AP - A 22-year-old Virginia woman who said she once thought her only talent was singing is the nation’s newest Miss America, emerging from a field of 53 contestants picked for their beauty, compassion and interview savvy.
Read more of 22-year-old goes from Miss Va. to Miss America (AP)…
What do you do in a situation when you need funds urgently? People approach a bank for the loan, in most cases, and may even get one. However, they will have to complete the lengthy paperwork that the bank requires. They may be rejected for the loan if they do not qualify. Payday loans are expensive, but available from the local loan store, and this may be the only thing left for people to do. There is another option, which assures you that you will never be rejected for the loan and even get the money quickly. Such loans are known as Car Title Loans.
Car title loans are approved almost instantly. Since you are handing over the title of your car to the lender, they are assured of the money that they agree to loan you. They may also be referred to as a secured loan. You should be aware that by handing over the title of your car, you risk losing it in case of a default. Lenders approve such applications for loans without any hesitation as they are aware about the facts. Lenders transfer the money to your account within hours. You will not have to run around trying to complete large amounts of paperwork. Your borrowings will depend upon the resale value of your car. Having a new car with a clear title, will make you eligible for an higher amount than with an old one.
The only aspect that lenders look for when approving a car title loan is whether or not you have a clear title on the car. This means that you will be ineligible for the car title loan if you have an unpaid debt on the car. The title of your car will be with the lenders of your car loan in such cases. Therefore make sure that you have a clear title on the car before you can fill out an application.
Car title loans are usually offered for very short periods. The money has to be repaid within 15 to 30 days. It is correct, if people feel that this sounds more like a payday loan. Car title loans come with lower interest rates as they are considered secure, unlike payday loans. Exorbitant charges towards interest and other fees will not be recovered from you.
Just because you have offered the title of your car against the loan, you are not entitled to delaying payments when they are due. Make sure that you do not fail to meet your repayment schedule. You will become liable for heavy rollover charges, if you do not make payments in time. There is a possibility that your car may be taken away from you against overdue payments, in certain cases. Remain careful by keeping ahead of the repayments and return the money before the due date. After all, the paltry loan pales in comparison with the title of your car that is more valuable.
AP - J.D. Salinger, the legendary author, youth hero and fugitive from fame whose “The Catcher in the Rye” shocked and inspired a world he increasingly shunned, has died. He was 91.
Read more of ‘Catcher in the Rye’ author J.D. Salinger dies (AP)…
Image from Flickr.
The owner of a small, independent shop, Fleurty Girl, has gotten a cease and desist order from the NLF about “Who Dat” T-shirts. The order said the shop, located in New Orleans, must stop selling shirts that say “#WHODAT,” with a fleur de lis in the O. The same order was issued to another New Orleans clothing store, Storyville.
Clearly, the NFL doesn’t own the fleur de lis, nor the “#” symbol, which refers to a Twitter hashtag, but the league is saying the phrase “Who Dat” belongs to the NFL. The iconic “Who Dat” phrase has been associated with The Saints for decades. Fleurty Girl owner Lauren Thom says, understandably, that she does not want to “rock the boat” with the NFL, no doubt she’d end up needing debt relief if she gets tangled in a lawsuit, but she wants to further examine what her rights are.
Louisiana news station WWLTV says that another organization is claiming ownership of Who Dat and responsibility for its association with The Saints:
Sal and Steve Monistere recorded a version of “When the Saints Go Marching In” in the early eighties and incorporated the “Who Dat” chant into it. … Because the song helped create the widespread use of the "Who Dat" chant, the Monisteres and their company, Who Dat, inc., say they own “Who Dat.”
However, the Monisteres are not out to get T-shirt manufacturers to stop using the phrase — far from it. The Monisteres, the owners of Storyville and Thom all agree that “Who Dat” is by the fans, for the fans. Thom says that if the Monisteres discover that they do own the rights to the phrase, “we’ll come out together and have a shirt that says 'Defend Who Dat.' Because it started by the fans and its for the fans,” Thom said. … click here to read the rest of the article titled “NFL says 'Who Dat' phrase is the league's property“
I'm have Italian in my family, so I should have a ravioli maker. I’m sure we would have fun making homemade ravioli. I love ravioli and I love to make them from my family.
Actually, they are probably a ton of work to make. You must have to stuff each little tiny ravioli. And then how do you get all the edges zig zaggy. Maybe I wouldn’t ever use it.
