Just a quick note to let you that we had the good fortune to be featured in a few blog articles this week. Check them out and read some of the other great posts that were selected:

• Carnival of Living Cheaply
• Finance Fiesta Hosted by Counting My Pennies
• Festival of Frugality over at Student Scrooge
• Carnival of Personal Finance at You Need a Budget

Have a great weekend!

Consider this statistic: 40% of bankruptcy filings are made by women. Most of these women are single, usually on the other end of a divorce. As you probably know, bankruptcy will mess up your credit report for years and make it nearly impossible to get a line of credit anywhere. People who file for bankruptcy usually do it because they feel they have absolutely no other options, but women, if you’re out there reading, remember these 7 things so that you don’t wind up in that staggeringly scary statistic:

You need to know how to:

1. Balance your checkbook. Think this is a given? It’s not. Many women, especially those who hold joint accounts with their spouses, allow their partners to take control of the money while they live in a worry-free environment, free from the “stress” of money matters. Think how stressful it will be if your partner leaves or dies suddenly and you don’t know how to write a check and record it in your checkbook. 

2. Live within your means. While TV commercials and magazine ads would have you believe that you’re worthless if you’re not walking down the street with a $1,000 purse swinging from your arm, the only way you should be waltzing around with a handbag that costs a grand is if you can comfortably carry that much in it and have plenty left over. Too many Americans are so busy trying to buy the latest car, the latest gadget, the latest trendy whatever, that they don’t even realize they’re sinking into debt until they’re being swallowed up. Now is a great time to rein in these materialistic tendencies if you have them.   

3. Budget. This goes along with #2, but if you haven’t yet learned to do this, you need to start today. You have to be able to figure out what you have coming in and how much goes out each month. Are there some areas you can cut back or cut out? Do you really need satellite TV? If you calculate your numbers and you have more going out than you have coming in, you have to cut back and/or make more money and draw up a financial plan.     

4. Pay bills. If you don’t know what bills come in, what they cost on average per month and who you owe money to, now is the time to learn. This includes all accounts in the household: your separate accounts, joint accounts and your partner’s accounts. If he’s not forthcoming about what he owes, that’s a red flag you shouldn’t ignore. Likewise, you need to fess up to him about what you owe.  

5. Manage your finances on your own. I’ll admit, I’m not a huge fan of joint accounts. It’s not the 1950’s and even if you’ve always been a homemaker and never worked outside of the home, you should still have some money that’s your own and that you manage yourself.    

6. Earn more. In the event that you find it difficult to pay your bills on time, you may need to earn more income. This could be in the form of a raise, a second job or a side gig.   

7. Adjust. Things aren’t always going to be the same. That’s the nature of life. If you can’t roll with the punches, it’s going to be very difficult to cope when something changes. You can either curl up in a ball and mope or you can take control of your money and your life and face it head on.

Face it; things sometimes happen. Husbands die or run off with their secretaries to Tijuana. If that should happen, you don’t want to be left behind in such a financial mess that you have no idea how you’re going to get out. Bankruptcy should be an absolute last-resort option, but remember: bankruptcy courts have gotten much more strict in recent years. All of your debt isn’t going to magically disappear because you file. Instead of going through all of that headache, however, take some steps now so that if the worst occurs, you’re prepared.   

You’ve taught your kids not to talk to strangers and not to give out personal information online. You do your best to protect them and keep them safe. You provide educational material and expose them to learning opportunities. But have you taught your kids the value of a dollar? What your kids don’t know about money can hurt them and their credit rating when they’re adults.

Some children are naturally good with money; they instinctively save and don’t fritter it away on frivolous purchases. Other children, being impulsive as kids often are, don’t save – they want the latest toys, video games, cool shoes…and they want it now. It’s no surprise they’re impatient. Adults are often the same way. Fortunately, children are too young to have charge cards or they may rack up huge bills like so many of their parents have done.

There are some secrets to raising money smart kids that you should know.

1. Show them how to save. Vaguely, I recall my parents telling me to save, but I don’t ever remember them telling me how. For a lot of people – not just kids – it’s not enough to say “save.” They (and I) need to be shown specific ways to do just that. If you give them an allowance, you need to sit down and have a conversation about what they do with their allowance money. I know some parents think that their kids should learn these lessons the hard way, but isn’t parenting about providing guidance? Explain to your child that this amount should be put away for saving and this amount can be spent. Give them a blank check register and show them how to record money going in and money going out.

