Credit Cards

It's so easy to pay for stuff you buy online, using online services such as PayPal, isn't it? And it's so easy, too, to get paid for whatever one can get paid using online services such as PayPal, isn't it?

And it's dangerous, too.

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As a single mother, Melanie Buffel's journey toward financial competence very much began as a trial by fire. "I've sort of learned a lot of my money skills through the school of life," she says. "At times there has been a very high tuition cost, you make significant mistakes and learn what not to do."

Click here to see part one of Broverman's post.

Though her background is in community economic development, helping women earning low incomes gain control of their household finances for 15 years. Now, as a money coach for Money Coaches Canada, she has been helping middle-income singles and couples whose cash is flowing, but they don't feel like they're getting ahead -- much like she felt once upon a time.

"They're sort of running the hamster wheel of their finances and their cash is flowing, but they're not really capturing it anywhere. They're not saving towards things that they want they're kind of vague about what's happening with their money and they just want a better sense that they're working toward their dreams."

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As a single mother, Melanie Buffel's journey toward financial competence very much began as a trial by fire.

"I've sort of learned a lot of my money skills through the school of life," she says. "At times there has been a very high tuition cost, you make significant mistakes and learn what not to do."

Though her background is in community economic development, helping women earning low incomes gain control of their household finances for 15 years. Now, as a money coach for Money Coaches Canada, she has been helping middle-income singles and couples whose cash is flowing, but they don't feel like they're getting ahead -- much like she felt once upon a time.

"They're sort of running the hamster wheel of their finances and their cash is flowing, but they're not really capturing it anywhere. They're not saving towards things that they want they're kind of vague about what's happening with their money and they just want a better sense that they're working toward their dreams."

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Most of us (67 per cent of us, to be precise) are aware enough not to share our Personal Identification Number (PIN) with others, including our own family members.

That, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) says, is the good news.

Only a few of us (about 40 per cent of us, to be precise) are aware that getting a credit card advance means we're going to pay interest as soon as the money lands in our hands. And that, the agency says, is the bad news.

These are some of the findings of a Financial Consumer Agency of Canada survey that measured Canadians' knowledge of the rights and responsibilities of financial consumers and financial institutions, and compared them to a similar survey conducted in 2006.

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Who doesn't like reading books offering financial advice? The latest book in this oeuvre is Finding the G Spot: A Sassy, Sensible, Entertaining Approach to Finance! by Jenn Killins.

Killins is a Canadian financial planning expert who wrote the book on a "keep it simple" approach, making financial planning easy to understand for the every day reader.

By Chuck Saletta, The Motley Fool
According to a recent study by the Society for Human Resource Management, some 83% of HR professionals think that personal financial challenges have at least some impact on employees' performance. Those same HR professionals aren't blind to economic reality -- 80% of them believe that employees at their organizations are facing more financial challenges than they were five years ago.

And it's not a stretch to connect the dots: How you manage your own money can have an impact on the work you do for your company.

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Internet bidding sites have been spreading like forest mushrooms after a warm rain in late May recently. E-Bay has almost become an afterthought.

It all began when people decided, for example, that to sell a car as a trade-in when buying a spanking new vehicle is shortsighted. The dealer offers you a price. That price will, in the best of cases, cut into the new car's price but, eventually, you'll find out that car dealers aren't in the business for your beautiful (insert colour here) eyes.

This realization (and not only about cars) has led to all kinds of lists and sites that let you sell your older product (or buy one) for prices considerably more to your liking. You're not supporting a dealer's overhead, after all (this brings us back to cars, but only because they're such an easy example).

But the lengths some of the bidding sites go to these days must raise an eyebrow or two.

Maybe you've picked up the phone recently to hear the following recording or something like it:

"Are you more than $10,000 in debt? We can help! Press #1 now to get connected with one of our agents and they can help cut you're debt in half for only a quarter of the cost."

Well, unfortunately a lot of these debt reduction agencies are nowhere near who they claim to be and most end up costing you money instead of waiving your debts. This is why The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada has issued a consumer warning against those telemarketing calls and advertisements claiming to come from debt reduction agencies or anyone who claims to provide "debt reduction," "debt relief," "debt settlement" or "debt renegotiation."

"Unfortunately, people do not always see the benefits that debt reduction companies lead them to expect-and some people wind up even deeper in debt than they were before," says FCAC Commissioner Ursula Menke. "If an offer to reduce your debts seems too good to be true, it probably is."

The usual setup promises that the company can work out a deal with your creditors so that you're able to pay back only a small percentage of what you actually owe for "pennies on the dollar." It's quite the offer, but it may actually turn into a Faustian bargain.

Related Links:

• Debt Settlement or Credit Counseling?
• What is Debt Settlement?
• It's Never Too Late to Get On Top of Your Debt
• Debt Reduction: Five Steps to Freedom

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It's nearing the end of the month and you've either received your credit card statement from Christmas or the dreaded mail is about to arrive. Have you taken a deep breath and braved opening the envelope, or are you resigned to letting it collect dust for now and deal with it later?

If you have the courage to open your credit card statement up, you'll notice something new - a measure the government forced companies to report a few months ago. And, if you carry a balance on your card, it might be a scary number to look at. There's a little box either on the side or back of your statement that now has to tell you how long it will take for you to pay off your credit card balance if you only make the minimum payment. This month's mini money make-over features Jeffrey, who's looking at a whopping 134 years and 7 months to pay off his credit card. Yes, you read that right. He's currently 37 years old, and if he doesn't learn a simple trick to financial freedom, his debt will outlive him by decades.

Budgeting doesn't have to be a horrible experience.

So says Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, The Money Coach®, a personal finance expert, television and radio personality, and the author of numerous books, including the New York Times bestseller Zero Debt: The Ultimate Guide to Financial Freedom.

"Unfortunately, most people have a total misconception of what a budget is," says Khalfani-Cox, who once had $100,000 in credit card debt, before paying it all off in three years and turning her financial life around. "Millionaires know that a budget is really a spending plan of action. It's a way to help you manage cash flow and achieve your financial goals."


In addition to being a regular contributor to WalletPop, Khalfani-Cox has appeared on such national TV programs as The Oprah Winfrey Show and Dr. Phil.


"The reason most people can't stick to their budgets is because they blow their money month after month on LIFE," explains Khalfani-Cox, an acronym that she breaks down in the video below.