OK, I changed my mind. It would sit in the cupboard. I’d rather buy frozen. I do know my Italian mom would love one but she’s in California. I could mail her one. I think I will do that. I think I will buy my mom a ravioli maker.
A wedding is always important, because it is a step that every couple looks to take with the intention of starting a new life. However weddings are never cheap. The couple may not have access to the money that weddings cost. They may be held back by a lack of money and not be able to accomplish what they want, even though they may want to spend the money and make this event a memorable one. This can now be handled by a secured personal loan for weddings.
We are talking about a secured loan and this means that you will need to offer some collateral against the money that you are looking to fund your wedding with. The money that is eventually borrowed will be dependent on the collateral that you are able to offer. The amount of the loan can range between $ 5,000 to $ 50,000. The value of the collateral does not hold back lenders from offering more money as some of them are very generous. Lenders differ in their policies for such loans; therefore will decide upon the final amount to be loaned on a case by case basis.
A wedding can be very expensive even before the event has taken place. Expenses that include food and beverages, the place for the wedding, decorations and more can add up very quickly. No restrictions are placed by lenders on expenses that you intend to spend on, as the reason for the loan is clear. Lenders are not concerned about the exact expenses, as they have offered the loan as secured by collateral that you have offered. Lenders will not ask for itemized receipts from you, but this does not in any way mean that you can ignore what you are spending the money on. The extent of your expenses and the details need to be watched closely.
Since you want to take a secured wedding loan and are offering collateral against it, you will be better off with a bank or credit union. Quotes can be requested by you from a number of lenders, both offline and online. Secured loans for weddings are available from a number of lenders who are all looking to give you better rates and offers. Banks and credit unions have the same terms and conditions as these lenders. The collateral you offer should be accepted.
One thing you should know when offering collateral is that the title of this collateral will be transferred to the lender. The property will be in your possession, but the lender will hold the title. This should not be a factor for worry as long as you keep up with the terms and conditions that have been set. However, if you default on loan payments, you will end up losing the property. Even people with bad credit can apply for a secured personal wedding loan. This makes it a wonderful opportunity for all types of people to make an application and make the event a memorable one.
Ever heard the term “Keynesian economics” and wanted to learn more? Here’s a new rap video that explores the competing theories from the Austrian business cycles of Friedrich von Hayek and the interventionist theories of John Maynard Keynes. Yes, I said rap… and I actually learned something from it!
In Fear the Boom and Bust, John Maynard Keynes and F. A. Hayek, two of the great economists of the 20th century, come back to life to attend an economics conference on the economic crisis. Before the conference begins, and at the insistence of Lord Keynes, they go out for a night on the town and sing about why there’s a “boom and bust” cycle in modern economies and good reason to fear it.
Full lyrics and song download available at EconStories.tv. Via NPR, thanks to reader Tim.
Read more about "Fear the Boom and Bust": Hayek vs. Keynes Economics Rap…
Eating dogs and cats–which is an age-old delicacy in China–could soon be against the law.
It's the nation's first law against such animal abuse. Currently, dog and cat meat is viewed as promoting bodily warmth. But if the law passes, people who eat either animal could face fines of up to $730 or 15 days in jail. Organizations involved the practice would face fines up to 100-times as much.
Read more of this story »
Read more of China to Ban Eating Cats and Dogs…
Most people have really expensive life insurance policies. This policy we call whole life insurance. This scam will make you spend more money in the end than you should. The best way to go about getting life insurance is to get term life insurance and invest the difference. Chances are that you will probably pay less money for a shorter amount of time. You will also be investing your money so that you will get a great return for it in the end.
When you are buying insurance you will be buying it at a fixed rate. Since the chance that you will die goes up as you get older, so does your insurance rates. While you are still healthy and young you will pay much less than when you are old. Everybody will buy a contract with a fixed rate for twenty five years. Then you will have to pay more for a new contract. The charges from whole life insurance are between the low and high of term. You will pay less than you need to for the first half but less than you need to for the rest of your life. Instead of paying a lot of money for whole, look at another option.
Whole life insurance will take some or your money and put it in a savings account for you. Luckily, instead of making them look better as they would hope, this makes them look worse. When you die, your family will need to decide between the death benefit or savings account money. Instead of allowing you to use your own money, they will charge you interest to take it out. You will lose all of your money to them and won't be able to see it unless you take out a loan with it.
