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Make Your Own Sanitizing Wipes
Dear Mary: I would like to find a recipe to make hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes. Do you know of one? — Delores, e-mail
Dear Delores: I have been thinking about the same thing, now that we're learning that products like Purell are …Read more.
7 Simple Ways To Stretch Food Further
Buying groceries on sale and cooking meals at home are excellent ways to keep the cost of food under control, but there are other things we can do. Here, for your enjoyment, are simple ways other "Everyday Cheapskate" readers make food and …Read more.
Why You Can't Afford Credit Card Debt
Last year, the Federal Reserve Board announced new rules for banks that issue credit cards. The rules will remove unfair credit card practices. Months later, Congress passed into law the new Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure …Read more.
For You: A Few of My Favorite Things
Last year, a friend of mine had the best idea. She made gift baskets for her friends filled with her favorite things. Taking a nod from her, I'd like to give you a virtual basket filled with some of my personal favorite things.
—Real Salt. I'm …Read more.
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10 Months of Grace, but Not for YouMillions of Americans breathed sighs of relief in May as President Barack Obama signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009. Even though the law will not go into effect until February 2010, it promises to be a turning point for American consumers and an end to the days of unfair rate hikes and hidden fees. The problem is the 10-month heads-up period that the law granted to banks and credit card companies. A rational person might assume that issuing banks would begin immediately to comply with the law, but it appears that just the opposite is happening. Readers are reporting in droves that their interest rates are being increased without limitations. Credit limits on credit card accounts and home equity lines of credit are being slashed; accounts with little or no activity are being closed; and minimum monthly payments are being increased, all without rhyme or reason. There is no doubt in my mind that credit card issuers are frantic about the provisions of the CARD Act and how it will limit their ability to do business. They're getting their licks in now, while they can. What can you do to protect yourself right now, while the law can't help you out? Let me count the ways: 1. Get angry. If you are carrying a credit card balance, now's the time to become personally outraged by its existence and the ease by which you were able to get yourself into such a terrible situation. The interest rate you are paying is so outrageous that it's tantamount to highway robbery. 2. 3. Pay it off. You have to see this as a matter so serious that your very life is in peril. Sell assets to raise the cash. Do whatever you must to earn the money you need to pay off your debts, even if that means menial labor at night and on weekends. 4. Scale back your expectations. You may believe that this new law is going to make your life grand and your credit card issuer miserable. Don't believe it. Already, the credit card companies are showing us their true colors. They do not care about us. It's only their bottom lines that matter, and they will care for those bottom lines at the expense of customers. They'll find a way. The only good credit card account is the one that remains active and returns to $0 every single month. Gone are the days when you could afford to have a revolving balance. Gone are the days when you could expect a card issuer to act reasonably. The sooner you learn that truth the sooner you'll find yourself on a level playing field with a reasonable chance to win at the credit card game! Mary Hunt is the founder of www.DebtProofLiving.com and author of 18 books, including her latest, "Can I Pay My Credit Card Bill With a Credit Card?" You can e-mail her at mary@everydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135, Paramount, CA 90723. To find out more about Mary Hunt and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS.COM
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