2. Don’t buy them everything they want. There’s want and there’s need and there’s a big difference between the two. When kids grow up seeing their parents charge everything, they begin to think buying things is easy. Children don’t pay attention to the bills you get in the mail afterwards – all they know is that Mom bought a new purse or Dad bought a new iPhone. Learning to control your own spending impulses will teach your kids that sometimes, you can forego a new, oftentimes unnecessary purchase. They won’t like it, but this is one hard lesson that will benefit them in the long run.

3. Make them earn it. When your son asks for the latest video game, do you jump in the car and head straight for Game Stop and buy it? Or do you ask him how much it is, if he has any allowance money of his own and how much more he needs before he can buy the game himself? If children get everything they ask for, they see their parents as endless supplies of cash flow; who cares how the cash gets there? Your kid certainly doesn’t. Instead of making it easy, make them earn their own money if they don’t have enough allowance money to buy what they want (not need). I’m not one of those parents who believe kids should be paid for chores like cleaning their own rooms, but they should be allowed to earn a little extra by doing tasks that aren’t normally assigned to them (weeding the garden, washing cars, etc).

4. Send them to camp; money camp, that is. This idea has sprung up recently and while there’s debate on how much fun it is for the kids, it is a smart idea. Apparently, you send your child to a summer camp where they learn about money: investing, saving, leadership, all taught by certified financial planners. There are different camps around the country, but it’s worth looking into if you really want your kids to get solid lessons that they can carry with them. At least they won’t come home with a poison ivy rash.

Here’s a fun drinking game. Turn on any cable news program, and do a shot of your favorite liquor every time you hear the word “recession.” After half an hour, you should be nice and hammered like one of those shirtless, mullet wearing losers on Cops. No doubt about it, the majority of people in this country are feeling the strain of these rough economic times, and they’re all too happy to complain about it. But I’m not one of those people. In fact, I believe there are 3 good reasons this country needs a recession.

1. Wake Up Call- News flash- the people in Washington, D.C. could care less about whether or not you can afford to fill up your gas tank. I’m not condemning one particular party- neither of them care. Relying on the government to solve your financial problems is foolish and naïve. You think President Bush is going to write you a nice little stimulus check once a month? Get real. You think Obama is going to waltz into office and suddenly you’ll have a nice statement on your bank account? You can hope and believe in the power of change all you want, but that’s not going to happen. These bad economic times are just the wake up call the American public needed. You alone are responsible for your financial situation. The sooner you realize this, the better.

2. Stop Excessive Spending- Let me explain. We are a nation full of people who spend like drunken sailors. It starts at the top with our government, and these spending habits trickle all the way down to individuals like you and me. The vast majority of Americans break the first rule of personal finance- you can’t spend more money than you make. What a novel idea! 

This is precisely why I believe these difficult economic times can be a good thing for Americans. High gas prices and the increased cost of food have forced many people to rethink their spending habits. Whether they like it or not, they have been made to reel in the spending.

The truth is that many of us are now, out of necessity, spending the way we should have been all along. Instead of splurging on that 60 inch flat screen we don’t need, we have to get the more practical 36 inch model. And we’re better off for it.

3. Learn to Save- In general, Americans are terrible at saving money. The average family in the United States saves less than 1% of their annual earnings. Over in the UK, they save about 10% of their income. If nothing else, I hope this downtime will teach Americans how to save money. Before you go out and charge something you can’t afford, put aside about 10% of your paycheck. In fact, just pretend you make 10% less than what that number on your paycheck says. If you do this for long enough, periods like this won’t have any effect on you. Your stress will be reduced, and you will be in the prefect position to retire with a nice nest egg.

I imagine the only people in the U.S. who don’t know that the cost of living has shot through the roof recently are little children under the age of one. Everyone else knows just how much everything – gas, food, utilities – has increased. It all ties in together because you can’t have rising gas prices without it affecting the food prices (i.e., more expensive transportation), you can’t have higher food costs without it affecting the housing market: people need to eat more than they need to pay their mortgage. It’s like a domino effect that ends somewhere that’s kind of scary for a lot of Americans.

