Credit Card Cash Advances: What do they Really Cost?

Credit Card (Photo credit: 401(K) 2012)

It is the shopping season: stores are trying to entice people in to buy overpriced presents for their children and grandchildren and adverts on TV are waving expensive toys in front of the nation’s kids as a means of putting pressure on the adults that will be fulfilling the role of Santa. Even the most frugal individuals may find it difficult to resist spending large amounts of money during this period, as it is a time when consumerism is at its peak. Unfortunately there is nothing special about the festive season that magically generates cash once a person has ran out, which means that Christmas shoppers can sometimes end up spending beyond their means and taking out credit card cash advances whilst caught up in the holiday excitement. What most people do not realise is that when withdrawing credit, they are being charged stupid amounts for the convenience and costing themselves more money than they should be forking out.

High Interest Rates and Fees

One of the major downsides to credit card cash advances is that interest rates charged on cash withdrawals are usually considerably higher than those charged on regular credit card purchases. In addition to this, these advances often come with upfront fees of between two and four percent of the amount advanced. Over 50s empowerment, protection and security charity AARP likens cash advances to bait placed in a trap. The charity warns that people are particularly vulnerable to taking this bait during the holiday season but urges them to resist the temptation.

No Interest Free Period

Another reason that these advances should be avoided is that the fifty-or-so day interest free period that most providers offer on regular purchases does not usually extend to credit card cash advances. This means that interest will start to accumulate on the balance straightaway when you withdraw money. This is one of the many dangers of credit card cash advances and makes them a costly way to borrow cash both in the short term and in the long term. According to the NBC News network, the majority of Americans are now over seventy five thousand dollars in debt. You can do your bit to alter this statistic by steering clear of borrowing money altogether or, if there is no other option, choosing more sensible alternatives to getting credit card cash advances.

Better Alternatives to Cash Advances

Making use of an overdraft facility is a wiser choice than getting a cash advance, as most charge less on borrowing. If you go for this option then ensure that your overdraft limit is sufficient to meet your withdrawal needs and be sure to contact your bank straight away if you think that you are going to go over your limit. Some credit card providers offer money transfer facilities that allow you to transfer funds from your credit card to your current account without incurring any interest. This is usually done as part of an introductory balance transfer offer. It is another viable choice, as is using a low rate purchase card. The interest charges are usually far less for these cards and they also provide the benefit of an interest-free period in which you can clear the balance. Unsecured loans could also prove to be a better option in the long term if you are constantly in need of extra funds and know that there is a high chance that you will be borrowing cash for an extended period.

Emergency Situations

In the event that you have no choice but to borrow cash using your credit card, try and opt for the card that charges you the lowest level of interest and fees for making cash withdrawals. Most credit card providers will charge you a fee for each cash withdrawal that you make so it is a good idea to withdraw the whole amount of money that you require in one go. This will ensure that you only pay the cash withdrawal fee once. Finally it is important to pay off the outstanding amount as soon as possible in order to avoid wracking up more interest. Putting this off is liable to result in you becoming swamped with debt and being unable to turn the situation back around.

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Udemy Makes Online Learning Easy

Image via CrunchBase

Udemy, an online education platform, offers a glimpse of the future. I recently spent an entertaining morning exploring this site, and was impressed by the scope of their offerings: over 1000 courses in topics that range from geeky like "Microsoft PowerPoint 2010" to artistic "Karl Taylor's FREE Photography Course" with over 17266 students.

Lets look at the details, the fundamental idea driving Udemy is uncomplicated: the site makes it easy to both take and offer classes (free and paid).

The most introductory courses consist only of video lectures. The more innovative courses mix video lectures with workbooks, samples, and sometimes audio that can be downloaded to your iPod.

All the courses I sampled provide lifetime access (once you buy the course, the material is yours forever) and a 30-day guarantee (a sign of confidence given that 30 days is enough to watch all the material for most courses).

The program is smartly arranged so that you can access your courses from any Internet-connected device, and the user interface is crisp and intuitive.

Summary: As the education model continues to be rewritten, there will be lots of sites trying to match students with teachers. Udemy’s advantage is that they’re taking the time to get the details right.

A few sample courses of the 1000's available, both free and paid.

Be a better photographer.

Learn QuickBooks to manage your business

Take a free photography course

Udemy has so many course that you can use to increase your knowledge. Check one out today.

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Utilize The Service Of A Florida Business Broker for Smart Investments

Many business domains in the world perform added value based functionalities for bettering the national economy. Businesses in Florida are ripe sources of investment and retailing, aiding in encompassing a diverse array of trade. Professionally qualified agents associate between the buyer and seller, and vice versa to attain maximum benefit reaping investments. The linking agent cooperating between the procurer and vendor is a specialist in this arena of business transactions. It is the fundamental law of UN-proclaimed basics to deploy a skilled intermediary for facilitating a transparent agreement between business parties.

