Is government involvement necessary to help the U.S. economy rebound?

Or is it something that will only impede the progress of free enterprise in America?

That’s one of the most divisive issues in the country right now, and you’ll hear a lot of talk about such things as we get closer and closer to the 2012 election. The Republican presidential candidates will say the federal government needs to leave well enough alone while President Obama and most Democrats say Washington should step in.

Regardless of your political opinion, the fact is  foreign governments are getting involved with manufacturing as the U.S. debates how to stay competitive in a global economy.

It’s almost as easy to dislike big government as it is to despise gigantic corporations. That’s why so many people get behind a candidate who says “Screw Washington! We’re Americans and we can do it ourselves!”

Time magazine editor-at-large Fareed Zakaria says he’s usually “skeptical of government industrial policy.” However, in a recent column titled The Case for Making It in the USA, Zakaria explained why America needs a manufacturing policy.

A January 2012 New York Times story concerning Apple’s decision to have iPhones manufactured in China caught Zakaria’s attention.

The specific part of the story that stood out to him involved a visit a group of Apple execs made to a FoxConn factory in China during 2007. They simply wanted to check out the plant’s ability to make glass screens, which Steve jobs had demanded.

When the executives arrived, they discovered the factory they were visiting was already building a new wing just in case Apple decided to go with them. That’s because the Chinese government was subsidizing the expansion.  The FoxConn factory was getting a competitive edge because the government was helping out.

You might say – “But China is a communist nation. That government gets its grimy hands in everything!”

This may be true, but Zakaria’s point is that this sort of thing is happening in other places besides China. He calls it a pattern. Nations in Europe have government manufacturing policies as well.

The problem here at home is that figuring out what should be done to revive U.S. manufacturing is far from simple. Zakaria explains in the Time article:

“Economists tell us it’s a complex matter involving tax, trade and regulatory policy, exchange rates and educational skills. It is. But when you move from high-level policy to specific cases, you will often find one element that is rarely talked about: a foreign government’s role in boosting its domestic manufacturers with specific loans, subsidies, streamlined regulations and benefits.”

Of course, if you read the entire NY Times article on How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work, you’ll see there were many other advantages the factory in China had over the U.S. That includes the fact that an army of Chinese workers living in dormitories could be called into action at a moment’s notice.

You’ve also probably heard horror stories in the news lately about working conditions at FoxConn. That’s the multinational manufacturing company based in Taiwain, which makes many Apple products as well as Amazon Kindles, Playstations, the Xbox and the Nintendo Wii. The most shocking stories surround a spate of  worker suicides. Just last month, 150 workers threatened to commit mass suicide in protest of the working conditions at FoxConn.

I don’t care how much you love your job,  if your had to eat, live and sleep there while working 12 hour shifts, you might want to jump out of a window too. That’s not the kind of country we want to live in.

However, it’s easy to forget that multinational corporations aren’t the only ones taking advantage of cost-effective overseas manufacturing. Even many U.S. small businesses head to places like China when they need certain products manufactured. Labor is so cheap, you’d be stupid not to do so. Small businesses are supposed to be the driving force behind job creation and the overall economic recovery. But it certainly appears many jobs that would be created by those companies are ending up on foreign soil.

One of the most perplexing and somewhat scary problems the U.S. is facing is how to stay competitive without turning everyday Americans into slave laborers. It seems that our country needs to find some sort of balance between the right kinds of tax cuts and deregulation, which Republicans support, and the most efficient kinds of  government-backed loans and subsidies, which Democrats support.

Zakaria concludes that while government involvement is not always ideal, and while it may make mistakes when getting involved with private business, there seems to be no denying that it is necessary in this global economy.

You can hear Fareed Zakaria explain his thoughts in his own words in the video clip posted below from his CNN show.

I’m sure there a lot of people out there with strong opinions about this subject. We’d love to get a conversation going in the comment section below – so feel free to make your voices heard.

If you enjoyed this article, please share and retweet  with your friends!

Image Credit: mandiberg

+Kasey Steinbrinck writes about personal finance and the U.S. economy for Check Advantage. When you order checks from Check Advantage, you’ll find hundreds of unique photography featured on Wildlife Checks as well as Flower Checks and much more! Customers can now get free shipping on personal checks.

Back in grade school, teachers routinely terrorized misbehaving students with the threat that their misconduct would “go down on your permanent record.”  I envisioned my “permanent record” as something of a huge book, where entries were printed neatly by vindictive teachers wielding their bloody red fountain pens, later to be pored over by some Big Superintendent in the Sky, detailing every transgression of my grade school and high school careers.  It’s a terrifying myth, long-remembered.

Now that there are several decades separating me and my permanent record, it no longer keeps me awake at night.  However, childhood worries are often replaced by adult worries:  one such creator of anxiety, even more damning than your “permanent record,” is the Credit Score.

We’re All Being Tracked

As much as we would all like to think that we possess the privacy and solitude that was commonplace in our nation’s pre-industrial past, it simply doesn’t exist anymore.  Our entire planet is inexorably bound together by electronics, microscopic digital pathways that function in myriad ways over optic cable and the airwaves: from our cell phones pinging off a tower and disclosing our location to our computers keeping track of our every keystroke, to maps created from space that can peer directly into the birdbaths in our backyards.

We are observed by video cameras at every intersection, in every parking lot and drive thru; Google tracks you; Facebook tracks you.  So do banks, credit card companies, credit unions and every other company with money to lend.  It’s business. And it’s big.

What the Heck is a Credit Score?

The three major businesses that track credit worthiness are Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.  Remember these names because they are the ones to whom you go to obtain and correct, if necessary, your own credit information.

Banks make money by selling money.  The cost of the sale is called “interest.”  If the lender doesn’t recover his principal or interest, he loses.  If the lender intends to make money, it is incumbent upon him to lend only to those individuals who will very likely pay the debt.  They need a way to determine if you are a good credit risk.  To do this, most lenders use FICO (not to be confused with FIDO, which is usually a dog).

