These can hurt your credit

I saw this on MSN Money today and thought I’d share.
Weird stuff that hurts your credit
1. Voluntarily closing credit cards
2. Settling Debts
3. Opening Accounts
4. Transferring Card Balances
5. Using Limitless Cards 
6. Incurring library and parking fines

More on this article here

CVS Savings

I’ve been coming across some frugality blogs and many mommy bloggers talk about CVS for savings. So I decided to give them a try. I started in May and got addicted.

You can easily save money if you have a CVS card. Then, you can earn ECB (Extra Care Bucks) when you purchase certain items. ECB’s are rewards points that you can use on your next purchase. The best part of it is that some items that give ECBs is practically for the same price that you got it for. So its like getting things for free (you just pay tax). And they also accept coupons, how neat is that!

This is a scenario that happened to me…
An Aquafresh Toothpaste was $3.49.
I got .50 off because I have a CVS card so my price was $2.99
It so happened that Aquafresh toothpaste comes with an ECB of $2.99
I also brought a coupon for $1.00 off Aquafresh
So my final price for the toothpaste, $1.99 plus tax
And I even have $2.99 for my next purchase, woohoo!

Credit Card Balance Transfers

Here are a few things I’ve learned regarding CC Balance Transfers:

1. Balance transfers can be done from one credit card company to another. Some credit card companies allow you to transfer funds between cards from the same company, others do not.

2. Funds from balance transfers can be directed to you checking account.  This can be helpful if you’re going to use the funds for a car loan, student loans, etc. 

3. Be aware of the Balance Transfer Fee.  If your Balance Transfer limit is $10,000, make sure you only transfer about 9,500.  They add a percentage as a fee that might stretch you to your limit.

4. Ask about all other fees if any to avoid surprises. 

5. Ask about minimum amounts and pay by dates.

6. Ask about default APRS after the promotion is over.

7. Try to ask for a credit line increase before you do a transfer. It might help to keep you from exceeding your credit line.  Besides, it won’t hurt to ask.

8. Balance transfers are similar to Cash Advance.  But with Cash Advance, you get your money immediately. With a Balance transfer, you’ll get it in several days. For this reason, Cash Advance fees are much higher.  So if you can wait a few days to receive your funds, you might as well save some money and do a Balance transfer instead.

Past mistakes pulling you back?

I just realized that hubby and I have managed to waste a few thousand dollars on something that we could have avoided, high interest rates. Grrr!  I’m very annoyed, but it just goes to show that I still have much to learn.  

I’ve always know about using balance transfers on credit cards to have lower interest rates.  I’ve never done it with other debt, so I was hesitant.  Besides, for a while, we were toying with the idea of purchasing a home.  I figured, having the cash available in the credit card will be helpful if we needed extra cash.  Also, I didn’t want to increase our debt to credit ratio and affect our credit score when we’re applying for a loan.  So, here we are, we still haven’t purchased a home and we’ve easily wasted our money by not using a balance transfer.  

Before I started writing this entry, I was very upset. I couldn’t stop computing all the numbers in my head and with a calculator. I kept thinking of the “woulda, shoulda and couldas.”  But as I wrote down the reasons why I hesitated in the first place, I felt relieved.  There was a plan involved from the beginning. We didn’t do it just for the sake of it.  Unfortunately, it eventually came back to bite us on the “beeehind.” But that’s besides the point.  I could keep kicking myself for this mistake or, I can move on.  

With that in mind, I did it!  I finally did a balance transfer. I’m still concerned about our FICO and our possible need for cash in case we end up getting a place in a few months. But now, instead of a plan, we have a perspective.  ”If our score gets affected and funds do not become available when we want to get a home, then, it’s not the right time to get a house. Because when the right time comes, everything will fall into place!”

What I learned, take mistakes as opportunities to learn and become better!

