Personal Finance and Investing

According to the Maryland regulators (article posted below), consumers WANT to pay their debts.  What a FOOLISH move!!!!

The Maryland statute of limitations for credit cards is only 3 years.  HOWEVER, the 3 year statute of limitations begins again if creditors can document that a debtor has reaffirmed a debt on a good faith basis by a written agreement, orally, or by payment. <

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Entertainment is important to everyone. Even when you are on a tight budget or have tons of  obligations to meet, you still need to spend some quality time with yourself and/or your loved ones. How to do this though?

Ways to save money on entertainment

1.  Theater

Watching plays is one of the best form of entertainment. Most theaters offer discounted performances on certain days of the week, so what you can do is give them a call to check which those days are. Participating in a variety of contests can also help you win free tickets to some plays.

2. D

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We all know that a good credit score is highly important in today’s economy. It is therefore all the more important that we do what we can to maintain a great credit score. For some individuals, this may mean making bi-monthly credit card payments instead of monthly ones.

Making bi-monthly credit card payments (paying on your credit card twice a month, instead of once a month) may make the task of paying on your credit card a more easily manageable one. S

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You may be approached by a loved one asking you to co-sign for a credit card, and you may have difficulty deciding if this is the best decision to make. So, what do you do?

For many individuals, the idea of co-signing is met with a great deal of trepidation, and rightly so. After all, you are just as responsible for the credit card bill as your loved one is. So, if they fail to pay the bill, guess who’s responsible? And, if they act irresponsibly with the credit card, guess whose credit score will suffer?

It is because of the above reasons that you must seriously consider whether co-signing for a loved one is the best idea. Here are a few situations where you may want to decline a request to co-sign for a credit card:

• Your loved one has a shaky employment history – The bottom line is that the only way to pay for a credit card is by working, and if your loved one is not currently employed, or has a habit of moving from job to job, co-signing for a credit card may not be in your best interest.
• Your loved one has a poor history – or no history – of handling credit – For most individuals, there’s a good reason why they can’t obtain credit, and it usually has to do with poor credit mistakes in the past. If your loved one has never handled credit, this may also be a warning sign for you to decline co-signing for the card. If there were legitimate circumstances under which your loved one’s credit was damaged (the loss of a spouse, a divorce) then you may feel better co-signing for a credit card.
• Your loved one has a history of making bad decisions – If your loved one made rash purchases in the past that they could not afford then you must ask yourself what is preventing them from doing the same thing if you co-sign for a credit card? Your loved one may make all the promises in the world, but in the end it is their actions that speak much louder than their words.

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