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Thursday, January 22, 2009

Preparing Your Taxes Online Removes Some Of The Worry From April

By Steve Collins

Did you decide to prepare your taxes online last April 15th or were you among the sleep-deprived, anxious in line at the Post Office? Were you annoyed by the amount you had to pay for having your taxes filed by the tax service in the mall? Were you dismayed by the slips of paper and forms that may as well have been written in medieval Flemish?

You could have been happy, smug in the knowledge that you had chosen the option of preparing and submitting your taxes online and your refund had already been in the bank for weeks.

If you are disinclined to do your taxes online. possibly because you are not 100% confident in using your computer, dont let that stop you. Online tax preparation is not difficult. Most users agree that the process is easy and straightforward. The number of people doing online tax preparation has grown by leaps and bounds in the past three or four years.

Doing your taxes online is a time saving and reasonably priced option, especially if issues like proving hard-to-justify expenses do not complicate your return. Often, state tax forms can be prepared at the same time using the information obtained from the federal forms, (with the exception of state-specific items of course).

Typically, forms completed online show fewer mistakes. Whats even better is that preparing your taxes online speeds up the process, so your refund is in your grip much quicker.

So when tax time rolls around next year, why not go online and try online tax preparation? You will be relieved when April 15th rolls around and you are not among the masses in line at the post office.

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Smart-with-Money Mindset Needed

By Paul J. Easton

Unlike the popular belief we are told over and over again, credit cards are not free money. If you are not cautious enough, it can be the straightforward way to financial hell. There is some good news though. Your way out is still possible with efforts from your part.

Many experts say that one of the best hidden ways to get rid of credit card debt, that your bank don't tell you about, is with the use of a debt consolidation loan. If you have a number of credit cards then a consolidation loan may be a good advice. This comes along with a condition though. Be ready to give up your cards because these accounts will be suspended by your credit card lenders. A good indication that you need this is when you are already having missed payments for three or more consecutive months. This is much better than to suffer the consequences of a negatively impacted credit rating.

Consolidating your credit card debts into one big loan offers you a way to get rid of high interest rates from credit card lenders. This offers you a scheme to pay your bills without the hidden charges and extra fees. It also gives you the time to pay the balances in a much more feasible time frame. In addition, you don't have to keep track of several statements with various credit cards because you will only recall one due date with your consolidated loan. This eliminates the late payments when dealing with a lot of bills at different times of the month.

Explore with various banks and get the best debt consolidation loans with respect to the interests and the terms they offer. Take the time to search and compare loans if possible. Bear in mind that you are trying to better your financial situation, so you need to get a debt consolidation loan that offers you better rates and terms than your credit card lenders altogether.

Take the necessary steps and make the religious payments every time and you are on the right track to a debt-free life soon. There is a bad news however. A lot of people will take a debt consolidation loan to get out of their credit card debts. But after a few months, they get another card and splurge their way to another shopping spree.

This only worsens their problems because they have to make the new set of payments on the new credit cards. And don't forget the consolidated loan payment. Unless a person learns how to deal with the finances, he will still be running in circles with this financial disaster. So to make the most of this opportunity, learn not to go back to this financial trap and be smart with money.

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Tips on Sending Money to the Dominican Republic

By Chloe Banks

There are a variety of ways to send money quickly to the Dominican Republic. The level of security, cost and amount of time it takes for money to arrive differ for each service.

In case of an emergency, a person sending money to the Dominican Republic may need to make the money available as quick as possible. It is important to know what options might work best when time is the most important factor in making a money transfer. The most important thing to remember is not to panic, but to prepare now to have everything in place to initiate a transfer when necessary.

In instances like this it may be easiest to send money using an online service such as ATM Cash, which allows you to send money 24/7 from your computer.

Another way to ensure a quick transfer of money to the Dominican Republic is ensuring the recipient has an ATM or debit card. If the recipient is someone trusted, it's often useful for them to have a bank card linked to your checking or savings account.