Essentials of the Target Audience

When conducting business deals that involve investing in an established enterprise or obtaining the ultimate sales value for selling an organization, the highest payee or bidder rules the roost. It is crucial to evaluate the economics of the Florida region before commencing on an ideal investment strategy. There are several businesses on sale in the area which incorporate adequate reasons for the purchaser to involve in the property deal. Nuances of localization play an important role in characterizing business sentiments, including personally related deals in the offing.

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• Employ a broker in Florida for less stressful handling of business associations.
• Detail an intermediary agent to act as a bridge between the investor and the local business community.
• Involve a negotiator to analyses Florida’s business environment taking into account purchase or sales.

The need to realize the mindset of the regional audience is imperative for establishing the neighborhood scenario. The state of mind of the local populace aids in developing an understanding about the business practices, adding to gathered data on profit-making established ventures.

Credentials of Business Brokers

The existence of the broker species solves numerous present and unprecedented business problems. These agents are the trustworthy personalities who clear the way for successful money-making ventures. The superficial knowledge for investing in Florida businesses is not enough for undertaking such a yeoman task. The essential know-how is a forte of brokers, where the storage of information is a necessity, proceeding the job. There are various rules and regulations to be considered before spending in a local business acquisition.

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• Understanding the aim of the buyer’s interest in a particular area of dealing. 
• Facilitating other norms like procuring business licenses, investment permits and other paraphernalia associated with the setup. 
• Evaluating the records and earlier profits of the business under scrutiny. 
• Retrieving statistics based on the existing business facts when needed.

Safe Investments with Florida Brokers

Leading experts in the field of business provisions, including purchase and sales, understand the requirement for excellence in trade management. Brokers form an integral part of this understanding and are the business technicians, supplementing improved deals and partnerships. The representatives provide the necessary professional help by arranging needed documents for easy negotiations. Comprehend the necessities of Florida before embarking on an investment arrangement.

·         

• Analyze the market scene including the population statistics and prospective ventures. 
• Pick and choose an established business brand for a gainful situation. 
• Do not start before accumulating the necessary documents.

Setting up a business with analyzed business opportunities is an easy job for a Florida business broker. Think and invest in the services of a conciliator to achieve best investment outcomes in Florida. Fly high with the investment opportunity taking wings.

Author's Box:

This is a guest post by Bharat, who is one of the leading business broker, investor, researcher, author and educator. He has impressive knowledge about the investment and retailing. He has many successful stories on Florida business broker for smart investments.

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How to Increase the Value of Your Home

Modern kitchen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are many ways in which you can increase the value of your home, from relatively simple changes to more comprehensive renovations. In all these cases, it’s worth exploring the potential for a low or no fee personal loan for financing renovations. Doing so can help to increase the resale value of your property, while also building valuable equity if you are able to boost your initial buying price. With these benefits in mind, some ways for increasing your home’s appeal include:

Decluttering

Clearing out rooms and making sure that you don’t use up valuable space with boxes can make a home more attractive to buyers looking to make the most of your property. Moreover, the more free space you can create, the easier it becomes to convert crowded spaces like basements and attics. Doing so can also make it easier to clean and keep rooms in the best possible condition.

Refitting Kitchens and Bathrooms

As perhaps the most important rooms in the house for making a good first impression, your kitchen and bathrooms can significantly benefit from renovation. A minimalist design is recommended if you want to create appeal for a new buyer, while changes like converting a second bathroom into a wet room can also work well in terms of adding value.

Replacing Lighting

You can make your home more eco-friendly by replacing old light bulbs with energy saving LED strips and light bulbs. The investment will also lower your energy bills.

Rewiring

It’s worth getting your electrical wiring checked, and particularly if you live in an older property. Fixing any small problems now can help to prevent long term issues.

Deep Cleaning

Taking the time to deep clean your home can add value, and rewards the money spent on kitchens and bathrooms, while also cleaning the outside of a property to make it more attractive to potential buyers.

Landscaping

Some imaginative landscaping can make a major difference to the value of your home. Simple changes like fixing fences, or more ambitious alterations like adding in gazebos and sheds can make your garden more distinctive.

Using Recycled Materials

Using more recycled materials for furniture and fixtures can make your home greener, whether you use reclaimed wood for cabinets, or bamboo for window blinds.

Making the Most of Light

In terms of small properties, opening out available space can change perceptions of the size of a house. This can be achieved by switching out heavy curtains for roller blinds that can be removed from view.

Renovating Roofs

Insulating your roof and fixing any problems with tiles can make your home more secure, and much easier to present as being in an excellent condition. Another option is to convert your roof to include solar panels, which can provide an alternative electricity source, and can be partly subsidised by government tariffs.

