March 2009

10 Tips to Declutter Your Finances

March 31, 2009
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Lately I’ve become overwhelmed with clutter. Everything from my office to my home to my finances is filled with unnecessary stuff. And all this stuff creates stress and reduces efficiency. Just the other day my wife and I spent one hour searching for two bills that, as we eventually learned, were at the bottom of [...]

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Debt Cures by Kevin Trudeau – Do His “Secrets” Really Work?

March 25, 2009
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I cringed when Debt Cures “They” Don’t Want You to Know About by Kevin Trudeau first hit the shelves. Mr. Mega Memory and Natural Cures had decided to cash in on the financial crisis, and knowing a little bit about his history, I feared the advice he was dishing out would do more harm than [...]

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ALERT: Refinance Your Mortgage Now!

March 19, 2009

For those of you considering refinancing your home mortgage, keep a close eye on mortgage rates over the next few days and weeks. Yesterday, the Fed announced that it would purchase up to $300 billion in U.S. Treasury over the next six months and $750 billion in mortgage-backed securities. Following this announcement, stocks surged and [...]

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Google’s Tip Jar–Vote for Your Favorite Money Saving Tip

March 15, 2009
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Goolge just recently launched what it calls the Tip Jar. The Google Tip Jar is a collection of money saving tips that are ranked by the web community. You can submit your own tips and vote for your favorites. This past December, before Tip Jar was launched, I received an email from a product manager [...]

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10 Lies that Got You (and Keep You) in Credit Card Debt

March 12, 2009
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While we don’t have any credit card debt now, except for 0 APR balance transfers, there was a time when we did. While we never let our credit cards get completely out of control, we did build up several thousand dollars on our credit cards when I first got out of college. So having gotten [...]

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2009 Economic Stimulus Package FAQs

March 7, 2009

President Obama has signed into law an economic stimulus package that covers 2009 and 2010. The stimulus plan, which costs $787 billion over two years, is more than 700 pages long. To break it down for you and to summarize the key provisions, we have developed this 2009 Economic Stimulus Package FAQ. Economic Stimulus Payment [...]

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Making Home Affordable Refinance and Modification–A 2009 Federal Program to Help Struggling Homeowners

March 4, 2009

Today President Obama announced the details of his Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. The housing program has two key features: (1) a Home Affordable Refinance Program; and (2) a Home Affordable Modification Program. Both programs are designed to help homeowners stay in their home, either by refinancing their current mortgage or restructuring the mortgage. And [...]

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How to Pilot Through a Financial Crisis Like Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger

March 4, 2009
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Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s now famous landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River is nothing short of spectacular. From the notion that a flock of birds can bring down an Airbus A320, to the decision to land in the Hudson, to the incredible landing, everything about the January 15, 2009 ditch in [...]

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Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan–Refinancing and Restructuring Home Mortgages

March 2, 2009

Last month President Obama unveiled the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. The plan represents a $75 billion homeowner stability initiative designed to help 7 to 9 million families restructure or refinance their home mortgages to avoid foreclosure. The plan has three key components: Refinancing for Up to 4 to 5 Million Responsible Homeowners to Make [...]

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