Money Saving Tips

I have been silent since last Thursday because I was out of town for my cousin’s wedding in beautiful Park City, Utah! It was absolutely wonderful. The week before we left, I was watching the news and saw this piece on saving money on airfare. We all like to take trips, don’t we? Well, I know we ALL love to save money!! Here are the hints I found out and I wish I had found them sooner!! This is some fantastic stuffJ

We all know the major sites like www.cheaptickets.com, www.orbitz.com, www.expedia.com, etc but here are some ones that you may not have heard of. Have you ever visited www.airfarewatchdog.com? This site searches for the best UNADVERTISED deals that you can’t find on most travel websites. There’s also a section that lists the best fares of the day.

Did you know that there are best times to buy? I didn’t!! You can find better deals early Saturday morning, you just have to get up and start searching in your pj’s!! Most travel experts say airlines don’t want you to know about this because they of course don’t want to sell too many seats at the cheaper price or only have a few of them available. Also, mistakes generally happen this early in the am!! Yes, that’s right, mistakes, like the price of $1.86 fares out of Hilton Head, SC that USAir honored last April!!

Some other times that prices of airfares may change and you may want to keep a look out for ar

e 9am, 11:30am and 7pm (Central Time) and during the weekend around 4pm. It’s all kind of like the gas prices, opinions vary but why not just watch them for yourself!

When talking about saving money, experts always suggest to make connections instead of flying straight through. Most of the websites allow you to make a choice of having 1 or 2 connections. This is all a personal choice. If you are under time constraints, this doesn’t make a lot of sense to go through the stress or if you have small children or have people in your party that have a difficult time getting around. But, if you enjoy the adventure, why not? You may be able to go through a city you’ve never been through

before, even if it’s only the airport!!

Another thing to watch for is that prices tend to be cheaper 7, 14, or 21 days out from your departure date. Usually, the airlines review their flights at these intervals and if their seats aren’t filling up, they will drop the rates.

I usually use the websites mentioned about, shop them all to see which ones have the best fairs and then try to purchase from the airline directly. If you do this, and you are busy like my, I don’t have time to keep checking on flights and what not, but guess what? Thanks to modern technology, there’s this fantastic website called www.yapta.com that all you have to do is enter in your info and it will watch your flight for you!! That way, if

rates drop by $100 for just an hour, Yapta will alert you. Most often you won’t get a full refund because you will have to pay to change your ticket but it will definitely be worth it. Some airlines will also only give you a travel voucher but most of them are good from a good length of time.

There’s another similar service called Faregaurd. You can find it at www.farecast.com. This is more like price insurance but it’s only good for 7 days. You pay $10 and it has 2 options. You can either track a specific fare you may be interested in purchasing later or you can get it to protect you after your purchase of the fair for 7 days.

Have you ever wanted to fly first class but haven’t wanted to pay the price? Try clicking on first class with restrictions or first class non-refundable. Many times you can find first class seats for half the price!!

Did you know? I had no idea that Northwest offers a Best Fare guarantee. What they say is that within 24 hours of booking your flight on www.nwa.com, you find airfare on the same flight, the same same itinerary and cabin is at least $5 cheaper, you can get a $50 travel voucher! If you used Yapta, you could take advantage of this more often!! Of course they require proof.

Here are some other nuances that were quite interesting:

· Cheapest days to travel are Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday

· Evenings are the cheapest times to travel except Fridays and Sundays

· Avoid Mondays, Fridays and Sundays, unless you want to pay more, these are the most expensive days to travel!!

Some other sites you may want to check into are:

• Air-fare.com tracks fares that have dropped 20 percent or more from the following day.

• farecompare.com helps you compare airfare from many different sites. They also have a lot of historical data on different flights that show when you can expect the cheapest airfare from the different airlines, again a guessing game!

• Hotelbook.com helps you find independent hotels not chains if you are interested.

• Sportsgroupie.com helps you plan a trip around your favorite sports team be it basketball, football, baseball or whatever.

• Flyertalk.com is a site where lots of frequent flyers share tips on deals and steals.

• Turnhere.com is a site that gives travelers the inside scoop on offbeat, interesting neighborhoods and topics.

• Airline cheat sheets. This site lists shows you how to find the right customer service agents to help you solve your travel troubles quickly and effeciently.

I hope you found this information as useful as I did and I hope it also saves you some cash-o-rama!! Let me know what you thought of the sites or if the suggestions saved you any money.

Have a great day!!

Beth Riegger
To find out more information on how to increase your credit score, click here.

Mortgage People are Boring!!

I'm not boring!! So in that spirit I thought for my blog today I'd share a funny video I found on YouTube but I couldn't find it here on myspace so you'll just have to click the link.

Don't worry, there's no spam involved, no emails, no hidden anything, I'm not selling a thing!! It's just a funny video from Jay Leno to prove to you I can have fun too. He soooo cracks me up!!

Let me know if you busted a gut too over this short video!!

Beth Riegger
Keys 2 Success

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

What to do this beautiful day? I think the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is a very good idea!! Do you know the history of it?? Well, here it is:

At one time, the Mississippi flowed through the place which is now called the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. This is why things grow so abundantly here. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board acquired this land between 1903 and 1935 and was known as the “The Parade” because of the military drills and exercises practiced in front of the Armory.

The area the Garden now occupies was also called the Armory Gardens, which featured a large brick National Guard building and formal gardens. The building was torn down in 1933, but the elaborate garden remained under the management of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. In the late 1960s, I-94 severed the connection between Loring Park and the garden, and eventually the area in front of the Walker Art Center became a playing field.

In 1988 the Walker and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board collaborated to turn that playing field into the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. In 1992 it was expanded from 7.5 to 11 acres, making it the largest urban sculpture garden in the country at the time. There are more than 40 works on permanent view. Additional temporary installations keep the Garden experience continually fresh.

It is located just West of downtown at the corner of Vineland Place and Hennepin/Lyndale Avenues, across from the Walker Art Center. It offers the people that visit it the opportunity to enjoy various works of art by leading American and International artists in a garden setting of plazas, walkways and plantings.

