Dr. Edward Erickson, Chairman of the Board
Dr. Diane Chen, Secretary
Dr. James Wang
Dr. Fred A. Mangum
The other day I sat staring at my computer screen and nearly had a mental breakdown . . . Well, maybe it wasn’t as severe as a mental breakdown, but there were definitely a lot of hairline fractures permeating my thought process. As my mind raced to and fro, I started thinking of what I had to gain and what my spending impulses could cause me to lose . . . .
One of the best websites out there for all things credit card is also one of the most simply named—creditcards.com. There are all sorts of articles and information related to various types of cards on the site. But one of my favorite pages on the site is the calculator page. There is a link to the page below, and you’d be surprised at all the ways you can analyze your cards.
Pretty much all of us know what a credit score is, but most Americans don’t actually know what it is comprised of and how to make it better. Fair Isaac corporation takes the information about you (found in your credit report) and puts it to a mathematical formula to come up with your credit score. The banks and financial institutions then use this number to determine if they are going to lend you money or what interest rate they are going to charge you. So its important to understand what makes up your credit score.
Many people think of Consumer Reports when they are considering what kind of television, or computer, or digital camera to purchase. Not as many people think of Consumer Reports when they are looking for general money advice. But 
Free Credit Score
For one of the best one stop websites for all things finance, try 
If I had a nickel for every time I've spoken to a client who's considering debt settlement without being sure of what debt settlement is, I wouldn't be here. I'd be in my summer house in the Hamptons - the one that I bought with all of those nickels. The truth is that most people aren't aware of what debt settlement involves. They just think, "Settlement? That means that I can settle my debts with the creditors quickly and easily, and get them off my back faster than you can say 'payoff.'" Not necessarily. Here are some of the more common myths about debt settlement (and there were a lot of them to choose from):
Angel Food Ministries is an excellent resource for helping with your grocery expenses without using coupons, sales,etc. Angel Food Ministries is available in all states except for AK, HI, ID. Here is how it works: you can visit the Website 
We all need to have dental care to take care of our teeth, but it can be costly even if you have insurance. The average dental plan only covers 50% of major procedures such as crowns, root canals, or bridges. Here are four ways you can save money on your dental care.
5 ways the new regulations will help consumers:
There are 2 Tax credits that were created with stimulus monies for tax payers in 2009-2010. A friend recently mentioned that he was going to take some classes and gave me some info where he found out about these programs. So i did a little digging here and there and found out this info is rather recent. like 2009-2010 recent. There are 2 Education credits that you can use with certain guidelines. (Not everyone will qualify)
This week I thought I’d remind everyone of an overlooked resource for consumers, the Federal Trade Commission’s website at 
1.Pet Clothes
What areas could possibly have skimmer devices installed on them? 
It’s a growing issue these days to have a parent use their child’s social security numbers and open accounts or purchase items. Do not give into this temptation because it’s against the law and it could set up your child for many financial hardships in the future.
One of the most overlooked, but often most important, parts of many people’s budgets is charitable giving. Many of us have causes and organizations that are important to us, and we want to set aside part of our budget to support those causes. And in times like these, it’s pretty safe to say that it’s more important than ever to make sure you know who you’re giving to.
Given the nature of my work, I'm the last person people expect to be "pro-credit card," and I'm not. The potential for financial ruin with those little pieces of plastic is overwhelming. However, I've taken to viewing credit cards as a necessary evil in today's society. You have to use credit to build credit, and if you want to get a loan for a car or a house without credit history, you'd probably get as much done by banging your head against a wall. Since credit cards can be both a blessing and a curse, I did some research to see which credit cards are "blessings" when it comes to making bad credit better. Below are the top five:
Before the CARD Act went into effect the credit card companies started hiking people’s interest rates saying that “it is our cost of offering to higher risk clients”. Recently they have been raising the interest rates again, the average rate for a platinum card is 11.3% and for reward cards is 12.3% when just a few months ago those numbers were 10.8% for platinum cards and 11.8% for rewards cards.
Buy the Grocery Store Brand Dairy Products
So, you’ve got kids that are ready to go to college. It’s been a dream of theirs and yours, but now with the downturn in the economy you’re struggling to figure out ways to pay for their education. Figuring out all the ways to get help with financial aid can be intimidating. Where do you even start?
Disputing Erroneous Items on Your Report
I am on a DMP ( Debt Management Program ) with CESI Debt Solutions, I have heard so many bad things about these types of programs so I had mixed feelings about it. I knew that I had to do something about my Financial Issues.
