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Michael Benifez...'s Articles

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  • Get Rid of High-Interest Credit Card Debt
    Many people don't have the basics of financial education. The average school student usually doesn't learn much beyond basic accounting and how to write a check. You can't assume that basic math will be enough to prepare a person for "real world" personal finance and investing. If schools don't provide this financial education, who will?
  • Budgeting and Saving is Possible!
    The level of personal savings has dropped to a concerning degree, even though it is understood that it is vital to save to be able to guarantee future comfort and security. You should teach yourself how to stay on track with your monthly expenses using a budget that will also allow you to build up surplus cash as a savings buffer.
  • The Truth Behind Homeowners' Insurance Premiums and Policies
    Homeowners' insurance isn't something that you can afford to live without. This is a necessity and something that most mortgage companies will require in order for a homeowner to receive the loan or mortgage. This article will show you some simple steps that you can take to ensure your homeowners' insurance fits your needs.
  • Important Ways to Save Money for Your Child's College Education
    As college costs increase, it can be intimidating to find ways to save up for your child's education. Many parents know that they need to start saving money early, but they might not know where to start or how to start. Children are not cheap. One of the most expensive parts of raising a child is the college education.
  • Perfect Combination of Love and Money
    Love can be an overwhelming and overpowering emotion as it blacks out everything except for the feelings you have for the wonderful person in your life. Soon, you'll have marriage on your mind and wedding bells in your head. It's all perfect, except for one minor detail: You will need to pay the bills after your honeymoon is over.
  • Simple Guide to Creating an Emergency Savings Account
    Having an emergency fund is not a luxury - it is a necessity. Most personal finance experts recommend that people have emergency savings to cover at least between three and six months' worth of regular household expenses. Even if you think you don't need such an account, it's true that eventually you will. You can't predict if you're going to become disabled, have a devastating house fire, or lose your job.
  • You Can Get Out Of Debt
    If you are really serious about getting yourself out of the debt spiral, you will have to start making some reductions in your spending and begin to save money. It is simply not possible for you to continue spending wildly and at the same time improve your situation. Don't get into the mindset of, "I'm already in debt, so a bit more won't matter!" This is simply just using someone for your own advantage. It is understandable if you simply can't make more than the minimum payments, but if you are not making payments even when you have extra cash, you are behaving irresponsibly.
  • The Benefits of Balance Transfers
    Debt, credit cards, and interest rates seem to be a major topic of the time as fees for just about everything continue to climb. While it is difficult to get ahead when your paycheck is going to only stretch so far, there are a few things you can learn about managing your debts, payments, and how you can use balance transfer cards for your own benefits.
  • Joggling Between Personal Finance and Business Finance
    Companies throughout the world all operate under the same principle which is to make money, but more than that, to turn a profit. Making all the money in the world doesn't do you any good if you're still spending more than what you make, and this is the same in personal financing. You're very much like your own little company. You have expenses and revenue, and these need to be properly balanced to keep you out of the red.
  • Personal Finance Does Not Have to be a Guessing Game
    Money matters are definitely not everyone's forte. Many have difficulty accurately planning a budget, and others simply don't want to be bothered doing so, simply living day to day and month and month as best they can. An easy way to consider your financial resources and the steps you may need to take to improve them is to ask yourself a few simple questions.
  • Luxuries Are Just That Not Necessities
    Life is all about balance and making hard choices, and there are often no harder choices to be made than those involving our finances. While it can become tempting to live above our means in the hopes that our financial situation will one day improve to the point where we can make up the debt we've incurred over the past years, this is neither an intelligent nor moral way to live.
  • Credit Reports Expose All Your Dirty Money History
    Most people are now aware of the importance of credit reports in relation to their ability to get a line of credit, but few people actually know what's on those reports and what they can do to improve their ratings on it. We'll take a look at these things in-depth so you know what you're dealing with when it comes to credit reports.
  • Christian Debt Consolidation Companies - Unique or Not?
    For some Christians, a Christian debt consolidation company is something that goes against their beliefs. These companies, and there are many, offer with scripture answers to Christians who question them.
  • What You Need to Know about Identity Theft
    Identity theft is becoming the fastest growing crime problem in the United States, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Criminals commit identity theft by stealing and using the names, addresses, bank account information, credit card numbers, and Social Security numbers of almost 10 million Americans each year, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Learning about how thieves can get your information is the first step in protecting yourself from becoming an identity theft victim.
  • Having Emergency Funds All Part of Budgeting
    Budgeting is often viewed as stressful and even difficult, maybe not difficult in coming up with the budget, difficult to follow at the very least. The truth though is that if you can't follow a simple budget, you'll have little chance of being financially responsible. If you can follow a few of the steps outlined below, you should at least give yourself a fighting chance when it comes to paying down debt, investing wisely, and still having money to enjoy life.
