Oh, the holidays: a time of Christmas ornaments, sugar cookies, and going wildly over your budget. Not this year! Stay in your budget this holiday by following these general tips.

1. Sell Off Excess Inventory

Why are you clinging onto that old bike or pilates machine? Put some extra cash in your pocket by selling off goods that go unused in your house. Try one of the many auction-like websites, like Ebay or Craigslist, for example. You could even put ads up in your local newsletter. Use this cash towards presents for your loved ones.

2.  Make Lifestyle Changes and Use Your Head

A little bit of innovation goes a long way when it comes to staying in your budget. Last year, our heater just wasn’t cutting it (not to mention it was seriously revving up our electric bill). Instead of heating the entire household, we got personal heaters for the rooms in use. The dining room, guest room, laundry room, and other unused rooms were left cold while each bedroom and the kitchen were warm and toasty.

3. Reuse and Recycle

Sometimes, we just don’t feel like digging up those spare bulbs for our Christmas tree lights, so we buy a whole new string. This is wasteful! Reuse your older lights! With a little effort, you’ll save a lot of money. This goes for old Christmas bags and boxes, as well. Save stuff from last year, and use it again. You can also think this way for your Christmas meals. Instead of cooking up a holiday ham, make a hearty stew with a more economic cut of meat like chuck roast. Stews keep nicely and will give you leftovers for days.

4. Put Away the Plastic

Holiday sales inundate us with the notion that we can buy now and pay later.  Pay later you will, and steeply with high interest rates on credit cards.  This holiday season; use only your cash and debit card to make purchases.  If you can’t pay it outright upfront, you shouldn’t buy it.  January is the worst financial hangover month of the year.  Make it easier on yourself in 2012 by not racking up any further debt in December 2011.

Bottom line: the holidays aren’t just about gifts or shiny new toys. They’re about spending time with the people you love and being thankful for what you’ve got. With this in mind, budgeting for the holidays should be a breeze.

Author’s Bio: Margot is a guest post writer who writes about general business issues and resources, like inventory management software.

Many consumers wrongly assume that nothing bad will ever happen to them. However, anyone who experienced Tuesday’s magnitude-5.9 earthquake – the strongest quake to hit Eastern America in more than a century – now realizes that disasters can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. Now, as the East Coast braces for Hurricane Irene, it is crucial for those in the storm’s path to be prepare for the worst.

That said, disasters are not limited to severe weather patterns. Even in the most mild climate, it is still very possible to become the victim of a devastating event, such as a house fire or home burglary. Disasters would not be labeled as such if it were possible to anticipate what was coming. That said, one of the best ways to survive a disaster is to be prepared. An integral piece of this advanced preparation is to safeguard important documents and financial records so that it is easier to get back on track once things calm down. If you have access to your important paperwork – such as insurance documents, tax papers and credit card information – you will find yourself ahead of the game when trying to return to normalcy.

Here are some tips to help prepare yourself before a disaster strikes:

Have a Plan

Families should create, review and revise an emergency plan regularly. From mapping out and identifying escape routes to compiling a survival supply box, a family should be prepared for anything, at any time, and all family members must be informed of how to react in the event of a crisis. You should also have an easily accessible lockbox in which you can store vital financial information, documents and cash that will help you recover once the disaster is over.

Keep Your Records Safe

With all of the recent technological innovation, you should take advantage of electronic records and even electronic storage to maintain your finance and tax records. Save electronic versions of billing statements and tax records to a disk or other portable storage device – such as a flash drive or external hard drive – and place it in a safe place that you can access at a later time. To avoid the risk of losing the disk or portable storage device, you may want to utilize online data storage, such as Dropbox. Be sure to update your electronic records each month so that if something does happen, you’ll have the most recent copies of information to reference.