Unless you’re very independently wealthy or you’ve learned to survive on very little, you’re feeling the crunch. Until the economy improves and the cost of a gallon of gas no longer determines if you have a good day or a bad one, here are 10 ways you can survive the rising cost of living, or what’s become a difficult time for a lot of us:

Save Money on Gas

1. Carpool or bike. If you regularly read the comic strip Blondie, you know that Dagwood Bumstead was way ahead of the current green age because he carpools to work every day. Sure, he’s usually running late, but I think we can cut the guy some slack because he’s helping the environment. It seems that people don’t want to carpool as much anymore, though I’m not sure why.

Biking is another alternative, which I’m even more fond of because it requires no gas, releases no emissions and it’s good for your body. I know everyone can’t do this because they live too far from their job (and during the hot summer, it may not work for hygiene reasons unless your job has a shower you can use – otherwise, your coworkers may start steering clear of you, eco-friendly star or not).

2. Run errands one day of the week. This may require more organization on your part, but if you can plan to run errands that are in the same general area one day a week instead of making multiple trips, this will save on gas. 

3. Fill up first thing in the morning. Now the basis for this is a lot more scientific that I can get into, but it has to do with the air temperature, the temperature of the gas and the amount of space available in your gas tank versus how much gas actually goes in there. In short, fill up when it’s coolest to get all of the gas you’re paying for. 

4. Work flex hours if you can. If you have the option to work at home one or two days per week, this is worth looking into. You’ll save on gas, as well as the aggravation of driving in rush hour traffic.  

Save Money on Food

5. Make a grocery list and stick to it. When I don’t make a list, I often wander the grocery store aisles and just start grabbing stuff. Then I’m irritated when I get home and see that I already have these impulse items hidden in the back of the pantry. Look in your cabinets before you leave home, make a list and, most importantly, stick to it. I like to mark items off as I get them (this is very satisfying for listy types like myself).

6. Compare prices between stores. It’s worth it to sign up for those free discount cards that many grocery stores offer nowadays; you’ll get their weekly fliers in the mail advertising specials. When you get the fliers, look over your grocery list and see if anything you need is on sale that week. If different stores have savings, you may have to shop at more than one store (so long as it doesn’t involve driving across town, it make sense), but some stores accept competitors’ coupons.     

Save Money on Electric Bills

7. Use compact fluorescent bulbs. I know the initial cost is higher, but in the long run, these light bulbs last 10 times longer than standard bulbs and can save you around $60 in electricity bills per bulb. 

8. Set your thermostat higher during the summer. The most comfortable temperature in your home is going to vary, but you should set it about one to two degrees higher than what makes you content. If you can manage to increase the thermostat temperature by one degree a week, you can expect to save between five and 20 percent off your electric bill depending on where you live.

Save Money on Personal Services

9. Extend the time between services. If you get your hair colored every six weeks at $60 a pop, try going every eight weeks. Over the course of a year, this will save you about $130, which you can put into an interest bearing savings account to get the most from your newfound saving ability. 

10. Learn to do some things yourself. I’m a big DIY person, but even if you’re not, there are some tasks you can tackle yourself. Manicure, pedicure, eyebrow waxing, moustache trimming…these are simple services that many people can do themselves.

There’s no telling when this economic crisis is going to end. I know that some of these ways may seem small, but remember this: just as money adds up when it’s coming in, it adds up the same way when going out. You may think saving $5.00 today is no big deal, but when you save $5.00 here, another $10.00 there and an extra $15.00 someplace else, it does add up…to savings which you can keep. 

All right, you’re here because you want to get rid of your credit card debt once and for all. The stress of high debt and possibly late payments has finally gotten to you and you want out. Of course, the amount of time it takes for you to get rid of your debt depends on how big your debt is as well as how much income you have coming in, but everyone is capable of paying off their credit cards if they’re willing to do the work.

There’s a right way and there’s a righter way. Doing it the righter way is smarter. So how do you do it?