If you are comfortable with the cardholder having access to your account at all time, they can have a card and PIN number to access cash through an ATM machine. If you do not want the recipient to have access to money at all times, a pre-paid debit card is a good solution. It works just like an ATM card except that it is loaded with a specific amount of money.

Once that money has been withdrawn, the cardholder has no access to funds unless the person sending money refills the pre-paid card. The PIN number is given to the cardholder by the person sending money, so a phone call to notify the recipient that money has been added to the card is all it would require to gain access to the funds.

Opening an account with a bank that has branches in both the Dominican Republic and the U.S. will also help facilitate easier transfers.

The above are some steps to ensure that money to the Dominican Republic arrives quickly when you need it.

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Paying Twice the Minimum with Your Credit Card Debts

By Paul J. Easton

If you have a number of credit cards, you are certainly aware that keeping the balance unpaid from month to month will end up making you pay more until your financial outlook becomes very troublesome. For some unfortunate cardholders, the situation seems impossible to get through that they even thought of filing a bankruptcy. Getting out of the credit card debt trap is much more doable if you go about it immediately, and yes, it is possible. Here's how to get rid of debt.

The first thing you should do is make a decision for yourself. Come to a point realizing that you truly are in need to get out of this mess and will face it no matter how hard it may seem. Once you collected yourself and set your focus to being debt-free, commit to have the determination needed to get out of this problem.

The next thing you should do is to get rid of all of your open credit card accounts. This avoids all the temptation to use them. Using these cards means more debt. Cut up the cards for now or put them somewhere where you will not access them easily.

Here is the most critical part of our plan. The move which created this mess is developing the habit of paying the minimum amount only each month. It may be affordable up front but it actually will cost you more money in the long term

As an advice, pay at least twice the minimum payment due on each month. Pay more if your budget can. This technique eliminates the interests added each month on your bills. Credit card lenders will only gain profit from interests and other hidden fees they charge. So you have to truly work at those balances by making larger payments every time. You may not observe any difference at first but with several consecutive and on-time payments of twice the minimum or more, you will begin to notice those balances reducing to a manageable amount. Make sure only that don't get a new card yet until they are fully paid and you discipline yourself to make good use of your next credit card.

It would seem painless to get into the habit of making only the minimum payments every time. Since you will mind of only a low amount, it can free up some cash flow for your other expenses. Regrettably, paying the minimum is not that easy and can be a very costly method of managing your finances in the long run. Even with just a low balance, the interests with your debts will likely to grow and will mostly take over a decade to repay. So pay your dues twice the minimum or more and follow this until you pay the whole balance, you will finally be debt-free soon.

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Tips How To Get Good Credit

By Eric Jilson

There are several ways to start building a credit history. If you are sick of creditors hounding you, or if you find that nobody will extend you a loan because you have never had credit, now is the time to learn credit building tips. First and most importantly, never purchase things you do not need. If you want something, but never put your wants before your needs, this is a recipe for disaster and will get you in debt. If you are seeking ways to build credit and have no previous history, make sure you know how to go about it properly.

Building or Rebuilding Your Credit

If you have or have had, bad credit, you need to get a Do-It-Yourself kit and get to work. Take a trip to your local library and check out books that guide you through the process of credit repair. Most libraries have a copy machine you can use to print out forms that you need to fill out and mail to creditors. There are guides at your library that have the necessary tools for debtors to learn how to write effective letters to creditors.

Letters are a much better way to contact a creditor than by mail. Since most creditors care less about your situation and may even make threats to you. A good reason for writing letters is that having "proof", is more valuable if you ever find yourself going to court over credit problems. If something is spoken or an agreement has been reached, this will prevent the creditor from reneging or denying this claim.

Any documentation you have pertaining to your credit history should be stored in a secure area. If you send a letter to your creditor, keep copies of the letters sent and store it along with other important information. If you notice there are errors in your bills or credit, reports ensure you have contacted the appropriate agencies and filed a dispute against the charges in a timely manner. If you have credit cards and made a purchase on an item or used a service and this item is defective or the service is sub par, you DO NOT have to pay the charges.