Track Your Valuables

If you have valuable assets, take the time to document each item by photographing or video recording the contents of your home. Have the photos printed and make notations on the back of each photo describing the item and its value. Keep the photos and videos in a safe place outside of your home. If a flood or fire strikes and you lose all of your assets, you will have photographic evidence, making it easier to file insurance claims and replace what is lost. Make copies of this information to keep handy in case you need it for any other reason.
Contact the IRS

Should something go wrong, you can always contact the IRS to request copies of financial records that have been lost or destroyed. If the disaster has affected a large area that is subsequently deemed a federally-declared disaster area, you can request transcripts and copies of information free of charge through the IRS.
Dealing With Losses from a Disaster

The federal tax code allows for individuals to get tax relief following a disaster by allowing you to recover some of your casualty losses on property for personal-use. These losses can be claimed as an itemized deduction on Form 1040. To calculate the amount that can be deducted on the tax return you must take the total casualty loss, subtract out any salvage value and any reimbursements (including insurance). The IRS also requires that $100 must be subtracted from each disaster event. Once you have the total amount, you must subtract 10% of your adjusted gross income to arrive at the allowable amount that can be reported as casualty and theft losses for the year. More information can be found here.

In the wake of a disaster, people often feel helpless and confused. Not having access to the many things that we take for granted is devastating to disaster victims in desperate need of a sense of normalcy. By taking the time to prepare for the worst-case scenario, you will find it much easier to deal with any disaster that may occur, and you will be equipped with the tools necessary to make a strong recovery effort.

This guest post was provided by Manny Davis. Manny is the writer/owner of BackTaxesHelp.com, a website that provides easy-to-follow tax problem help guides for various tax-related problems.

A kindergarten student looked up at Jaime and said, "You sure are cute." He was right!

After two years of college (with a major in art), our daughter Jaime decided to pursue a career she had long dreamed of: cosmetology.  We supported her decision, and she subsequently completed cosmetology school and opened her own salon.  That was 13 years ago.  Much has happened since then (marriage — divorce — lost dreams), but Jaime decided three years ago to pursue her Art Education diploma, a journey which she completed this past spring.  Then, only two weeks ago, she did what the naysayers said couldn’t happen: she was hired for her first teaching job.  We are VERY proud of our girl as she will be impacting young lives in the class room.  We also celebrate with her as she is planning her marriage (October 22) to a man who loves and adores our daughter.

How was that for an introduction to a guest post?  The following is something Jaime wrote on Facebook and has since been published by her friend Katie at So, Funny Story… .  Read on for a delightful post by our daughter Jaime Plemon.

By the way, I wish I could write like she does!

Someday, I will be pursued by someone who isn’t bothered by my inability to spell and the fact that I have never fully learned my multiplication tables. Someone will like my naturally curly hair and share my dislike of insane heat and humidity. My political incorrectness (I also make up words that I can’t spell) will be appreciated, as well as my insane fear of heights.

I can’t stand Kirstie Alley and I don’t care who knows. I won’t appologize for the people in my life because I don’t hang on to people I need to apologize for. I’m probably taken the wrong way constantly because I treat people I’ve just met like I’ve known them forever and have decided that I can’t be paranoid about being perceived as anything other than who I know I am.

I hate seeing celebrity’s stylists using products you can buy at Wal-Mart because they are fakes and would never do such a thing.

I’m a hopeless romantic and think that some day I’ll come home to someone who takes the trash out without me asking a thousand times and may even pick (not buy) me some flowers every now and then.

I’d rather see a person in a movie get hurt than an animal, not that I value animals lives over humans, it’s just that I feel the animals aren’t given a choice.

I say I don’t believe in Valentine’s Day because it’s cheesy but deep down doesn’t every girl secretly want the fairy tale? My favorite movies always end happy and I laugh all by myself at things that probably aren’t funny to most people. I laugh waaaayyyy too long at inappropriate times and love when others do the same! My dreams are insane and sometimes effect the first part of my day.

Someday, the fact that I’ve been married won’t change how someone feels about me and people will realize that that which does not kill us really and truly does make us stronger. My manic moments are spurred by a load of sadness and disappointment in my life that I’m working through and I personally think that says a lot more than never being effected…

I always think that when I get stuck behind a tractor that’s going 35 mph in a no passing zone that God must be protecting me from something down the road. I listen to the same song 20 times in a row and still don’t know the words because I can’t hear worth a crap. Cloudy days are just as worthy of reaaaallllly loud music as sunny days.

Jaime and Zika ... the love of her life

I love beards, glasses, scarves and flip flops on boys and not necessairly all at the same time. I want to live off of Diet Coke even though I’ve not had any for nearly a year and I have to force myself to eat veggies. I want to have a daughter and name her a boy’s name and allow her to dress however she wants and if anyone questions me as a parent as a result then I’ll know for sure they don’t need to be in my life.