Steps to Get Rid of Credit Card Debt

• First, you have to be willing to stare your debt in the face. Surprisingly, so many people are afraid to do this. It’s just pieces of paper, people, not snarling Rottweilers! You need to get all of your current credit card statements together and sit down with them. Arrange them from highest interest rate card to lowest.
• Next, add up what your total minimum payments are for all of your cards together. Don’t worry, you won’t be making these minimum payments—you’ll be making more than the minimum if you can afford to. Paying above and beyond the minimum will erase this debt more quickly. Just paying the minimum keeps your debt-escaping momentum practically inert.
• Determine what amount of money you can realistically afford (over the minimum) to pay on your cards each month. This can seem like a scary number, but remember, it’s just digits. This isn’t a time for fudging or being dishonest, either. If you’re unwilling to write down the right number, you’ll only drag out your financial mess even further. For example, let’s say the figure you can pay every month toward credit card freedom is $500.00. You have three cards and the total minimum payments for each come to $300.00. Now tally your minimum payment plus an additional $10.00 on each card; your total payments are now $330.00. Subtract that from $500.00 and you have $170.00 left over. Add that $170.00 to your payment on your highest interest card and pay that amount every month until that card is paid off.
• Don’t quit. However, once that high-interest card is paid off and you’ve closed the account, don’t subtract the amount you were paying from your total $500.00 monthly allotment. Continue to pay out $500.00, but now use the “extra” money from that previous payment toward the next highest interest card. Rinse and repeat until all of your credit cards are paid off.
• And in case it’s not obvious, do not continue to charge things.

In the meantime, it’s in your best interest to call your credit card companies and ask for lower interest rates. I know this sometimes seems like a hassle, but all they can do is say “no.” If you’ve been making your payments on time, however, there’s a good chance they’ll say “yes,” especially if you mention that you’re thinking of switching over to another company’s card. Isn’t spending a few minutes on the phone (okay, half an hour…okay, an hour…call at off-peak times!) worth the amount of savings you can accrue? This is interest you don’t have to pay, which is almost like tossing dollar bills into a fireplace. Wouldn’t you rather make a call and endure just a little elevator music instead of tossing your money away?

Credit cards are so easy to get and abuse. After all, how many credit card offers do you have junking up your mailbox on any given day? They’re so tempting, promising 0% interest on balance transfers until next year or a low introductory APR. They’re attractive, they’re seductive and they’re dangerous if you let them take over your life.

What, you say. Take over my life? Don’t be silly.

But use them the wrong way and you can get behind on your bills, which is compounded by a sudden increase in interest rates (because you did read the fine print that says the company is within its rights to spike your rates if you’re a day late with payment, right?), leading into a spiraling vicious cycle that includes calls from creditors day and night, at home and at your job, as well as the inability to get more credit. See how it’s taken over?

One of the best ways to avoid all of this is to use the credit cards to your advantage, which so many people don’t know how to do. Credit cards don’t have to be all bad, but not knowing how to use them correctly can lead to all kinds of catastrophes, including a credit rating so low that you won’t be able to get credit for anything.

Keep it at Zero

How do make credit cards work for you? By using them for small purchases that you can pay off completely when the bill comes. I know this isn’t always possible; if you’ve already racked up huge credit card debt, this is going to seem impossible. However, if you’re just starting out and you want to avoid trouble down the line, remember to keep your credit card balance at zero.

But this won’t build up my credit rating, you say. How will I build up credit to buy things, like a car and a house?

You can, but do it wisely. Charge something small and pay the balance off when it comes. Completely. If you think you need something next month, charge it and again, pay your entire balance. What this does is establish your credit rating: you pay on time and you pay in full, which looks good on your credit report, leading to a higher score. Sure, you can maintain a balance and continue to make payments on time, which is favorable, but your main financial purpose should be to avoid credit card debt as much as possible. Carrying balances over seems harmless enough if the balance is low, but what happens when an emergency occurs and your balance is suddenly hundreds of dollars higher?

Avoid High Interest Offers

Store credit cards are notorious for having higher interest rates than standard cards, no matter how good your credit is. Therefore, before you take on one of these too-good-to-be-true store offers, read the fine print and read it well. Better yet, just avoid them altogether. If you absolutely have to have something from a department store, charge it on your bank-issued credit card. And then, pay off the balance when the bill comes.

It’s much harder to pay off your balance in full when high interest rates jack up your payments. If your credit history is already spotty and you have a high-interest card, it’s going to seem difficult to get out of this trap. However, the best thing you can do is make more than your minimum payments on time each month while, at the same time, not charging anything. After establishing an on-time pattern, call your credit card company and ask if they’ll lower your interest rate. If you have to resort to telling them you’re thinking of switching to another company’s card due to your current interest rates being so high that you’re having trouble making payments, then do it. You don’t have to play nice with credit card companies. Do you think they’re sitting in their offices worrying about your interest rates? Then don’t worry about their feelings. They’re big companies; they can handle it.           