Some of the permanent displays to look for are the colossal Spoonbridge and Cherry Fountain by Cleaes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen; the Irene Hixon Whitney Footbridge designed by Siah Armjani that connects the Sculpture Garden with Loring park and downtown Minneapolis; Frank Gehry;s Standing Glass Fish located in the Palm Room of the Cowles Conservatory (this room features permanent and seasonal horticultural displays); the Northern boundary of the Sculpture Garden features the Alene Grossman Memorial Arbor.

• Hours are everyday from 6 a.m. to midnight
• Phone: 612 370-4882
• 726 Vineland Pl.
  Minneapolis, MN 55403

Let me know if you end up visiting the Sculpture Gardens and what you thought! I haven’t been there since I was a kid. I will be going out of town this weekend for a wedding so I won’t get a chance to visit it this weekend but I’m certainly going to try soon!

Beth Riegger
To find out more information on how to increase your credit score, click here

The Mortgage Crisis In MN

I wanted to continue with my previous blog about the foreclosures here in Minnesota and Kare11’s coverage on them. The very next night, they had another story on this and I wanted to tell you about and also wanted to give you some very good insights having to do with your mortgage.

They interviewed two different people, one a single man and the other a family, both about ready to loose their homes due to foreclosures. According to Alexa Milton of the non-profit ACORN Housing organization, “The spike in foreclosures has been huge in the Twin Cities.” ACORN reports that the foreclosures on residential properties in Hennepin County more than tripled in between 2000-2006. There were fewer than 1,000 in 2000 and in 2006, there were over 3,000.

There is some truth in the thinking that foreclosures are a minority problem or a lower income problem, but foreclosures are also spreading to the more affluent areas as well.

In Ramsey County, the number of foreclosures in 2000 were 300, rising to 1400 in 2006. This quadrupling of foreclosure rates also happened in the counties of Anoka (214 to 900), Washington (100 to 429), Scott (54 to 300) and Dakota (159 to 860).

The family that was interviewed refinanced their home in 2005 to pay off some bills and reduce their debt. The husband was going to college still so they needed every penny they could. They signed up for an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) that their rate was locked in for 2 years. They had originally wanted a 30 year fixed mortgage but their broker told them they didn’t qualify for it.

Now, I’m going to take a moment here. It is so impossible to dissect their situation in the way that it was presented here. Clearly, I don’t think their mortgage broker educated their clients to the fullest extent that they could have. Or, maybe they did and the clients just only heard what they wanted to. There are only three people that know this for sure, the clients and the mortgage broker. The fact of the matter is this, if you qualify for a mortgage, it doesn’t matter which program you choose, ARM or 30 year fixed or what have you. What is most likely the case in this situation is that the payment for the 30 year fixed was much higher than the ARM product, so the mortgage broker knowing that the family wanted to reduce their payments, introduced them to the ARM product.

In the news spot, they go on to say that this mortgage is now costing them an arm and a leg and their home. How can they say this? The customers certainly had the right to refinance their home after the fixed rate period was over so that they could lock in their rate. They also said they didn’t realize that their rate would adjust after 2 years. I’m not sure if this interviewer has ever been to a mortgage closing or not but those closers at the title companies really hammer it in to the customers everything about the ARM mortgages and when things will happen. Again, I think what we have here is denial on the part of the customers.

They did go on to say that there was a pre-payment penalty if the customers refinanced. Most often, in the case of pre-payment penalties, it would be a two year ARM with a two year pre-payment penalty or a 3 year ARM with a three year pre-payment penalty. More often than not, a pre-payment penalty could be absorbed into the loan as well. If this mortgage broker had any scruples at all, they would offer to help pay part of it as well for not properly informing their customers. This pre-payment penalty is also something that is covered in great detail at the closing.

The most unfortunate thing for this family is that the appraisal that was done on their home in 2005 said their home was worth $268,000 and so they mortgaged $240,000. After speaking with several realtors, they now feel their home is worth $225,000. The news spot blamed the mortgage company for over inflating the value of the home but did they forget what this article was all about? It’s about all of the foreclosures in these areas. In fact, they mentioned a home in these folk’s back yard that was just sold on foreclosure. Don’t you think that has some effect on the value of your home? I know for a fact that homes in 2005 were gaining much more value than they have been since. Some homes, and it sounds like this one might be one of them, might have even lost value.

Again, it’s hard to say if the appraisal was over inflated or not but as a mortgage broker, I have no control over how much an appraiser values a home at!! We have to justify every comparable home to the lender that we are selling the deal to as well. I think it’s pretty difficulty to over inflate a value by that much. I think I can beg and plead with my appraisers that I work with and they might have to dig really deep to find some other comparables that the lender will approve but I have never seen someone come up with an extra $38,000!! Maybe an extra $1,000 or two but again, it has to be justifiable!!

They also talked about how many loan applicants are being deliberately deceived. Is that really the case or are people really just looking for scapegoats here? Just because I’m honest, doesn’t mean that everyone is but I think the media has a big role to play here and they aren’t doing anyone any favors by this kind of reporting only half of the story.

Another part of the story was taking on the stated-income loans. These are loans where you state that you make so much per month instead of having to prove it. Most often, these types of loans are used for the self employed borrower. Mainly because when you are a W-2 employee (you work for someone else and they take your taxes out for you), you get to use your gross income (your income before taxes) to qualify for your loan. If you are self employed, you have to use your net income (your income after taxes and ALL deductions). How is this fair to the self employed person? There are a lot of expenses that a self employed person can deduct for that the W-2’d person has the same expenses (like car expenses) but because you are self-employed, you have to qualify after those deductions.