I ran across a nice link to help everyone sort out facts and fictions regarding what will affect your credit score. The link is listed below and can be found on quizzle.com, a good website to visit if you’re looking for information regarding credit in general and even your own specific credit.
You would think this would be a no brainer for most. However, I am surprised to find that many people keep credit cards that have a 19-25% interest rate and pay the minimum every month. This is insanity. It is going to take you forever to pay off that debt at that interest rate. Call your credit card company and ask for a hardship program or call a credit counseling agency such as CESI. They can help you get a lower rate and keep it low. 
So you have already gotten accepted into the college of your choice and now the question on your mind is “How am I going to pay for school?”. Listed here are some of the steps you should follow when trying to get your tuition covered or get it covered for your kids. There are ways that you can actually save a lot of money and it’s not a daunting task like some people think.
I have a 5- year old son who is very imaginative and intelligent. I take complete credit for the young boy I am raising who is eager to grow up and take over the world. With that being said, I am reaching a point where he loves to play games with me buying stuff from him. He wants to sell me cars, food, and services, but fortunately for me, everything is cheap in his world. A dime, a few nickels and pennies pretty much can buy me my heart’s desire including a shiny new red mustang, trips all across the world, and most importantly all the pepperoni pizzas I could ever want. I got him a piggybank about a year ago and he loved to put money in it, but now that he has broken it I wonder what the next money lesson is.
The title of this blog seems like a simple question. What are your financial goals? Have you ever actually written your goals down and come up with a written plan to reach them? So many people haven’t.
Nice Car, but Terrible Tires
Did you know that there are some really simple things you can do to save money? The following list is going to break down for you things that you can have done in 15 minutes or less:
Start Small
As I was doing my weekly run around the internet for blog ideas, and I came across the link below, a basic breakdown on the importance of investing and the magic of compound interest. It starts with one of my favorite math questions. Would you rather have someone give you $10,000 for 30 days in a row, or have someone give you one penny and have it double every day for 30 days? Most people I ask this question don’t even hesitate. They say give me the $10,000 every day for 30 days. And, indeed, that would add up to a nice $300,000. But the penny that doubles every day for 30 days, believe it or not, would become close to a cool $5 million.
Still having trouble with the budget? One often overlooked mark of a healthy budget is the Debt to Income Ratio or DTI. If you aren't living within a 16%-20% Debt to Income ratio then you are either heading towards financial touble or already there. To figure out what your debt to income ratio is, take your total monthly debt divided by your total monthly income. Or in other words: Total Monthly Debt/Total Monthly Income = Debt to Income Ratio.
Behavioral economics has become a very popular area of study because of the very practical applications that it offers. People can now use it to help them fire someone, choose a good restaurant, or get other people to do their bidding. But for the college grad behavioral economics offers some more important lessons to be learned in life. Here are a few that may help you out!
As a culture, we're big on instant gratification. From fast food to online music downloading, our philosophy is, to quote Veruca Salt, "Don't care how, I want it now." Our finances are no exception. We want to get out of debt, and we want it done immediately. However, setting things right with your finances can take months-even years-of planning. In some cases it requires a change in your entire lifestyle, which definitely doesn't happen overnight. Estimates on how long it takes for a behavior to become a habit range from three weeks to nearly a year, which can cause people to become impatient and angry. The key is to remember how good you'll feel when everything is done, and, despite how trite and cliché it may sound, the journey really is its' own reward.
Use FREE Directory Assistance Rather Than Dialing 411 
When you contact us for help with your debt situation and we complete our free financial assessment, we may be able to offer you a debt management program that can help you become debt free in less than 5 years. However, even when we are able to put together a monthly payment plan to help you pay off your debts, that plan may prove to be outside your budget’s ability to pay.
We already talked about some of the perceptions about bankruptcy in part one of my blog. Below are some of the other perceptions that you may have heard:
Working in client services, one of the most common phrases I hear--usually uttered in a moment of sheer hopelessness and frustration--is, "Well, maybe I'll just file bankruptcy and then my creditors will get nothing." In their desperation, they probably see bankruptcy as a quick fix that will get rid of their debt once and for all, giving them a new start where their finances are concerned. Many people, myself included, have seen it as a permanent stain on your credit record and reputation that never truly goes away. While bankruptcy is advised as a last resort for getting out of debt (and rightly so), it's not as awful as it's often made out to be. Below are some of the most common perceptions about bankruptcy, and just how much truth there really is to them:
When you hear the words bargain shopping, what do you think of? What comes to mind? Most people think of saving money and buying cheap. Some think of getting less quality than deserved and settling for less. I on the other hand think a little differently, I think of one of America’s favorite “pastimes”….yard sales! I think of yard sales of being the new era of bargain shopping. They give people the opportunity to buy good quality items at low prices. They also give families the opportunity to get rid of unwanted items in their house without disposing of them in garbage cans and polluting the earth. It's bargain shopping the green way!