By now, you probably know whether or not you’re good with money. If you’re reading this, chances are you’re not as good as you’d like to be. While much of whether or not you save money well can be traced to your particular personality, it’s not set in stone that you’ll be a free spender all your life. There are ways you can take control of your personal finances and change yourself from an irresponsible money handler to a person who not only knows the value of a dollar, but how to hold onto it.

Learn New Tricks

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, so the saying goes. Lucky for you, you’re not a dog. No matter how old you are, you can learn new habits. You can learn to change from a spender to a saver. Granted, this is going to be easier for some than it will be for others; yes, it requires some willpower, which some people naturally call upon in abundance. For others, it may be more a matter of tricking themselves. It doesn’t matter what means you use – it only matters that you reach appropriate ends, which result in you having more money in your account and less debt.

If you habitually find yourself wondering where in the world your money went, try these tricks to help track it down: 

• Keep a daily budget journal: It’s not good enough to try and remember what you spent money on over the course of a day. It’s too easy to forget that $4.00 cup of coffee that you grabbed from the drive-thru window or the $5.00 keychain you picked up for a friend. It may sound like small amounts here and there, but over the course of a week, you can unconsciously spend any amount of money from $20.00 to $100.00 and not have anything to show for it. Think it still sounds like spare change? Try looking at these small expenditures over the course of a month. It’s imperative that you carry a notebook with you at all times. Anytime you pull out your wallet and hand over cash, credit or debit cards, you need to write down how much you spent and what you spent it on. Once you’ve done this for a couple of weeks, you can see a pattern of how you spend your money. Are you dropping dollars on unnecessary trinkets? If so, now you know that and can take action to prevent it. 
• Use the envelope system: I know, you’re not eight years-old and it can feel silly placing money in envelopes every month so that you don’t overspend. But how has your money management system worked so far? If it hasn’t, then try the envelope system. After paying your bills, take the money that you have left over for the month and divvy it up. Some of it should go into an interest-bearing savings account. Then you’ll have to ration out some for groceries, gas, personal items, fun stuff, etc. You need to determine what average amount you spend on these necessities every month. Mark envelopes for each and place that amount of money in there. Once that cash is gone, it’s gone for the month. No cheating allowed! No running up to the ATM because you want to have more fun than that envelope allows. This may be extremely difficult at first, but only by sticking to the plan and not cheating are you really benefiting yourself.        

Use Your New Tricks 

All of the tips and tricks won’t do you any good if you’re not willing to implement them. If you’ve been a diehard spendthrift your whole life, yes, it’s going to be difficult at first. No one said saving money was easy! But you have to ask yourself if you can keep repeating the same destructive patterns over and over (digging that financial hole even bigger) or if you want to take control of your money instead of letting it control you.   

• Carry cash: I don’t care what the commercials on television want you to believe, cash is still cool. Sure, you can swipe that debit card all day long; it’s so easy to do, especially when you don’t have to sign for anything, that you can end the day forgetting about all the times you swiped your card. Instead of using your debit card, carry cash. It may not look as if you have as much money as you think you have when you constantly have to pull it out of your pocket and watch the pile grow smaller. 
• Save credit cards for emergencies: Emergencies include car repairs and home repairs — not that $300.00 purse that every Hollywood starlet and New York socialite is on a waiting list for. You don’t need to carry your one emergency card with you every day. It’s best left at home, where it’s safe from tempting gadgets and accessories.      

Once you’ve gotten over the initial hurdles and made these tips into daily habits, it will get easier. You’ll watch your savings grow bigger while your debt grows smaller. And that’s a very satisfying change to make, no matter how old you are.

With the Recent failure of IndyMac, many consumers are getting skittish. I’m seeing many people ask in the FatWallet Finance Forum - How do I know if my bank or credit union is insured?

The FDIC Has a guide called “Are My Investments Insured?” The Basic Gist of it is that the insurance covers up to $100,000 per depositor, per bank. It’s not per each account you may have at your bank, but all the money under your name at that bank.

Credit Unions are covered under the NCUA, which has an excellent guide on Share Insurance, which the Credit Union version of deposit insurance.