The stated income loan is also for people who have many different streams of income such as the single man that they interviewed. He’s a music teacher and he also gives private lessons. Unfortunately for him, he ran into a bad mortgage broker. His mortgage broker stated his income at $10,000/month when in all actuality, it was only $3,000/month. So, when is ARM started adjusting, he too could not afford the payments. He stated that it was like someone trying to explain the theory of relativity to him so he just sat there. Again, who’s to blame for this??? You need to take action if you don’t understand something!! I make sure to explain things to my clients in a way that they can understand things, without using all of the mortgage terms. I ask them several times if they understand thing and let them know that there’s no such thing as a stupid question!!

Both of these different sets of people got into what’s called a subprime mortgage. These are higher risk mortgages and carry higher penalties and restrictions. That being said, again, how could that appraisal been inflated by so much if there are so many restrictions on these loans? They also said that these subprime loans are believed to be largely responsible for the flood of foreclosures. It’s estimated that 80 percent of subprime borrowers can only afford the fixed year rates, when the rates start to adjust, the customers start to go under.

Every customer that I’ve ever put in one of these loans, we’ve always talked about the road to credit repair and how important keeping things on track are. We’ve also always talked about what it’s going to take to get out of that mortgage and what they need to do to help themselves. I can only do so much but they need to get involved with the process as well to have a steak in it. I’ve always been able to get my customers out of these loans before the adjustment period was over and after the pre-payment penalty period.

When a lender forecloses on a house, the average cost to them is around $58,000!! Do you think now that they WANT to foreclose??? Lenders must repurchase loans that default in the first 180 days. The staggering amount of these defaults has put a number of major lenders into bankruptcy or out of business. Since many of those lenders were publicly traded, there is a ripple into Wall Street. Since mortgage loans must be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, it’s not clear yet what the exact impact is going to be on Wall Street.

One major mistake in the reporting of this article was that they interviewed a mortgage broker and said that the customer has a full three business days to review the paperwork before it funds (or is made legal). While this is true on a refinance, it is not true on a purchase. This is a major distinction that must be made. This is why you must have a knowledgeable and trustworthy mortgage broker who will work with you.

The woman mortgage broker that they interviewed also agreed with me that these ARM loans are generally for people not to stay in them. You need to continually stay in contact with your client and your mortgage broker to be sure that things are being done so that when it does come time to refinance and get out of this loan, you can.

So, what can you do if you are in need of help? Well, if you live in the Twin Cities, you can call 311. It’s just like 411 or 911. I’ve not called it myself but I just might have to try it out. Also, call your lender. Put your pride aside and tell them the entire story, don’t leave anything out Call me, maybe I can do something to help as well, maybe give you a number of someone you hadn’t thought of yet. There are ways. I’ve always been fond of the saying, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way. If you’ve got the will, I’ve got the way.” Make it happen, you can do it!!

Sorry this was such a long one today.

Wishing you much success!!

Beth Riegger
To find out more information on how to increase your credit score, click here.

Syttende Mai??

I am a proud Norwegian. On my Dad’s side, our family has only been in the US for about 120 years. Half of his father’s siblings were born in Norway, the other half here in the United States. I find it quite hysterical that here, in Minnesota, the land of the Scandinavians, that no one knows what Syttende Mai is but yet everyone knows what Cinco de Mayo is!! Just as Cinco de Mayo is the Mexican independence day and the 4^th of July is the American independence day, Syttende Mai is the Norwegian independence day. It is also known as the Constitution Day or “grunnlovsdag” in celebration of the signing of their constitution in 1814. This constitution ended the 500 year union with Denmark.

The first Syttende Mai celebrations in Norway we all about political demonstrations against Swedish control. First they had them in private clubs under the guidance of Matthias Conrad Peterson of Trondheim. Peterson was really Danish but in his heart of hearts, he was all Norwegian (don’t we all want to be? Ha!). In 1824, he proposed that Syttende Mai be celebrated publicly as Norway’s Constitution Day.

So, in 1824 against the wishes of the King of Sweden, Carl Johan, celebrations began in Oslo (then known as Christiania). In 1829, a scuttlebutt of sorts happened on Syttende Mai. A beautiful steamboat called the Constitutionen arrived in the harbor of Oslo. People had gathered in large numbers near the harbor for the celebration and in the city marketplace called Stortorget. The military at Akershus Castle was ordered to disburse the crowd because they were chanting “Long live the Constitution.” The military knew that the people were honoring both the ship and the document but were forced to attack anyway. Fortunately, no one was killed but the Norwegians were humiliated. It was called the Battle of the Marketplace.

The hero of this battle was actually a young college student!! His name was Henrik Wergeland and was the actual son of the one of the signers of the Constitution. This battle was the beginning of a lifelong commitment for human rights, equality, freedom and democracy. Wergeland’s successful promotion of the Syttende Mai celebrations are illustrated by the “Hurra for Syttende Mai,” or “Horray for the Seventeenth of May,” which is said all through the day’s celebrations both in the US and in Norway.

The first official Children’s Parade was in Oslo on May 16, 1870. Bjornstjerne Bjornson was the man who instigated this fun tradition. He was a controversial patriot, author, political agitator and inspirational speaker. He actually wrote the national anthem called “Ja, vi elsker dette landet,” or “Yes, we love this country.” His cousin, Richard Nordraak wrote the music to go with it. I guess family doing things for family goes way back!!

Since the signing of the constitution in 1814, the relationship between Norway and Sweden was strained. The Norwegians elected a King, Kirstian Frederik and a war ensued with Sweden. This war only lasted 6 months (well, let’s face, it, we Scandinavians can never be mad for too long!) and a peace treaty between the two was signed established the two separate Kingdoms under one common monarch, King Charles XIII, who consented to recognize Syttende Mai. In 1905, after much hard work and diligence by the Norwegian people, all ties between Norway and Sweden were peacefully dissolved.

Syttende Mai is celebrated today in Norway and all across the US. It is mainly known as the children’s day and communities have parades, food (hmm, lefse, krumkakke, rosettes, how many can you name?) and several other celebrations.

