Sunday, March 28, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Who wants to save money??? Branded Credit Cards Offer Discount Programs
Discounts - They're not just for recessions anymore!
The recession may be subsiding a bit and we may well be on the road to recovery, if those in the media are correct... However, saving money is always in style. After all you need to be able to survive until next payday and you don't want to take a payday loan. When it comes to discounts, we don't often think about them being associated with the debit or credit card we're using to pay for them. However, it pays to find out about these discounts as you may be able to save money on purchases you were already planning on making.
Visa Card Discounts
We found savings in the forms of percent off savings, dollars off savings, and free shipping. Savings were good for almost any imaginable purchase: hotels, golf, jewelry, retail shops, restaurants, rental cars, etc. Visa (tm) has over 97 discount programs as off this time and that's just using any Visa branded debit or credit card. If your card has the "Visa Signature" brand on the front of it, you will have more exclusive offers available to you.
MasterCard Discounts
Chances are, if you don't live under a rock, you've seen the "Priceless." commercials that MasterCard runs. Well, it turns out, part of their "Priceless." branding also includes access to discount promotions and offers. They extend these discounts to their prepaid debit cards as, well.
Links For Discounts
Visa Debit/Credit Card Discount Page
Visa Signature Discount Page
MasterCard Debit/Credit Card Discount Page
The recession may be subsiding a bit and we may well be on the road to recovery, if those in the media are correct... However, saving money is always in style. After all you need to be able to survive until next payday and you don't want to take a payday loan. When it comes to discounts, we don't often think about them being associated with the debit or credit card we're using to pay for them. However, it pays to find out about these discounts as you may be able to save money on purchases you were already planning on making.
Visa Card Discounts
We found savings in the forms of percent off savings, dollars off savings, and free shipping. Savings were good for almost any imaginable purchase: hotels, golf, jewelry, retail shops, restaurants, rental cars, etc. Visa (tm) has over 97 discount programs as off this time and that's just using any Visa branded debit or credit card. If your card has the "Visa Signature" brand on the front of it, you will have more exclusive offers available to you.
MasterCard Discounts
Chances are, if you don't live under a rock, you've seen the "Priceless." commercials that MasterCard runs. Well, it turns out, part of their "Priceless." branding also includes access to discount promotions and offers. They extend these discounts to their prepaid debit cards as, well.
Links For Discounts
Visa Debit/Credit Card Discount Page
Visa Signature Discount Page
MasterCard Debit/Credit Card Discount Page
Got Kids? Money transfer is a must!
Kids Need Money
If you have kids, especially teens and adult children, you know how frustrating it can be when you get that call requesting money. You love your kids and you want to help, but doing so usually comes at a cost, often a substantial amount related to how much they're asking for. And who wants to take a payday loan to pay for it???
Fortunately, there are ways to avoid these costs. It takes a little preparation, but it's well worth the time if your child has fairly frequent needs or you want to be able to help them quickly in a future pinch.
Helping Teens Get Money
If you have teens, you should set them up with a PayPal (tm) Student Card or a VisaBuxx (tm) card. This is great for allowance or for getting them some money when they're out and about and you want to make sure they can eat or take care of some other need or wants as most teenagers would have it. No more complaints about lost money and you have some idea of how your teen is spending their cash. Of course, teens will be teens, so you may occasionally have to request a card replacement when they misplace their card. But, the good news is, they learn a lesson, while their money is still safe.
Adult Kids Need Money, Too
In the case of adult children, this is where things tend to get tricky or expensive. You always have the option of using a money transfer service, such as MoneyGram (tm) or WesternUnion (tm), but even for transfering $50, the cost can be around $15-20. If you're in a pinch and you haven't done the groundwork, this may be your only option.
So what can you do to take the cost and sting out of these - in a pinch - transfers? Well, there are a couple good options here...
1) Have your adult child open an account at your bank or open one at their bank. Just be sure that the bank has online banking that allows transferring money to other account holders besides your own accounts. Larger banks tend to offer this type of service. If you really want to be able to help your kid from virtually anywhere, ask to see if you can make money transfers to other account holders using telephone banking.
2) Have your adult child open a PayPal (tm) account and request a PayPal (tm) debit card. There is no cost associated with having the card when you use it to transfer money in this manner.