Save Money on Gas

Yes, gas prices may be high, but here’s a little relief…

I saw an article on realsimple.com that mentions 2 websites you can enter your zipcode and they can tell you how much the gasoline stations in your area is charging. How cool is that?

gaspricewatch.com

gasbuddy.com

Hope you find these links useful! =)

We owe on taxes

So, we finally started working on our taxes….
Unfortunately, we found out that we owe quite a bit since my husband’s work was not taking out as much as they were supposed to. Gggrr on them!

Thank goodness we have a little bit saved up. This helps a lot! whew! 

First CRV redemption

We’ve never really recycled before and our empty containers are starting to take up a lot of room. We finally have about 1 big bag and a half of recyclables, both plastic juice bottles and cans. I asked my husband to find a redemption center close by to finally take them in, but to my surprise, many places that used to do recycling have already shut down. Very interesting.

Anyway, thank goodness that I was reading an article in a Parenting Magazine about Recycling. It mentioned a website called earth911.org. I remembered the article, went to the site and voila! I found a redemption site close to our place.

We only got $4.00, but that was $4.00 that could have been in the trash! Yay for recycling! This isn’t too bad, something I will definitely encourage my kids to do if they want extra money. =)

Michael’s and Joann’s

Well, I love to craft. I’ve been going to Michael’s and Joann’s for years, and more so now than ever since I started scrapbooking. I love getting my coupons for Joann’s and disliked not having coupons for Michaels. Unfortunately, Michael’s only print coupons on Sunday Newspaper ads and some magazines. And there are even Sundays that they don’t have an ad there. Boo!

Anyway, I heard that you can use Joann coupons at Michael’s and the other way around. So one day I tried it. And what did you know… it worked! woohoo!

Finally, a little treat

So, i actually received a check from my work last week. No it’s still not a “paycheck,” (<— since I’m still having to fight with my Disability Insurance and Kaiser.

It’s a small bonus we sometimes get every February if we meet our company target.

So, I think hubby being so nice to be paying for all the bills deserve a little treat.  I’m getting him (or should I say US a new point and shoot camera).

I really liked the FUJI we bought about 2 years ago but the flash hasn’t been working properly and our toddler probably dropped it so many times that the screen has weird lines on it already.  

We have a Sony SLR which we got for a great price, but it doesn’t do videos.  That’s why we have to get a point and shoot.  Especially with baby Elle coming, we have to make sure we capture all her memories with her big brother, so we can post them on YOUTUBE =)

And for me, my little reward is a shopping spree with Oriental Trading.  I received an email reminder of a St Patty’s catalog and it has a coupon code for FREE Shipping if you spend $100 dollars.  Good thing I searched online and found this code 

RLS105

It’s from retailmenot.com  It’s FREE Shipping on orders over $60. I actually saw another code for 20% off on orders over $60 RETPY08B, but it was too late.  The good thing is that with the first code, I don’t think I was charged a sales tax so that’s good. Either way I got to save, woohoo!

Can’t wait to get my stuff in about a week!

Credit Reports

As I was watching “the Millionaire Inside” and “the Suze Orman Show” tonight on CNBC, I realized that I too should take a look at my current credit report.  I know we can now all get one free credit report check a year and it being February ‘08, I should qualify for one right?  

The only thing was when I was going through the websites for free credit reports that have commercials on tv, none of them were actually free. Most of them have trial fees and charges up to $29.95 a month. I was like, what???
I didn’t want to have to pay to get my credit report if I can get it for free.

With further research, I found the REAL free credit report website. It’s Annual Credit Report… whew! It can find up to the 3 credit reporting companies, Experian, Equifax and Transunion. The only thing is that they can only give you the credit report for free, and asking for your FICO score will be an extra charge.

Unfortunately, Experian and Transunion were not able to process my info. I was only able to get my credit report from Equifax and I paid the $7.95 for my FICO. Well, it was worth it. Anything less than $10 is reasonable.

So what are you waiting for, get your free credit report now!