Another way to celebrate this day is for Norwegians to share their heritage with others. I did this today at my son’s Montessori. We brought krumkakke, lefse and red/white/blue cookies. We also brought little Norwegian flags for the kids to bring home, a map of Norway, a picture of a Viking ship and several other fun things. The kids really loved it and my son really loved being the center of attention and professing his love of his heritage.

I think it’s an awesome thing to celebrate where we come from and keep traditions alive. As I stated before, I find it quite laughable that we all know of the Mexican Independence but absolutely no one that I ever talk to (under the age of 60), knows anything of this holiday unless they have the background that I do. Last time I checked, Scandinavians settled Minnesota! My hometown has a huge celebration on May 1^st and dances around the May pole, another Scandinavian tradition. I hope these traditions don’t get lost in the big city!!

Har en stor dag!! (Have a great day!!)

Beth Riegger
To find out more information on how to increase your credit score, click here.

Digging Out Of Debt

I was watching Kare11 News last night and Mike Pomeranz did a story about consumers digging out of debt that I found quite interesting. He interviewed a girl that went to the U of M who fell for every trick those nasty credit card companies dealt her. I think my generation was the first to experience this. They offer free water bottles and towels if you sign up for a card. They sit in the student unions where the highest traffic is, it’s like they are preying on our young college students.

This new college student not only used it to make clothing purchases but she spent over her means, paying rent, traveling, paying for gas, paying for groceries and many other items. She made her minimum payments just as she thought she was supposed to do. When she graduated, she had racked up $3,000 in credit card debt. I guess that’s not too bad considering the national average in 2004 was $8650 according to The Plastic Safety Net.

Now that she was out of college and had to start paying back her student loans, she couldn’t afford to make her minimum payments on her credit cards any longer. She tried to negotiate with the companies on her own but they were just too tough on her.

Now, not everyone who carries credit card debt has racked up their bills because of extravagant spending or living beyond their means. A lot of them are in over their head because of medical bills, job loss or divorce. They are trying to live paycheck to paycheck and trying to find a way to lower their overall debt.

No matter which category you fall under, the offers coming flooding in from every nook and cranny to help bail you out. Some even promise to do it for next to nothing. One such company called Ameridebt was sued by the MN Attorney General’s office for cheating Minnesotans out of nearly $1 Million.

"They basically promised people that they would help consolidate and payoff their credit-card debt, only to charge the people significant amounts of money in up front fees. And then on the back end they failed to pay the creditors. So they would pocket the fee money to pay themselves," Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson explained.

Mike went on to talk about rolling over some of your debt into your mortgage. I was very grateful since I’m in that business that he didn’t say it was all bad. He was sure to point out that you will get a much lower interest rate then what you are paying on your credit cards, you can write-off some of the interest and expenses at tax time as well. If you can afford to make the payments, this might be the right thing to get you out of your pickle.

You need to make sure that you can afford the payments though!! Should I say this again? If you sign up for a very short 1 year ARM where your payment is fixed for only a year, well, that really doesn’t do you much good now does it? Because in a year, your rate is going to start fluctuating and as a result, your payment will undoubtedly go up as well. If you do get your self into a “band aid” loan so to speak, make sure the term is long enough to get you into the clear again, get you back on your feet so that you can re-finance into a fixed product or when the payments do start adjusting, you can afford them.

When working with a credit counseling service, you should try to work with someone local so that if you have a problem, you can actually go to them and look them in the eye!! There are so many to choose from, I’m not going to go into the many different places here. Besides the fact that I personally do not have any experience with them so I would not want to endorse anything I nor any of my clients have had any experience with. If you have, please let me know so that I know where to advise my clients to go!!

The gal that Mike Pomeranze interviewed that left college with the $3,000 in debt, where is she now? Well, she had all most finished up her credit counseling, she only had about $600 left so she thought she could do it on her own and she left her credit counseling program. She got a fantastic job, a great new apartment and started her spending all over again. She’s now up to $10,000 in credit card debt, (she lost the fantastic new job) and she’s back into credit counseling.

My problem is this, why aren’t we teaching our kids anything about credit cards and bills in general? Why aren’t there mandatory programs in high school and college about this? I went to college for business and never once was credit or credit cards or paying bills on any class list. Thank God I’ve been in the finance industry so that I could learn by other people’s mistakes but what’s the rest of the world to do?

I could blog about all of the things I’ve learned and all of my trade secrets but if people aren’t looking for this specific information, they aren’t going to find it. I educate all of my friends and my family and every customer that I can and that’s all I can do for now. I think as people in the Real Estate profession, we should take the time to inform the people within our sphere of influences of these same things because as a nation, we aren’t doing well!!

Beth Riegger
To find out more information on how to increase your credit score, click here.

The Stress of Bankruptcy

With all of the articles and newscasts lately about the high foreclosure rates in the Twin Cities, I thought I would find some relevant material about credit issues.

The Stress of Bankruptcy
By Keith Burke

The stress of not being able to pay your bills is often very overwhelming for people. But the stress of dealing with a bankruptcy is the unknown that many people find even harder to deal. The bankruptcy is a subject that not too many people talk about and therefore it makes it a mystical process that is hard for people to understand. When someone is faced with mounting bills that they know are impossible to ever overcome, bankruptcy may be their only choice.

Many people are afraid that by filing for bankruptcy, it will leave a permanent record on their credit report and followed them for years to come. It is true that bankruptcy does stay on your credit report for up to 10 years, but it usually only lasts seven years. The fact is, if you are planning on paying your bills on time after bankruptcy, you will contin

ue to grow your credit rating even with such a blemish on it. Your bankruptcy record does not have to prevent you from getting a car loan, a home loan, or any other credit after it has been discharged. Establishing new credit is encouraged after bankruptcy in dealing correctly with your new credit and will show banks and other creditors that your financial situation is in the past and you now know how to manage your money better.

