Guest Post by Christine Kane
I have not had a credit card in over 10 years. I have chosen this path because I learned an important lesson at a young age. I was a freshman in College learning the ins and outs like how to sleep with your eyes open during lecture. When I wasn’t mastering this art form I was enjoying living the fine life with weekend road trips, new clothes, fine dining, parties and concerts.
Like most Colleges that first week of school when doe eyed freshman arrive, there are lot of on campus things to attend. Most colleges have a meeting where students can find new clubs, organizations and programs to become a part of. Roaming these halls are bankers and credit card givers.
I was approached by a charming fellow just a few years older than me. He offered me a credit card and I declined because I had heard from my family that is what I needed to do. After I said no, he persisted with his sales pitch of the credit card. Except, I didn’t realize it was sales pitch. These words that flowed from his mouth were music to my ears. Promises of low interest rate (what’s that? I had no idea), easy to use, use it for beer, books and gas. SOLD. I signed up and signed my credit score life away.
This little piece of plastic became my study, party and shopping buddy. I didn’t really know the limit or what would happen if the limit was exceeded. I didn’t know understand that paying the minimum wasn’t good. I had no idea, because no one told me.
6 months past and before I knew it I had accumulated almost 4,000 dollars of debt. Oops. What now? I panicked and when the card stopped working and the calls started coming, I did what any 18 year old girl does, I cried. I knew had to make that dreaded phone call home to explain that their scholarly daughter had in fact made a very uneducated financial move.
After a few lectures and a few ‘pull you out of school’ threats, we all calmed down. Thank goodness I was lucky to have parents that could afford to help me out of my mistake. They took the card and paid it off. I got job and to pay them back, plus interest, of course.
My advice to parents or young college students. Educate yourself on credit cards. Parents sit down with your child and explain the basics behind it. Students avoid the smooth talking men and pretty woman with shiny cards. Don’t ruin your credit like I did. And if you are in debt, don’t be afraid to ask for help from anyone whether they are your financial adviser or parent.
Author Bio:
Christine Kane from internet service providers, she is a graduate of Communication and Journalism. She enjoys writing about a wide-variety of subjects for different blogs. She can be reached via email at: Christi.Kane00 @ gmail.com.
Wednesday
Small business and credit cards
Guest Post by Carolyn Knight
It might seem like small businesses have no need for credit cards. They’re supposed to be making money, and they can always go out and get a loan so there’s no reason they would benefit from a credit card, right? That’s definitely not the case. Small businesses can benefit in all kinds of ways when they use credit cards the right way. If you’re on the fence about implementing credit cards in your small business read on to find out some of the advantages that will benefit you:
Best way to track spending
If you’re a business owner you know how hard it can be to consolidate your books at the end of the year. You have to go through all the receipts from your expenses for the year and match them up to make sure you aren’t leaving anything out. If you use a credit card for purchases the tracking will be quite simple. All you have to do is go through your prior statements and you’ll know exactly how much was spent and where. A credit card will make it easy to track your expenses throughout the year.
Rewards
Like consumer credit cards, you can often get some kind of reward for your purchases made on business credit cards. You can get everything from cash back to points to airline miles, depending on the card and your business needs. If you’re going to be spending money it only makes sense that you should get some of that back in the form of rewards. Business credit cards are the perfect way to get a return on the expenditures you’re going to make either way.
Track employee spending
Depending on your business, you might have employees that need to make purchases on a regular basis. If you get a business credit card you can have duplicates made for your employees and track how much they’re using the card. This will help you keep their spending under control, and it will also help you identify areas where your profits are being lost unnecessarily.
Build credit
If you’re just starting out in business it’s unlikely that you’ll have enough business credit to take out a significant loan. It’s hard to build credit if you can’t borrow, but you can achieve the same effect by using a business credit card. The barriers to entry for getting a credit card are much lower than they are with getting a big loan. Once you have your credit built up you will be able to get money in loans much easier.
Businesses can benefit from credit cards just as much as consumers. You should consider getting a credit card for your business if it would help any of the areas above.
Author Bio:
Carolyn is a guest writer on the topics of business and credit cards. She is also an expert on order management software that works with Shopify, 3dcart, and BigCommerce.
It might seem like small businesses have no need for credit cards. They’re supposed to be making money, and they can always go out and get a loan so there’s no reason they would benefit from a credit card, right? That’s definitely not the case. Small businesses can benefit in all kinds of ways when they use credit cards the right way. If you’re on the fence about implementing credit cards in your small business read on to find out some of the advantages that will benefit you:
Best way to track spending
If you’re a business owner you know how hard it can be to consolidate your books at the end of the year. You have to go through all the receipts from your expenses for the year and match them up to make sure you aren’t leaving anything out. If you use a credit card for purchases the tracking will be quite simple. All you have to do is go through your prior statements and you’ll know exactly how much was spent and where. A credit card will make it easy to track your expenses throughout the year.
Rewards
Like consumer credit cards, you can often get some kind of reward for your purchases made on business credit cards. You can get everything from cash back to points to airline miles, depending on the card and your business needs. If you’re going to be spending money it only makes sense that you should get some of that back in the form of rewards. Business credit cards are the perfect way to get a return on the expenditures you’re going to make either way.
Track employee spending
Depending on your business, you might have employees that need to make purchases on a regular basis. If you get a business credit card you can have duplicates made for your employees and track how much they’re using the card. This will help you keep their spending under control, and it will also help you identify areas where your profits are being lost unnecessarily.