I think spitting is the absolute grossest thing in the entire world and I’m as organized as a gnat. I have a crush on Ellen and if that’s not ok then I’m sorry…actually I’m not. I wish I could memorize movie lines word for word but my brain doesn’t work like that and I hate to do dishes. Is there a connection??? Probably…

If you’ve read this whole thing your just as insane as me and we are clearly meant to be in each others lives. Go out, enjoy being who God created you to be and don’t appoligize for it. He doesn’t make mistakes.

Jaime…that’s JaIme…not JaMie, did I mention I hate when people I know spell my name wrong??

I want to thank Sunil, who writes Extra Money Blog for today’s guest post.   Make sure you take time to read about Sunil and his online entrepreneurship in his bio at the conclusion of the post.

Donations have been a big part of my financial success as I have progressed throughout the years, financially and otherwise. The concept of giving back was embedded in me by my parents and is one of those values they’ve gifted to me which I can’t thank them enough for.

Although I don’t donate specifically to get more back, the correlation has proven true year after year. As my donations increase each year, so does my overall income. Don’t ask me how it works because I don’t know. Suffice it to say that the more I give away, the more I get back.

That said, there are countless organizations and causes to choose from when donating. So how does one know where to donate their hard earned money to?  Because each avenue has a unique operating structure, the overhead costs to run each vary across the board. So when I decide to give, I pick an avenue where the biggest portion of my donation will go to the cause I intend to support, not the CEO’s pocket who runs the organization.

How do you find this information out? Two credible links to consider are www.charitywatch.org and www.give.org. I am at a point where I have my short list of charities where I contribute to, but I visit these sites each time I contemplate adding to this list.

Side note: Because of my military background, there are a handful of military charities that I contribute to. If you are interested in donating to a military charity, I highly recommend researching The American Institute of Philanthropy’s publication on the best and worst military charities to donate to.

In addition to these preliminary procedures, the following five guidelines have helped me contribute in the safest yet most meaningful manner:

• Do extra research on brand new organizations to assess the legitimacy. It’s easy to trust organizations that do business in the name of charity.

• Never give out credit card or bank information. Always donate by check payment. Legitimate organizations will accept checks. Do not donate in cash if that is all the organization insists on receiving. Make sure you get a receipt for your donation.

• Beware of donations solicited over the Internet. Take extra caution when considering this route. Find the contact information online and try it to see if legitimate. Search for scam / fraud alerts online to see what others are saying about it.

• When in doubt, ask the organization for its non profit number. Charitable organizations are required to be registered with the IRS. You can scour the www.irs.gov website as well to see if you can find the charity listed there.

• If you feel that you’ve ever been wronged by a “charitable” organization, report them to your state’s attorney general office. You can find this number on your state’s general website. Fraud organizations should also be reported to the NFIC – National Fraud Information Center. You can call them or report the fraud online at www.fraud.org.

I will end this guest post by reiterating how important giving back is to me. Everyone who has been blessed with the capability to give back should IMO. I hope you found the guidelines above useful.

Readers: Anything I missed that is worthwhile mentioning? What are your thoughts on giving back?

All the best,
Sunil

Sunil owns over a dozen profitable niche websites and is the author of “How to Go from $0 to $1,000 a month in Passive and Residual Income in Under 180 Days All in Your Spare Time”, a FREE report you can download instantly from his Extra Money Blog, where he discusses how to create multiple streams of passive and residual income, entrepreneurship, internet marketing, blogging and personal finance. In 2007, he sold his ecommerce website for $250,000 to a top Ebay Power Seller and since then has sold several niche sites for five figures each. You can read more about him and his work on his blog.

Debt can be a terrifying, debilitating and even overpowering. You feel like you can’t fight off the anxiety and feeling of entrapment, and, as the unpaid bills and statements pile up, you have difficulty thinking straight. You feel cornered and know you must act soon, but you also don’t feel like you have many options.

Take a deep breath. There are a lot of options for you to get out of debt and not just filing for bankruptcy (although this still can be a good action for extreme cases). The biggest step you can take is getting your mind out of this mental and psychological slump and start considering the many proactive options available to help your debt situation.