Once you have decided to claim bankruptcy, it is important to inform yourself of all the applicable laws regarding bankruptcy in your state. Some of the most important things you will want to be informed of is if your home or your car will be in jeopardy during the bankruptcy court hearing. Many assets that you own can be protected when you file bankruptcy depending on the state you live in. Another important aspect of filing for bankruptcy and is to ensure that the creditors you are unable to pay will no longer be able to hassle you while the process of bankruptcy is being completed. Finding a good bankruptcy lawyer will help you with this process. Bankruptcy lawyers have a wealth of knowledge regarding the laws in your area as well as the specifics in dealing with creditors throughout the bankruptcy process.

Hiring a bankruptcy lawyer will take the stress of the situation off of your shoulders. Although the process itself is still very stressful, your bankruptcy lawyer will be able to handle all of the most stressful parts of filing for bankruptcy. Make sure to find a bankruptcy lawyer that you feel comfortable with and someone who will be able to represent you the way that you would like to be represented. You do not have to be vulnerable throughout the bankruptcy process and instead, hire a bankruptcy lawyer who will be able to take care of the process

for you.

Did you know that you can request an annual free credit report?

Get additional information about taking control of your finances by visiting us
on the web, the information is free. http://know-your-credit-score.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Keith_Burke

http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Stress-of-Bankruptcy&id=553994

It is ever so important that you find someone who knows what they are doing with your bankruptcy if that’s what you decide to do. You need to go to someone who specializes in this field so that they know exactly what they are doing. This is a very hard decision to make but there are places that will help you and it will not destroy your life if you do the right way.

Beth Riegger
To find out more information on how to increase your credit score, click here.

May 15th Gas Out

I’ve gotten several emails recently about a proposed “gas-out” for May 15^th so I decided to do a little research on it. Boy, was I surprised to find out that it wouldn’t do us much good.

Basically this is the same email that’s been going around since 1999!!! This email pops up yearly around May and gets everyone all upset and jumping on the band wagon to do something.

The whole thing makes sense when you first read it but if you dig a little deeper, it really doesn’t. Not buying gas on one day in particular doesn’t effect the oil companies in any way shape or form. It doesn’t ask us all to park our vehicles for the day and not use any gas at all. The same amount of gas is being used in the scenario of the email, we are just shifting when we actually purchase the gas.

To boycott according to www.dictionary.com is to abstain from buying or using. Well, so if we didn’t buy gas on May 15^th, we weren’t abstaining from buying or using. We just bought a different day but we all still used the same amount. Not buying gas on that day will certainly make a lot of us feel better by actually doing SOMETHING but it won’t have any impact on prices at all. Most of all, it will effect the small business owners of the gas stations. The profit margins are so small there that one day of disruption in their consistent flow of business could wipe out many days worth of earnings because you are not going inside to buy your up-sell items.

Gasoline is a global commodity and it’s price is determined not by us not going to the pump one day instead of another but by the regular forces of supply and demand. The answer is much less fun of course, cutting down on our driving all together, car pooling, taking public transportation and things of that nature.

The “gas out” does one good thing on the other hand, it does call attention to the problem that we have with is our dependence on foreign oil and our need for so much of it.

So, now that being said, what are you going to do to use less oil or gas? I was all for the gas out until I read this information.

Let me know what you think,

Beth Riegger
To find out more information on how to increase your credit score, click here.

Happy Mother's Day!!

I thought in celebration of Mother’s Day, I’d say a little something about Mom. I found this article to be particularly good for our day!!

16 Funny Quotes to Celebrate Mother's Day
By Noel Jameson

Moms definitely have their humorous moments and these 16 funny quotes are testimony to the laughs that mothers often enjoy (and sometimes endure). This Mother's Day, share these funny quotes with your mom and enjoy a moment of shared love and laughter.

1. "Mothers of teenagers know why animals eat their young." ~ Author Unknown

2. "Mothers are all slightly insane." ~ J.D. Salinger

3. "I want my children to have all the things I couldn't afford. Then I want to move in with them." ~ Phyllis Diller

4. "There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it." ~ Chinese Proverb

5. "It takes a woman twenty years to make a man of her son, and another woman twenty minutes to make a fool of him." ~ Helen Rowland

6. "The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found." ~ Calvin Trillin

7. "A suburban mother's role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car for ever after." ~ Peter De Vries

8. "It would seem that something which means poverty, disorder and violence every single day should be avoided entirely, but the desire to beget children is a natural urge." ~ Phyllis Diller

9. "All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his." ~ Oscar Wilde

10. "A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie." ~ Tenneva Jordan

11. "You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back." ~William D. Tammeus.

12. "Working mothers are guinea pigs in a scientific experiment to show that sleep is not necessary to human life." ~ Author Unknown

13. "Any mother could perform the jobs of several air-traffic controllers with ease." ~ LisaAlther

14. "My mother had to send me to the movies with my birth certificate, so that I wouldn't have to pay the extra fifty cents that the adults had to pay." ~ KareemAbdul-Jabbar

15. "My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it." ~ Mark Twain

16. "My mother's menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it." ~ Buddy Hackett

Yes, children often give their mothers something to laugh about. Hopefully it makes up for the things their children will inevitably do to make them cry. This year celebrate the humorous side of Mother's Day with a few good laughs and share these funny quotes with your mom.

For more funny quotes, check out the popular funny quotes section of Famous-Quotes-And-Quotations.com, a website that specializes in 'Top 10' lists of quotations in dozens of categories.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Noel_Jameson
http://EzineArticles.com/?16-Funny-Quotes-to-Celebrate-Mothers-Day&id=545388

I hope you enjoyed these wonderful quotes, leave me a comment and let me know!! And, most of all, Happy Mother’s Day!!

Beth Riegger

To find out more information on how to increase your credit score, click here.

Target, a Stickler on Returns?

While I was having dinner with a few friends last night, we were discussing several different topics. One thing that came up was an article in Sunday’s Minneapolis Star and Tribune. I thought I would post it here and see what your thoughts were before I unleashed mine!!

Target turns into more of a stickler on returns
Chris Serres, Star Tribune

Melissa Hampton looked dismayed as she stepped away from the return counter at the Target store in downtown Minneapolis.

