In 1949, New Yorker Frank McNamara finished a business dinner and realized he’d left his money at home. Frustrated, McNamara came up with the idea  for a card that could be used in place of cash at restaurants. Soon, Diners Club, the first widely used charge card, was born. The idea of deferring cash payment caught on: In 1958, American Express issued its first charge card, used mainly for travel and entertainment. Eight years later, the BankAmericard became the first that allowed you to carry a balance. Nowadays, 54 million U.S. households carry some form of credit card debt. 

1. Stop charging. Easier said than done, so try this: “Figure out your hourly pay by dividing your annual income by 2,000, the average number of hours an American works  yearly,” advises Manisha Thakor, coauthor of On My Own Two Feet: A Modern Girl’s Guide to Personal Finance. When you want to buy something, calculate how many hours you’d have to work to afford it. “Factor in that it will cost you nearly double if you’re only making the minimum payments,” she adds. “I promise, you’ll spend less.”

2. Create a plan. Calculate what you owe, whom you owe it to and how much interest you’re paying, suggests Ulrich. Pay the minimum on all your cards except the one with the highest interest rate. “Every month, throw as much money as possible at that card,” she adds. “Once it’s paid off, take that amount and add it to what you’re paying on the card with the next highest interest rate, and so on.”

3. Negotiate. “If you have good credit, call your credit card company and see if they’ll lower your interest rate,” suggests Ulrich. Also, go online to see what rate they’re offering new customers. “If they’re charging you more, find out why,” she says.

4. Consolidate. Have several cards? Transfer the balances onto one with a low interest rate—but only if you can make payments on time, says David Bach, author of Debt Free for Life. “If you’re late, the rate on that card could go up to 30 percent,” he says.

5. Seek the right kind of help. Consult the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, says Ulrich. For a small administrative fee, they’ll set you up with a counselor who can help manage your debt. Avoid consolidators who charge for their services—it could be a scam. Often they recommend stopping payments to coax card companies into settling, explains Bach. “This will ruin your credit and there’s no guarantee your credit card company will even work with these organizations.”

http://www.womansday.com/Lifestyle/Life/Money.html

ls

Coffee makers seem to be a problem for me.    I recently purchased a Cuisinart coffee maker.  Actually this is the second Cuisinart coffee maker I bought.  My first coffee maker had a stainless steal coffee pot, I loved the look.  I have to say I copied my girlfriend.  The pot just looked so nice, and she said it also kept the coffee hot, this was good.  So this coffee maker was displayed on my kitchen counter.  Every morning I would brew a nice pot of coffee.  One day, without warning, the handle breaks off.  So I call Cuisinart.  No problem, they say, we will send you another coffee pot.  Good!  But when the pot came it had a white handle, I had a pot with a black handle.  Ring,ring,ring, I call back.  You sent me the wrong colored coffee pot, I tell them, no problem, they say again, we will send you the right one.  So again, good.  This time the right color handle was sent.  Hooray!  Well that celebration ended quickly.

This darn coffee maker now begins to brew coffee all over my kitchen counter.  At first I thought it was me, I made a mistake or something, but I quickly realized it was not me it was the coffee maker.  Of course I just kept brewing in it, and watching it with a careful eye.  Then one morning it just stopped working.  Time to buy a new one.

 So I order another one, from JC Penny catalog, of course another Cuisinart, but this time with a glass coffee pot.  I wanted a change.  I was so excited, a new coffee pot on my kitichen counter.  This is good, real good. Was it?

Eight months from purchase and guess what, coffee maker stopped working.  WHAT!  This is ridicoulous.  Now I have to call Cuisinart and tell them that the  coffee maker just stopped working.  I have no doubt that they will send me another coffee maker.  Cuisinart is good like that.  But, my questions is how long does a coffee maker last?  And what brand is  worth buying?

Actually, I am a tea person, but drink coffee only in the morning after my tea.  Oh, and you know my girlfriend that I copied from, she still has that same coffee pot, experienced no problems with it.  I guess it is just me.

The coffee maker just knows that I am a tea loving person.

mb