Build credit
If you’re just starting out in business it’s unlikely that you’ll have enough business credit to take out a significant loan. It’s hard to build credit if you can’t borrow, but you can achieve the same effect by using a business credit card. The barriers to entry for getting a credit card are much lower than they are with getting a big loan. Once you have your credit built up you will be able to get money in loans much easier.
Businesses can benefit from credit cards just as much as consumers. You should consider getting a credit card for your business if it would help any of the areas above.
Author Bio:
Carolyn is a guest writer on the topics of business and credit cards. She is also an expert on order management software that works with Shopify, 3dcart, and BigCommerce.
Monday
4 Tips for Helping your Partner Get out of Debt
Guest Post by Maria Rainier
If there is one thing in common that almost all American adults have is that they carry with them at least some personal debt. In fact, it's very often the case that what brings us together are the hardships—financial and otherwise—that we've endured over the years. Many adults, after becoming very involved in their respective romantic relationships, decide to pool together finances. Whether this means simply living together and sharing related costs, or going as far as to take on a partner's debts, deciding to entangle yourselves in each other's finances is a huge step. Here are some things to consider before helping your partner tackle his or her debts, or vice-versa.
1. Be completely honest about your debts as soon you get serious about your relationship.
There's nothing worse than being with a person romantically for several years, perhaps even approaching marriage, when your partner suddenly discloses the enormous pile of debt they've accrued over the years. Of course, when you love someone deeply enough, you'll do anything for them. But to be fair to your partner, and for your partner to be fair to you, it's important to be as honest as possible as soon as possible so that you can begin managing each other's debts.
2. Help control each other's discretionary spending.
One of the main reasons that most adults cannot control their debts incurred before marriage is that they don't make it a priority. Once you both become privy to your respective debts, you can help each other out by making a joint budget that allows each of you to pay off more than the monthly minimum on different loans and debts. If you aren't committed enough yet to where you are actually paying off your partner's debts, you can, at the very least, help each other prioritize your debts by controlling your monthly expenses.
3. Don't jeopardize your future to help your partner get out of serious financial trouble.
Perhaps one of the main reasons that married or otherwise committed couples end up splitting is over serious financial troubles. If you go so far as to cover all or a significant portion of your partner's debts, and in the process you incur significant debt yourself, the end result will only be mountains of resentment. Of course, if you can afford to help your partner out, then by all means do so, if you feel that the commitment warrants that sort of generosity. However, if you hurt yourself financially in the process, be wary.
4. Establish a long-term repayment plan.
If you do end up paying for a reasonable portion of your partner's debts, or if your partner pays for yours, set up a repayment plan that you can stick to. For example, my brother paid for about $4,000 of his then-fiancée's student loans. This ended up being a great idea, just because now she owed him, instead of a debt company that would charge her significant amounts of interest. Now, four years into their marriage, she's paid him back completely and they are both well on their way to being debt-free.
It's terrible that finances can have a huge, mostly adverse, impact on personal relationships. But if you're careful, you and your partner can use your relationship and teamwork skills to both relieve your debt load. Good luck!
Author Bio:
Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education where she writes about education, online colleges, online degrees etc. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.
If there is one thing in common that almost all American adults have is that they carry with them at least some personal debt. In fact, it's very often the case that what brings us together are the hardships—financial and otherwise—that we've endured over the years. Many adults, after becoming very involved in their respective romantic relationships, decide to pool together finances. Whether this means simply living together and sharing related costs, or going as far as to take on a partner's debts, deciding to entangle yourselves in each other's finances is a huge step. Here are some things to consider before helping your partner tackle his or her debts, or vice-versa.
1. Be completely honest about your debts as soon you get serious about your relationship.
There's nothing worse than being with a person romantically for several years, perhaps even approaching marriage, when your partner suddenly discloses the enormous pile of debt they've accrued over the years. Of course, when you love someone deeply enough, you'll do anything for them. But to be fair to your partner, and for your partner to be fair to you, it's important to be as honest as possible as soon as possible so that you can begin managing each other's debts.
2. Help control each other's discretionary spending.
One of the main reasons that most adults cannot control their debts incurred before marriage is that they don't make it a priority. Once you both become privy to your respective debts, you can help each other out by making a joint budget that allows each of you to pay off more than the monthly minimum on different loans and debts. If you aren't committed enough yet to where you are actually paying off your partner's debts, you can, at the very least, help each other prioritize your debts by controlling your monthly expenses.
3. Don't jeopardize your future to help your partner get out of serious financial trouble.
Perhaps one of the main reasons that married or otherwise committed couples end up splitting is over serious financial troubles. If you go so far as to cover all or a significant portion of your partner's debts, and in the process you incur significant debt yourself, the end result will only be mountains of resentment. Of course, if you can afford to help your partner out, then by all means do so, if you feel that the commitment warrants that sort of generosity. However, if you hurt yourself financially in the process, be wary.
4. Establish a long-term repayment plan.
If you do end up paying for a reasonable portion of your partner's debts, or if your partner pays for yours, set up a repayment plan that you can stick to. For example, my brother paid for about $4,000 of his then-fiancée's student loans. This ended up being a great idea, just because now she owed him, instead of a debt company that would charge her significant amounts of interest. Now, four years into their marriage, she's paid him back completely and they are both well on their way to being debt-free.
It's terrible that finances can have a huge, mostly adverse, impact on personal relationships. But if you're careful, you and your partner can use your relationship and teamwork skills to both relieve your debt load. Good luck!
Author Bio:
Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education where she writes about education, online colleges, online degrees etc. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.
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