Low Interest Credit Cards

About a year and a half ago, the U.S. Mint started selling one dollar coins directly to the public via their website. They also offered free domestic shipping and charged face value for the coins, even if the buyer paid with a credit card. Can you guess how people took advantage of this?

The $800k Coin Purchase…
According to the WSJ, one buyer raked up an astonishing $800,000 in coin purchases. Allegedly, he did this to earn the rewards on the purchases, then turned around and cashed the coins in at a bank. Assuming he earned the typical 1% cash back, that equals out to be an $8,000 profit!

Reportedly, the news of this credit card “deal” spread through online forums and message boards, resulting in tons of people doing it for the exact same reason… easy cash back and miles. Although this scheme wasn’t illegal, it wasn’t exactly what the U.S. Mint intend

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Like many countries around the world, the United States is in the process of moving through a recession. These economic times can be hard on everyone involved. Households find it hard to keep up with their obligations, businesses have to cut back in order to prevent shutting down altogether, and governments have to find ways to maintain essential services and work toward restoring economic stability.

There are several reasons why the current recession has gripped the United States. The majority of these causes are common to any type of recessionary period. Understanding how the process begins and what ultimately unfolds as the recession affects more and more sectors of the economy can also help to explain why and how the United States is moving through the current crisis and beginning to show some signs of recovery.

At the root of the current recession is the reality of inflation. It is no secret that prices on various goods and services have increased over the years.

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During this period of economic and financial constraints, over due credit cards, mortgage payments and bank loans seem to be running rampant.  Getting behind in your credit card payments seems to be the first thing that typically happens.  For whatever reason, when it does get too hard for consumers to pay off their cards, Visa, MasterCard, American Express all seem to have special hardship programs to accommodate people who are experiencing some degree of economic adversity.

It doesn’t really matter what the circumstances are, however, as credit card companies will always do their darnedest to recoup their money from you.  No matter the hardship, no matter the situation you should be experiencing, the lending company is just that, a lender, with whom you have an agreement to pay.  The purpose of any hardship program sponsored by card issuers is to keep the account in good standing and to keep you paying on their terms.

In line with the terms of any hardship program and its agreement, they may reduce your annual percentage rate (APR), and may even agree to reduce your monthly minimum payment.  Rest assured, however, they still want their money back from you.

Who Is Eligible for A Hardship Program?

Hardship programs are not just handed out haphazardly to people who have recklessly exceeded their means.  It is a program orchestrated for special situations like a job loss, death, or other unexpected situation that arises involving unexpected expenses or unexpected loss of income. If you

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Parody of Free Credit Report dot Com

People who have been struggling for months or years to eliminate their credit carddebt can take heart from others who have achieved this goal.

For example, a recent CNNMoney.com report profiled several consumers who now live on a “cash only” basis after having eliminated debts that in some cases exceeded $20,000. The report noted that some difficulties come up from making such changes, like keeping track of purchases, dealing with sudden expenses, and making travel reservations.

In most cases, these people continue to use debit cards as well as cash, notes CNNMoney.com, and things like emergency savings reserves and carefully-drawn budgets are standard practice for them as well.

Even if the dream of a debt-free life is far away or feels impossible for many Americans, it hasn’t stopped people from making considerable progress since the recession got underway. In the third quarter of 2008, the nation’s combined revolving consumer credit debt peaked around $957.3 billion. Read more…