Cut any unnecessary expenses or luxuries

If you are having trouble gathering enough money to pay off bills or interest, start making your own coffee and lunch and bring it to work. Cancel any monthly-fee membership (if there’s no huge cancelation fee) and any other service that you don’t need. Try home repairs. Fire the cleaning lady. If you are paying for anything that doesn’t help you get out of debt, cut those expenses immediately.

Create a Small Business Startup

Sure, all business require some sort of initial deposit for startup, but there are a lot of very low cost startups out there. If you have any secret skills or hobbies, maybe now is the time to step into the ring and give it a shot. Create a website; they’re cheap! You could even write a blog about your struggles with debt; yes people do make money from blogs.

Consider Balance Liquidation Plans

If you have multiple credit cards with intimidating interest rates, consider requesting balance liquidation plans from your creditors. These plans, which are designed for “hardship” customers, will set up a five year pay off schedule with greatly reduced interest rates (often 5% or even lower). Your credit card will be voided, but that is probably advantageous for those seeking to escape debt.

Force Budget with Cash

If you decide to liquidate your cards, forcing a budget with cash would be a great followup. Budgeting with cash works wonderfully because it literally doesn’t allow you to overspend. Essentially, you withdraw a set amount of cash each week (or month), and don’t allow yourself to withdraw any more or spend in any other way. If you get low on cash, start looking for food in the freezer and try to cut back on your driving.

Organize your Budget with Envelopes

If you are already force-budgeting with cash, try organizing separate budgets into different envelopes. Have an envelope for clothes, bills, groceries, and whatever else with a designated amount of money in each envelope. If you find that one envelope empties really quickly, you have identified a potential spending problem in your budgets.

Readers: What is your favorite proactive tip for getting out of debt?

Author Bio:  Stella Walker is a freelance writer of free credit score where she writes about topics including credit, debt, investment, bankruptcy.

Is  it just me or does anyone else think there are way too many TV commercials lately touting credit cards? You’ve also probably noticed that most of them are peddling air travel rewards and at first glance, their programs may seem extraordinary. However truth be told, some of these commercials aren’t exactly forthright in explaining to you how their mileage/travel programs actually work. So I’m going to cut through the hype and show you the good, bad, and ugly behind five of the most heavily advertised offers of 2011

(1) Capital One Venture

Their current spokesman, Alec Baldwin, says the Capital One Venture gives “double miles on every purchase, for any airline, anytime, with no seat restrictions” which sounds impressive, right? Well it is a generous program, but it may not operate how you think…

How much the miles are really worth: These are not your typical airline frequent flyer miles. Rather, the Capital One miles are worth exactly a penny each – no more, no less – which can be used to purchase airfare/travel. For example, if you want to get a free $450 flight, it will take 45,000 miles. For a $771.40 flight, it will be 77,140 miles.

How the miles are redeemed: Let’s say you want to buy an airline ticket using your miles. What you would do is buy it (say, on Priceline or Orbitz) just as you would any other purchase. Then after the charge shows up on your credit card account, you would request a statement credit, using your accumulated miles to offset the cost (and every 1 mile redeemed = 1 cent statement credit)

Verdict: So even though it’s technically correct, is their claim “any airline, anytime, with no seat restrictions” a bit misleading? I’ll let you be the judge. Regardless, the $59 Capital One Venture still offers rewards which are definitely well above-average, since it is essentially paying 2% cash back.

(2) Chase Sapphire

This is another credit card you see a lot of commercials for lately. There are two versions of the Chase Sapphire; the regular has no annual fee and the “Preferred” is $95 per year.

How much the points are really worth: At least Chase doesn’t call them “miles” but the program still may come across as a bit confusing, since this one is also marketed as having “no travel restrictions” and “no blackout dates.” But the reason for that is because it operates in a manner similar to the Capital One Venture, where you are merely buying your own travel. On the basic version each point = 1 cent. For the Sapphire Preferred, you can get a 25% bump in value when spent on travel, so 1.25 cents per point.

How the points are redeemed: Straight up cash back is one option, but if you would like to spend the points directly on travel, then you have to use something called the Ultimate Rewards travel tool (basically it’s Chase’s branded travel website). At first I was skeptical of it thinking the prices would probably be inflated, but fortunately that’s not the case. They appear to just be re-branding the feed from somewhere else, because the prices I’ve checked are pretty much the same as what I see on Kayak.