Introducing Fair Isaac, aka FICO

FICO is the mathematical formula used to create the three digit number that is your credit score. FICO was developed in the 1980s by the Fair Isaac COrporation.  As a result, the score is referred to as a “FICO” score, an acronym for its developer. Any FICO score consists of several components, much like your high school report card.  There are five categories that are weighted according to their relative importance.  All five factors are considered predictive of whether you will repay money loaned to you.  In other words, the FICO score assesses your credit risk.  Banks, credit unions and credit card issuers routinely rely on this number when credit decisions are made.

The most heavily weighted factor is your payment history, accounting for 35% of the total, followed by how much debt you already have, which accounts for 30%.  The remaining factors are how long you have had credit (15%), whether you have recently opened new credit accounts (10% negative), and the type of credit you currently have (10%).

The FICO formula produces a credit score range of 500 to 850.

Here’s Why Your Credit Score Matters

Now, an example:  Your 1980 Chevette is burning oil, the bumpers have been missing since 1986 and recently, a strange odor has started to permeate the cabin when you make a right turn.  You need a new car.

When you visit your local dealership, you find the perfect vehicle.  It is a left over from a previous model year, but has only 5 miles on it.  Okay, the car is a rather nauseating shade of mauve and the seats are black leatherette, but a fashionista you ain’t.  The salesman, who hasn’t had a sale all month, is desperate.  So you pick up your snazzy mauve ride with a spoiler in the back for a cool 15 grand, license and tax included.

Of course you don’t have 15 grand buried under the house anywhere, so you will need to borrow some money.  You visit your friendly neighborhood bank.  They run your credit score.  Hurray!  Your score is 800!  You have always been diligent about paying your bills and never lived above your means.  Your 32-year-old Chevette is testament to that fact.

The bank will be happy to lend you the money.  But how much interest will the bank want?  Because your credit score is so good, the bank will offer you a favorable rate.  You are considered a good risk. You could easily borrow money from the bank’s competitor.  They want your business because they are pretty darn sure they will make money on your loan.

How Your Score Impacts the Bottom Line

So they offer to finance your car for 6% per annum. Over the life of a 36-month loan, which you wisely opted for, you will pay a total of $17,865, making the cost of interest $2,865.  Had your credit score been below 589, your interest rate would likely be 18 ½%.  In that case, the total cost of the same loan would be $24,960 and interest would account for $9,960 of the total.  The total cost of the same car is $7,095 less with an excellent credit rating than with a poor one.

So there is real money involved from the application of FICO.  That’s why your credit score is worth tending and monitoring.  So now Lil’ Bo Peep, what tools can you use to look after your credit garden?  There are some pretty good ones.  Read on.

Know Your Rights Regarding Credit Reports

Because of the importance of credit scores to lenders and borrowers, and to ensure the integrity of credit reporters, Congress enacted the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) in 1970.  The FCRA confers numerous rights on consumers that are detailed at the Federal Trade Commission website.

Those rights are important, because as we have seen, different credit scores can significantly affect both your ability to obtain credit and its cost.

The FCRA entitles you to know whether information in your credit file has been used against you in obtaining credit, insurance or employment.  Should you receive notice of a negative use of your credit, you are entitled to a free copy of the report upon which the adverse action was based.  You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information.  You must do so in writing.

Obtaining Your Free Reports

Under regular circumstances, the FCRA gives you a right to a free copy of your credit report from all three credit reporting agencies once every 12 months.  You can order your copy directly from the FTC.  There are imposters that offer this service, but they will charge you for it.  Just get it through the FTC to avoid this ripoff.

You can use your free copies to correct incomplete or inaccurate items listed.  If your non-payment of a bill was the source of a bona fide dispute, the fact that you disputed the charges cannot be held against you.

A regular check of your credit report can help you defend yourself against identity theft. If credit inquiries were made by creditors you never heard of, someone may have designs on your credit.  As Barney Fife would say, this is the time to “nip it nip it nip it”!

Out with the Old!

You have a right to have outdated information purged from your credit files.  Negative credit reports over seven years old must be purged from your file.  Make sure they are.  Bankruptcies are reportable for 10 years after filing, but these are often not removed by the credit reporter.  If yours is more than 10 years old, request its removal.  It simply should not be there after 10 years.  Items warranting removal from your credit file must be cleared by the credit reporting agency within 30 days of notification, unless it determines that the information reported is accurate and reportable.

Now that you have met Fair Isaac, are acquainted with the basics of the FCRA, and have learned how to protect your credit reputation, don’t forget the two most basic lessons of all:  The best way to look after your credit score is to (1) pay your bills on time and (2) live within your means.

Karen L. Stewart is a 1986 graduate of the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, a former staff attorney in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and an experienced civil litigator in both trial and appellate work. She is licensed to practice law in Kentucky and Wisconsin and in several federal jurisdictions.

Disclaimer: The comments made in this blog are for general informational purposes only, do not constitute specific legal advice and do not create an attorney-client relationship. Please contact your attorney if you need specific legal advice or representation.

The cash-strapped consumer is one of the most notable products of high unemployment, low wages and grocery prices approaching the stratosphere. With little or nothing remaining from the shrinking weekly paychecks of more and more Americans, some debts slip into default. Sometimes the cause is simple oversight, but usually it’s because funds are scarce. And that is when the phone starts to ring and the madness begins.

Most everyone has heard stories of unscrupulous collection agents who harass and disparage the weak, the poor and the unemployed. So has Congress. In 1977, it enacted the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. In considering the problem of abusive debt collection tactics, Congress specifically found that:

“There is abundant evidence of the use of abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors. Abusive debt collection practices contribute to the number of personal bankruptcies, to marital instability, to the loss of jobs, and to invasions of individual privacy.”

My 25 years of legal practice bears out the Congressional finding. Does it ever! If you find yourself on the receiving end of abusive collectors, you have numerous rights under the FDCPA, as well as a number of state laws similar to the FDCPA. If, however, you don’t know what those rights are, you are at the mercy of your creditor and in line for a hefty dose of what Shakespeare called “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.”