If you have been paying attention to the news in last couple of weeks then you know that Washington did pass a new set of health care reform laws. Some of the biggest health insurance companies in the nation are saying that due to the changes that will be fully implemented by 2014 we as the insured can expect our health insurance premiums to rise faster than they have been over the past couple of years.
One of the questions I get a lot is, “What does ‘X’ or ‘Y’ do to my credit score?” The truth is, nobody can really know exactly what happens to your credit score in different situations because of how closely guarded the formula for calculating your credit score (known as your FICO score) is. We usually advise that people go to 
1. Have a poker face. You want to have a poker face when it comes to reactions. I remember when I was test-driving cars after my old clunker finally bit the dust. One of the keys to getting a bargain is not showing that you are extremely excited or in love with the car. The seller can see it on your face that they have you, and will likely not budge on the price.
A "reverse" mortgage is a loan against your home that you do not have to pay back for as long as you live there. With a reverse mortgage, you can turn the value of your home into cash without having to move or to repay the loan each month. The cash you get from a reverse mortgage can be paid to you in several ways:
• all at once, in a single lump sum of cash;
• as a regular monthly cash advance;
• as a "creditline" account that lets you decide when and how much of your available cash is paid to you; or
• as a combination of these payment methods.
No matter how this loan is paid out to you, you typically don't have to pay anything back until you die, sell your home, or permanently move out of your home. To be eligible for most reverse mortgages, you must own your home and be 62 years of age or older.
Other Home Loans
To qualify for most home loans, the lender checks your income to see how much you can afford to pay back each month. But with a reverse mortgage, you don't have to make monthly repayments. So you don't need a minimum amount of income to qualify for a reverse mortgage. You could have no income and still be able to get a reverse mortgage.
With most home loans, you could lose your home if you don't make your monthly payments. But with a reverse mortgage, there aren't any monthly repayments to make. So you can't lose your home by not making them. Most reverse mortgages require no repayment for as long as you—or any co-owner(s)—live in the home. So they differ from other home loans in these important ways:
• you don't need an income to qualify for a reverse mortgage; and
• you don't have to make monthly repayments on a reverse mortgage.
"Forward" Mortgages
You can see how a reverse mortgage works by comparing it to a "forward" mortgage — the kind you use to buy a home. Both types of mortgages create debt against your home. And both affect how much equity or ownership value you have in your home. But they do so in opposite ways.
"Debt" is the amount of money you owe a lender. It includes cash advances made to you or for your benefit, plus interest. "Home equity" means the value of your home (what it would sell for) minus any debt against it. For example, if your home is worth $150,000 and you still owe $30,000 on your mortgage, your home equity is $120,000.
Falling Debt, Rising Equity
When you purchased your home, you probably made a small down payment and borrowed the rest of the money you needed to buy it. Then you paid back your traditional "forward" mortgage loan every month over many years. During that time:
• your debt decreased; and
• your home equity increased.
As you made each repayment, the amount you owed (your debt or "loan balance") grew smaller. But your ownership value (your "equity") grew larger. If you eventually made a final mortgage payment, you then owed nothing, and your home equity equaled the value of your home. In short, your forward mortgage was a "falling debt, rising equity" type of deal.
Recent reports have found that the struggles have reached extreme dire straits for Gen Y:
I was doing my usual run through the internet to try to come up with money saving ideas when I came across the below link for an article making suggestions on things you should never buy new. Some of the categories don’t exactly fall into everyday purchase categories. For example, the section on time shares. It’s not everyone I know that’s in the market for a time share. But some of the ideas, I thought, were very good.
I’m a member of the prestigious House of Beverly Jean . . . well, you may know it as BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc., or BJ’s for short. Contrary to popular belief, the B and J do not stand for Berkley and Jensen, a brand name sold in the store, but instead for Beverly Jean, the daughter of one of the founders. It is because of this wondrous place that I can proudly proclaim that I’ll always have what you need, when you need it. Spending the night and forgot your toothbrush or floss? Have no fear, I have 4 different color toothbrushes to choose from and five extra packs of Crest Glide! Down to the last sheet on the paper towel roll? Check the hallway closet and prepare to be wowed by the 19 other rolls at your disposal. And why are you mixing water with that last drop of dishwashing liquid to make it last? My naïve visitor you need only have looked under the kitchen sink and you would’ve discovered that I have another half gallon of dishwashing liquid just waiting for you to suds up with!