Verdict: Again, it would also be helpful if this system was better explained. Of course it’s in the fine print, but I would imagine some folks probably don’t pay much attention to that when they see the current offer for 50,000 bonus points ($625 in travel) that’s being peddled for the Sapphire Preferred version.

(3) U.S. Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards

My roommate receives solicitations in the mail for the FlexPerks Travel Rewards on what seems like a monthly basis. Sometime in the past, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance reportedly dubbed it the “best credit card if you want travel perks” which surprised me, given the pitfalls of its rewards program.

How much the FlexPoints are really worth: The value is above average but just take a look at the fine print and I’m sure you can guess what I don’t like about it:

• 20,000 FlexPoints = Up to $400 ticket value
• 30,000 FlexPoints = Up to $600 ticket value
• 40,000 FlexPoints = Up to $800 ticket value
• 50,000 FlexPoints = Up to $1,000 ticket value

So that would mean a $395 ticket would cost 20,000 points, but a $405 ticket would be double at 40,000 points. Being that you earn 1 point per dollar spent, the value of your rebate would be a max of 2% and go down from there.

How the FlexPoints are redeemed: U.S. Bank uses a proprietary online travel tool, similar to what the Chase Sapphire uses. From what I have gathered, the U.S. Bank program is also fair in the ticket prices it gives you.

Verdict: As you can tell, I’m not the biggest fan of the tiered rewards structure but this credit card does come with a couple unique benefits: (a) each reward ticket comes with a $25 allowance to cover baggage fees and/or in-flight meals (b) charitable donations made with the card earn 3x points which I commend them for doing.

(4) United Mileage Plus Explorer card

So far every card we have looked at has offered generic airline rewards (as in, not affiliated with a specific carrier). Now let’s compare and contrast those with the United Airlines credit card (officially called the “Mileage Plus Explorer card”) which uses actual frequent flyer miles. Being that the merger of United and Continental created the world’s largest airline, I thought it would be fitting to use their new Mileage Plus Explorer card for this example, but most airline-branded credit cards operate in a similar manner, too.

How much the miles are really worth: As with most frequent flyer programs, there are different tiers for ticket prices. For United, roundtrip domestic flights will typically cost 25k, 37.5k or 50k miles for economy class. Of course, finding seats at the lowest tier isn’t always easy. However if you book far in advance, the odds should be in your favor. Most sources I’ve read seem to peg the average value at around 1.5 cents per mile for United Airlines.

How the miles are redeemed: The United Airlines credit card, as well as most airline affiliated cards, usually have the same model for redemption: you book the award flight yourself through the airlines website directly. Doing it over the phone is also an option, but you may be charged an extra fee to do so.

Verdict: The value per mile is good, but when you take into account the $95 annual fee, something like the Capital One Venture would probably make more sense for light/moderate spenders and infrequent travelers. With that said, United tosses in a free checked bag perk for you and your companion (that’s a $100 roundtrip savings for 2 people). If that benefit is regularly used it might make the card more attractive for some lifestyles.

(5) American Express Gold

Technically speaking, the American Express Gold is not a credit card, but rather a charge card, because the balance normally has to be paid in full each month. I haven’t seen any commercials for it lately but during the first and second quarter, AmEx was tirelessly running ads for it on channels like Fox News, CNBC, CNN and probably many others (but I only watch the news, so I wouldn’t know).

How much the points are really worth: The American Express Gold, as well as the Green and Platinum, participate in a program called Membership Rewards. With it, cardholders can convert their points to miles on over a dozen airlines and more often than not, the conversion is a 1 point = 1 frequent flyer mile. Therefore the value depends on the given airline the points are being transferred to.

How the points are redeemed: Done through the AmEx website or customer service can be called to assist.

Verdict: The 1:1 transfer to multiple airline programs is a perk unique to American Express cards and there’s no arguing the potential usefulness of that, however at the same time you have to take into account the high costs (the Gold and Premier Rewards Gold are $125 and $175, respectively). In a nutshell, unless you are an avid traveler and above-average spender, you would probably be better off skipping the bells and whistles and sticking with your basic no annual fee rewards card instead.

This article was written by Mike, the founder of the forum/blog CreditCardForum.com. He reminds you to not get caught up in the credit card hype if it will lead to overspending. When that’s the case, stick with debit or just good ol’ cash.