The 22-year-old optician, who didn't have a receipt, couldn't return the $200 computer monitor and $100 phone sitting in her shopping cart. "I know rules are rules, but I've never had a problem returning something at Target before," Hampton said.

The days of Target's ultra-generous return policies are coming quickly to a close.

Last month, the Minneapolis-based discounter began requiring shoppers to show receipts for any return worth $40 or more, down from the previous $100 limit. In August, the limit will be cut to $20.

Target officials said the rules are meant to curb the tens of millions of dollars a year it loses through fraudulent returns.

Such fraudulent returns include when people return stolen merchandise or items that they have used once but had no intention of keeping.

Yet Target is focusing on a relatively minor problem when compared with other forms of criminal behavior, say some law enforcement officials and retail experts. Shoplifting and employee theft rose 20 percent in 2005 to a record $37.4 billion, for example. Meanwhile, return fraud has been almost unchanged for several years at 9 percent of all returns.

Target's stricter rules also take it in the opposite direction of its primary competitor, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which has loosened its return policies in recent years.

And tighter return policies could affect Target's customer-friendly reputation at a time when both retailers have shown cracks in their once-stellar growth.

"Target's big differentiating factor with Wal-Mart is its service," said Patricia Edwards, managing director of Wentworth, Hauser and Violich, a Seattle-based money management firm that owns Target shares. "Time and time again, I hear people say that they'd never shop at Wal-Mart but shop at Target all day long, because the floors are cleaner and the service is better ... But this potentially opens the door to people who could go either way."

With so much the same at discount stores, return policies are among the few reliable gauges of customer service, said Stan Pohmer, a Minneapolis retail consultant and a former senior buyer at Target. "If you stake your reputation on strong customer service, then the return policies become very important," he said.

Wrong focus?

Target officials said the new limits affect fewer than 5 percent of its customers. Shoppers who have bought products with credit cards, debit cards or checks can still return them without receipts, without having to worry about the new limits.

"While we expect the changes to ... impact a very small number of guests, our goal is to minimize losses regardless of amount," said Amy von Walter, a Target spokeswoman.

However, some law enforcement officials see Target's focus on return fraud as inconsistent. Last year, retailers lost $4 billion from all forms of financial fraud, including theft through stolen or counterfeit credit cards and checks -- a problem Target has not addressed aggressively, some local law enforcement officials say.

Target's practice of not checking the IDs of credit card holders has made it a target for more sophisticated fraudsters, said Brandon Deshler, an officer with the Edina Police Department and a detective with the Minnesota Financial Crimes Task Force, a state law enforcement agency. "There is a real inconsistency here," he said.

Added Tod Marks, senior editor at Consumer Reports: "Perhaps they could save people at the return counter some angst if they were more rigorous in checking credit cards.... Theft, or shrinkage, however you want to describe it, has many faces, and it seems that Target could exercise more due diligence in certain areas."

Von Walter said the company relies on credit card companies and their electronic authorization systems to detect fraud.

A TV for the Super Bowl

Target officials declined to disclose how much the company loses each year from fraudulent returns, but said fraud of all forms is serious and doesn't always involve the return of stolen merchandise.

In some cases, people will buy up limited-supply items, such as designer handbags, and try to sell them on Internet auction sites for higher prices; if they aren't sold, they will return them for a full refund.

Other shoppers will return merchandise that has been used once but that they never intended to keep. For instance, someone might buy a dress for a special occasion or a big-screen television for the Super Bowl, and then return it. Retail experts call this "free rental" or "wardrobing," and it often doesn't show up in official fraud estimates.

The Return Exchange, a company that sells software to help retailers track returns, estimates that return fraud accounts for about $17 billion a year, or 9 percent of total returns, based on surveys the firm has done with retailers.

Easier returns at Wal-Mart

Yet many national retailers have gotten better at monitoring return behavior. Since 2004, Wal-Mart, for instance, has used a computer tracking system that alerts cashiers to customers who bring back more than three items without receipts within 45 days. Those customers must get a manager to approve their returns.

Wal-Mart's tracking system weeds out the vast majority of fraudulent returns, store officials said. Return fraud costs the average Wal-Mart in the Twin Cities no more than $500 a month, about one-tenth the amount lost from shoplifting, according to Greg Lundell, manager of asset protection for Wal-Mart's 10 stores in the Twin Cities.

"Return fraud used to be a big headache for us," he said. "But these computer systems are so effective that, now, it's barely on our radar screen."

Wal-Mart has one of the most lenient return policies in the nation -- and the return counter to prove it. Even so, there's a perception among many shoppers that Target's return policy is more generous.

In its customer surveys, Target has found that its return policy is routinely cited as one of the top three reasons why people shop at the retailer, Von Walter said.

Chris Serres  612-673-4308  cserres@startribune.com

Ok, am I wrong or was that guy just stupid for buying such a high ticket item and paying cash??? I mean come on, to not have bought it with a credit card, atm card, or check, Target or pretty much anyone now can look up your receipt if you purchased it on any of those things! If you are going to pay cash, you need to do your due diligence of keeping your receipts and keeping them organized. That’s your fault if you don’t!!

That’s just my 2 cents!! Sorry this was such a long one today but I couldn’t resist re-print the article.

Beth Riegger

To find out more information on how to increase your credit score, click here.

