Use Credit Card Rebates To Help Pay Off Your Home Mortgage Loan Principal

By MoneyBlueBook

Editor's Note: Thank you for your interest, these offers have expired and are no longer available.

One of the biggest problems and common complaints of using rebate credit cards is the reward program's propensity to encourage overspending. Finding a reward credit card is easy and particularly with cash back cards, redeeming rebates is a breeze. But the problem is - are you putting your cash back earnings towards the right type of expenditures? Credit cards that offer airline miles or redeemable gift cards are certainly wonderful, but they don't do much to encourage the right type of spending or the development of responsible money habits. Citibank's Home Rebate Platinum Select Mastercard is a unique card that tries to change all that by helping you automatically put those rebates towards something important and worthwhile - the mortgage loan you have on your house or condominium.

Automatically Pay Down Your Home Mortgage Principal Using the Citibank Home Rebate Card

If your current card reward program is only going to encourage you to spend beyond your means on things you don't need, you should definitely take a look at the Citibank Home Rebate Card as a serious alternative. It's not the sexiest or fanciest of rebate cards, but it's uniquely practical and well suited for home owners and those who want to be more responsible with how they spend their rebate dollars. The card automatically reallocates all earned rebates towards paying off your home loan principal. Paying down principal is better than paying ahead on your mortgage because by paying down the principal, you lower the total amount of interest you pay, and may be

By MoneyBlueBook

Comparing financial networth can be tricky since you aren't always comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges. Married individuals that combine the incomes and assets of both spouses will clearly have much higher networths and much lower expenses than single individuals.

With that in mind, here is some background information to help you know where I stand. I am currently in my late 20's, not married, currently renting, and working a contract job that pays reasonably well. I graduated from law school a few years ago and am still trying to figure out exactly what is it that I want to do professionally. I took things easy after graduate school, choosing to enjoy life and neglected the importance of saving early. I did not start tracking my finances and focus on saving until the start of 2007 last year. All of my savings and investments were initiated one year ago on January 2007. Here is the summary of my 2007 financial progression and where I stand now.

Tracking My Financial Progress Using Networth IQ

I've held off from using Networth IQ to track my financial net worth and progress due to my original dislike of the program's overly simplistic graphical chart displays. For such a popular widget among financial bloggers, you'd think the company would have come out with a nicer and more sophisticated looking display. But I've finally caved and have decided to enter in my stats and will be tracking my monthly progress from here on, starting January 2008. It'll be interesting to

By MoneyBlueBook

Conventional wisdom suggests that it is always better to buy a home than to rent. After all, when you rent you are given no tax breaks and you are not investing your rent payments into anything that will appreciate over time. I don't disagree with the pro-buying sentiments, but I think during major housing recessions we need to rethink our strategy. Unlike stock market corrections and shifts, the real estate market trends are slow to act and slower yet to cycle through the changes. Like a sloth, the housing market inches slowly downwards and upwards and I think we've only yet begun to see the worst of the housing collapse.

Buying a home is usually a much better option in the long term compared to renting, but I think these are different times. I have every intention to buy a house in the future - just not at the present moment or for the next 2-3 years at least. My short term goal is to invest my funds in the stock market and continue to save. I currently lease a brand new condominium unit I discovered through Craigslist. Ever since college and graduate school I've been renting and I think it's been a smart decision. I did not have the funds during my earlier college years to purchase a home, so I missed the housing boat. My best bet now is to enjoy my rental lifestyle for a few more years, and continue to grow my eventual down payment.

Aside From the Obvious Timing Reasons,

By MoneyBlueBook

Review Of Rent.com and Ways To Make Money While Finding An Apartment

I've been renting for quite a long long while and have learned a thing or two about apartment hunting. Because of the bursting real estate bubble, I'm going to be continuing my long lasting rental streak for the foreseeable future. Renting is not so bad. You get to live somewhere different every few years and you don't need to worry about upkeep or maintenance because the landlord takes care of everything. For college or graduate students, it's usually the only option, aside from moving back home. Unless you want mommy and daddy to rule over your comings and goings though, I would highly recommend striking it out on your own. Of course, if financial independence is an issue, living with your parents will allow you to better conserve your financial resources until you can stand on your own two feet.

Get $100 For Using Rent.Com To Find Your Apartment

I always try to maximize my money and take advantage of money saving and money making opportunities whenever possible. On the subject of searching for an apartment rental, Rent.com offers a unique deal not offered by most other apartment search sites. This eBay owned company will hand you a cool $100 in the form of a pre-paid Visa debit card if you register with them and find an apartment to rent through their online listing. Their listing is quite comprehensive but only includes sites that have agreed to participate in their program. They have a

By MoneyBlueBook

Unless you are the National Association of Realtors (with their weird predictions), you are living in the realm of reality and are aware of what is going on in the real estate market. Unless you are NAR, you're probably well aware that most reputable research groups and real estate analysts continue to report a dismal housing market.

The real estate market was so hot for many years and now it's finally tanked and appears to be poised for a lengthy bear run. I was in the market for a new house but have decided to pull out until markets have bottomed out. I know it's difficult if not impossible to accurately predict if and when the bottom has arrived, but based on current conditions, I don't think we are close to the abyss yet.

The problem with housing is that it's no longer about location, location anymore. Now it's all about supply, supply. Mortgage rates could decrease with further Federal Reserve rate cuts, but so long as sellers refuse to budge from their highly priced home listings, the supply will continue to grow, creating a seller's bubble of its own.

We Have Only Begun To See the Downturn

Latest research reports show that housing prices have steadily fallen since the summer, although there are pockets of relative tame changes in areas like the Northeast part of the United States. As grim as it may seem, I think the worst is yet to come and I doubt we will see any appreciable recovery for many years,

By MoneyBlueBook

This is for those of you who missed out on the real estate boom of the last few years. I think you'll know where I'm coming from.

Back in 2004 I was feeling downtrodden. I was only very recently a year out of graduate school and already my friends were snapping up properties left and right. I know it's not good to be envious of others, but I felt like I was missing out on the greatest boom of the decade.

A few of my friends and acquaintances at the time were making lucrative incomes by flipping houses, and perfecting the art of buying distressed properties, fixing them up, and selling them for quick profits. Some were even working on the side and making good money as house appraisers. I even knew a few people who took trips to Miami and Las Vegas to take advantage of the red hot housing markets there. Many were putting money down for pre-construction condominium projects that gained in market value even before the contract ink was dry. During the boom, it seemed like everyone was making money off of paper gains due to rapid appreciation of housing prices.

Great Real Estate Investing Opportunities Opening Up

Now, everything has changed. The real estate market has cooled and completely caved inward. Housing values are depreciating and foreclosures are up.

In the midst of this doom and gloom, I can crack a smile. The opportunistic eager beaver in me knows that my time to shine will soon be near. Am I