Know When to Disagree

When contacted by a collector, if the charges are bogus or the amount charged erroneous, you can dispute the debt. Under the FDCPA, you have the right to know the identity of creditor for whom the collector is working, the amount you allegedly owe and instructions as to what to do if you believe you don’t owe the debt. You have a right to view the statement. Often collectors lack such information. If they cannot provide this information, sit tight. If they can’t show the proof to you, they likely don’t have it. Without proof they can’t win in court. If they can’t win in court, they can’t legally collect from you unless you agree to pay. If there’s ever a good time to be disagreeable, this would be it.

An Especially Egregious Case

An example of bogus charges comes from my law practice. I once had a client who, apparently overcome by cotton candy fumes during a hot, steamy August trip to the Kentucky State Fair, used her credit card to sign up for a Florida vacation. When she got home she thought better of it and precisely followed the instructions given her to cancel the trip. The company didn’t respond but continued billing her the tidy sum of $500 on her charge card. By the time she brought her plight to me, it was far too late to charge the debt back to the original credit card issuer.¹

When I wrote the company a letter on her behalf disputing the charge, instead of responding to me, they simply sold the debt to another company, which employed another collector, taking us back to square one. Because she had an attorney, the collectors knew they could not contact my client. This didn’t stop them from going after me, unfortunately, since the FDCPA doesn’t protect debtors’ attorneys. I was harassed with impunity by various incarnations of these jokers for years.

Try Negotiating a Settlement Yourself

Suppose you actually received the goods and services and the creditor has the proof, but you just can’t afford the bill. I advise talking to a collector at least once to see if a settlement can be arranged. The most common area to exact a compromise is on interest or penalties. If you can afford the principal but not exorbitant interest that may have been tacked on, many creditors will forego interest and accept payment of the principal as payment in full. At the very least they will usually reduce interest charges. If you are considering filing a bankruptcy, tell the collector.

Unsecured creditors, such as charge card companies, typically receive nothing for their claims in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In these situations, something beats nothing if you are the creditor. If you do reach a settlement, follow up! Pay what you said you would and get an acknowledgment from the creditor that the amount tendered fully satisfies the debt. That should be the end of it.

When All Else Fails

If your attempt at negotiating a settlement proves futile and you find your “new worst friend” keeps calling, you can simply stop taking their calls. If you do end up taking one or more of the calls, the FDCPA prohibits, among other things, the use of physical threats, threats to have you jailed, use of obscene/profane language, repeated telephone calls and text messages, untimely calls (before 8:00 a.m. and after 9:00 p.m.) and calls made with the intent to annoy or harass you. If you retain an attorney to represent you in the matter, the creditor must contact only your attorney and leave you the heck alone.

Write a Cease Letter

But what if the collector won’t stop? You haven’t hired an attorney, because frankly, if you had that kind of money, you would just pay the bill. What then??

You can send the collector what the Federal Trade Commission calls a “Cease Letter.” Your letter should include the name and address of the collection agency, the account number, a brief summary of the issue and a statement informing the creditor that they may not contact you further, pursuant to 15 USC §1692c. This does not prevent the creditor from suing you, but it should stop the harassment.

If the harassment continues, you still have options. One option is to completely ignore the collector. Stop talking. Operant conditioning being what it is, if the harassment produces absolutely no results, in time, the calls will eventually stop.

When Do You Need a Lawyer?

If you have had enough and don’t want to wait it out, you can sue the b **@rds. Because the FDCPA is a federal statute, you can sue the offender in federal court. Because most states have similar consumer protections, you can probably also sue under your state’s statutes, or both.

In Wisconsin, for example, the state statute allows for recovery of attorneys fees, which often eclipse the amount recovered. It’s a great way to make a statement and score a victory, but it takes a lot of time and requires expertise beyond what most non-lawyers have. I am not trying to drum up business here. The law is complicated and you need an expert.

Should you choose this route, be sure to have the collectors’ actions well documented. Keep copies of all correspondence from the collector and make a log of calls with the collector’s name, the date and time thereof. You can legally record the calls. Be sure you document the date of each recording. You can also photograph your caller ID to validate the source of the call.

You may also wish to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. Although the FTC does not handle cases for individuals, it compiles complaints against collection agencies. If enough complaints pile up, the FTC will take legal action against the collection agency.

You can learn more about your rights under the FDCPA in the Consumer Protection section of the FTC’s web site. It’s definitely worth a look. The playing field may be a bit more level than you have been led to believe.

¹A highly effective way of ridding yourself of bogus charges is to write a dispute letter.   The address to use  is on the back of your credit card statement.   You must dispute the amount in writing within 60 days of the credit card statement date. If there are other charges, pay the bill, minus the amount in dispute. If the dispute is found valid, the creditor can’t charge interest on that portion of your bill.

Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Karen L. Stewart is a 1986 graduate of the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, a former staff attorney in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and an experienced civil litigator in both trial and appellate work. She is licensed to practice law in Kentucky and Wisconsin and in several federal jurisdictions.

Disclaimer: The comments made in this blog are for general informational purposes only, do not constitute specific legal advice and do not create an attorney-client relationship. Please contact your attorney if you need specific legal advice or representation.

It has become a common experience for the modern job seeker.

You find the perfect opportunity at a big company. That’s great because you’ll probably get good health benefits, the opportunity to advance your career, maybe even 401K contribution matching!

Then you run into the company’s online application process. You do your best to fill out all the fields after your résumé wouldn’t upload for whatever reason. Then you hit submit and say a little prayer, hoping things go your way this time.

Two days later, you get an auto-generated email in your inbox telling you how impressed they were with your qualifications, but the company is now exploring other candidates.

There’s a good chance you’ve just been rejected by a robot!

I’m not saying C3PO’s distant cousin is working in Human Resources – although I’m not saying that’s impossible either. What I’m getting at is the fact that more and more employers are turning to technology when handling the massive amount of job applications that come pouring in for every opening.

A recent article featured on WSJ.com explains why all too often it’s Your Résumé vs. Oblivion, which is where your application ends up if the automated program reviewing about your amazing potential isn’t even polite enough to send a rejection email.

According to Lauren Weber’s article, employment recruiters say at least half of all applicants don’t have the qualifications they see as requirements.

Time and money gets wasted reviewing worthless applications. That’s why more companies are spending serious cash on so-called applicant-tracking systems. An expert on these systems claims more than 90% of large companies, such as those in the Fortune 500, are  currently using them.

