Anyway, this one sat a few says, and I needed to send it--destination was about 200 miles away--major city to major city--but I still USPSed it registered mail requiring a signature confirmation of delivery. Next statement--Voila!--a late payment fee of $39.00.

I contacted the company and asked them why and was informed the payment had arrived late. I countered with the tracking information--emailed it to them--that showed the payment had arrived the day before the due date and had the signature of one of their employees. Slam-dunk right?

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More reasons why you should choose your credit card over your debit card. 2006 was the first year that saw debit card purchases top the one-trillion dollar mark. But when you head to the store, which kind of plastic is best...debit or credit? According to money reporter Stacy Johnson, it's a question of interest.

Play the Video

"My nose has been stuck in your books! Not since I read Victor Hugo have I carried a book everywhere I went, and I'm just now returning to the rest of the world, armed and ready for battle. (Your books should be required reading for anyone opening a credit account, if not a prerequisite for high-school graduation.) I'm about to call Discover to try to get a late fee canceled on my mother's account. Two months ago, she realized--just as the clerk rang up her transaction--that she'd gone over her limit by $6.00. She immediately drove to the nearby Sears and paid cash to bring her account below the limit, but--surprise!--Discover charged the overlimit fee anyway. Since she didn't realize this, her next minimum payment left the balance still over the limit, and she was charged another fee. I'm going to ask to have both fees waived (I'll be glad if they'll waive at least one), and, while I'm talking with Ms. Katy Didd, I'll also ask to have the interest rate reduced and the limit raised."

Thanks!
Anne

Read about special offer for all three of Scott Bilker's best-selling books

Susan spends 30% of her income on housing expenses, 30% repaying her credit card debts, 20% on all taxes, 10% on groceries, 5% on clothing, and saves what's left over. She decides that she wants to pay back her debt more quickly, and to do that, she needs to do a few budget cuts. Susan cuts the grocery bill by 25%, the clothing spending in half, and dedicates all the money she used to save toward the credit card debts. How much, by percentage, of her income is now being used for repaying credit card debt?

Answer this problem

Hi Scott,

Thanks for your most recent newsletter article, Every Penny Counts. I am also of the mind that every penny does count, and that leads me to responding today. Since buying and reading your books, I've tightened my finances back up and have a plan to get my cards paid off once again.

I've had credit cards since 1990 and never paid interest until 2005, when I decided to become self-employed. The credit card debt soon mounted. To say the least, I got in over my head and have since gone back to work elsewhere while keeping my business on the side by working out of my home.

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