The Wise Steward: Debt Reduction

Communication key for couples managing their money - The Clarion-Ledger

Michelle Singletary highlights the importance of communication for couples when it comes to money management in this Q&A for the Clarion Ledger.

The couples who are most successful in managing their money are those who communicate early and often about money, agree on goals and roles, and recognize that essentially they are partners in business together, says Joan Gulley, chief executive officer of PNC Advisors, a major wealth manager.

Forbes.com: Plastic Your Way: Quick Serve Restaurants Serve Up Credit

Fast Food and quick-serve restaurants are largely taking credit cards now.

"QSRs were resistant because traditional credit card processing added transaction time (fast food, remember?)," but banks rose to the challenge with new technologies: average transaction time is now faster than if you pay with cash.

FT.com / Your money - Watch out for those extra "nasties" lurking in 0% deals

Do you play the 0% balance transfer game? The banks are losing their ability to sustain the practice and are starting to add hidden "nasties" that might catch you if you aren't careful.

He says that providers are also adding “hidden nasties” to their zero per cent deals, such as balance transfer fees, which should make them less appealing to consumers. It certainly makes it more difficult for them to choose between them. Newman says he expects an increasing number of card issuers to add fees to previously free services such as balance transfers, and that others who still allow free balance transfers set minimum spend limits, with fees attached if these are not met.

The Michigan Daily -- 114 Years of Editorial Freedom - Hard at Work: More students find jobs to pay off loans

Record numbers of college students are having to work to help pay for rising student loans.

The survey of incoming college freshmen found that 47.2 percent of freshmen said there was a “very good chance” that they would work during the academic year. This rise in work follows a trend of increasing tuition rates and lower buying power of federal Pell Grants, which have shifted some of the burden for paying for college onto students.

Practical Money Skills for Life

Check out this amazing site dedicated to teaching children and teens about money. Practical Money Skills for Life.

Personal finance tip - 2/25/05

Want to get your children involved in saving and avoid debt later in life?

“Consumers across the nation can expect to be bombarded with offers to sign up for credit monitoring services, identity theft prevention services, identity theft insurance, or other programs and services of limited value by companies aimed solely at profiting from the situation. Don’t get scammed again,” warned Paul Richard, RFC, executive director of the award winning Institute of Consumer Financial Education (ICFE) based in San Diego, CA.

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Yahoo! News - Tips: Damage Control for ID Theft Victims

In the wake of the ChoicePoint's loss of consumer data to con artits, Rachel Konrad gives her tips for anybody who feels they may have become a victim of identity theft.

Data collection company ChoicePoint Inc. warned last week that con artists accessed personal dossiers on nearly 145,000 Americans. Here's some advice from privacy experts if you receive a ChoicePoint letter or if for any other reason you believe you've become vulnerable to identity theft.

Personal Finance: Lost in the depths of debt

Cutting up our credit cards helped us climb out of debt (we paid off our last non-mortgage debt Friday, by the way!), but they're not totally evil.

Credit cards aren't the root of all evil.

But overuse is one of biggest reasons people fall into financial trouble.

Get the full story here.

Bankruptcies hit record in Michigan - 02/22/05

Personal bankruptcies are at an all-time high in Michigan.

More than 63,700 Michigan residents sought protection from their creditors last year, according to state bankruptcy court records, up 2.3 percent from 2003 and 38 percent from 2001.