Now, it is not hidden fact that payday loan carries extremely high interest for such short loan duration. APR for most lenders can reach to up to 25% in as short as two weeks or a month. Banks only charge 1% to 3.5% per month and gives borrower longer and more flexible repayment schemes. But lenders justify this rate, claiming that they provide quick cash remittance, which no ordinary banks can do. First time borrowers can actually get the money in no more than 24 hours after the submission of their loan application and for regular users, the money may appear to their account in no more than an hour. If you take out a loan from a bank, it will take more than a week to process your application and then another week or a couple of weeks to release the money. This is not a good way to go if you are dealing with an emergency case.

Aside from this they also do not require credit check, which means that they are carrying higher risks than traditional lending companies do. Read more…

When you’re drowning in a sea of high interest credit card debt and you don’t want to get help from a debt settlement company or file bankruptcy, you can rush to a credit counseling agency. The credit counseling agencies are more like teaching organizations that teach you how to get out of debt and also stay out of debt. You must be aware of the difference between get out of debt and stay out of debt. Getting out of debt is easy as you have to follow certain steps as mentioned by the companies but staying out of debt is usually tougher as you have to continue curbing all the bad financial habits that have lead to debt in the past. A credit counselor will help you take such positive financial decisions that can help you lead a debt free life. Have a look at the benefits of credit counseling.

  • Assess your personal finances: The credit counselor will assess your personal finances so that they can give you the right financial advice regarding your debts. Unl

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My blog about trying to set up a Facebook app to allow my friends to share my Citi ThankYou rewards points was featured in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance.

Hosted by Diva in Debt, the 344th edition of the carnival selected bloggers Matt About Money Intelligent Speculator and One Cent for Editor’s Choice honors. A blog carnival is a compilation of the best blogs about a particular topic. Each week, a different blogger acts as host and selects what he or she feels are the best blogs related to that topic.

The Carnival of Personal Finance focuses on managing money, credit, budgeting, finance, real estate and saving.
 

A foreclosure hardship letter is an integral part of Loan Modification or Short Sale package. When homeowners are facing foreclosure, these documents are submitted to the Loss Mitigation Department of the mortgage lender. Loan modifications are offered to homeowners who have the financial ability to become current on delinquent payments. Short sales are offered to homeowners who do not have the financial means to pay their mortgage payments. Lenders who accept short sales offers agree to accept less than is owed on the mortgage note.

For most people, the foreclosure hardship letter is the most difficult aspect of loan modification or short sale procedures. It can be excruciatingly painful to express on paper the circumstances which caused the homeowner to fall behind on their mortgage payments. Many people are intimidated by the hardship letter. They don’t know what to say or how to format the letter so it is easy to read and understand.

Keep in mind, foreclosures and short sales are handled by the Loss Mitigation Department of your lender. E

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Whats the best way to save money and pay off debt in 2012? We talked to seven personal finance experts who weighed in with their best money advice for the new year.

Bill Losey, retirement strategist, Wilton, N.Y.:

If you haven’t already, it’s time to automate your savings. If you’re not good at stashing money away, having a certain amount automatically taken from your checking account and placed in your savings account can help you regularly set money aside.

Losey recommends saving at least 1 percent of each pay period’s earnings. When you get a raise, add an extra percent to your savings, and spend the rest.

“This way youll continually increase your savings rate while enjoying a higher standard of living,” he says.

Candace Bahr, co-founder of the nonprofit Womens Institute for Financial Education, WIFE.org:

“Start the new year right by increasing your regular investment in your tax-deferred retirement plan at work, such as a 401(k) plan,” Bahr says.

You won’t have to pay taxes on your investment or earnings in a 401(k) until you withdraw them at retirement, so your savings have a chance to grow faster than an after-tax plan would. Plus, because the

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Mobile phone applications, like Square and Intuits GoPayment, let anyone receive credit card payments. Having a garage sale? You can now use your iPhone or Android phone to receive payments, just like a big-time merchant. Selling stuff at a farmers market or flea market? Whip out your iPhone with the Square or GoPayment apps and let your customers say charge it. One problem is that it can take time to set up your new merchant account to let you receive funds from these transactions. Intuit claims to have made it even easier, with the launch of their GoPayment Prepaid Visa Card. With the new GoPayment prepaid card, users of the GoPayment mobile application can quickly get set up to receive money from their customers. The money you get from your customer gets loaded onto the GoPayment Visa card, and you can access the cash by withdrawing it from an ATM machine, or by using your GoPayment Visa card to buy stuff at other merchants.

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