We received an email from Melissa Minkalis of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC). They are offering a Free DVD about avoiding foreclosure.

I did not order the DVD or know much more about it. I did quickly verify that the NFCC is a legit organization and doesn’t seem to be simply harvesting contact info, etc.

(more info from the email we received after the fold)

Fingers crossed.
He should moderate his language, open the possibility of a rate cut, and send the markets higher.

I hope he keeps his mouth closed, talks about inflation and the US dollar, and keeps rates right where they are.
Wishful thinking? Perhaps. However, I just have a vibe that he isn’t the soft touch that people think he is. My impression is that he just might suprise a few people.
Time’s up Bernanke! – are you made of steel or of butter?
Good luck,
Phil
PS In what is becoming a theme, …

The consumer is tapped out. After consistent 25 basis point increases to the Federal Funds Rate, we are finally starting to see the effects on the stock market.

Yesterday morning we saw three headlines that caught my attention. The first detailed Sears’ guidance for this quarter – a reduction from $2.12 to from $1.06 to $1.32 per share. These revisions are, at best, a 30% reduction and, at worst, a 50% reduction from their previous optimistic estimates.

Notably, declines were across all categories. If you follow the theory that the consumer is on thin ice, then it is hardly surprising to find big ticket items are not being purchased. Sears is having trouble selling new stainless steel fridges and widescreen TVs because consumers do not feel confident about their financial situation. The only sector that wasn’t hit as hard was women’s apparel and footwear – suggesting stressed housewives may be engaging in retail therapy.

It seems that even your credit card’s rewards points are not safe from the terror of inflation. This is a real credit card offer I got the other day (click for larger image):

Are we supposed to be fooled by this? I’ll let things sink in a bit before I do any speculating as to why this might be a good deal (for us or the bank).

An ARM can be a huge money saver, or a time bomb. Unfortunately, there are a lot of time bombs out there.

Whether it’s due to bad or irrational decisions, youthful naiveté, a bad streak of luck, or situations totally beyond our control, we’re all faced with mounting debt at some point.

If it gets bad enough, some of us may even have to work with our creditors to forgive some of our debt just to remain solvent. But did you know that getting a break on your debt could greatly effect your tax situation? How about the effect of accepting a settlement offer has on your credit report?

After launching in February as the first person-to-person lending site in the US, Prosper.com has seen a good deal of activity. Now that it’s been 6 months since they opened their doors, I used Google Blogsearch to see what people’s experiences were out there in the blogosphere.

Almost all of us hear some variation of this from our credit card or car loan company: your interest rate is a variable rate of 14.99% based on Prime plus 6.74%. That means your current rate is 14.99% but may change at any time, so if the prime interest rate goes up or down 0.5% so will your card. Let’s look at the Prime rate closer, and I’ll share some tips to enhance your credit search.