While it’s not all great news, at least things are sounding a little better. The article says that experts predict that the economy will not really bottom out until September or October. So what do we do till then? I mean, what happens if we need some money quick and we cannot or do not want to go to friends and family? Sometimes people ask me about credit cards. This is what I tell them: Firstly, how is your credit? Do you think you will even get accepted? If so, if your credit is bad you will be paying higher interest rates and minimum payments. How quickly do you need the money? If you are going to apply for a credit card it can take a few weeks until you are able to use it. For those people who already have a credit card and want to take a cash advance, there are a few things that I warn against. The first thing that many people are surprisingly unaware of is that cash advances have an extremely high interest rate which is almost always much higher than the purchase APR. The next thing I tell them is that most people are unaware of how your future payments are applied to your balance. Say you already have a balance on your credit card of $5000.00 with an purchase APR of 10%. If you take a cash advance for $500 at a 25% APR, your payments are applied to paying off that $5000.00 with interest before it starts to apply to the $500.00. This is really huge! Think about it. It could take years to pay off $5000.00 and in the meantime the $500.00 has a 25% interest rate accumulating. This can end up costing you a lot of money.
In this case I recommend two options: a payday loan or a car title loan. As I have stated in previous posts, car title loans are great because you do not have to do a credit check. While the APR is higher than most bank loans, title loans are intended as short term loans. So if you take out $1000.00 it shouldn’t take you too long to pay it off, and the APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is nonexistent or at least misleading because there is no “Annual”. It is just a few months. Plus, if you have any kind of credit card balance, you do not have to worry about long term ramifications. I got a comment from a guy in Wisconsin curious about car title loans. So, let’s say you need a car title loan in Milwaukee or Green Bay, just go here and you can learn more. These car title loan sites I recommend have simple applications and many locations so it should be easy for you to get what you need.
We have all heard those stories about coworkers who call in sick with “that flu that’s been going around” that suddenly strikes on a Friday right before the weekend. They come back to work on Monday with a little “cough, cough” and then the boss asks how they are feeling. They reply, “A little better (cough…cough). Enough that I could make it to work. I was able to get rest and I think that helped”. Then the boss replies, “For a guy who rested in bed, you sure do look tan…Now get your things. You’re fired!” Actually, I remember hearing a story from a close friend who took a sick day, went fishing, and got a sunburn. He was able to cover it up though and got away with it. Well, I just came across an article that I think is a real sign of the times:
It wasn’t that she just called in sick, but she called in saying that she was too sick to look at a computer and needed
You gotta be careful when using facebook...
to lay in a dark room. I kind of agree with her that the boss seems like he is spying (although if you have ever used facebook, you know that your friends can see when you are online. And if she accepted him as a friend then she should no this right? Sounds like a case of a brain fart!). I have found that the facebook phenomenon has raised a number of interesting issues. I just got on it recently and although I am rarely on it, I have gotten some really random friend requests. I usually just ignore them because I think that if I am going to put anything personal on their, I am not going to want just anyone to be able to access this. You know? When I first went on, my 60 year old mother sent me a friend request. I really didn’t realize that I would use it as much as I would so I accepted. But after a few questionable posts from some of my friends, I realized that I didn’t want my mother to view my facebook page. At first I tried to make the settings so she couldn’t view my wall, but we had a cousin who I am good friends with as both of our friends and when she posted to my wall my mom was able to see. I had to tell her that I was defriending her! Lol! Seriously, though, I don’t know why people are so into putting so much personal stuff on the internet for the world to see. I mean really, this can only come back to haunt you….
In some of my previous posts, I recommended some car title loan sites. I feel like I may have “put the cart before the horse” as they say so let me start out telling you why I brought up a car title loan in the first place. Actually, first let me tell you about www.boostmypaycheck.com and what this blog is all about. As the domain name suggests, www.boostmypaycheck.com was developed to help you “Boost your paycheck”. Well, in reality, it is probably more accurate to say that this site will help you during times when you cannot boost your paycheck, but need help getting by and figuring out ways in the future to handle your finances. A car title loan is one type of loan that can help many people during times of financial need. A car title loan is a
A car title loan is always a viable option in times of financial need
loan where you use your car as collateral to secure cash. Before I get into the benefits of a car title loan, I want to be as clear as possible here. If you fail to make your payments (sometimes as little as one missed payment) you can lose your car. So it is important to be thoughtful when considering a car title loan. You need to think about how much you borrow, how long your payment plan is, what the interest rate is, etc. Do not just read this blog . Talk to people (financial experts and and the loan agencies themselves). Brainstorm for questions that you might have and make sure that they are answered as thoroughly as possible. Get as much as you can in writing as well. So what are the benefits of a car title loan? Well there are many. So let me address a few here in this post and get into other benefits in the future as well. Many of us who find ourselves in difficult financial situations do so at times when we need money the most. Furthermore, it is usually during those times when it is most difficult to secure a loan. If you have even questionable credit nowadays you are going to have a difficult time securing a loan. The advantage here is that most car title loan lenders do not do credit checks. Since you are using your car as collateral they have no reason to do a credit check. Another major advantage of car title loans, is that, unlike bank loans, for example, the process of getting money takes considerably less time. When you take your car to the loan agency for inspection you can get money in your hands in as little as 15 minutes in some cases! I will get into more detail about car title loans in future posts, but for now, this ought to give you something to think about. Visit a car title loan site today to learn more and I’ll be back with some more ideas and insight…
A lot went on in the news this week- Obama releasing memos on turtore during the Bush administration, the tragic deaths of over 20 horses in Florida due to negligence, North Korea starting up nuclear facilities again, to name a few. Well, from time to time I think I am going to give some thoughts on things going on in the world. Rather than focus on such serious topics (at least today) I wanted to look at some other newsworthy events. The Iphone keeps on growing in popularity. I have to admit that some of the apps they have on it are truly amazing. Recently they took away one of the apps due to some serious complaints. It was a “baby shaker” app and many thought it was in poor taste. Here is how it looked:
Actually, my first reaction, was that people were being a little hypersensitive here. I mean I highly doubt that an Iphone app is going to lead to someone shaking a baby. And some of the greatest comedians have taken the more tragic events in history and found humor in them. I guess even after I write this and see the video, I am not so sure how “terrible” a game this is. I think you could probably even make the argument here that if you relieve stress through playing the game then maybe it would actually cut down on violence (alright maybe that’s a stretch). It’s just that I think that our society has become a litte too politically correct and that sometimes it crosses the line infringing on our civil liberties. Although I must admit that it surprises me that Iphone would even approve of this in this first place. At some level it does seem a little out of context. So there, that’s just my thoughts…
Here is some other solid news that deals with some civil liberty issues as well! Evidently, an 84 year old man was almost carjacked. I said almost! The guy fought back, the carjackers ran, and then were eventually caught because of the old man’s description. Good for you old man! Well, just some random thoughts on some interesting news…
the money? If you are going to apply for a credit card it can take a few weeks until you are able to use it. For those people who already have a credit card and want to take a cash advance, there are a few things that I warn against. The first thing that many people are surprisingly unaware of is that cash advances have an extremely high interest rate which is almost always much higher than the purchase APR. The next thing I tell them is that most people are unaware of how your future payments are applied to your balance. Say you already have a balance on your credit card of $5000.00 with an purchase APR of 10%. If you take a cash advance for $500 at a 25% APR, your payments are applied to paying off that $5000.00 with interest before it starts to apply to the $500.00. This is really huge! Think about it. It could take years to pay off $5000.00 and in the meantime the $500.00 has a 25% interest rate accumulating. This can end up costing you a lot of money.
