Mary Jo Harper from Merril Lynch financial plan steps
Reassess your Mortgage -Take a look at your debt and see how it can be consolidated and interest costs reduced. Start with your mortgage. Check your rates and evaluate the benefit of refinancing when interest rates are low.
Consider your credit card - Make a list of all credit cards, balances, interest rates, and amount of credit available. Call each company and ask for lower rates and determine where and why fees are charged. Use last week’s credit score determination as a proof point on why credit card companies should work with you. Take advantage of the new changes being implemented to help users from fees and interest rate increases.
Deliver Payments on Time - Time to use that calendar you’ve purchased and make sure to actually pay on those marked dates. Or, if you know you have had bad luck with paying your credit card on time, consider converting all spending to a debit card – they cannot overspend, get charged instantly, and at the end of the year you can get a printout shown where every penny was spent.
- Revaluate your current mortgage debt – consider options that might lower your payment
- Make a list of all of your credit cards, balances, interest rates, and amount of credit available. If your credit scores supports lower rates, use this as a proof point.
- Call your credit card company to determine where fees are charged
- Be sure to pay your credit card on time
- Consider changing to a Debit Card
Peer2Peer Program
Eric Kimel discusses Peer2Peer program in Philadelphia that allows students to help tutor other students. For more information visit
Green Tip
www.goinggreen.com wants to help consumers save paper and eliminate all the unnecessary pages that are often printed out with a document. The software costs $35 but the company claims the average user saves $90 a year in paper and ink (and the software lets you track your savings).
Start 2010 off right with a budget worksheet
http://www.tracydavidson.com/budget-worksheet/
Website We Love
Chegg.com is a cool website that lets you rent your textbooks online for an entire semester. It’s easy: just search for the books you need, select the edition you want and Chegg sends them to you right away. Chegg even plants a tree for every book you rent! When the semester is over, just send them back for someone else to use.
Growing Tree- Children’s Consignment
Comments
I thought I heard you say today on Survive and Thrive that we can ask job related questions at 7pm. I must have missed it somehow. I wanted to ask a question. Thank You.
#I am an AmeriCorps Vista volunteer working for the Bucks County Opportunity Council.I am serving for one year and my duties are to write financial workshops for people in Bucks County that need help with Budgeting, Credit Cards, Credit and Credit Repair and other financial issues. I don’t always get home in time for your show, but I watch it when I can and have used your ideas in the past for my work.
#I was wondering if you have done any segments on the VITA programs in the area. If you are not familiar they are the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance programs offered by various local non profit groups. We run one called “Buck$ Back. We served 900 low and moderate income people last year. We have a volunteer force of tax preparers that must be certified by the Internal Revenue Service. THe IRS is a partner in this project. We also are starting to offer other services like Debt Cards to help people eliminate those high banking overdraft fees and Go Direct to help people who receive government checks like Social Security get signed up for Direct Deposit. I know that there are many groups involved with this and we are all needing to let people know that this service is available and free.
Is this anything you have done or would be interesed in doing? Kathy Finnigan
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