Credit Card Now

With Earth Day 2011 upon us, the recent meteoric rise in gas prices remains a major focus.   Personally, every time I drive by a gas station my anxiety level causes me to hyperventilate and lose consciousness (thankfully my dog Buster knows to seize the wheel in such situations).

In any case, with gas prices what they are these days, has there ever been a better time to live a greener lifestyle and save a little money to boot?  Here are 10 great ways to give your credit cards some rest and rediscover your eco-conscious side at the same time.

Your car is specifically designed to get its best fuel economy at 60MPH.  Resist the urge to ride with the speedsters in the left lane and your piggy bank and gas tank will thank you accordingly.

In today’s digital world, there’s hardly ever a reason to print things anymore.  Try d

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Tags: Day, Earth Day

A wise man once told me “life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”  Or maybe that’s just a popular saying? In any e

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Tags: Situations

April is Financial Literacy Month. It’s time to step up and make sure you know your personal finance basics. If you have kids, whether first graders or teenagers, it’s also a great time to help educate them about healthy money habits.

This month was originally created by The Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, and has since officially designated in a resolution by the United States Senate and by presidential proclamation.

The month is celebrated by a host of government agencies and private companies with a stake in helping us get smart, money-wise.

You can further your personal finance know-how by reading my weekly roundup of favorite blog posts!

1. Dinks Finance lists how we can think like a bank in order to make sure that we always have money in the bank.

2.

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Tags: Financial Literacy, Financial Literacy Month, Literacy Month, Month

The personal payments space has been heating up lately, with Visa announcing its Personal Payments system, Amex rolling out its digital payment and commerce platform called Serve, and MasterCard also forming its plans for its own personal payments offering.

Not to be left behind, Discover has partnered with PayPal to establish its own payments system dubbed Discover Money Messenger. Discover Money Messenger allows Discover Card holders to send money to nearly anyone for free, and earn rewards on the money sent at the same time.

As the person sending the money, you do not need to have a PayPal account. The recipient of the funds, however, does need to have a PayPal account to claim the funds, though they need not be a Discover cardholder.

Sending money is free and the amount is charged to your Discover card account like a purchase that earns rewards.

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Tags: Payments, Personal Payments

Do you read your credit card bill when you receive it?  You should review it for several reasons:  to verify transactions and payments; pay attention to the date due, amount due and minimum payment; look for fees and penalties; and note credit line/ limit and credit available.   

Transactions and payments

Verify the transactions on your bill including items charged by matching them to your receipts or at least review the list for anything you don’t recognize. Whatever you can’t verify, contact the credit cardpany to get more information to determine if you need to dispute it. Confirm the payment on the statement with the amount you sent either by check or online bill pay.

Due date, amount due and minimum payment – Hint…the due date is not a suggestion.

Make sure to allow enough time for your payments to be received, processed and clear the bank. If you are

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Tags: Card, Credit Card