The system will read the text of your application and give you a certain score based on your education, work experience and other factors.

Score too low, and it makes no difference how ambitious you are or how excited you feel about the opportunity. You’re getting weeded out.

But these applicant tracking systems aren’t always effective. If you don’t have the right “keywords” in your online application, you could be overlooked even though you fit the bill. List the years you worked for a company instead of the business name first, and your chances of getting hired could be shot.

So what’s a job hunter like you supposed to do? Try these suggestions for ways to make the résumé  robots happy…

4 Tips for Dealing With Online Applications

1. Don’t Stop with the Website

If you highly doubt your online application will go to a real person, and you want the company to know the real you, look for other ways to get your qualifications to the decision-makers.

True. The HR representative or hiring manager may not want to hear from you. But how can at least trying actually hurt you? Even if you’re a tad annoying, it just shows ambition, and can only increase your visibility in that company. If you do get through the applicant tracking system – people are more likely to remember your name in “Round 2.”

That’s why I’d suggest going all the way to the top. Even if the VP of whatever division you’re applying to isn’t involved with the hiring process, it can’t hurt for you to contact her and potentially peak her interest.

However, make sure you do apply through the online system if that’s what is preferred. You want to make sure you cover all your bases.

2. Use the Right Words

The program reading your credentials is looking for certain words or phrases (called keywords) that let it know you have the experience the company is looking for. Make sure you closely read the job description and use the same or at least similar wording when describing past experiences that make you a good fit for the job.

Tips listed on the Wall Street Journal article also suggest reading the company’s website and familiarizing yourself with things like the mission statement and corporate culture. Working similar language like this into your résumé and cover letter could also give your score a boost.

3. Keep Things Simple

You may have a really sweet looking résumé that you saved as a PDF after adding attractive graphics, eye-catching bullet lists and cool fonts. That’s great when you’re sending a human being your résumé, or handing it to them in an actual interview, but all that extra stuff will just confuse the applicant tracking system.

When you do successfully upload an existing résumé, you’ll notice that everything gets turned into basic text. That’s why it’s a good idea to also  have a very simple résumé without all the bells and whistles, which you create in a text editor. Otherwise, important information could get skipped over by the applicant tracking program. The software can get confused by all the fancy stuff – even bold and italics.

One good idea is to place past employer’s company name, the title of your position, and the years you worked there on separate lines to avoid confusing the bots. You may have combined these elements on your hard-copy résumé to keep it all on one page, but that doesn’t really matter in this case.

4. Don’t Game the System

Be honest with your application. Don’t think that that stretching the truth and falsifying your qualifications will help you get the job. Eventually, a real person will review your application and that could leave you in a very awkward situation.

Employment recruiters have also grown wise to tricks like typing in fake credentials in white/unreadable fonts. Using too many keywords too frequently could also raise red flags. So don’t over do it!

Check out the video below for more information about applying online and dealing with applicant tracking software.

If you enjoyed this article please share and retweet!

Image Credit: Enokson

Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

+Kasey Steinbrinck writes regularly on personal finances and the U.S. economy for Check Advantage. Visit them today to order Quicken Checks and a big collection of Classic Personal Checks. We now offer free shipping on personal checks!

When you first think about having children, it usually evokes images of proud parents, smiling families, and pure bliss at having brought a child into this world.

What you rarely think about as you whimsically daydream about adding a new member to the family is the costs that are associated with having and raising a child.

Once you do think about those things the thoughts can get a little scary. However there are ways that you can make the costs a little less frightening and a little more manageable.

1.      Start saving early

If you are able to plan out when you want to have a child then consider yourself lucky that you get an opportunity to get a head start on all the costs you’re going to incur along the way and start putting aside money. This way you won’t suffer quite the financial blow when your child is born, which will makes things infinitely less stressful.

2.      Figure out which childcare option is best for your family

Each childcare option comes with its own advantages, disadvantages, and costs, so you have to take the time to research which one will benefit your family the most. For instance, if you decide to stay at home then you eliminate childcare costs, but you also eliminate a second income.

If you decide to hire a nanny then you have to factor in that it is the most expensive type of childcare, but your child gets individualized attention and you have a little more freedom in terms of getting home from work, etc. Then again, if you opt for daycare you spend less than a nanny but you expose your child to all the ups (like socialization) AND downs (like specific hours and exposure to sicknesses).

3.      Buy in bulk

Having a child is a great time to join one of the stores that sells items in bulk, such as a Sam’s Club or Costco. You’re going to go through so much baby food, diapers, wipes, etc. that it will be much cheaper to buy the items in bulk then in smaller packages. Plus it’s better to have a surplus on hand than to run out!

 4.      Take advantage of your taxes

Make sure that you’re getting the most out of your tax returns by claiming all of the right deductibles and maximizing on all of the benefits. It’s an easy place to get money back – or lose out if you don’t file the right deductibles.

While raising a child is expensive, it is possible to cut back on the expenses without sacrificing too much. Plus, when your finances are in order you’re less stressed, making it a win-win situation!

Author Bio

Heather Smith is an ex-nanny. Passionate about thought leadership and writing, Heather regularly contributes to various career, social media, public relations, branding, and parenting blogs/websites. She also provides value to nanny service by giving advice on site design as well as the features and functionality to provide more and more value to nannies and families across the U.S. and Canada. She can be available at H.smith7295 [at] gmail.com.

No, credit cards and the junk mail with so-called convenience checks inside are not melting the polar ice caps.

So those of you who stuck your credit cards in the freezer to avoid irresponsible spending can relax.

However, convenience checks are a major threat to your personal finances for more than one reason, and they could lead to identity theft or fraud. For would-be crooks, it’s as easy as snatching something right out of your mailbox.

That’s all it takes for them to gain access to your line of credit causing serious headaches and financial hardship. Here’s the story of one person’s troubles…

San Francisco based consumer journalist Bill Snyder of CIO.com recently had an issue with identity theft. Most of his problems were caused by a forger who was printing checks with his MICR info (account number/bank routing number) and accessing his checking account.

Security concerns with check printing software are another problem entirely, but Snyder’s issues didn’t end there. Someone had also been using credit card convenience checks with his name on them. Lucky for Snyder, the suspect got greedy and returned to the scene of the crime.