Not too long ago I came across Joe’s post “What Is The Real Cost of Debt?” and it got me thinking about another problem, which may or may not accompany debt – materialism. It affects all of us (myself included) to at least some degree, some of the time. Many of us have no credit card balances or other debt, and therefore, don’t view this as a problem. I want to demonstrate otherwise. Using the same categories Joe used in the aforementioned post, here’s the real cost behind materialism.

Actual Dollar Cost

Obviously the actual dollar cost of an item/service is quite easy to figure out, but just because you incurred zero debt to buy clothes, car, house, [insert your purchase here] it doesn’t necessarily mean you were being a good steward of money in making that purchase. Even after tithing, ask yourself: “How would God want me to use the other 90% of the money I have been entrusted with?”

Trust me, I’m just as guilty the next guy in being tempted by material things. I think 1 John 2:15-17 is great reminder to try and stay grounded:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Lost Opportunity Cost

In Joe’s other post he defined this as “the squandered possibilities of the money had it not been going toward interest payments.” That same definition can apply here if we switch out “interest payments” and replace it with whatever it is we’re spending money on.

Joe used the example of how interest payments totaling $947/month over 40 years would equate to $1.1 million dollars, if it were put into CDs earning 4% (or $3.3 million if earning 8%). We can also apply that same principle here. Would your household be able to trim $947 out of its monthly spending? I know it’s a lot of money and not everyone has the luxury of having so much discretionary spending in their lives. But the truth of the matter is there are many middle-class households who could easily save a thousand a month if they really wanted to by (a) living in a smaller house with a lower mortgage, taxes, and insurance, and (b) driving older cars with no loans and cheaper insurance premiums.

Now I know what some of you are thinking “I tithe and the rest of the money is mine to do what I please. If want to live in a big house and buy this or that with it rather than saving, so be it!” Well I’m not disagreeing with you… ultimately it is your choice to do whatever you want. But remember it’s not just today’s money you are spending, but also the future value of the money if it were invested (that’s how Warren Buffett thought of money). Would you rather spend $1 on yourself today? Or grow it into $2 whereas you would have one dollar for yourself plus one for charity?

Marital Costs

I’m not married but I’ve still experienced firsthand how money can muddle up marriages. How so? Through the marriages of my grandparents and parents (the latter of which are divorced).

A married couple may think it’s okay to max out that AmEx Platinum credit card every month since they always pay the bill in full, but how will they look back on those purchases days, weeks, or even years down the road? Will the accumulation of stuff make them happier… or just cause bickering and stress? Sure, wining and dining is fun, but when it comes time for retirement I bet married couples (and all of us, for that matter) will have wished we saved a bit more of that discretionary income.

Health Costs

Again, the adverse health effects of debt that Joe talked about (stress, depression, anxiety, etc.) also applies to materialism. It seems like the more “stuff” we have, the more stress that comes with it, right?

Just this morning actually, I was listening to a podcast by one of my favorite pastors, Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills, CA (the May 11th episode – “Why The Ten Commandments?” which you can listen to here – highly recommend!). During his sermon, he talked about this tricked out black on black Porsche 911 that he saw zoom by him on the street. He said [I’m paraphrasing here] “God knows I can’t have a car like that. I would wax it, wash it, wax it again, and stress out wherever it was parked. It would distract my focus and attention away from what really matters in life.”

How about you? Are there any material items in your life that cause extra stress and anxiety? Or even if they don’t, do they divert time and attention away from more important things?

Creativity Costs

Joe talks about how when a person is in debt, every decision must be based on “How are we going to pay our debt?” Well, the exact same thing happens with materialism and the obsession with acquiring more, bigger and better “How can we get this?” Let me give you an example…

Going back to the Porsche example, that particular make of cars is also a weakness of mine (been obsessed since childhood). There was a day this week when I was trying to write, had a writer’s block moment, and took that as an excuse to procrastinate by wasting time on eBay motors looking at old used 911s. My creative brainpower was being used to try and answer the question “How can I get myself one of these?” rather than putting that creativity towards what I should have… my work!

How much of your time and mental energy do you waste daydreaming about houses you won’t be buying on Zillow (another guilty pleasure or mine) or doing online price comparisons for a new gadget you don’t really need? As innocent as these may seem, they are all poor use of our brainpower.

What to do?