Mpls Schools Improve Phy Ed & Nutritional Programs

As today’s kids are raised in a much different world than us, we find it harder and harder to encourage our kids to go outside and play, to put down the ipod, the Xbox, the tv or what ever else they may be doing. I’m glad to see that our school districts are being pro-active in this quest. We need to remember WE are the parents and we need to re-enforce what the schools are doing:)

Minneapolis Schools Work to Improve Physical Education and Nutritional Programs
By Stacy Andell

Minneapolis Schools Honored by Governors

Minneapolis Schools have made numerous changes in order to create better physical education and nutritional programs with the goal to make the healthiest schools in the state. Minneapolis Schools were honored for the many steps that they have taken to improve student fitness at all the schools. Minneapolis Schools have instituted several changes including: changes in school lunch menus, physical education taught through a fitness approach, and participation in the President’s Active Lifestyle Award program. These changes were mentioned by Minnesota State Governor Tim Pawlenty when he was speaking about healthy schools across the state at a Saint Paul YMCA with Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee. The governors spoke to students about the importance of exercise and nutrition. Governor Huckabee was there to provide an example of how exercise and proper eating can work; Huckabee has lost over 100 pounds. To show the change Huckabee’s weight loss has had on his life, the governors briefly carried a student on their backs to show how much extra weight Huckabee had been carrying with him.

Minneapolis Schools Take Part in the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award

The Presidential Active Lifestyle Award program is designed to help students in the Minneapolis Schools make and keep their commitment to living an active life. The program helps students make realistic goals about fitness. This program helps the students by setting rules to follow and providing fitness logs so students can track their progress. Students who participate in the program are eligible for Presidential Active Lifestyle Awards when they perform activity beyond the set fitness goal of sixty minutes a day for youths under 18 at least 5 days per week, for a total of 6 weeks. As an alternative you can count your daily activity steps using a pedometer. A pedometer is a small device that automatically counts the number of steps a student takes; many Minneapolis Schools physical education programs have them. The Presidential Active Lifestyle Award program sets different pedometer goals for different ages and genders: Girls 6 to 17 - At least 11,000 steps a day; Boys 6 to 17 - At least 13,000 steps a day or

Adults 18 or older - At least 8,500 steps a day

The Presidential Active Lifestyle Award program in Minneapolis Schools allows lots of different activities to count towards the awards, as long as the activity uses muscle groups and burns energy. Examples of appropriate activities are taking a long walk, playing basketball, tennis or taking an aerobics class. Even doing chores around the house if you do these activities in addition to what you normally do. The goal of the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award program is to have students meet or exceed the daily activity goal of sixty minutes a day for children under 18 at least 5 days a week, for a total of 6 weeks but participants can take up to 8 weeks to complete the program. An important element of the program is having students keep a personal activity log. The online personal activity log allows the students to track how long through the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award website. Minneapolis Schools have allowed participants to uses school computers to participate in the program. The Presidential Active Lifestyle Awards are awarded to those participants who have reached their fitness goals. The online log will automatically inform the student when an award has been reached, after that the students can order the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award online or by mail. The program always the students to continue earning awards or move into the more difficult challenge level of the Presidential Champions program.

Stacy Andell is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. Stacy has a nose for research and writes stimulating news and views on school issues. For more on Minneapolis schools visit http://www.schoolsk-12.com/Minnesota/Minneapolis/index.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stacy_Andell
http://EzineArticles.com/?Minneapolis-Schools-Work-to-Improve-Physical-Education-and-Nutritional-Programs&id=258190

Have you ever worn a pedometer? I got one from McDonalds a few years ago and I decided to wear it around for about a week about 6 months ago. I was absolutely horrified to learn that on an average day, I used to walk only 1000 steps a day!! That's terrible!! I have since increased but it just goes to show you, we need to get moving!!

Here is the link for finding out how your school is doing, click here.

Beth Riegger
To find out more information on how to increase your credit score, click here.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

So, as you may or may not know, today is my birthday!! No, I’m not going to tell you how old I am but I thought in celebration of my own birthday, I’d find something fun about birthdays. CD here has some good informationJ

The Art of Wishing On Birthdays

By CD Mohatta

Birthday celebrations are becoming very common. Earlier not everyone used to celebrate birthdays. Now a days, around the world people celebrate birthdays. This has made a birthday look like a common occurrence. But for the person who is celebrating his/her birthday, the day comes once in a year. So for them, it is a very important day. What is the way to make your friends and family feel good on their birthdays? Let us find out.

Your wish on a birthday should make the recipient feel happy and important. He/she should feel that your wishes are coming from your heart and there is nothing casual about them. Even if you are not sending a gift, a card is good enough, provided it manages to convey what you mean. For a moment put yourself in his/her position. For them, it is a very important day. It is the day they were born. It is a day that holds very special meaning for them. Many of us try and find out who else was born on our birthdays. We feel connected with people born on our birthday. Therefore please make sure that your wishes are heart felt. That is the reason why selection of a right card becomes very important.

If the person you are sending your wishes accesses the Internet, then an ecard is a very good option. An ecard or egreeting card looks better than a printed card because it can be animated. One can see lot of movement in the ecard, which is not possible with printed cards. But the ecard should fit the person to whom you are sending it. For a female recipient, choose muted colors. For elderly persons, chose muted earth colors. For children chose bright colors and for others choose appropriate colors. Look at the animation carefully. Except to children, avoid sending cards with cartoons, as they are becoming very common. Send ecards with theme of nature - flowers, waterfalls, rivers, oceans, mountains etc. Read the text carefully. If you were to receive the card, how you would have felt reading the text? Choose the text carefully so that it conveys your heart felt wishes. Let the recipient feel that the ecard was selected after lot of deliberation.

A good ecard can make someone's day. Select the right ecard to wish birthday to friends, family and colleagues and bring sunshine in their life on their birthday. Make them feel important and happy with your egreeting card.

CD Mohatta writes for ecards and online greetings, screensavers and desktop wallpapers. He also writes his blog on holidays - http://www.holidaystocelebrate.blogspot.com/ The topics of his writings include love, inspiration, holidays, birthdays, nature, religion and spirituality, success etc. You can have his writings on your desktop with free desktop wallpapers. These are static wallpapers which can be your computer desktop background all the time. Read the messages and get inspired all day. He also writes for http://www.yourromanceguide.com This website is a guide on dating, love, relationship, romance, marriage, and break ups.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=CD_Mohatta

http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Art-of-Wishing-On-Birthdays&id=180646

Ok, nothing like asking for birthday wishes or anything but please, wish me a happy day!!