You have to also dispute this information with the store or the person who provided the service. If the store or person refuses to give you an item to replace the defective one, or reimburse you, then you have a right to deny payment. Once you have disputed this charge, you then need to contact your credit card provider and let them know what happened. If you are fortunate enough to have been issued a credit card even with bad credit, use this card to repay your debts and meet the monthly charges each month on time. This can be a solution when everything else fails. If you have to use a credit card to pay your debts, then payoff your cards the following month and use the card to pay the next months bills....

Now you can see what the plan is. Credit cards have interest rates so that even if you pay the monthly minimum payment, the bills on the card will increase.

Not Having Credit, Can Be No Problem

You may think you do not need a credit line or a credit card. You may pay all your bills on time each month, in cash. Does this sound like you? Well, you know the obvious answer, but then there is an occasional situation that calls for a what if scenario....In the world of today, we are fast approaching a time period that will require us to have at least one major credit card. If you telephone a business to whom you owe debt, they may first ask you if you would like to pay your account with a credit card. If you apply for a job, apartment, student, home or automobile loan, or any type of credit line, you will most likely face getting a rejection letter in the mail. Many lenders will refuse to extend credit to people who do not have a credit history. For this reason we are expected to establish a credit line while we are in our teenage years, and if we do not lenders grow concerned. A lender can refuse to give you credit based upon many reasons. The best solution for you is building a good credit history by starting up a line of credit now, making timely payments, and pay your debts off in a timely manner. Set yourself up on a budget and stay out of steep debt.

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Get Out of Credit Card Debt as Soon as Possible

By Paul J. Easton

Using a credit card wisely, one can definitely take advantage of a lot of benefits like bonus points, airline miles, and a cash back you most need in times of emergency. Use it haphazardly and this could be your nightmare for a long time.

For some irresponsible debtors, their financial situation is very much ruined by the bills that haunt them every due dates. It has come to a point where it is so difficult to get out of their credit card debt trap. This is actually the product of year of financial unreliability or simple ignorance.

Credit card companies like it when you carry a big balance in your statement and only pay the mandatory minimum every month. Unfortunately, you will most probably expect to pay that card off for an extended period of time. For some cases, it even takes them decades to pay off a substantial balance. Credit card companies are laughing their way with bigger profits because you are like a cash cow to them. But will you simply be still ignorant over the matter?

Here are simple methods how to get rid of debt as soon as possible. The initial step that you have to take is set your mind to being credit card free. Cut up all your cards except one just for emergency, but still don't use this one for now. At first, this is terribly difficult. You must have the enough determination to get yourself out of this debt trap. Or else, this will be your death trap soon.

When you don't have any access to credit cards, you don't get any deeper into debt. The one that you saved should not be placed in your wallet. Have it in a safe place and should be used only for emergency cases.

Now, when the statements arrive, pay much more than the minimum balance. Ideally, pay at least twice the minimum payment due or more. This lets you deduct the principal to gradually reduce the interest over the balance. Initially, you may not see a considerable difference but with a few moths of timely payments, you will eventually notice those balances come down.

When you are dealing with multiple cards, here's a great tip. Prioritize and concentrate most of your money to the payment of the card with the highest interest. Temporarily, you can have minimum payments for the other cards. When that prioritized car is fully paid, concentrate on the next card with second highest interest and so on. You will finish paying your balances faster with this method compared to paying only the minimum.

Choose not to be tricked by the credit card companies. Decide now and get out of your debt. Work hard and smart towards paying your cards as much as you can. Your goal is to get out of debt as soon as possible and by deciding now, you save your butt from a big financial disaster.

For more tips on how to get rid of debt, go to http://www.Howtogetridofdebt.net/ by Paul J. Easton.