“The person who attempted to pass them was arrested on the spot. The bank was suspicious because he had opened an account the previous day with one of the checks, and came back the next day and attempted to cash a second check that was significantly larger.”

Authorities told Snyder  someone most likely obtained a key to his locked mailbox and stole sensitive documents. In his outgoing mail – there could have been bills with checks containing all the information needed to print fakes. In the mail he received – there were probably credit card offers and those convenience checks which were used to access his credit.

If you’re like me and don’t even have a mailbox with a lock, this sounds pretty scary!

There are a lot of reason NOT to use credit card convenience checks. They have less protection, and usually come with huge fees as well as higher interest rates.

However, someone else using those checks is a much bigger problem. There are some credit card issuers, such as American Express, that require customers to call a toll-free number and “activate” their convenience checks. Still, many others do no such thing. Unlike credit cards, no signature verification is required with convenience checks. You probably won’t know someone is using the checks until you see the charges on your credit card statement.

3 Ways to Prevent Convenience Check Fraud

1. Shred Them Up

A dependable shredder is a valuable tool for any home or office. You should already be shredding any sensitive financial documents before discarding them. Crooks like to dumpster dive as much as they like raiding mailboxes. Tearing up credit card promotions is one thing, but a shredder will make it much harder for criminals to piece documents together like a jigsaw puzzle in order to find the information they want.

2. Don’t Put Your Bills in the Mailbox

More and more people are choosing to pay their bills online or to have payments automatically withdrawn from a checking account. But just about everyone has a couple of things that require sending personal checks in the mail. When that’s the case, the safest thing you can do is bring your outgoing mail to a more secure location.

Those big blue postal service mailboxes are good, but could still be a target of criminals. Dropping your mail off at the post office or having it sent out with the mail where you work might be a better idea. If you do put personal checks in your own mailbox, try to do it shortly before the mail carrier arrives. Don’t let them sit in the mailbox overnight.

3. Stop Convenience Checks from Coming

If you never plan to use credit card convenience checks – which you really shouldn’t – the smartest thing you can do is actually call your credit issuers and ask them to stop sending you these offers. Some credit card companies have lists letting you opt out from receiving those specific promotions. In most cases they will respect your request.

While you’re at it…you can stop getting credit card junk mail in general. Check out THIS WEBSITE and opt out of credit card offers. Or you can also call 1-888-567-8688 to stop getting pre-approved offers in the mail. Think of it as getting yourself on the “Do Not Call List” for credit card junk mail.

Not to mention – you’ll be doing your part to save the planet. The average American receives 41 pounds of junk mail every year! Close to half of that goes to the landfill without ever getting opened.

Your Turn!

Do you have any experience using convenience checks – positive or negative? Tell us if they’ve ever helped you with your finances or if they caused problems.

If you enjoyed this article please share and retweet with your friends!

Image credit: paalia

+Kasey Steinbrinck writes about personal finance and the economy for Check Advantage. When you order checks from Check Advantage, you’ll find hundreds of unique photography featured on Wildlife Checks and other cool checks! Plus, get free shipping on personal checks.

In September 2008, just as the so-called housing bubble burst, my partner and I sold our house in Louisville for just a few thousand dollars under our asking price. We tried a FSBO approach for one month and had only nosy neighbors for foot traffic.

Luckily, the daughter of a friend (who just happens to make her living as a real estate agent) caught wind of what we were doing and agreed to sell our house for a much smaller fee than is standard. (Thanks again, Sam!) So she listed our house in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and within just one month we had an attractive offer that we accepted.

Proving the Naysayers Wrong

Of course, all we heard from family, friends and colleagues was what a terrible time we had chosen for selling our house. “It’s a buyer’s market; be prepared to take a bath!” was the gist of what most people were telling us at the time.

But we had myriad reasons for relocating to Wisconsin when we did; for us, waiting simply wasn’t an option. We were prepared to sell and nothing was going to stop us!

Fortunately, we’d already been working for over 18 months to prepare our house for sale. We were very confident because we’d done everything the experts tell you to do when you have to appeal to the widest possible market: we neutralized!

It’s True What They Say about Décor

When we bought our home in 2004, there weren’t that many comparable places on the market in our target neighborhood. We were actually the first prospects to view the house and our full-price offer was accepted immediately. We didn’t haggle because we recognized that the asking price was a very good deal. You see, our seller was highly motivated—she had already purchased a new home in another state. However, another reason for the low asking price was the fact that the décor was excessively taste-specific.

What Does “Taste-Specific” Mean?

Well, for one thing, our kitchen ceiling was fire engine red! Worse still, the wallpapers that had been applied in many rooms throughout the house were some of the busiest wallpapers ever printed. There was an entire stairwell and hallway with deep purple ceilings, and the ceiling in the powder room off the kitchen was actually black!

Before: Media room (master bedroom for us).

After: Master bedroom (old media room).

We wound up living with the bizarre décor for a lot longer than we anticipated. At the time we moved in, we didn’t know how long we would be there, but we certainly weren’t thinking in terms of leaving within just four years. So we settled in for the long haul, and somehow looked past the dark paints and crazy prints all around us.

Time for a Change

In 2007, with a number of family circumstances in flux, we decided it was time to move to my hometown of Green Bay. My then-employer agreed to let me telecommute, which meant we could ready our house for sale and move north. That’s when the work began in earnest; for the next 18 months we spent every bit of free time improving our property. It was exhausting!

Our Shift into Neutral

The first step was to get rid of the wallpaper, which was pure agony. Some papers came off more easily than others, but ridiculous amounts of time were spent on the tiniest of areas, because the glue was unduly thick here and there.

Before: Detail of kitchen wallpaper.

After: New view of kitchen, sans wallpaper.

Gladly, I love to paint walls and I’m good at it. It’s a skill I learned while working my way through college. So as soon as the wallpaper was off, I set to work applying more neutral colors to nearly every plane in the house.

Delayed gratification is what interior painting is all about. You can’t have a good paint job if you don’t do a good prep job, so we didn’t rush things. In fact, we worked for weeks and weeks, every spare minute of every day, only to have a house full of walls and ceilings that still needed paint!

