Dec 14
Let’s face it, paying a bill is a chore that can be pushed to the back of a customer’s mind at one time or another. But forgetting to pay a bill on time can actually cause a credit score to drop – making credit that little bit harder to find, and at higher interest rates.
Luckily, there’s a straightforward way to help avoid accidentally missing bills for the same amount on the same date: standing orders. In the past, only banks and building societies offered this incredibly useful feature, but now some prepaid cards are getting in on the act.
For example, the prepaid Gold MasterCard enables cardholders to set up as many as 20 payments a month for free, via standing orders or one-off transfers. As well as making paying bills quick and easy, standing orders can save money – in a couple of ways.
Firstly, they can help avoid late payment fees, and having to pay the price if the customer’s credit rating becomes damaged. Secondly,
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Dec 05
We’ve all heard the seemingly exaggerated expectations for the cost of a college education in 20 years. “A four year college is going to cost you $500,000 (if our currency still exists then) and one hovercraft!” Seriously…hovercrafts?
It seems ridiculous, and I’m certainly hoping that something is done to stem the dramatic increase in tuition costs and our future dependence upon hovercrafts as currency. But given that both of these things seem out of my hands, I wanted to be as prepared as possible to help facilitate my kids’ college education.
So, with a toddler and the recent (surprise!) addition of twins, I started looking closely at college savings options and was immediately drawn to “529 savings plans.” Here’s a brief overview of what I discovered.
Key Benefits of 529s
529 plans offer some solid income tax breaks. Although your contri
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Tags: College, College 529
Nov 21
When it comes to holiday shopping, you have several payment options available to you. Two options are credit cards and cash. Each have their benefits and drawbacks (like the potential for debt with credit card purchases and the fact that cash limits your spending power). But there’s another option that offers some of the best of both worlds — debit cards.
Let’s take a look at how using debit cards for your holiday shopping can give you some of the benefits of both cash and credit card payments.
The Benefit of Buying With Cash
The biggest benefit of using cash to purchase gifts is the fact that you only spend money that you actually have. You won’t go into debt and have to pay for holiday purchases for months to come.
The same is true if you use a debit card like the St. George Visa debit card. Because
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Tags: Holiday Shopping, Shopping
Nov 13
The Discover® Student Open Road Card is Discover’s student version of its Open Road gas rewards credit card. One of the main benefits of this credit card is that it lets student earn extra rewards on gas and restaurant purchases with no annual fee. A second big benefit is the 0% introductory APR on purchases which lasts up to 9 months for those who qualify, of course.
Interest Rates and Fees
After the introductory purchases APR expires, the regular APR ranges from 12.99% to 19.99%, depending on your credit history. There’s a 23.99% cash advance APR and cash advance fee of $10 or 5%, whichever is greater. If you fall behind on your credit card payments by more than 60 days or default on your credit card in some other way, the penalty APR will be between 17.99% and 24.99%, again based on your credit history. You’ll pay up to $35 fee on late and returned payments. All APR
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Tags: Card, Open Road, Open Road Card, Road Card
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