My ex-husband and I never really fought about money, but interestingly enough that was one of the major reasons we got divorced. Couples typically fight over saving versus spending, but there are some other serious issues that can financially wreck a household. Financial infidelity, according to Wikipedia, is the secretive act of spending money, possessing credit and credit cards, holding secret accounts or stashes of money, borrowing money, or otherwise incurring debt unknown to one's spouse, partner, or significant other. Statistically the occurrence of “cheating with your money” is on the rise so let’s address how it affects families.
You must monitor your creditor statements and debt management program (DMP) statements each and every month! If you've been following the steps up until now, then you're good to go with the due dates and you've supplemented your DMP payments to stay current until all of your proposals were accepted. Nonetheless, now is not the time to become complacent and think that your DMP is running on auto-pilot. Au contraire my friend! You still have the responsibility of maintaining a small, but active role in minding your finances.
If you have any travel plans for the upcoming Memorial Weekend then you may be in luck. Gas prices have unusually been going down. Experts say that we can attribute the relief from there being a surplus of oil supply and worries about the global economic recovery. Whatever the reason may be I will take it. So if you are going to driving out of town this weekend enjoy the cheaper gas which is averaging about $2.75 a gallon right now. Experts also say that the price could continue downward another 10-15 cents a gallon but the trend won’t last. As we know gas prices typically go up in the summer which is why it’s so unusual to see them going down right now, so the price we see now won’t last and they expect the price to go back up to about $3.00 a gallon on average by the end of June. So if you are planning a trip in the next month go ahead and take it to take advantage of the lower gas prices.
Supplement your DMP payments until the creditor accepts the proposal! I cannot stress how important this step is because it is the key to remaining current on creditor payments while you await proposal acceptance. You are responsible for any payments due before your first debit date on the DMP. However, it goes a bit further than that. You are also responsible for any minimum payment due to the creditor before the proposal is accepted.
There are many reasons that people join debt management programs (DMP). For some, the credit card payments have become too much to handle and they’ve begun to fall behind. For others, it’s simply a matter of convenience with having all their unsecured debt payments taken care of with one monthly payment. However, a growing number of people are seeking DMP's because the credit card companies are continuously hiking up interest rates and minimum monthly payments for those who have consistently made on-time monthly payments. For those of you who are current with your unsecured debt and join a DMP, there are three simple steps to making sure that you maintain a current status with your creditors. The following is the first step that should be completed or in process by the time you actually join a DMP:
Some say according to polls the economy is not doing well. Markets say that it's showing life. If you really look deep into things with a rational unbiased view the market is right. Based on some simple research (that you don't have to have a Harvard degree to figure out.) Just go to your local Mall when you are driving around take a look at the 30 day tags on cars, go to your favorite restaurants - people are dining out again based on your average wait time.
Recent reports have found that the struggles have reached extreme dire straits for Gen Y:.jpg)
I bought exercise equipment that cost me nearly $300 that promises to give me flat abs in just as little as 3 minutes a day. – I could have easily purchased a gym membership for $10 a month, done crunches/sit-ups in the comfort of my own home or taken advantage of the fitness center in my apartment complex.
Time to bust some more credit card myths! Much as I enjoy the show "Mythbusters," due to budget constraints and fear of copyright infringement, I will not be donning a beret and blowing things up to prove a point, sadly. So in lieu of special effects and lifelike crash test dummies, I give you: Credit Card Myths 3-5 (This Time It's Personal).
If certain credit "facts" are to be believed, the best way to boost your credit score is to make consistent minimum monthly payments on cards, preferably on cards with high credit limits. Not only will your credit score skyrocket, but your interest rates will stay the same unless you default on a payment. Also be sure to make those credit cards one of each of the "big four" - Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover - because you never know if you'll be dining out at a fancy restaurant and (gasp!) they don't take Discover. (If it's on a multitude of television commercials, that means it must be true.) Or better yet, just close those accounts entirely. You'll get to a 700+ credit score in no time flat, right?
The new credit card laws that recently went into effect include all sorts of provisions designed to protect the consumer. The new laws have been gone over in detail by many of us on this site. But how are the credit card companies going to react going forward? How are they going to adjust to the new laws in their dealings with us as consumers?