Need a Credit Card For Your Small Business? Try an Advanta Card

By Caressa Waechter

Credit cards come in many different variations, with gimmicks to try and get you to apply for them. Some cards allow you to gain points as you use the card, some offer you prizes based on the amount you charge, while others allow you to get special treatment at restaurants or sporting events. There is probably a card tailored to the needs of just about everyone.

As a business owner, you really should be using a credit card designed with the needs of the entrepreneur in mind. You may not be so interested in the perks of a normal consumer card, but rather you want and need a credit card with business benefits. There isn't the wide selection of business cards as there is for consumers, but there are still a good selection.

As far as a small business credit card, they are available from many of the largest banks. Many of the small business credit cards have features that allow you to track spending, get additional cards for employees, and adjust the credit limit for additional cards. These features give a lot of control to you, the business owner.

It is important to go with a credit card issuer that comprehends the needs of the small business owner. An example of such a company is Advanta with their Advanta credit card. Advanta specialized in dealing with the small business owner, which means they are one of the best when it comes to serving the entrepreneur.

Advanta only business is issuing credit cards for business, so they are quite good at this. Because they only offer a product for business owners, their credit card products are designed with the entrepreneur in mind.

I have used an Advanta credit credit in my business for several years and have been extremely happy with it. If you need a credit card for your small business, I couldn't more highly recommend Advanta.

If you are in the market for a new business credit card, make sure you pick a financial institution that caters to business owners. By choosing the best credit card for your situation, you are making sure you have access to the best tools that are designed for entrepreneurs.

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No Documentation Loans - The Option For Independent Contractors

By Gressly Stevens

Are you an individual that owns a business? Do you work as an independent contractor or are you a tipped employee? These are all situations that can make getting a good mortgage difficult because proving your income can be very hard to do.

There is a solution and it is called no documentation loans. This could be the answer to all your issues. Here are the situations to use a no doc loan in.

Those that are self employed are perfect for this type of mortgage. They typically do not claim all the money they make for various reasons. This can make it very difficult to prove their income. There are programs called stated income programs that are just right for you to use in this situation. They will not verify your income on a program like this.

You should have no problems getting the mortgage you need with a stated income program. You will not have to prove any income and you will be able to write down a number of what you really make. These programs started specifically for the self employed so don't be afraid to take advantage of them.

If you are one that works for someone else, but are considered an independent contractor, then you can also use the no documentation loans to your advantage. You probably get paid cash, which can make it difficult to prove what you actually make. This would be another great time to use the stated income program.

Plus you will not have to worry about proving where you work or your income. This is one of the best parts about these programs is you do not have to prove much. This can help you get into the home you want or refinance your current mortgage.

The last type of person is one that it is almost always necessary to use a no documentation loan to get a mortgage for. This is the tipped employee. This includes servers, bartenders, and anybody else that make the largest portion of their money for tips. Because you probably do not claim all your tips it will be difficult for you to get the mortgage you are after.

However, you can use the stated income program to get the mortgage you are after. This will give you the option of just writing down what you make and signing it. They will not be proving your actual income or your employment so you do not have to worry about that.

Using a state program is not a bad thing. It will have a bit higher rate and will be a little more risky for the mortgage company, but the no documentation loans may be your only option. If this is the case do not be afraid to go this route as it is still a mortgage, but it is designed for these special situations.

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6 Powerful Easy Tips for Saving Money.

By Finance-Experts-Team

It does not matter if you are a beginner or an expert business owner. In both cases, you need to organize your financial work which might be a non-easy job for you. In an effort to help you, here are 10 very easy-simple remarks; yet very powerful tips for saving money, arrange your financial stuff, and partially eliminate the stress of your business.

1. Do not Distribute Your Bills; Instead, Put them in a Unique Place.

One of the significant tips on how to save money is to make sure that you put everything in one place. Missing bills can be the cause of late fees and can decrease your credit rating. And if you get a lot of mail, use an area that won't get filled up too quickly.