I would like to be very clear that I am not writing this post to act high and mighty, because I struggle with all of these things myself. Just like the example of the married couple above, I also fight the urge to spend big on my AmEx Platinum Card under the premise that “it’s okay because I can still afford to pay it in full!” The bottom line is that it’s easy to lie to ourselves and believe that because we’re not spending into debt, we’re good stewards of money. The truth is that with or without debt, we can be horrible stewards of money. All of us need to remember Luke 16:11…And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?

This article was written by Michael, who is the founder of CreditCardForum.com, a credit card message board and blog. Although he is a obsessed with earning cash back and airline miles, he reminds everyone to avoid credit cards altogether if they will lead to spending more than you normally would (even if that extra spending doesn’t cause debt!).

In light of the sub-prime mortgage crisis, the proliferation of payday loan services, and the raising of credit card interest limits, Americans are now more than ever subject to predatory lending. These lenders not only prey on our dreams, but often make promises that they never intend to keep.  In this article we highlight some of the more common practices these con artists use and what measures you can take to avoid being victimized.

Predatory Lending Tactics

The majority of predatory lending tactics have been directed towards low income borrowers, but it is a growing problem that can also affect middle and upper income families.  These following lending practices are considered to be predatory:

• Unjustified Risk Based Financing – Although it may be considered legitimate for lenders to charge a higher amount of interest to low income borrowers and borrowers without a down payment, some lenders may push that envelope and take advantage of these potential borrowers.

• Single Premium Credit Insurance – This type of insurance covers the loan in cases where the borrower dies.   If the borrower already carries life insurance, he may be forced to purchase insurance he doesn’t need in order to qualify for the loan.

• Failure to disclose to the borrower negotiating terms for the loan – Although interest rates and fees are often negotiable, some less than honorable lenders will fail to inform the borrower.

• Failure to disclose all terms and conditions – The slimiest of lenders do not disclose all the terms of the loan, or even alter those terms after the loan agreements have been signed.  If you’re unsure of the conditions of your loan it’s best to seek outside help.

• Loan flipping – Some lenders will ask the borrower to refinance the loan into “better” conditions, which aren’t actually better for the borrower. The predatory lender then profits from the associated fees for the refinancing.

Other lending practices to watch for:

• Using false appraisals to set a higher price for a property.

• Encouraging borrowers to lie about income and assets.

• Charging fees for fake services.

• Use of high pressure sales tactics.

• Watch for any fees that are more than 3-4% of the total cost of the loan.

• Balloon Payments

• Penalties for early payoff of the loan.

• Being asked to sign blank documents that the lender will “fill in later”.

Measures You Can Take

• Get information about the cost of other homes in the nearby vicinity.

• Have an independent appraisal done on the property.

• Don’t accept promises to refinance into better terms in the future.

• Always look at the total cost of the loan and not just the monthly payments.

• Always shop around and don’t take the first loan that comes your way.

• Avoid lenders who advertise to people with bad or no credit.

• Check with your local chamber of commerce to learn of any consumer help resources are available in your area.  Take advantage of these resources.

Readers: what kinds of predatory lending practices have you encountered?  Any additional tips for other readers?

Bio: Alexis Bonari is currently a resident blogger at College Scholarships, where recently she’s been researching scholarships for computer engineering students as well as track scholarships. Whenever this WAHM gets some free time she enjoys doing yoga, cooking with the freshest organic in-season fare, and practicing the art of coupon clipping.

You are undoubtedly familiar with the old adage that “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” , but you probably don’t know why this cliche—which speaks to the natural inclination people have to value the unknown over the known—is relevant to credit and charge card use. Interestingly, many of the most popular credit cards for people with excellent credit are so blindly sought after because of their assumed potential (the unknown) and not because of their practical benefits (the known) which can actually hurt consumers’ credit standing.

NPSL:What it is and what it isn’t

The Visa Signature credit card, the World MasterCard credit card and the charge cards from Chase and American Express all have a feature known as No Preset Spending Limit (NPSL), which drives their popularity. Some people gravitate toward these cards because they understand NPSL to mean no spending limit. Others may realize that NPSL cards have spending limits which are determined on a monthly basis but are still intrigued by the ever-present possibility of a higher limit next month.