The contract you should sign should be for twenty five years of term. The difference between the two prices you should invest. It is like having a savings account except you will make more money. Between you and your spouse you will probably pay around forty dollars a month. With whole you can spend up to five hundred a month. With the extra money you should invest it every month so by the time your term insurance is up you will have enough that you don't need to have life insurance anymore. You should be able to figure out what the best thing is to do with your life insurance. If you do it on your own then you have more money in the end. Finally, you will have figured out why term insurance is better than whole.
On top of the technical issues NFL scouts have with Tim Tebow as a prospective pro quarterback, there’s…
Read more of Tim Tebow meets his worst career fears in Senior Bowl practice…
Today I wrote a few letters to some old friends. I try and get around to writing letters to people. It is always really sad when I can't write letters to people. I like getting letters in the mail.
I know that in order to get letters in the mail I am going to have to put forth the effort to write letters to other people. It also helps other people feel really good when they get a letter in the mail.
It is hard to write letters when life gets so busy. Sometimes there isn't enough time in the day to get the dishes done. I don't know how I find the time every so often to write letters.
If a genie popped up and told me that she could turn me into any animal that I want, I wonder what I would choose. I love moneys so I might choose that. I also might choose a cat. There's that song that everybody wants to be a cat. I don't know how accurate that really is.
I think that I might like being a cat except that they have to cough up those disgusting hairballs and eat really gross food depending on the owner of the cat. It would be ok if I lived in some rich person's house that decided to feed me really good.
AP - President Barack Obama’s push to create jobs includes a new tax credit for small businesses that add employees, an idea that has appeal as the nation struggles with an unemployment rate topping 10 percent.
Read more of PROMISES, PROMISES: Obama revives jobs tax credit (AP)…
AP - Suicide bombers struck in quick succession Monday at three Baghdad hotels favored by Western journalists in well-planned assaults that killed at least 37 people and wounded more than 100.
Read more of Baghdad blasts strike popular hotels, kill 37 (AP)…
I don’t know how long this will last, but right now former H&R Block TaxCut fans can get H&R Block At Home 2009 Deluxe Federal + State for only $25 from Amazon, including five federal e-files and free Super Saver shipping. Retail is $45.
From the description: This is the Deluxe version, which handles things like home interest tax deduction, donations, and investment income. Imports data from TaxCut, TurboTax, Quicken, and Microsoft Money software. Compatible with both Windows and Mac OS X. Includes H&R Block Audit Support.
* You can save another $1.26 and download it directly onto your computer if you have Windows.
Read more about H&R Block At Home 2009 Deluxe Discounts (TaxCut)…
Bank of China plans to sell up to 40 billion yuan in bonds to replenish its capital and meet government standards following a record surge in lending last year amid Beijing’s stimulus measures, a state-run news agency reported.
Read more of Bank of China to sell up to $5.8 billion in bonds (AP)…
Anyone who has not heard the Pat Robertson Haiti quotes yet is lucky to have protected themselves from such remarks. Human beings really should have evolved beyond making such devastating statements so hurtful to fellow humans.
The quake news from Haiti continues to roll in, but sporadically and uncertainly and without verification. The Haiti death tolls that are being guesstimated are all over the map, ranging from the very broad hundreds of thousands, to one hundred thousand and now down to fifty thousand. The only good news in all of this is that the statistics are trending lower. Do lower death tolls signify a weakening correlation with the influence of the devil? Pat Robertson would have to be consulted about that. Even Rush Limbaugh might have some insight.
It is interesting that the more that is reported from Haiti and the more that is uncovered regarding the historic aspects of Robertson's remarks, the more solid the evidence that his statements were not only hurtful and demeaning, but they were simply wrong and not founded on truth. One would think that an individual who holds himself to be a leader of the Christian religion would be much more careful about checking his facts in order to make untruthful statements.
Voodoo, with all of its notoriety and apparently false reputation for being an evil religion does not have the power to be so hurtful as a few statements from a self appointed leader of the “good” Christian faith. Let’s all endeavor to change the channels and quickly flip the pages whenever we hear Pat Robertson’s name mentioned.
Consumers are worried about their unsecured loans. According to the Federal Reserve, Americans currently owe $917 billion on revolving credit loans. Almost all of the debt is the result of credit card and about $70 billion of the total is currently past due. That is bad news for consumers and shows that most Americans are still hampered financially by the bad market and overwhelming expenses. For anyone looking to regain control of their finances, here are some ! tips to follow.