Before: The purple ceiling had to go!

After: Same bedroom, better colors.

The purple, red and black ceilings needed two primer coats and two topcoats each, and that’s exactly what they got. It was pretty demoralizing to have to work so hard just to have white ceilings, but we knew we wouldn’t be able to justify our asking price otherwise.

Why It Paid to Fix those Fixtures!

Another thing we knew we had to address was the problem of outdated fixtures. The ceiling fans were from the 1980s and were very noisy.

When we upgraded, we bought three Minka-Aire Acero model fans and had them installed by professional electricians. We chose the same model for all three rooms—a style that complemented the architecture of the 1920s-era bungalow.

Our total cost was just under a thousand dollars for all three fans; we heard from our buyers at closing that they fell in love with those new fixtures—that they were the best they’d seen in any of the homes they had toured.

A Petition to Saint Joseph

While preparing to list our house, I learned that St. Joseph is the patron saint of home selling. There’s a ritual that involves praying to St. Joseph while burying his statue. The practice is common enough that religious outlets sell St. Joseph Home Sale kits.

There are a number of styles available. They all consist of a little plastic statue, directions for where and how to bury him, and the prayer for invoking his assistance. The only thing St. Joseph asks in return for helping you get a quick sale is that you dig him up and give him a place of prominence in your new home.

Well guess what? We weren’t taking any chances. We ran right out to a religious supply store and found an extensive selection of home selling kits prominently displayed at the door.

How the Worst Objection Became a Non-Issue

As is so often the case, there was nothing we could do about the top objection our realtor reported after showing our house several times: it is located next door to an apartment building. Local buyers expressed concerned about the transience of apartment dwellers and potential noise problems. (Ironically, the tenants didn’t make the worst noise at those apartments; the air conditioning units did!)

Still, we were worried when we heard that the proximity to the apartment building was the biggest hang-up among prospective buyers. We did not know how we could possibly overcome that problem when our realtor reported that an interested couple was coming in from New York City to view our house. New York City!?! We could not believe our good fortune. The young couple was so used to cramped quarters that our house’s situation next to an apartment building didn’t bother them one little bit. They bought our house, and quickly.

What It Meant for Our Bottom Line

By the time we closed our deal, we’d been in the Louisville bungalow for about 4-1/2 years and sold our house for about $70,000 more than we paid for it. The biggest investment we made while we were there was about $4,500 worth of concrete work to the basement and foundation (it leaked like a sieve when we first moved in). Of course, this is the type of upgrade that’s not immediately apparent to someone just walking through; the difference is in living with a wet vs. a dry basement.

Photo Credits: Karen L. Stewart

What’s Your Experience?

Have you tried to sell a home lately? What happened? We’d love to hear your favorite tips and tricks for selling in a down market. Sound off below!

+Janice Conard is a seasoned editor and copywriter who has worked in the internet publishing space since 1999. She covers personal finance topics for online check printer CheckAdvantage. Visit the site to browse a huge selection of business and personal checks, including Basic Checks, Ethnic Checks and more.

Does collecting unemployment checks keep unemployed Americans from looking for full-time work?

Millions of Americans are waiting to see what Congress will soon decide as a temporary extension of the emergency federal unemployment benefits will expire at the end of February.

Currently, unemployed Americans in 21 states are eligible for assistance as long as 99 weeks. That’s nearly two years, and it’s the longest in U.S. history.

Most Democrats say struggling Americans need to keep collecting unemployment benefits so they can stay afloat and to keep consumer spending from completely tanking. Some Republicans think the unemployed are a bit too comfortable and more Americans will actively look for work if their benefits expire earlier.

But what if instead of limiting the length unemployment can be collected, the government cut back the actual amount given to the unemployed each week?

If you’re unemployed right now – you probably hate the idea – and I don’t blame you. As a matter of fact, both my wife and I have been in your position over the past three years, and that’s actually what gave me this idea.

The company I used to work for closed its doors in January of 2009 – right in the thick of the Great Recession – and I found myself collecting unemployment. It took me 9 months to get a part-time job and more than a year to get back to full-time employment.

My wife has been laid off because of cutbacks twice since 2010. Her first stint on unemployment only lasted a couple months. The second time it lasted six months (she very recently landed a new job).

There’s no doubt that it can take a pretty long time to find employment. Approximately 6-million Americans have been without a job for six months or longer. Depending on your specific skills, industry and education, it may be even harder to find work.

But do unemployment benefits keep people from trying their hardest to get a job? Are the unemployed in America too comfortable? My wife and I had a conversation that made me think about those questions.

The Catch-22 of Unemployment Benefits

We were sitting down and taking a good hard look at our financial situation when my wife exclaimed, “Really, I think we’re doing pretty well right now.”

What she meant was that were were able to pay our bills and provide for our family, which was great. However, we were also getting help from the government, so the truth is we weren’t doing so well even though our checking account was in good shape.

As someone who’s been through the stress of unemployment, I’m also willing to admit that it can be hard to stop accepting that weekly compensation.

The rules (at least in Wisconsin) are that while collecting benefits, you’re supposed to inquire about two job opportunities per week. When I started job hunting back in 2009, I would avoid applying for openings that would pay less than my former job, or for positions I felt were beneath my skills.

I thought that if I could ride out unemployment a little longer, the job of my dreams would fall into my lap. But that was before I went 9 months without an offer, and realized just how tough the competition was (and still is).

It was even more difficult for my wife to take on a new job. She’d been collecting partial unemployment insurance while picking up waitressing shifts in the evenings and watching our two young boys during the day.

Her return to work meant we’d start incurring childcare costs again. The new job came with a 40 minute commute, which meant more money being spent on gas.

I may look like a jerk for saying this – but maybe we actually were a bit too comfortable while collecting unemployment. Finding a new job should be a relief for the unemployed, but sometimes it forces you to make difficult decisions.

The Debate Over Unemployment

A recent article from the Atlanta Journal Constitution took a closer look at the unemployment debate – speaking with both sides of the political aisle as well as those who are currently unemployed.

U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis recently told reporters the unemployed are anything but lazy and complacent.