Investing in New Appliances for the Kitchen

Energy saving appliances like eco-fridges, freezers, and dishwashers are better for the environment, reduce noise, and produce less emissions, while reducing your energy bills.

Author Bio: Liam Ohm writes about home improvement. He recommends estate agents Swindon as a great place to buy and sell your home. In his time off he enjoys blogging, cycling and socializing.

Three Legitimate Ways to Make Money Online

Make Money Online (Photo credit: Michael Kwan (Freelancer))

If you are interested in making money online, there are a number of different scam companies out there that will gladly charge you a fee for something that doesn't actually work. If you are trying to find a legitimate way to make money online, there are some options out there, but you have to know where to look. Here are three legitimate ways that you can make money online from the comfort of home.

1. Freelance Work

No matter what you're good at, there's a chance that you may be able to market that skill online. Thanks to technology, almost any job can be done remotely for businesses. For example, if you are a computer programmer or a web designer, you can do freelance work for businesses. If you're a writer, you can write web content and articles for others. There are so many different things that you could do a freelance basis and make good money doing them.

2. Affiliate Marketing

Another good way to make money online is to get involved with affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is a method that many companies use to promote their products and services with the help of others. When you sign up as an affiliate, you get a unique affiliate ID that you can use to promote products and services. If someone clicks on one of the links that you put online, they'll be taken to the webpage of the product or service for sale. If they buy, you get a big percentage of the sale price. If you happen to have a website or a blog that gets a lot of traffic, you can promote products through affiliate marketing pretty easily. You can put affiliate links anywhere online. For example, you can send them out through email, post them on social networking sites, or put them on your blog. 

3. Sell Advertising

In some cases, you may be able to make money by selling advertising or by participating in contextual advertising programs. If you have a website or blog that gets traffic, you can take advantage of this by selling advertising spots on your site. You have the option of selling advertising directly to the consumer, or you can participate in advertising programs like Google Adsense. If you decide to purchase of it in a program like Google Adsense, then you simply paste a piece of code into the pages of your site. Then when someone clicks on the ad, you get a percentage of the money that was generated from that click by Google.

Once you tried a few of these different strategies, you should be able to generate some income online. All of them can really work if you do them right.

Author Bio:

Jason Miner plays a vital role for www.blogcarnival.com.  He is an expert in writing topics of different categories.  He is helping the carnival team to grow & working on making this an even better place for bloggers. 

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How to Recover from a Bad Credit Score

Finance (Photo credit: Tax Credits)

While the circumstances vary, many of us have found ourselves with the same problem — a low credit score. Accumulation of high credit card balances is something that not only results in higher monthly payments, but also has a negative effect on insurance and interest rates. Because of the scope of its effects, it’s easy for it to spiral out of control, resulting in bankruptcy or home foreclosure. There is, however, always hope.

Several things can help raise your credit score. For instance, if you have one or two credit cards with high balances, you can alleviate some of your bad credit woes by obtaining a balance transfer card and transferring some of the balance to your new card. Credit cards are not all the same and can help or hurt you depending on your financial situation, so always be sure to research and read all of the details before applying for credit. It’s important to find a credit card that’s a good fit for you and will help you reach your financial goals.

In general, credit cards themselves aren’t a bad thing, as long as they’re managed correctly and monitored regularly. The task at hand is to get one or more of the balances below 30% of that particular card’s credit limit, as using less of your available credit reflects well on your credit rating. In other words, the lower the balance, the better. It’s important to remember that you won’t get there by paying minimum payments. You should pay above your minimum payment as often as possible.

Something that can become increasingly harder to do, as your credit debt increases, is paying your bills on time. Paying your bills, especially personal, home, student and auto loans, is key. If you don’t have any of these types of loans, consider contacting a local credit union. Often credit unions offer extremely low rates on personal loans and credit cards. In addition, their penalties tend to be less harsh, which can certainly pay dividends in the long run.

Unexpected events occur in our lives, and if you must miss a payment or find yourself over your credit limit, a hefty penalty can be debilitating to your credit score and overall financial recovery. Also, by holding more than one type of account, it shows that you’re able to manage multiple types of credit, which reflects positively on your credit score.

Many people will see the allure of having their debt cleared, and consider filing for bankruptcy. While in some cases it could be the best option, often it’s not. Talk to a debt counselor and work hard to utilize some of these other methods to avoid the long-term effects of bankruptcy, which remains on your credit report for 7-10 years.

Because each financial situation is different, there is no ultimate fix that solves everyone’s financial woes. Utilize multiple methods of recovery, and as you rebuild your credit, hopefully, you will also be building good habits for the future. A key to financial health is not only having good spending habits, but also managing and diversifying your spending to maintain strong credit in the future.

NerdWallet is a personal finance website dedicated to helping consumers with any credit score find the best credit card offers for their spending needs.