Beth Riegger
If you'd like some information on improving your credit, please click here.

Literacy in America/Minneapolis

As I was researching for some cool information for today’s blog, I came across this cool article about literacy in America. Check it out!!

10 Most Literate Cities in America
By Dale Collie

10 Most Literate Cities in the U.S. A.

While Amazon is doing well, the total number of book stores
in the USA is declining. The US Census report shows that
we now have 19,275 retail stores focused on books, periodicals
and music, down approximately 3,500 from 1997.

And more people are writing and publishing books. More than
170,000 titles were published last year – 465 per day.

Here are the top 10 most literate cities in the USA based on
US Census data, newspaper circulation rates, magazine
publishing, educational attainment levels, library resources, and
booksellers.

1. Minneapolis, MN

2. Seattle, WA

3. Pittsburgh, PA

4. Madison, WI

5. Cincinnati, OH

6. Washington, DC

7. Denver, CO

8. Boston, MA

9. Portland, OR

10. San Francisco, CA

To see how your hometown stacks up, see the entire list of 79
cities at http://www.uww.edu/npa/cities/allrank.html

Famous motivational speaker, Charlie Tremendous Jones, frequently
tells us that five years from now, we’ll be the same people we are
today except for the people we meet and the books we read.

Here are some quotes from Tremendous Jones’ “Life Changing Classics,
Vol III – Books are Tremendous.”

“The reading of good books is one of the most helpful ways in which
young people can develop themselves. One of the saddest mistakes I
made in years gone by was utter neglect of reading. I realize now
what I have missed by not having read and studied more.” department
store guru JC Penney

“A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody
wants to read.” classic 19th century American author Mark Twain

“A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed
and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.” classic poet John Milton.

“Some books leave us free and some books make us free.” 19th century
American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson.

“A man who buys a book is not just buying a few ounces of paper, glue
and printer’s ink; he may be buying a whole new life.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.

“If a man can purchase but very few books, my first advice to him would be,
let him purchase the very best. If he cannot spend much, let him spend well.
The best will always be the cheapest.” American author and theologian Charles H. Spurgeon

“The average salesman doesn’t read a book a year. That’s why he is the average
salesman.” Anonymous

So, what’s the moral of the story? If you are not reading several books a year, you’re missing out on a rich part of your life. Grab a book off the shelf and get started. A few minutes a day will shoot you through a book so fast you’ll wonder why you procrastinated.

Dale Collie - professional speaker, former
US Army Ranger, CEO, and a Fast Company top
50 innovative leader. Author of "Winning
Under Fire." (McGraw-Hill) collie@couragebuilders.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dale_Collie
http://EzineArticles.com/?10-Most-Literate-Cities-in-America&id=1192

I love that we are number 1!! Reading blogs counts as reading, right?.....

Beth Riegger
To find out more information on how to increase your credit score, click here.

How are Mortgage Loans Decided?

I had a great discussion with Barry Allen and he wanted me to share some information with you on the mortgage process, so take it away Barry!

6 Rules That Decide Mortgage Loans

By Barry Allen

All over the world people buy homes or invest in real estate by taking mortgage loans. Banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, credit unions, and mortgage bankers offer individuals a large number of options for home loans. In each case, the term of the loan, the interest rate, and so on fluctuate based on changing financial market conditions and a real estate boom.

Most home loans or mortgages are standardized to comply with rules formulated by government bodies known as The Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, and the Government National Mortgage Association.

In the olden days the bank or institution you borrowed from lent the money from their own pool of funds. Today the system has changed. Most home loans come from three major institutions:

• The Federal National Mortgage Association.

• The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.

• The Government National Mortgage Association.

The place you apply for a loan is just the service provider the actual loan is owned by one of the three above. The service provider pools many loans and sells them to one of the big three and just earns a regular fee for taking care of your loan. The big three in turn use the loan parcels and form mortgage backed securities that are sold on Wall Street to generate more funds. Examples of such securities are “Ginnie Mae Bonds.” However there are exceptions, loans above USD 333,700 do not conform to the guidelines established by the big three and such loans are known as non-conforming loans which are backed by different investors.

Every financial service provider uses a loan origination process which begins with receipt of a loan application and ends in the loan being sanctioned through an agreement reached between the borrower and lender.

The process includes:

1. The application duly completed.

2. Validation of application and credit scoring of borrower.

3. Gathering of information from third parties such as land title authority and insurance companies.

4. Risk analysis and pricing.

5. Underwriting procedures.

6. Completion of terms and conditions and signing of an agreement.

If you want the process to be smooth with no hitches you need to ensure:

That your application form is completed in full with all relevant documents attached. Always request a mortgage consultant or the loan office at the lending institution to check that you have completed all essential formalities.

Get a complete set of documents from the seller of the house and if possible buy a property that has a clear title deed and no outstanding loan payments.

Get a credit report from an established agency and check the report for errors and accuracy.

Prepare a detailed financial statement that establishes your ability to pay back the loan. Attach copies of your tax returns.

Apply for a loan with a bank or finance company where you have an account and on going relationship. When a lender knows you and is sure he can trust you the machinery will move smoother.

Get a co-obligant for the mortgage with a good credit score and solid financial standing.

Apply for a loan that you can afford. Never ask for more than you can pay back comfortably.

When applying for any loan or mortgage understanding the loan process will enable you to complete the formalities much quicker.

Barry Allen is a freelance writer for http://www.1888mortgages.com , the premier website to find Mortgage, mortgage lender, home mortgage, mortgage rates, mortgage quotes, mortgage calculator, Mortgage Company, mortgage loans and many more. His article profile can be found at the premier Home Loans site http://www.1844homeloans.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Barry_Allen

http://EzineArticles.com/?6-Rules-That-Decide-Mortgage-Loans&id=546175

Thank you so much Barry for your wonderful insight!! I hope you all enjoyed his information as much as I did, please leave me a comment and let me know if you did or if you have any questions.

Beth Riegger

To find out more information on how to increase your credit score, click here.