“They are not freeloaders. They are hard-working people who spend all day every day filling out applications, sending out résumés and looking for work.”

However, Republican congressman Tom Graves of Georgia told the Atlanta Journal Constitution he believes many of the unemployed aren’t motivated enough to go back to work.

“It’s very clear, talking to employers, that it’s manipulating the marketplace and not allowing or incentivizing individuals to go back to work sooner.”

Believe it or not – even President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers believes unemployment benefits could impede the recovery. It recently reported that…

“…unemployment compensation can potentially be a disincentive for some workers to search intensively or to accept an offer if they receive one.”

The reality is, both kinds of people exist. There are unemployed Americans who are working hard to find a new job and desperately need the help. There are also people who are milking the government for everything they can – and really why shouldn’t they, right?

Crunching the Numbers on Unemployment

The typical unemployment check is about 1/3 of a persons previous weekly wage (36%). The average check is $296 and the maximum you can collect depends on the state in which you live.

36% of your salary doesn’t seem like an exorbitant amount.

But remember, many unemployed Americans could be cutting out things like childcare and travel expenses – even going out to eat for lunch everyday. You may choose not to withhold taxes from your unemployment checks, and won’t have healthcare or 401k deductions taken out of that check either.

That can make your unemployment check seem like more than one-third of your old paycheck, because your take home pay is still pretty good.

There are studies by conservative economists that claim extending benefits increases the unemployment rate by 2%. On the other hand, liberal economists found unemployment is mostly caused be lack of demand and not supply reductions caused by the availability of unemployment insurance.

A Rutgers University study, which tracked 2,000 unemployed U.S. citizens from 2009 into 2011, found people who were not receiving unemployment compensation were more likely to find a new job in less than a year than those who were collecting benefits.

Then again – The Congressional Budget Office released a report indicating that even if benefits cause the unemployed to ignore job opportunities, they will quickly be filled by new workers entering the job market.

Basically – the jury is still out on how UI affects the unemployment rate.

A Different Approach?

So what I’m getting at is that we know it could potentially take some unemployed Americans a long time to find the kind of job they really need. But it certainly seems like having some more motivation to go back to work would help.

What if instead of limiting the length of time unemployment benefits could be received, the federal government chose to slightly reduce the amount that is paid out?

What if an unemployment check topped off at 25% of your old salary rather than 36%? What if the amount you received was reduced after a certain number of weeks instead of reducing the number of weeks benefits are available?

I’m not saying I completely believe this is the best solution, but I would love to hear what you think!

Are you or have you been on unemployment in the last few years? Do you think you were too comfortable? Do you think reducing the time or the amount a person can collect unemployment benefits would help or hurt the U.S. economy?

Leave a comment and let us know your opinion!

If you found this article to be interesting, please share and retweet!

Image credit: philcampbell

Image: winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

+Kasey Steinbrinck writes regularly on personal finances and the U.S. economy for Check Advantage. The online printer is please to offer free shipping on personal checks. Check out their massive collection of Classic Checks, Cool Checks and more today!

Want to stretch your budget and maybe even kill a whole bunch of birds with just a few stones?

It is possible to get some work done around the house without purchasing every newfangled product being pushed on you in stores and TV commercials.

Inside your kitchen cupboards and medicine cabinet are little secrets that could help you find effective uses for everyday stuff. Some of the uses are bizarre, but you never know when you’re going to need to get a grease stain out of the lace curtains in your living room.

There are dozens, if not hundreds of different uses for the five products we’re writing about in this article. Some of them are a bit repetitive, others are pretty ridiculous. For the purpose of this post, I’m going to highlight the ideas that I found most surprising – yet potentially helpful.

1. White Distilled Vinegar

Don’t tell Mr. Clean, but vinegar is one of the most useful household items of all!You’ve probably already heard about some of it’s seemingly magical uses.

I’ve recently used it to help clean up a nasty microwave and a dishwasher that was leaving us with cruddy cups and silverware.

There is actually an entire website dedicated to vinegar’s versatility. Check out VinegarTips.com for its 1001 Uses for White Distilled Vinegar. The site even breaks vinegar ideas down into categories – from cleaning and cooking to pets, gardening and automotive care.

You can use vinegar to keep frost from forming on your car’s windows overnight by mixing 3 parts vinegar with one part water and coating it on the glass. That would be a big benefit for me living here in Wisconsin. There have been plenty of times when I’ve walked into work five minutes late because I had to scrape ice off my windshield.

VinegarTips.com also says this miraculous household item can lighten your freckles, soothe sunburn and keep lint from sticking to your clothes (just add 1/2 cup to the wash cycle).

2. Baking Soda

We’ve all seen the opened box of Arm & Hammer baking soda inside a fridge absorbing the funky food smell that develops. And we’ve all mixed baking soda with the aforementioned vinegar to make a fun science experiment/fake lava for your volcano school project.

But baking soda can be used for much more…

You may have noticed the recognizable Arm & Hammer logo used on a lot of other products, like toothpaste and laundry detergent. That’s because it really does have some serious cleaning and de-stinking power. (FYI – there are generic brands of baking soda too)

As a deodorizer baking soda can be used for:

• Stinky sneakers
• Yucky trash cans
• Smelly dishwashers, drains and garbage disposals
• Carpet freshener
• Kitty litter box odor elimination

As a cleaner baking soda is great for:

• Boosting laundry detergent’s effectiveness
• Homemade toothpaste
• As a scrub for fruits and vegetables
• Cleaning cloth diapers
• Polishing silverware
• Removing oil stains from your garage floor or driveway

You can find 51 Fantastic Uses for Baking Soda at Care2.com. Other suggestions include things like using baking soda as antacid, and patting it in your armpits instead of using traditional deodorant.  I think I’ll skip that one.

3. Hydrogen Peroxide

We generally think of that brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide (or H2O2 as I like to call it) as something in the first aid kit for disinfecting wounds. Yazmin Cruz, from the blog Bargain Babe, recently listed 25 great uses for hydrogen peroxide.

