COOL QUOTE " Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success." --Dale Carnegie, author Quotes from all previous newsletters IN THIS ISSUE #169 Letter from the Publisher Cool Quote Refinancing your mortgage DebtSmart® Recommended Products and Services Valentine's Day On A Dime STATISTICS: Housing Sales Tumble "Got it down to 7.25% FIXED..." Household Math(tm): Semiannual Mortgage Payoff Biweekly mortgage may be a rip-off 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. Housing Sales Tumble Sales of single-family homes fell by 13 percent in 2007. This is the biggest decline since a 17.7 percent drop in 1982. The median price of a single-family home fell to $217,800 in 2007, down 1.8 percent from 2006. 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,

Rates are coming down! The Federal Reserve Bank has made some major rate reductions to stimulate the stock market. When rates drop, people tend to pull their money out of safe investments, like CDs and money markets, and gamble in the stock market.

The good news for people with debt (which is nearly everyone) is that most cards are tied to the prime rate, and when that drops, so should card rates. Of course, banks will be slow to reduce rates and quick to raise them. That means it may take a while to see a change.

Additionally, lower rates mean mortgage savings. Since many people have been asking me about refinancing, I've included my video/article on the subject in this issue.

If you're having trouble with your mortgage, then you may want to check out 995Hope and AcornHousing. They may be able to help.

On another note, I found this nice, and free, home inventory software. It is a very good idea to document your belongings, just in case you should ever need to file an insurance claim. It will make your life much easier during what would already be a difficult situation. You can check it out at KnowYourStuff.

If you're looking to earn some extra money from home, and you have phone chops, then this will work for you! I saw the CEO interviewed on Fox News, and everything looks legit. WorkingSolutions

Best,
Scott
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With the fed lowering rates, people are asking me about refinancing their mortgage. The decision is a math problem--it's that simple. I've included DebtSmart custom software to go along with this video/article...

You should always be thinking about refinancing because your mortgage is probably the most expensive purchase you'll ever make. Notice that I didn't say your house was the most expensive purchase. That's because when you took a mortgage, you purchased that money to pay for the house. The purchase of that money is paid by the interest charges.

You may have paid $150,000 for the house, but you purchased that $150,000 from a bank for, let's say, 7% APR over 30 years, with monthly payments of near $1,000 per month, costing you a total of $360,000.00. That's $150,000 for the house and $210,000 for the money to buy the house!

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Transcript of article

Using a little imagination, you can make your Valentine's day a little more fun and a lot less expensive. If you want to add a little personalized romance, or if you don't have the time or money to buy all the pre-made things in the store, here are some ideas to help you make the day special.

For the Kids: My mom always made a great, but inexpensive, Valentine's Day treat for us. She would take construction paper and cut a big heart out of it (about 8x10 inches). She would staple the edges together and write our names and an "I love you" on the outside. She would then fill the heart with candy purchased on clearance after Christmas. It was very inexpensive, and we loved it!

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Hi Scott,

Received your book Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt,--it's a winner!

I have 6 credit cards. I decided that today was the day to TALK my way to lower APR's. Hey, the prime rate is dropping.

Simmons First National Bank, Pine Bluff, Arkansas--been a credit card holder with them since 1973. The rate was 12.25% variable. Called and got it down to 7.25% FIXED for Purchases and Balance Transfers. Now listen to this: Finance charge is calculated on Average Daily Balance. No Annual Fee. NO transaction fee for Balance Transfers.

Chase--got them to reduce from 12.47% to 9.49 Variable. Will transfer this one to Simmons. Called American Express--they will not reduce from 10.25--so will transfer all but $200 of this one to Simmons as well, since I have a credit limit of $30,000 with Amex.

Thanks for all the good stuff in your book.

Cheers,
Noel Glucksman

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

This question from a DebtSmart Reader, Margie: I purchased property for $27,515.00 at 7.5% for 8 years on a semiannual payment of $2318.00. The first year, three payments were made of $2,318.00; we have paid three years so far. This year, on our due date, we would like to pay off the mortgage. What will be the amount due? (NOTE: Assume that the third payment in year one was made with the second payment.)

Answer this problem

Biweekly mortgages have been touted by many companies as being an excellent way to save money and pay off your mortgage earlier. Some companies even claim that "it won't cost you any more than you're paying now." What a crock! What do you think a true biweekly mortgage saves you? I'm talking about the savings from paying more frequently. Well, it doesn't save that much at all. Hold on to your calculators. We're going to use our brains and look at this problem very carefully. Here is something these biweekly mortgage salespeople don't want you to do.

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