If you have kids, especially teens and adult children, you know how frustrating it can be when you get that call requesting money. You love your kids and you want to help, but doing so usually comes at a cost, often a substantial amount related to how much they're asking for. And who wants to take a payday loan to pay for it???
Fortunately, there are ways to avoid these costs. It takes a little preparation, but it's well worth the time if your child has fairly frequent needs or you want to be able to help them quickly in a future pinch.
Helping Teens Get Money
If you have teens, you should set them up with a PayPal (tm) Student Card or a VisaBuxx (tm) card. This is great for allowance or for getting them some money when they're out and about and you want to make sure they can eat or take care of some other need or wants as most teenagers would have it. No more complaints about lost money and you have some idea of how your teen is spending their cash. Of course, teens will be teens, so you may occasionally have to request a card replacement when they misplace their card. But, the good news is, they learn a lesson, while their money is still safe.
Adult Kids Need Money, Too
In the case of adult children, this is where things tend to get tricky or expensive. You always have the option of using a money transfer service, such as MoneyGram (tm) or WesternUnion (tm), but even for transfering $50, the cost can be around $15-20. If you're in a pinch and you haven't done the groundwork, this may be your only option.
So what can you do to take the cost and sting out of these - in a pinch - transfers? Well, there are a couple good options here...
1) Have your adult child open an account at your bank or open one at their bank. Just be sure that the bank has online banking that allows transferring money to other account holders besides your own accounts. Larger banks tend to offer this type of service. If you really want to be able to help your kid from virtually anywhere, ask to see if you can make money transfers to other account holders using telephone banking.
2) Have your adult child open a PayPal (tm) account and request a PayPal (tm) debit card. There is no cost associated with having the card when you use it to transfer money in this manner.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Money Jug Blues - 22 fast cash tips
Money Jug Blues - how to solve your immediate financial situation
If you prefer to watch the tips via video, you can watch the money tips on YouTube by clicking here.
So, you're down to your last few cents. The money jug isn't gonna cut it. You're out of options... Or are you???
Here are some things to think about when you have no money and you're backed into a corner. Sometimes it's easy to overlook obvious sources of money, so they're included in our list for good measure.
Almost nothing is worse than financial pressure. Maybe these ideas will help you out of a tight spot by themselves... Or maybe, just maybe, they'll help jog your memory in a way that leads you to a creative solution to your tight situation.
Use these 22 tips to help you find cash when you need it the most.
1) Check your pockets, hiding places, and anywhere you may tend to either lose money or have misplaced it in the past. Nothing beats cold hard cash in hand...
2) Do you have some winning lottery tickets you have yet to cash?
3) Do you have spendable coupons, such as those tied to store rewards programs. CVS Extrabucks come in handy to buy food, medicine, and school supplies in a pinch.
4) Have you bought anything recently that can be returned to the store for a refund?
5) Got anything you can sell on Craigslist for some quick cash?
6) Can you get an advance on your paycheck from work?
7) Do you have any money in a Paypal account or other type of internet payment service account, like eGold?
8) Got a stock account you can tap into for some cash? Assuming you have time to wait for the transaction to settle and money to be transferred into your account, this can often be a good overlooked place for cash.
9) Can you take out a 401(k) loan?
10) Have any damaged jewelry, loose stones, mismatched silver or gold flatware? Pawnshops and precious metals dealers buy old gold, silver, and jewels.
11) Got any valuables you could take to a pawnshop?
12) Got a job, utility bills, and some forms of ID? Payday loans can often be a source of quick cash. Just be sure you're prepared to pay back the loan with the fees and interest quickly. They will often give you extensions one or more times (varies by the loan provider) as long as you continue to pay the extension fees and interest. Just be sure not to create a problem for a future payday that you won't be able to fix.
13) Is your car paid off? Title loans can get you out of a tight spot. While you can typically borrow more based on your cars resale value, it is advised to be very cautious when you put an asset like your car on the line.
14) Coupons can help you stretch the dollars you have managed to scape together. Be sure to take advantage of coupon doubling and tripling at certain grocery stores to maximize your savings (just be aware of any provisions they may have about how high a value they will double).
15) Be sure to keep in mind any receipt survey rewards you could complete and get free items or save on places you will be going to anyway.