Contrary to what you may believe, your most valuable asset is not your 401K, your home, or your car. It is your time. Time is the only asset that you spend and can never get back. Therefore, it is a priceless commodity. Spend it wisely.
fast! Also, make sure to ask friends/family if they have any leftover paint that you can have because there’s no price better than free!
Picture this: You’re invited to have dinner with friends and upon sitting down and reading over the menu, you realize that they’re prepared to dole out cash for five course meals while you’re simply working with enough to afford three items off of a dollar menu. What do you do? Should you spend beyond your budget in order to keep up with your friends or bite the bullet and bail out? I’ll be honest and admit that in the past I often chose the former and wracked up plenty of credit card debt in doing so.
If you’re someone who makes the effort to maximize your credit score, you may want to take a look at the link below. It’s an article I ran across talking about how the new credit card laws might actually change the things you need to do to keep your credit score high.
So your kid will be graduating from high school this year and the college acceptances have already started arriving. The question most parents ask at this point is “How am I going to afford it?”. Well with the rising cost of education it is a very good question to be asking yourself. You don’t want to take on a payment that is not affordable and you certainly don’t want your kid graduating from college with an impossible debt load. Below you will find some helpful tips to help you and your kids pick the right college and save some money on student loans.
Facebook has been warning their users to watch out for scams dealing with free giftcard giveaways. They have been taking as many of these links down as they detect, and also deleting pages that have these attached to user profiles.
Will someone please think of the parrots? A bank which shall remain nameless apparently doesn’t. In October 2009, they took Angela Iannelli’s pet parrot, Luke, from her home in Pittsburgh, PA. Oh yeah—they also mistakenly repossessed her house, which I guess sort of goes toward explaining why the parrot was taken. Iannelli’s mortgage payments were on time, she says, when a bank contractor padlocked her door, broke furniture, and took her parrot. She’s now suing them for emotional damage, and has since recovered her parrot after multiple calls to the bank. (No word on if the bird was drafted into working for customer service during its’ time there, or if it can now say “escrow.”)
In this economy people who were making $70,000 a year are now applying for jobs that pay only $30,000 annually because they desperately need a job. I guess their philosophy is that some money is better than no money. Times are so hard the people are even considering relocating for a job or simply working outside of their field all together. Can you imagine a construction worker applying for a clerical position? Well, it’s happening because apparently desperate times call for desperate measures.
We have all seen the commercials advertising free credit reports from sites like FreeCreditReport.com and how it leads us to believe that if we don’t go there now life will not be as good as it could be. But did you know that this site along with a couple of others ask for your credit card information and are actually signing you up to new services such as credit monitoring without you being made fully aware of it? That is what freecreditreport.com, freescore.com, and creditreport.com are doing. Thanks to the CARD Act of 2009 that is all going to change. The government is requiring these sites and any others to notify consumers that they are not intended to provide the free credit report that is provided once a year. They are still going to offer services such as credit monitoring but with the new banner you will know ahead of time that you will not be receiving a free credit report. Some have already started advertising that they offer the credit report for as little as $1.
Suing is a surprisingly easy process,” reads a line from “Sue your debt collector,” an article on MSN.com by Katherine Reynolds Lewis. I would have to agree, except for the word “surprisingly.” Considering that we live in a country where burglars can successfully sue the owners of houses they break into, I’m not surprised in the least.
Pride. A five letter word that can stop many people from getting the help they need or achieving the results they want. Whether it is pride related to work or personal matters, I think it’s about time that we let it go. With the current state of the economy, many people are experiencing a reduction in work hours, pay cuts, or even losing their jobs. While unemployment is the standard method of getting some financial relief, there are many other opportunities available to help people. The basic needs are said to be food, shelter, and clothing and there are ways to cut back on all three of those expenses.
It’s always a great rule of thumb to cook meals at home as often as you can. However, sometimes you just want to go out and enjoy an evening with loved ones or friends. Here are three easy tips that can help you savor your meal out without breaking the bank.
It’s a question I find myself asking quite often in my line of work. Whether I’m talking to someone that’s falling behind with their debt or has just barely been able to keep current, I find that people think about their debt, but seldom develop a plan to get rid of it. The baffling part of that is when some people are given their options, they still don’t want to make a decision. I have a news flash for everyone: In case you didn’t know, procrastination is probably what got you into this situation! I’ll admit I used to be a serious procrastinator when it came to school, housework, and other minor areas, but my money?!? Now that’s another story! I am not okay with just getting by or living paycheck to paycheck because I’m paying on debt, and you shouldn’t be either.
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