  • Frugal Shopping Cuts Cost with Saving Opportunities
    If you're running on a tight budget and looking for some money saving ideas to help you out, you've found the right place. Here's a collection of helpful tricks to get a hold of that precious money that you may not have considered.
  • Holiday Shopping Brings Stress and Debt
    New Year's brings with it a rush of heightened optimism and expectations for not only the New Year, but for the many years to come. With finances playing a big part in everyone's lives, this is often one of the most considered and aspects of one's life, and the one they most resolve to change. Unfortunately when those January credit card bills begin to hit, the mood can tend to turn the opposite way, from optimism to pessimism. Playing the winter months just a little more prudently can keep the good vibes rolling well past January.
  • Spendable Income - In A SpendLess World
    While it's not the sole factor in determining your level of wealth, your amount of disposable income is probably a fairly strong indicator. At the very least it indicates your financial planning ability, as a person living above their means will have a lower percentage of their income available as disposable income. There are of course ways to improve your percentage of disposable income, which we'll discuss below.
  • Tight Fisted is Often Saving the Most in History
    Today's business world is no different. Each business has to find a way to cut costs and save money in order to survive. Businesses can't collect spare change on the side of the street to pay their bills, and this is what many are facing in the world today. So let's look forward, and look into some ways that money can be saved, and how we too can become tight fisted and make it through these tough times.
  • The Consuming Consumer - Death by the Dollar
    While we may think only the wealthy or celebrities are engaged in a good old-fashioned battle of oneupmanship when to comes to having the newest, most expensive gadgets or items money can buy, the truth is it happens all around us. You yourself have likely engaged in this, whether it was a conscious decision or not.
  • Where Will Your Future Money Leave You
    While many don't want to look that far ahead, and worry about money when you don't know what is going to be in the future it is important to plan something at one point.
  • Banking Cheaper - Attacking Bank Fees
    Banks offer us many convenient services, but they hardly do so out of the kindness of their hearts. Almost any little service imaginable that a bank provides has at least a small fee associated with it. These fees individually are usually small, but together can add up to a great deal. Better understanding these fees and how they're triggered should give a greater ability to judge how useful they are in relation to the cost and whether or not they should be avoided in the future.
  • Tips for Avoiding Excessive Credit Debt
    There is no 'one-size-fits-all' solution to how much debt you may safely take on. There are, however, guidelines that you can follow to keep from going in over your head.
  • Cash - A Great Budget Controller
    Articles and books on personal finance will provide as many tips as possible in an effort to make at least a couple of them stick. This approach may convince readers to save for emergencies and pay out less than they bring in, but in some cases you can say to much without explaining anything.
  • APR Crucial Consumer Knowledge
    With more and more Americans finding themselves further and further in debt to credit card companies, it may be more important than ever that consumers educate themselves about the terms and conditions of their credit card contracts. And the most important of those is the APR or Annual Percentage Rate.
  • Facing the Chaos of Identity Theft
    Every year, more and more people fall victim to perpetrators of identity theft. Since 2002 millions have lost money, credit and credibility. With our economy in recession, it is more important than ever to protect your identity.
  • Retirement - One Word Wildly Different Meanings
    Financial planning is the traditional method used to determine one's monetary situation and plan accordingly for the future. However a new style of planning is beginning to take root, most often referred to as life planning. Where financial planning takes a traditional, one might say conservative and boring approach to finances, life planning takes a more active and varied approach.
  • How Credit Bureaus Calculate your Credit Score
    In 1949 Diner's Club launched the first charge-card company. According to Dove Consulting, Americans now spend more with their credit cards - over $2 trillion yearly - than they do with cash. The creditworthiness of card users is an increasingly important issue for creditors and consumers alike.
  • It Can be Surprisingly Easy to Cut Expenses
    While credit cards were initially conceived as a medium through which people could obtain luxuries that might otherwise elude them for months or years, credit cards have now become more prized for their ability as an open line of credit that can act as a lifeline in the case of an emergency. It's recommended that all households have at least three months worth of expenses set aside should something unforeseen occur, and most credit cards will extend this level of credit to anyone with a good credit score.
  • Climbing Up The Mountain from Financial Wreckage
    When you come to grips with your current financial state or financial disaster whichever the case, the next step is often the starting point of consolidating debt on the credit cards. This step can make managing the debt easier and give a clearer plan to reverse the debt spiral. For now put your feelings aside and get focused. Once heading down the consolidation path you'll find many offers and options.