16) Do you have any unclaimed utility deposits that you need to claim?
17) Do you have any old car parts which you have not returned to the auto parts store for a return of the core charge?
18) Do you have any layaways? If so, return them and get your money back. You can put it back on layaway later when your cash situation improves.
19) Do you have a whole or universal life insurance policy? Some times you can tap into a portion of the cash value as a loan.
20) Did you get any gift cards for a special occasion or holiday that have been sitting idle? Perhaps they can be used to buy essential things to help you preserve your cash on hand for other things...
21) When desperate times call for desperate measures... Are you a living being? This is drastic, but someone out there may be in a place where this could help them, so we decided to include it anyway. Find a local blood bank and sell some plasma or other blood components.
22) Do you know how to mow a lawn, sweep a porch, clean up a garage, rake leaves, paint, trim trees, fix computers, walk dogs? You get the point... It may be time to walk door to door selling your services. Pass out flyers or knock on the door and talk to people.
If you prefer to watch the tips via video, you can watch the money tips on YouTube by clicking here.
So, you're down to your last few cents. The money jug isn't gonna cut it. You're out of options... Or are you???
Here are some things to think about when you have no money and you're backed into a corner. Sometimes it's easy to overlook obvious sources of money, so they're included in our list for good measure.
Almost nothing is worse than financial pressure. Maybe these ideas will help you out of a tight spot by themselves... Or maybe, just maybe, they'll help jog your memory in a way that leads you to a creative solution to your tight situation.
Use these 22 tips to help you find cash when you need it the most.
1) Check your pockets, hiding places, and anywhere you may tend to either lose money or have misplaced it in the past. Nothing beats cold hard cash in hand...
2) Do you have some winning lottery tickets you have yet to cash?
3) Do you have spendable coupons, such as those tied to store rewards programs. CVS Extrabucks come in handy to buy food, medicine, and school supplies in a pinch.
4) Have you bought anything recently that can be returned to the store for a refund?
5) Got anything you can sell on Craigslist for some quick cash?
6) Can you get an advance on your paycheck from work?
7) Do you have any money in a Paypal account or other type of internet payment service account, like eGold?
8) Got a stock account you can tap into for some cash? Assuming you have time to wait for the transaction to settle and money to be transferred into your account, this can often be a good overlooked place for cash.
9) Can you take out a 401(k) loan?
10) Have any damaged jewelry, loose stones, mismatched silver or gold flatware? Pawnshops and precious metals dealers buy old gold, silver, and jewels.
11) Got any valuables you could take to a pawnshop?
12) Got a job, utility bills, and some forms of ID? Payday loans can often be a source of quick cash. Just be sure you're prepared to pay back the loan with the fees and interest quickly. They will often give you extensions one or more times (varies by the loan provider) as long as you continue to pay the extension fees and interest. Just be sure not to create a problem for a future payday that you won't be able to fix.
13) Is your car paid off? Title loans can get you out of a tight spot. While you can typically borrow more based on your cars resale value, it is advised to be very cautious when you put an asset like your car on the line.
14) Coupons can help you stretch the dollars you have managed to scape together. Be sure to take advantage of coupon doubling and tripling at certain grocery stores to maximize your savings (just be aware of any provisions they may have about how high a value they will double).
15) Be sure to keep in mind any receipt survey rewards you could complete and get free items or save on places you will be going to anyway.
16) Do you have any unclaimed utility deposits that you need to claim?
17) Do you have any old car parts which you have not returned to the auto parts store for a return of the core charge?
18) Do you have any layaways? If so, return them and get your money back. You can put it back on layaway later when your cash situation improves.
19) Do you have a whole or universal life insurance policy? Some times you can tap into a portion of the cash value as a loan.
20) Did you get any gift cards for a special occasion or holiday that have been sitting idle? Perhaps they can be used to buy essential things to help you preserve your cash on hand for other things...
21) When desperate times call for desperate measures... Are you a living being? This is drastic, but someone out there may be in a place where this could help them, so we decided to include it anyway. Find a local blood bank and sell some plasma or other blood components.
22) Do you know how to mow a lawn, sweep a porch, clean up a garage, rake leaves, paint, trim trees, fix computers, walk dogs? You get the point... It may be time to walk door to door selling your services. Pass out flyers or knock on the door and talk to people.
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