Saving money is never easy, especially when the economy demands that you spend all of (or more than) what you make. But, with a few simple techniques, you can learn how to save your money.

Why save money at all? A lot of people, unfortunately, don’t save money - they either never bother to open a savings account, or they simple maintain the minimum balance in the account. If so many other people are able to get by without the hassle of saving money, why should you even bother to save money?

• Future Problems - You can’t predict when a problem is going to rear its ugly head. It might be as simple as forgetting to buy groceries that week to as terrible as an extended hospital visit. when you don’t save money you’re forced to readjust your entire life - from eating habits to work routines - in order to accommodate the added expense.
• Pay with Cash - Many people often willingly agree to take out a loan on something in order to purchase it. while this is great to appease the “got to have it now” mentality, it could end up costing you a lot more in the future - especially if you miss a payment. When you save over the long term for big ticket items you can pay for them outright.
• Good Practice - We live in a society where the social conscious is on spending what you have, when you have it. If you stop needlessly spending money you may very well find that you have a lot more money to spend down the road.If you’ve ever walked by a store and thought “I wish I could afford that” then saving your money might actually be what you need to do.

When you add saving money as part of your budget you may find that, in the short term, you have less money to spend; however, the long term is where you’ll see the benefits of saving, including less stress and a better feeling of security.

Tags: save money, personal finance, investment, budget

Quite often on the Internet you’ll see companies that advertise ways for you to start over with your credit score and create a new credit file. Hey, if you have bad credit, wouldn’t you want to start with a new credit profile?

To create a new credit file these companies advise that you apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) or Tax Identification Number (TIN) and use that in place of your social security number. This would, in theory, establish a new credit file for that specific number.

Other companies advise that you outright lie about you social security number, either by making one up or stealing it.

As you may have guessed, there’s a problem with this method that they’re advertising: it’s illegal, and, if you’re caught, you’ll spend time in jail for deception. These companies selling this information are in violation of the Credit Reform Act - and they know it.

“But,” I hear you say, “I don’t have to legally provide my Social Security number to acquire credit!” If you thought this, you would be mistaken. While it’s true that you do not have to provide your social security number to be considered for credit (or, in fact, to be considered for anything), it is not illegal for an organization to disqualify you for not providing one.

In other words, if you’re looking to start from a clean slate, stop looking. You’re not going to find your miracle here.

The only legal way to repair damaged credit is to work it off over time: pay off your debts, keep your accounts in good standing, and build your score by using credit responsibly.

Tags: new credit file, illegal credit scam, employer identification number, tax identification number

You probably see them all the time at gas stations or advertised as a solution for people with bad credit. Prepaid credit cards act just like a regular credit card, except unlike a normal credit card there is no line of credit behind the plastic.

Essentially, prepaid credit cards are debit cards.

There are two main differences between prepaid credit cards regular cards:

• Pay as you go - With a prepaid credit card you have a fixed amount of money you can use. Since there is no line of credit, you don’t have to worry about paying back any debt.
• No credit reporting - Since prepaid cards are not a line of credit, no reporting will be made to any credit union. this can be great if you need to watch your budget, but it’s horrible if you’re trying to rebuild your credit score.

Since prepaid credit cards don’t have any line of credit attached to them only certain people will actually want to use them:

• Banks Without Debit Cards - People who have accounts at banks that do not provide a free debit card with their accounts often need a way to carry larger sums of money without carrying around lots of legal tender. A prepaid credit card is the perfect way to transfer this money around.
• Children and Students - Many parents today will give their children a prepaid credit card for them to use as they see fit. Children can benefit from this by having their allowance placed on the card, while students - especially college students - can benefit by being able to have the card refilled when needed.

Tags: prepaid credit card, debit cards, personal finance