  • Beat Bad Credit with a Secured Credit Card
    There are many choices when it comes to credit cards and credit card providers. You can find any number of companies, each with a variety of plans, interest rates and credit limits on offer. Some of these will be right for you and some of them can result in bad financial decisions. It is important to explore all of your options when choosing a credit card provider.
  • How Live your Life Debt-Free and Still Enjoy Life
    It can be difficult to live without debt, as it has become the norm to finance cars, higher education and homes with loans and mortgages. If you think there has to be a better way, however, you may be right. You can avoid taking on overwhelming debt - or any debt, for that matter.
  • Credit Cards Ease Business Accounting Expense Tracking
    What are business credit cards and they viable options for businesses big and small? The answer in most cases is yes, especially for small businesses. First let's detail exactly what business credit cards are before looking into their finer points.
  • Using College For Training In Correct Credit Card Use
    College is likely the time when a person has their own credit card without direct supervision. This can be a dangerous thing. If a student doesn't understand how fast credit card debt can rack up, they are in for a rude awakening. The credit card company doesn't care who owns the card or their financial experience level. The credit limit on college student cards are lower, which helps to keep debt lower, at least. None of this debt has to do with student loans, though. When any credit card debt at all is mixed with student loans, it seems to magnify the effect. Paying back a student loan and credit card debt racked up while they were a student can be tough, to say the least.
  • Getting Out Of Debt ASAP
    You've surely heard all kinds of ads about debt consolidation. The sheer number of ads can be overwhelming, coming from TV channels, newspapers, the internet, etc. If you are not sure what you should do or how you should go about consolidation, you can get financial counseling from consultants or companies who are knowledgeable and whose jobs are specifically to help people in less than perfect financial situations.
  • Quick Debt Fix - Consolidation Loans
    Personal debt consolidation is a process that keeps you from having to handle credit payments individually. Instead, you take a single personal debt consolidation loan out to reduce your debt burden. There are many advantages to getting rid of debt in this way.
  • Who's in Your Wallet - Protecting Personal Information!
    The best thing that you can do to deal with identity theft in the first place is to prevent it by being very careful with personal information and passwords. If it's too late for that, however, you will have to go through the necessary steps to recover. First of all, don't panic. It takes a lot of thought, work, and concentration to recover your identity, so panicking will not help.
  • Searching For Debt Consolidation Companies - Beware!
    With the economy struggling over the past few years, there has been a drastic rise in debt consolidation companies. There has been a lot of bad press about debt consolidation companies due to lawsuits dealing with their "non-profit" status. One company even had a federal lawsuit filed on them because they filed chapter 11 bankruptcy, but they didn't really go bankrupt. Instead, they formed many small companies.
  • Pay Less With A Balance Transfer Credit Card
    Unfortunately, it is a lot easier to get into credit card debt than it is to get out of it. All it takes is a small amount of time of excessive spending to get into debt that can take years to get out of. High interest rates play a large role in the difficulty of paying back debt or a loan.
  • Britney Spears Good Business Management Clash of the Titans
    Managing a business is much more difficult than many believe. Guiding employees, scheduling, offers benefits, growing the business, producing a profit and managing cash and cashflow can be challenging. Just look at a star like Britney Spears and ask - How does she manage her money? Does she care?
  • Best Debt Consolidation Loans Large Or Small Companies
    Debt consolidation loans have a pretty self explanatory name. They take all of your debts and consolidate them into one monthly payment. You may be wondering what the advantage of this is, besides less paperwork. The main advantage is that you usually get a lower interest rate, which will save you money each month. The primary reason for getting debt consolidation loans is to work your way out of financial problems. If you can't make your current monthly payments, or are only making the minimum payments, this type of loan will surely help you.
  • Help Finances Stink - Debt Consolidation to the Rescue!
    If you are in debt and need serious help to get out of it? Luckily for you, there are plenty of options to help you. One of the major options is credit card counseling debt consolidation.
  • Borrowing Secured or Unsecured Cash - Good or Bad?
    When you are looking into getting a loan, you need to decide whether you should get a secured or unsecured loan. Before you make that decision, however, you need to know what the difference is between the two. You need to know what the pluses and minuses are of each. You will find this information below.
  • Listen Up - Become Debt Free Start with Debt Consolidation
    It is easy to get into debt farther than you thought you could. By borrowing a little hear and there, things can really add up until you are completely overwhelmed. You may have no money left after paying bills, or maybe you can't even pay your bills. It may seem like bankruptcy is the only way out, but there is hope through debt consolidation. Through debt consolidation, you can solve your problems and save your credit score.
