If youve ever signed up for a free credit report, youve likely been pitched on TransUnion Credit Monitoring. Like most people, I declined this option and opted instead to save my $11.95 a month. But after finding one too many mysterious charges on my credit card statement, I decided to give it a whirl. Plus, theres a free 30-day trial available so I really had nothing to lose.
The Visa® Black Card by Barclays Bank was…
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I came across the Dave Ramsey phenomenon in…
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I have a chase credit card that has a promotional…
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I have to commend Len Penzo for finally speaking…
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Get Rich Slowly has a great post this week entitled How to Establish a Credit History Without Losing Your Shirt and it focuses solely on secured credit cards. Basically, the credit line on a secured credit card is tied to a certain amount of cash collateral you put up. Unlike a debit card, this deposited money is not used for purchases or to pay down your balances. You still have to make monthly payments just like any other credit card, but if you default on a secured credit card, the card issuer doesnt have to go through the trouble of harassing you via mail, phone and Madonna songs, they just keep your collateral. Because of the lower risk of losing money, credit card companies are much less selective when it comes to issuing secured credit cards than unsecured credit cards which is good news for those of us with murky or nonexistent credit histories.
I think of frugality as the conservation of both…
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Rewards are great. I have several really…
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Weve all heard about that notorious natural drug found in turkey. You know shoptophan, which induces Americans to compulsively wake in the wee hours of the morning 12 hours after consumption and lurch zombie-like, en masse to local malls uttering deals, deals, deals!
Whats that you say? Theres no such thing as shoptophan? Then why in the world do people cram themselves into that clamor of noisy, grumpy shoppers just to get those elusive deals when you can get those savings without even getting out of bed before noon on Black Friday? Beats me. They mustve never heard of price protection.
Black Friday Out, Price Protection In
For all the complaining weve been doing lately about credit card trickery, our plastic sidekicks do offer a fleet of free perks that are surprisingly generous but rarely utilized. Earlier, we talked about the joys of extended warranties, which will also be pretty handy for Black Friday shopping for electronic gizmos. But today, lets take a look at price protection.
What is Price Protection?
Price protection is a guarantee from your credit card that you wont pay a penny more than the lowest price available. Ever had this happen to you: You get reeled in by a flashy display at Store A and buy it right away on an impulse. The next day, you stroll past Store B and notice the same product, but for $100 cheaper! To make matters worse, Store A runs a promotion two weeks later and slashes the price by 50%. What a bunch of jerks, right? But dont worry if this happens, your credit card will pay the difference in price up to $250. You never worry about jumping on the bandwagon too early ever again.
The most notorious case of this happening on a wide scale was the much grumbled about iPhone price drop in September 2007 that eventually led to a $100 store credit. A forum member at FatWallet attests that American Express did indeed pay out the difference for those who filed claims after buying a $599 iPhone and having the price plummet to $399 shortly thereafter. Read the rest of this entry »
I had the pleasure yesterday of interviewing Rob…
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