Credit Card Tips

Hullo hullo everyone!

This goes out especially to those who are still familiarising themselves with the luxury of 'plastic money'...(psst! I include myself in that category)..

My first question; do you have a credit card? I'm sure most of you have at least two credit cards. According to the president of TrueCredit.com, Jan Davis, most college students need no more than 2 credit cards. I think EVERYONE shouldn't have more than two credit cards but I'm no expert. lol. I just feel that we shouldn't be spending more than the amount that we're earning. And I make sure I pay off my balance in full at the end of every month. Oh by the way, for disciplined spenders (such as moi :-P), the founder of CardRatings.com, Curtis Arnold, suggested to "go for a rewards card that is tailored to your spending habits".

If you have more than 1 credit card, you should have one which you keep for emergencies..such as a car breakdown, or a Gucci handbag which you accidentally come accross when you're window-shopping while waiting for your car to get fixed (haha just kidding!)

Anyway, here are a couple of useful tips / reminders for us:-

- Don't apply for a lot of credit cards just to get the freebies. Even if you never use them they can still hurt your credit record (and you know you won't be happy about that). So people, resist the temptation for those freebies!

- Keep your credit limit low. A low credit limit will help you resist the urge to splurge. Peter Bielagus, a Boston financial adviser, said that usually we're given a low credit limit to start off with. After maybe a year, we will receive a congratulatory letter informing us that our credit limit has been increased. When that happens, we should call the credit card issuer and decline the offer. Bielagus says if the issuer refuses to oblige to our request, we should just close the account. (customer power..yeah!)

OK sorry peeps, I gotta stop here. Too much distractions. See you soon..(hope it'll be sooner than next month).

sources: http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/24/pf/college/cards_grads/index.htm?postversion=2007052413, http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/columnist/block/2003-08-11-ym_x.htm.

Attention all young women out there!

Hello.. Here are just some stats I found from someone's blog (who got them from msmoney.com) which I feel are very interesting. We might not be aware of all these, so it's good to read about it - and realise that women have a lot of work to do in terms of getting themselves ready for retirement.

• Women live longer than men (an average of 7 years) so they need 20% more for retirement.
• On average, women earn 25% less than men.
• Since women tend to take time off to raise children or take care of parents (women take off approximately 11 years more from work than men), they save less than men do for retirement.
• After earning lower salaries for fewer years, women's social security benefits are about half of men's.
• The majority of women had certificates of deposit (CDs) in their retirement savings accounts when a more aggressive investment vehicle was more appropriate.

So whatever it is, all you young women out there, do something quick! No matter how taboo money matters are to you, you should at least make an effort to learn how to manage your finances.

We'll talk more about this later.

Savings Plan

Hi, I'm not dead...well, not yet fortunately! hehe. Just haven't been able to get the internet connection at my new place up and running. Been so busy with (yeah you guessed it), work! Of all the things!

Anyway, I shouldn't rant here. I'll set up another blog just for that. lol.

So, here I am, at my friend's place. Finally online after weeks of being 'unconnected'. The first thing I came across with was this Yahoo! Finance page, which flashed something that got my attention. After clicking on it, I came to a page that says 'the get-started savings plan'. And so I read on. A reader had posted a question which I find very interesting coz it sounds a bit like what I'm 'going thru' (ok well, just the part about being more confused than ever, rofl). Here it is:-

Question: I'm a 24-year-old woman looking to start a saving plan. I've cleared all my debt and have started an emergency fund, but I'm unsure how to proceed from there. I've read so many books and articles that I'm more confused than when I started. I tried talking to a financial adviser, but she told me to come back when I have $10,000. I'm so worried about doing it all wrong that I'm tempted to just open an IRA at my bank and leave the rest of my money in CDs. Can you point me in the right direction? -- Ruth, Post Mills, Vermont

The answer was straight-forward. Mr. Updegrave tried his best not to bombard the reader with too many links which will lead to further information-overload. Basically he urged the reader to sign up for a retirement savings plan at work, and to invest in target funds or asset-allocation funds.

I think his advice at the beginning of the article is quite useful. It acts as a reminder for me..not to be afraid of making mistakes. And not to put too much pressure on myself. Yeah, I've been kinda overwhelmed lately.. when I shouldn't be. I should be relieved that I've begun to save and at least, I have some sort of a head start (compared to some people who are unaware of their financial situation and don't even have a savings plan). Yup, I should relax... After all, it isn't rocket science.

The article can be found at http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/102620/The-Get-Started-Savings-Plan

Making you richer

Hullo!

It's been right about 3 weeks since I last updated.. Been wandering around.. (Yup that box there is 1 of the outcome) So where have I been? Well I've been searching for what suits me the most. And lemme tell ya, boy was I confused. I was gloomy, and worried and everything in between. Poor me.. But not anymore! I've found something that's really good...and yes you are correct, it does have something to do with that box.

Anyway, what I'm about to reveal is probably going to blow you away (haha ok I'll stop being overly dramatic now). All drama aside, I really do feel that this is what all of us beginners should start with. The product/item/program that I'm talking about is called 'Making You Richer'. Trust me, it's not a scam or anything like that. I'm sure it's not. Coz it's offers a 6-month guarantee which means if we don't make money within 6 months of purchasing it, they'll give us a full refund...now that's quite comforting right?

They even provide us with professionally designed web site templates that we can easily customise. And the best part is..it's free! (Well it's all a package actually lol). What's even better is that they even give us free web hosting for a YEAR! Brilliant! =D

And we'll be getting an e-book besides whole access to the exclusive members' area in which they will provide us with all the support and guidance that we badly need. Alrighty, I guess that's about it. C'mon ppl! If we've never made an investment in ourselves, this would be the best time to do so!

Signing out.

The attitude we shouldn't have

(image taken from: http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/category/investing/. thanks!)


DON'T PROCRASTINATE!

(And I'm reminding myself before anyone else...) C'mon shahnaz! =)