Topping Yazmin’s list of ideas for this household item is soaking your toothbrush in hydrogen peroxide to kill germs.  She says it’s a great idea if someone at your house has been sick, and all your toothbrushes have been sitting next to each other in that slimy cup on the sink

Hydrogen peroxide is actually great for getting rid of a lot of gross things. Yazmin’s suggestions include using it to remove mold, to spray on foot fungus and to clean wax out of your ears.

One of the more interesting ideas for H2O2 is putting just a little bit inside an aquarium to prevent the growth of that green fungi, which makes you look like a lazy fish owner.

4. Aspirin

When you think of aspirin, you think headaches. More recently, we’ve also started thinking about preventing heart attacks and strokes.

But how about spackle? Yes, some crushed aspirin and water can be used to fill small holes in your walls.

Aspirin is a great item to bring along on camping trips, because when you create a paste, it can be used to take the sting out of bug bites. They’re an excellent gardening additive as well. Crushed aspirin in water helps plants ward off infection and stay strong after being transplanted. Aspirin can also be used to help a bouquet of flowers last longer – just like those little packets you get when you buy a dozen roses.

According to this list of 50 Amazing and Everyday Uses for Aspirin, the simple drug can be used to remove nicotine and grass stains as well as reduce the puffy redness of pimples.

My personal favorite use for aspirin? Crush some up and let it sit in a “serving size” of shampoo for a few minutes and then use it on your itchy scalp to get rid of dandruff. Aspirin is good for headaches and head flakes!

5. Olive Oil

You’ve cooked with it, but have you polished furniture, washed paint off your hands or moisturized your cuticles with it?

Personally, I don’t know that my cuticles have ever needed moisturizing.

However, there are a lot of cool uses for olive oil. This list from FoodEditorials.com gives us 30 Unusual Uses for Olive Oil. They include pouring some in your kitty cat’s dish to keep it from hacking up hairballs.

If you’ve got a bottle of extra virgin olive oil in the pantry, you could save a bundle on beauty and hygiene products. The list includes suggestions for using it as a shampoo, makeup remover, to control frizzy hair and you can mix it with beeswax to create homemade lip balm.

More masculine suggestions would be using olive oil to fix a squeaky door, as a substitute for shaving cream and to condition leather products like baseball gloves.

 Double Dipping

One of the added benefits of using many of these household items for unlikely chores is that it can also be more environmentally friendly than using products full of potentially harmful chemicals.

If you read through the articles I link to in this post, you’ll also notice  you can often use some of these products together for great home remedies. For instance – a solution of apple cider vinegar and aspirin can apparently help eliminate warts.

You’ll also notice that all these different items seem to serve similar purposes. Just be careful about confusing them.

Hydrogen peroxide and baking soda are both suggested for oral hygiene – but I wouldn’t recommend gargling with vinegar for fresh breath. Although some say that will help relieve a sore throat.

Vinegar, baking soda and olive oil are all good for your hair – but don’t shampoo with hydrogen peroxide unless you’re going for that bleached blonde look.

It seems that all five of these household items are recommended for clearing up acne – even olive oil! I’m planing to try and mix up a concoction that will be endorsed by Justin Bieber. I’m gonna be rich!

Your Turn!

What are your favorite unusual uses for things like vinegar, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, aspirin and olive oil?

Do you know of other household items that have out-of-the-ordinary uses? Tell us about it!

If you enjoyed this article, please share and retweet with your friends!

Image Credits: imageo, elycefeliz &  Ian Fuller

+Kasey Steinbrinck writes about personal finance and the economy for Check Advantage. When you order checks from Check Advantage, you’ll find hundreds of unique photography featured on Wildlife Checks as well as Flower Checks and much more! Plus, now you can get free shipping on personal checks!

I’m not a lawyer, but I’m married to one, so I’ve heard many anecdotes about the kinds of business practices that sometimes lead to law suits.

What’s surprising to me is that many of the legal issues that arise are extremely easy to avoid, especially if you follow a few simple rules I call the “Three Be’s” for keeping your small business out of court.

Rule 1: Be Truthful

The term “breach of contract” means that someone didn’t uphold their end of a deal—they said they would do something they did not do. Thus, the easiest way to avoid being sued for this reason is to do as you promise, and that begins with a good contract.

For starters, don’t bury any “gotchas” in your fine print. Communicate openly with your client and go over the document together before asking them to sign. Answer their questions truthfully and don’t pressure them if they want more time. Tell them, “Take all the time you need.” It’s the best way to get off to a good start with prospective customers.

Of course, if you are the one being asked to sign an agreement, insist on the same courtesy. You’ll want to have plenty of time to review the document, and that may require your attorney’s attention, too. The key is to make sure that any contract you sign is absolutely clear as to the obligations of all the parties involved.

Remember, the best way to build a solid business reputation is to do what you say you will do, and that’s the best way to keep from being sued, too.

Rule 2: Be Responsive

Once you’ve won their business, stay responsive to your clients’ needs. Even if you are swamped with other matters, take care of your customers first. Sometimes you might be able to do nothing more than call or email to say you need a little more time. Don’t put it off—do it as soon as practical. People appreciate the truth and prefer to know sooner rather than later if you’ve hit a snag. Again, communication is the key.

Rule 3: Be Reasonable

In matters of billing, it generally isn’t worth it to quibble over small amounts. If you have a billing dispute that isn’t going to break the bank, then start with the strategy of, “I will work with you on this.” Your customer will be pleasantly surprised by your attitude and it will give you a chance to build further good will with a client who might have otherwise marched straight to a lawyer, or at least to the Better Business Bureau.

Along these same lines, you should avoid using collection agencies or suing clients for fees, which can sometimes backfire and earn you a big fat counterclaim.

No, it’s not right if someone stiffs you for money you earned fair and square, but you have to look at the bigger picture. It might cost you less in the long run to simply write off the bad debt rather than trying to collect it through a civil suit.

Image Credits:
David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
smokedsalmon / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

+Janice Conard is a seasoned editor and copywriter who has worked in internet publishing since 1999. Her partner, Karen Stewart, is a member of the Kentucky and Wisconsin Bar Associations and informs many of Janice’s posts for The CheckAdvantage Blog, including this one. Visit CheckAdvantage to browse a huge selection of personal checks and business checks, including laser checks, manual checks and more.