2. Pay Your Bills on Schedule.

It is strongly recommended to simplify the process of paying your billing by setting up a payment schedule over definite period time, a month or two. One of the easy ways to save money is to encounter how many bills you get and how often you get them. Then, set up your payment schedule accordingly.

3. Never Ignore to Check Your Credit Card Statement.

It is really amazing that almost every one likes to enjoy the benefits offered by low interest credit cards, but they never read their statements when they have to pay back the bill. Credit cards involve the risk of starting by low interest to attract your and thy gradually raise the interest. Therefore, a wise recommendation of a money saving expert is always to read your statement before you pay and change your card if the interest is always getting much higher.

4. Do Not Ignore the Benefits of Automatic payments.

Automatic payment option must be properly considered, if we talk about tips for saving money. This is especially true since most of the creditors offer you a lower interest if you agree to pay back your bills using this automatic option. This makes a win-win deal. You win because you pay with a lower interest and they win because they get their money faster and online.

5. Get Overdraft Protection.

Here is really one of the easy ways to save money which is the necessity to avoid over drafting your bank account. Most banks have a service where, if you run the risk of bouncing a check, the money will come from another source in exchange for a nominal fee, which is any way less than the fee you have to pay if you did not pay the check on time. Call or visit your bank to learn about this feature.

6. Account Consolidation is a Must.

If we consider here powerful tips on how to save money, then we can not ignore the fact that having diverse credit card accounts, or bank accounts would make you suffer from guessing for a long time about the different interest rates you have to face, payment schedule, etc. Therefore, a nice idea is to aggregate all these accounts in one list and to see if any consolidation is possible.

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Are Retailer's Credit Cards A Good Idea?

By Steven J. Talrechi

Everywhere you go, we see ads screaming at us to take on this credit card or that credit card. The ads scream at us, "0% down, no interest for three years!"

Are these retailer's credit cards the great deals that they appear to be? Let's have a closer look at exactly how these credit cards work.

It is true that these retailer's credit cards do typically offer a 0% interest rate and allow you to make purchases with no payment s for as long as the first two years; although this is usually limited to specific purchases. Let's suppose for instance that you sign up for a retailer's credit card offered by a furniture store. You might have with this card a discount of 10% on the purchase, along with having to make no down payment and no payments needed for two years.

This is a great deal, with one caveat. If you don't completely pay off this retailer's credit card within those two years, you'll be charged interest on the purchase ? not just from the day that this no payments period runs out, but retroactively. The interest will probably also be compounded every thirty days over that two years; this can really add up.

You should approach these deals with caution. You need to make absolutely sure that you can pay the balance on these retailer's credit cards in full before the introductory period ends. Otherwise, you could end up paying a fortune in interest and other charges. This can make these purchases far more expensive than the original price! Retailer's credit cards typically bear interest rates which are far higher than are those associated with traditional credit cards.

If you're not at all sure you're going to be able to pay for the purchase in full before the introductory period ends, don't do it. Now, of course, the best scenario is not to get into debt with these types of purchases at all and instead pay cash for things you really want or need. However, if you must use credit to make this type of purchase, a better bet may be to use a lower interest rate but "generic" credit card such as Visa or MasterCard, and pay down your purchases as soon as possible. Even though you won't save a percentage of the sale price as the retailer might promise you to get you to sign up for the card (such as 10% off if you purchase with the retailer's card), you'll save money in the long run because you'll be paying lower interest rates.

If the retailer's credit card in question is from a shop where you are a regular and you know that you can afford to pay the entire balance before the end of the introductory period, then these cards can be a good deal for you. If not, then you would be well advised to avoid these retailer's credit cards. Those retroactive interest charges can really hurt you otherwise. Make sure you can afford to quickly repay the balance before you sign up for anything.

Last of all; remember that no matter what kind of credit card you use, you'll pay a lot of money in interest if you aren't careful with your purchases. Think before you buy and pay off your credit card balance as quickly as possible. You should try to never carry a balance on your credit card for more than 30 days. Credit cards can be a wonderful thing, but they have to be used responsibly.

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