The hidden downside of NPSL cards

However, unbeknownst to most consumers, an NPSL card’s true potential is decidedly negative, and by using such a card, you are essentially playing a game of Personal Finance Russian Roulette. According to a study conducted by Card Hub, credit card companies don’t report their NPSL cards’ actual spending limits to the major credit bureaus. They either report proxy limits or no limits at all, and exactly which method an issuer uses is often indeterminable.

As a result, it’s in turn often difficult to predict the effect an NPSL card will have on your credit utilization … a factor which reflects the percentage of your available credit and is a prominent factor in calculating your FICO credit score.  Therefore, misleading limit reporting can spark a chain reaction causing misleadingly high credit utilization and an inaccurate credit score.

A misleading credit score can produce real problems

The decision makers who use consumer credit scores most likely won’t be aware of this, however. They will simply accept your score on face value and use it to determine whether you deserve a loan, a mortgage, an apartment or even a job, among other things. And you do not want to be shut off from these things or be stuck with bad rates because of a misleading credit score shaped by unusual credit card company reporting practices.

Besides, it would really add insult to injury knowing that you couldn’t buy a house or land your dream job because a credit card company wanted to protect its golden goose. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that credit card companies go out of their way not to report NPSL cards’ true limits in order to perpetuate the myth that NPSL equates to unlimited spending.   All in all, NPSL cards therefore just aren’t worth the risk. The only things that differentiate them from other credit cards for excellent credit are the false hope they provide and the potential for credit score damage they create. So, now that you’ve hopped that proverbial fence, checked out the grass and realized it wasn’t so green after all, wouldn’t you agree that you’re better off just sticking with a standard rewards credit card?

This guest article comes from Odysseas Papadimitriou. Odysseas is the CEO of Card Hub, a website that helps consumers get the best credit card deals and buy discounted gift cards.

Love to watch your favorite shows, but hate paying the ever escalating price of cable? There are other ways to get your can’t miss shows. Here are a few:

1. If your TV has a built in air tuner you can get free HD broadcast TV.  Simply Get an antenna and watch for free. If you don’t have a digital converter box in your TV, you will need to buy one.

2. For Netflix users and Amazon video on demand you can buy a player like Roku Digital Video Player and get to watch streaming TV and movies. They have different content channels like CNN and music video channels.

3. You can connect your TV to a computer (which is what we do). We use Microsoft’s Media Center, which allows us to record TV shows and fast forward through commercials. We can also pause and rewind live TV. There are also other media centers like SnapStream’s Beyond TV and Sage TV Media Center. You’ll need a PC with a TV tuner card and a nice big hard drive (preferably at least 20GB).

4. Through Media Center we can watch TV programs through Hulu and Boxee.  You can find many of the latest shows on Hulu along with older shows. If you want to make sure you can get every episode of your favorite show you can use the subscribe button at Hulu. You’ll then find the shows in your Hulu user queue. You can see HD shows in Hulu and go full screen so it’s like watching TV. It has 30 second commercials here and there, but less commercials than regular TV.  Boxee is a portal to finding TV shows, music, movies, photos and apps. Boxee pulls content from different sites like Comedy Central and CBS, allowing you to see just about every show that’s on the internet.  You can also add shows you like to and get automatic updates of new episodes. Boxee also allows you to access shows already on your computer.

5. Joost is still another portal  Especially if you like niche rather than mainstream content. It has a huge amount of content that can be a bit of a pain to find and access. But, definitely entertaining.

6. If you still can’t find your favorite shows,  go directly to the network site – ABC, Discover, MTV and most other networks have their shows online at their sites. You can use the site Clicker to find your favorite programs online.  It may take more time to get your favorite show online. Sometimes they wait a day or a week to put them up.

7.  Try PlayOn software if you have an Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii or Playstation 3. You can subscribe to various channels like Hulu, Food network, and CBS right from your gaming system.

Other alternatives:

• Getting episodes at iTunes (usually $1.99 per episodes)
• Amazon Video on Demand. Watch through Roku, or your gaming system. You can also download them to your portable video device.
• Renting through Blockbuster or Netflix at the end of the season for a marathon episode watch
• YouTube
• Justin.tv
• Get DVD’s for free from your local library

With so many viable options, there’s no reason to stick with cable if you don’t want to.

Readers: What other tips do you have for avoiding cable?  Which of these ideas do you use?  Any pros or cons you can share with us?

This is a guest post from Andrew Wang who blogs about  Personal Finance.