As a result of the huge amount of debt Americans carry and the level of defaulting loans, credit card companies are continuing to scale back lending. Lenders are drastically reducing lines of credit and some experts report that within the next year there will only be half as much credit available to the general consumer market. They predict that companies will continue to cut down credit for subprime borrowers and even for moderate to good credit customers. It is also suggested that there will be continued hikes in interest rates from credit lenders, despite other forms of interest decreasing. Financial analyst Martin Timbelset noted that due to the "depth and length of the current recession, lenders have another excuse to recoup their losses by any means possible." … click here to read the rest of the article titled “Paying Down Unsecured Loans is Critical to Financial Health“
Recent research is showing a decline in borrowing money. The Federal Reserve announced that Americans borrowed less for a tenth consecutive month. This marks the lowest amount on the records going back for seven years. It seems that most Americans are getting smarter about credit after the recession taught a hard lesson about credit.
In former years credit cards were thought of as emergency options when people needed money. People stuffed one credit card away for those times when cash wasn't readily available. Once the recession began, people were surprised at how credit lending companies dealt with them. Many good customers saw their credit limits slashed. Other customers had huge hikes in their interest rates. Still others saw added fees attached to their bills.
The Federal Reserve reported that total borrowing dropped by $17.5 billion in November, which was much more than projected. In fact, economists calculated the fall of borrowing at only $5 billion. It seems that Americans learned the lesson on credit and new studies are giving reasons for their decline in borrowing. Some are fearful about their job prospects for 2010 and they are trying to replenish savings that were ravished by the recession. It was reported on Friday that employers cut another 85,000 jobs in December and that brings the total job losses in the country to 7.2 million since December of 2007. … click here to read the rest of the article titled “Research Shows Decline in Borrowing Money“
Have you been thinking of working at home?
Cash today is not easy to come by. Ask the millions of Americans who are currently unemployed due to cutbacks and layoffs. A growing number of them are turning to self-employment as a means of supporting themselves. Though this may seem like the best option, experts caution people to not move to working from their homes too quickly. There are some things to be aware of and weigh out prior to making the decision.
Working out of the house can sound like a great idea. But in reality, it has to be done carefully and with a lot of forethought. Although it is the least expensive place to work, there can be considerable distractions. A dirty house, laundry, or the mall can all drag you away from the work at hand. Remember that if you are self-employed you have no one standing over you anymore to get work done. Now, productivity is totally in your hands and managing it well is integral to a successful entrepreneurial pursuit.
Another distraction that most self-employed Americans have to worry about is family and friends. It's sometimes difficult to get loved-ones to understand that just because you are home, doesn't mean you are available to socialize. Stopping them from visiting unexpectedly can be a difficult, but necessary, topic to address.
If you are ready to work as a self-employed American, here are some tips to follow. First of all, get the right office set-up. You want a separate area of the house where business is conducted. Even if no clients are involved, you want a place where you are mentally prepared to work and be productive. Ideally, an extra bedroom, basement or attic can be used effectively as a home office. Martha Grable, small business coach, said, "Make sure your home office helps to get you into work-mode. Just like working in an office has a certain vibe, you want to recreate that in your workspace." … click here to read the rest of the article titled “People Looking for Cash Today Entering Self-Employment“
I know that my spending habits have changed in the last couple of years. Yours likely have too. This change is the result of job cuts, lower pay and the overall financial downturn. We all need the economy to recover and getting out there and spending some money would certainly help turn things around, but few people can afford to do that at this point. We are basically just spending money on the essentials these days, and even that spending has changed somewhat.
According to a recent article on the U.S.News site, market research is showing some definite trends in how and where Americans are spending their hard earned money. One noticeable shift is in the amount of debt that most of us are willing to carry at this point. Before the recession people were more likely to buy on credit and to spend money on large items that were not essential. Nowadays consumers are sticking much more to the basics and trying to pay in cash as much as possible, sometimes taking short term loans when necessary.
Tough times often inspire more creativity. People do not want to completely give up the pleasures in life. Dinners out with friends, family trips, fancy coffees and home renovations are all things that can be altered to fit a more frugal lifestyle. Organizing rotating potluck dinners at friends' houses can replace dinners out. Camping or visiting local attractions can substitute for larger family trips. Buying some quality coffee beans, a grinder and a milk frother will allow you to create specialty coffee at home each morning. Doing basic home updates yourself such as painting, can really save money. … click here to read the rest of the article titled “How Our Spending Habits Have Changed“
