Don't just tear up your credit card apps - Buy a shredder today!

Need more proof that credit card applications are not good for you? Read this blog post on the torn up credit card application.

Your credit card is sucking your financial blood

Your credit card is sucking your financial blood directly from the jugular on your neck. The credit card companies are laughing all the way to the bank with cold hard cash in their hands.

Why Credit Cards Can Be Bad for Your Financial Health

Interest rates are pure profit for the credit card companies. That's why they do everything they can to make them as high as possible. All across the country consumers are stuck with credit cards with interest rates as high as the law allows.

They lure you in with low or no interest rate introductory periods. They convince you to create a very high balance very quickly with easy to use balance transfer checks. In the small print, on the back of the offer letter, is where they spring their trap. Miss a payment, even by a couple of days, and your interest rate shoots through the roof. If you receive a cash advance from the card, you also receive a different interest rate. The interest rate on balance transfers is usually very high. The highest interest rate on the card is usually the last one that your payments are applied to. In this way, the bank gets to collect the most amount of interest for the longest period of time.

High credit card balances are choking the financial well-being of Americans. The average credit card debt is more than $9,000 (Americans on average have $9,312 in credit card debt — according to cardweb.com), and many politicians, pundits and journalists say it's a sure sign of impending economic collapse. Here are a few things you can do to ensure your bank account doesn't get too lonely.

• Don't sign up for too many credit cards (if you haven't already)! Get a few of them, to maintain good credit scores, and throw the rest of the offers in the trash can - no matter how enticing.
  
• Spend wisely on the cards that you do have. If you can pay off the balance every month, that's the way to go.
  
• Educate your children about credit cards before they go to college. How many times have you heard this story? A new college student is wandering through the student center when they learn they can get a free t-shirt if they just fill out this application. The next week a shiny new credit card arrives in the mail. That night, the pizza delivery goes on it. The next week, the new pair of jeans go on it. The minimum payment on the card the next month isn't that high, so the student keeps spending until it's maxed out. Student gets another credit card and repeats. You know how the story goes from there - student is saddled with credit card debt for another 15 years! Unless, of course, Mom and Dad bail her out first. Don't let this happen to your kids just because you didn't teach them about their financial health!
  
• To pay off credit cards, use a strategy. Pay the minimum on all credit cards except one. Apply the most money you can to that one until it's paid off, then take that entire amount and apply it toward the next one. This method is much quicker than splitting the total amount and putting it toward all the cards equally.
  
• Beware of refinancing your house to pay off credit cards. Beware of consolidating credit cards into a separate loan. It's a recipe for disaster when you pay off your credit cards with another loan because it's tempting to put money right back on the empty balances. Then, you're left with a big consolidated loan payment, plus more credit card payments.
  

Your banker drives a Mercedes Benz, and you pay for it every time you put something on your credit card that you can't afford to pay off the same month. You're paying for it every month. You're paying for it year after year. Be smart with your money, and make that bum get HIS money somewhere else!

Philips Electronics Recalls Plasma TV's

Philips Electronics is recalling 42 and 50 inch flat-panel plasma televisions because of wiring that could cause fires. Read more at Consumer Reports by clicking here.

The nitty gritty on extended warranty refunds

This blog is not intended to be a spammy promotional tool for Warranty Refund, but this one post will be about the details of getting a refund on your auto extended warranty.

Let's take the fictional account of Rose, a new car buyer, as an example.

Rose had a station wagon that she just couldn't stand any more. The kids tore it up, there was a ding in the passenger door, and it didn't like to start on really cold mornings. One weekend in 2003, after Rose found out the old wagon needed a $350 brake job, Rose bought a brand new Chrysler PT. It was perfect for her. A little sporty, a little utilitarian.

Rose was easily convinced by the finance person that she should buy an extended warranty to protect her new investment. She didn't want to face another "brake job" incident anyway. Plus, the $1,200 cost was rolled into the financing package and didn't cost her but a few extra dollars per month anyway.

The extended warranty was good for 100,000 miles, or 10 years, whichever came first. Well, 2006 came first, and Rose wasn't so excited about her PT Chrysler anymore. The new car smell was long gone. The thing was reliable, but wasn't very fun for her to drive. There wasn't enough storage space in the back, and she didn't really like the way it looked any more.

Rose went back to the dealership and bought a brand new Chrysler Town & Country minivan. After three years, the PT was almost paid off, and she took good care of it so she got a decent trade-in value. She drove off the lot and on with her life.

Rose completely forgot about the extended warranty that she purchased three years ago, because she never used it! Rose's story happens thousands of times every day. We buy a car for the long run - pay extra for the extended warranty - and then get a new car before the extended warray is expired. Rose drove off the lot, paying a lot more for her new car than she should have. $840 more than she should have, to be exact! Rose had 7 years (or 70%) left on her 10 year extended warranty. 70% of $1,200 is $840. That's the refund - or credit toward her next car - that Rose should have gotten.

$840 is NOT worth forgetting about! The dealership didn't "forget" about it - they just overlooked it! They just took advantage of Rose's ignorance on the subject!

This law is valid in 50 states. In California, the exact law says:

California Civil Code Section 1794.41, if you have owned an extended auto warranty contract for more than 60 days, your cancellation right (at the time of trade-in/sale to a dealer) entitles you to a partial refund from the warranty provider based on elapsed time and/or mileage, regardless of whether you have filed a claim or not.

Now, this law does not apply if you sell your vehicle to a private-party. In that case, the warranty coverage transfers to the new owner. Most private party transactions don't take value of the warranty into consideration, but that's another cause!

So knowledge is half the battle. If your situation is anything like Rose's, perhaps Warranty Refund can help you. We will research any claim for free. We'll call the dealership, we'll call the warranty provider. We'll file the paperwork, we'll push it through the system. We'll take a cut of the eventual refund to cover our costs, but in the end you'll get the money that you have coming to you!

It's a big world out there...

It's a big world out there, and everyone needs a little help. When it comes to every day living, there is no choice but to deal with enormous corporations. The only goal a corporation has is to make money. That's why it exists. That singular mission usually starts with a noble cause, a good product, a good service. It usually has good intentions.
When the energy company can maintain their stock prices by fudging the accounting, it finds ways to manipulate the numbers. When profits can be increased by skimping on an ingredient, the cookie company will lose the ingredient, or substitute it with something cheaper. The common theme is that nothing is done about these issues until consumers form a loud enough voice to oppose the corporation and tell them that what they're doing is not right - it's not good enough to eat - the stock is not valued that highly.
Our particular cause is extended warranties on vehicles. Did you know that when you trade your vehicle in, or sell it back to the dealership that you should receive a refund on the portion of the extended warranty that you did not use? Most people purchase an extended warranty for their vehicle when they buy it. They spend a thousand or more dollars to ensure that their investment is protected for a long time. And the finance person makes a good commission on that - which is why it's pushed so hard. When you trade it back it in, by law, the dealership is supposed to give you credit for the unused portion of that warranty. But this just never happens. And consumers know nothing about it. It's because it runs contrary to the primary mission of the corporation. They say "we make money, we don't give money back."
The very ethical dealerships will give you a credit toward your next vehicle purchase. Most just don't say anything. That's why we started WarrantyRefund.com. We get the money you're owed. Even if you no longer own the car.