  • Choosing Debt Consolidation Help - Pick Wisely
    Debt consolidation can save you from the financial problems that you are having. There are credit counselors available to give you advice on what can work for you. These counselors are affiliated with non-profit organizations, so they are there to help. Not all of the counselors are free, or even cheap, though. Make sure you do research ahead of time to make sure you don't choose a high priced credit counseling service.
  • Money Couples - Credit Cards and Debt Consolidation
    Drowning in debt? Do the bills continue to pile up each month and looking for a way out looks like "Mission Impossible?" Fortunately, there are solutions to living in debt. But, beware! The journey out of bill bondage is no where as much fun as the way into debt.
  • Debt Consolidation Solution Fix not the Problem Fix of Debt
    One of the simplest ways to solve your problem of overwhelming credit card debt is though debt consolidation. With the economy struggling, it is becoming more and more common for people to acquire uncontrollable amounts of debt. Credit card bills are often the main problems, partially because of their very high interest rates. Many times, people can only pay back the interest, which doesn't help with the initial debt.
  • Taking Command of Your Finances - Consolidating Debt
    With the high costs of education, food, housing, medical expenses, insurance, transportation, clothing, etc., life is quite expensive. It is difficult to avoid going into debt. It can be tough to cover all of these costs without having to borrow money. If you find yourself struggling with debt, you should consider a debt consolidation program. There are plenty of options available.
  • Credit Counseling - The Best Debt Consolidation Solution?
    There are many companies offering their services to help consumers get their debt under control, but should you take advantage of these services? One of the most popular organizations is the non-profit community organization called Consumer Credit Counseling Service. They are known across the debt/credit reduction industry as one of the top companies for assisting consumers in need of financial help.
  • consolidation of debt - make life enjoyable again
    In between the start of the month, paydays, taking care of the house, changing the oil on the car and keeping an eye on the monthly budget, many people can only watch as their debt continues to grow, life takes on a grind and progress seems impossible.
  • balance transfer credit cards - what is their purpose?
    Credit card debt can be an easy problem to get into, but getting out of debt is a completely different story. Getting out of debt can be a long process, especially because of high interest rates that are charged on by credit card companies each month.
  • Become Debt Free - First Get Help With Debt Consolidation
    Does the constant worry of how much debt you owe consume your life? Are you looking at the balances on your credit cards wondering why you are almost over the spending limit? Are minimum payments all you can make? Does living from paycheck to paycheck describe your financial state? Have you considered bankruptcy as your only way out?
  • Picking Your Debt Consolidation Team
    If your debt is controlling your life and continuing to spiral out of bounds it is possible you could be an excellent candidate for debt consolidation with the help of a credit counselor.
  • Debt Consolidation - The Imperfection Of Companies
    One would have to be living under a rock to not have noticed the explosive growth of consumers in debt and the companies who specialize in helping them recover from their financial crisis. The companies who make debt consolidation their business have long been big advertisers on the web and now they can frequently be found on TV.
  • Consumer Basics Of Debt Consolidation
    As they say on that TV commercial - "Life comes at you Fast!" - day-to-day expenses in our lives can drive many consumer quickly into debt. When their once high credit limit becomes a mountain of debt the scramble to recover begins with many enrolling in a debt consolidation program.
  • Credit Repair Starts With Debt Elimination
    By taking a close look at your debts, you can probably find a reasonable solution. Someone has lent you money expecting you to repay it in a certain amount of time, but that's not always as easy as it seems.
  • Home Improvement Credit Cards - Double The Pay Off
    When the springtime rolls around, trees begin to blossom, the sound of lawn mowers fill the air and the local home improvement center looks like they are giving away money, you know the time has arrived - Spring. It is the time of year Americans embrace the sun, start spring cleaning and begin working through the list of home improvement projects.
  • Battling High Interest Credit Cards - Consolidate
    Debt consolidation of high interest credit card payments is a great solution to debt problems. Consolidation is when everything that you owe, from all of your different cards, is combined into a single debt. This will reduce your number of payments to one per month.
  • Choking On Deb - Payments For Stupid Living
    Credit cars technology bills and finances it can all be so overwhelming. If you are on your way into deep debt, or already there, you should learn about debt consolidation from the experts in order to help with your problems.
  • Stop Creditors In Their Tracks Simply Pay Bills Build Credit
    If you concentrate on building good credit you will not have creditors hassling you every day, it's a fact of life. If you currently have bad credit, it won't be easy and will take some time to fix things, but it is possible. If you don't pay a creditor, watch out - they will do everything and anything they can to get their money from you, from letters to phone calls. You can avoid these problems by paying your bills on time.
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