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Life Takes Visa and So Should You - Why You Should Always Use Credit or Debit Cards


Life Takes Visa and So Should You - Why You Should Always Use Credit or Debit Cards

Published 11/18/07  (Modified 3/9/11)

By MoneyBlueBook

J.D. Roth From Get Rich Slowly posted an entry today on his blog in which he drew attention to those popular Visa ads that promote the use of credit cards as the new trendy and speedy way to make everyday purchases. In case you've been living in a cave with your fingers stuck in your ears, or you just don't watch much television, here's the commercial we are talking about:

The message is pretty self evident - Using credit cards is fun, fast, and everyone is doing it, so don't get left out. Only those who aren't hip or "with it" use cash. The spinning shoppers in the commercial represent the gears of everyday commerce that grinds to a halt when someone like the lone, meekly man at the end attempts to use cash to make his purchase. The gesture causes everyone to drop everything in their hands in stunned shock - food, drinks, and all.

Using Credit and Debit Cards Is Much More Efficient

J.D. seems to really dislike the commercial as he sees it as a misguided attempted to demonize the usage of cash. I personally like the commercial and must disagree with his views on this one. I find that credit cards are almost always exponentially faster than using cash. Every time I go grocery shopping, I always dread following after someone in the checkout line who plans on using cash or even worse, checks. Cash is cumbersome and there is always the inevitable pause as the sales clerk and customer fumble

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Increase Your Citibank Card Limit Automatically Without a Hard Credit Pull

Published 11/17/07  (Modified 3/9/11)

By MoneyBlueBook

I'm a big fan of Citibank and I really like the variety of financial products they offer. I like the fact that they have a national banking presence and that's one of the reasons why I have my primary checking and savings account with them. I especially like their credit cards since many of them provide unique credit card offers not available with any other company. Citibank also has a nice website that offers many convenient features for its customers. One of the nice functions is the option to request an automatic credit limit increase online without the need for a hard credit pull. When you request automatic limit increase through your Citibank online account, only a soft inquiry is made of your credit report.

This a wonderful feature since not all credit card companies offer this automatically. Other issuers will increase your limit upon request, but the manual request usually involves a hard credit inquiry.

Why Would I Want to Increase My Credit Limit?

The most obvious reason you would want to increase your credit limit is to enhance your ability to make more monthly purchases or to purchase more expensive items using your card. If you started out with a low credit limit and find yourself frequently nearing or reaching your maximum limit, a credit increase would likely be beneficial. Another reason would be to improve your FICO credit score by lowering your overall credit utilization ratio. Credit utilization ratio is a major component used to compute your FICO credit score, and you

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Would You Give Up Your Right To Vote For A Million Dollars?

Published 11/16/07  (Modified 3/9/11)

By MoneyBlueBook

I was listening to the radio this morning and came upon an interesting discussion about the upcoming U.S. elections. The question proposed was this - If you could give up your right to ever vote again in an election for a million dollars-tax free, would you do it?

The seemingly innocuous question brought up certain fascinating issues. Just how much do we value our constitutionally protected right to choose our own leaders? With the U.S. election coming next November in 2008, I have already sort of decided who I plan to cast my vote for to become the next president of the United States. But would I be willing to give up that right forever for a million dollars?

The radio show fielded numerous answers from callers and the overwhelming response was an emphatic - yes. The majority of callers indicated they would be willing to give up their right to vote for the money. About 70 percent said they would take the money and only 30 percent refused to give up their voting rights.

Just Show Me The Money

As an American, as much as I'd love to think or say that I cherish and value my right to vote so much that no amount of money could ever make me give up that right, I have to say that the reality is that we live in a "show me the money" society. I think, a million dollars would probably do more for my own personal life than the results of any election ever could. With a

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How To Save Money When You Take the Subway To Work

Published 11/15/07  (Modified 3/9/11)

By MoneyBlueBook

I live in the suburbs and commute into Washington D.C. for work every day. I actually have it comparatively easy since I don't have to commute through the notoriously jammed packed Beltway every morning. I tried driving to work for a while, but the frustration of dealing with daily rush hour traffic finally broke me down. With gas prices soaring and with more cars piling onto the roads than the day before, it just didn't make sense for me to commute by car anymore. So that's why I decided a few years ago to commute solely by subway, and I've never looked back since.

In the D.C. area we have an extensively used subway system, called Metro. Many commuters, particularly federal government workers who live in the Maryland and North Virginia suburbs commute into D.C. using the Metrorail system. Over the years I've learned a few cost and time saving tips for commuting to work via subway:

1) Know the weekday times for regular and reduced fare. The rules may be different in other major cities like New York, Philadelphia, or Boston, but the D.C. Metro charges a reduced fare when you ride during off peak times. The D.C. Metro regular fare is in effect on weekdays from opening to 9:30 a.m., 3:00-7:00 p.m., and 2 a.m. to closing). All other times are reduced fares.

The fare that you are charged depends on the time that you cross the gate. I always keep the peak hour times in my mind when I plan my

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How I Got Scammed By a Seller On Alibaba

Published 11/14/07  (Modified 3/9/11)

By MoneyBlueBook

I debated about whether I should share this story, but at the end I decided that my experience might help prevent someone from falling into the same scam as I did. At the time I was young, inexperienced and financially naive. Since then, I've learned and improved based on my past failures and eventually went on to run a small but profitable home business by making money online with ebay, at least for a modest period of time.

It All Started With Too Much Greed

Shortly after college I decided I wanted to start a part time side business selling merchandise on eBay. But first I needed to find a wholesale supplier. After some research I decided I wanted to focus on consumer electronics such as GPS navigation devices and Apple iPods, and concluded my best bet at finding a supplier would be through a free network site like Alibaba, that helps connect sellers with buyers of goods. Little did I know at the time, but sites like Alibaba are crawling with scammers and evil doers.

I ultimately decided to focus on selling Garmin and Tom Tom branded GPS units. After a few searches, I was amazed to find numerous sellers offering brand new Garmin GPS units for very little money. The Garmin GPS model I was interested in buying in bulk retailed for more than $1200 on eBay at the time. The sellers I found on Alibaba were offering each unit for only $700 each. The asking prices were exceedingly low,

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Personal Finance Bloggers Are Very Obsessed About Stats and Numbers

Published 11/13/07  (Modified 3/9/11)

By MoneyBlueBook

I love looking at numbers. I also love looking at charts, graphs, and balance sheets that organize numerical data into quantifiable displays. I think I spend way too much time looking at my numbers, but a glance at what my other fellow personal finance bloggers frequently write about and discuss, I get the feeling I'm not alone on this.

I Like Having Access to My Numbers At All Times

Seriously, it doesn't matter where I am - I could be sitting at my desk at work or relaxing in front of the television set at home, but at some point, I'm going to want to take a look at my numbers. I use the term numbers loosely, but it's an all encompassing term to include everything related to statistics - from my blog's Sitemeter traffic counter to my investment brokerage account's numerical fluctuations. I don't want to say I'm addicted to statistical trends, but I get a lot of personal satisfaction out of it. It's hard to point my finger on exactly what is it that I find so fascinating about statistics, but I've found that many personal finance bloggers also seem to share the same type of mathematical obsession.

Statistic Bloggers Like To Have Things Numerically Organized

Having talked to other fellow bloggers and read their articles over the years, I've come to realize that many of us are quite similar. We all seem to enjoy watching the numbers go up and down as it gives us a sense of where we stand in the

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