Archive for November, 2009
Wedding Plan
By Getachew Teklu
Is planning a huge wedding making you crazy? Why not has a small wedding instead? Ten reasons to plan an intimate wedding.
1. You get to celebrate one of the biggest days of your life surrounded by people who love you. Of the nearly 100 couples interviewed , almost everyone said this was definitely one of the best things about having a small wedding.
2. You can feel more relaxed on your wedding day. Because you’ll be surrounded by friends and family, you’ll feel more at home with your guests.
3. You can save money. You can save thousands of dollars by having an intimate wedding, which means your nuptials won’t have to put you in debt.
4. You can splurge. Some couples choose a small guest list not necessarily because their budgets are small, but because they can pull out all the stops and have a truly lavish wedding.
5. You have more options when choosing a venue. Since you won’t need a large space to accommodate your guests, many doors will be open to you.
6. Have more freedom to customize your wedding to your own tastes. A small wedding gives you the opportunity to get your creative juices flowing and make your wedding a unique reflection of the two of you.
7. You get to spend time with your guests. How many weddings have made you feel like a stranger fulfilling a social obligation? Small weddings aren’t like that. When the guest list is small, the bride and groom can spend time with each of their guests, making them feel welcome.
8. You can make your guests feel at home. Because you will be able to spend at least some time with your guests, they will feel more at home at your wedding. Also, when the guest list is small, guests will have a better opportunity to mingle with most of the others. Chances are that many of your guests will know one another.
9. You can get your guests involved. A small wedding will give you the opportunity to get your loved ones involved in your special day.
10. You can have a wedding that people will remember. Because your wedding won’t be typical — the kind your guests have been to over and over again — your wedding will be more likely to be remembered.
Marketing: Lesson 1
If you want to make money, make me money. 
Benjamin Chiu just earned his master’s in mechanical engineering, but he hasn’t bothered looking for a job yet. He doesn’t need to. The 24-year-old runs a website from his San Francisco condo that nets him upwards of $20,000 a month. Chiu is an affiliate for Amazon and dozens of other online stores. The best part? He doesn’t actually sell anything; instead, his website, bensbargains.net, hawks laptops, backpacks, and karaoke machines and refers all buyers to the merchants’ websites. Every click on a product and every sale that results is cash in Chiu’s pocket—and the seller’s. Everyone makes money off the deal, and that’s why it works so well. Amazon, eBay, Google, and Yahoo sit atop the Web’s food chain partly because they make everybody a salesperson. There are hundreds of thousands of affiliates like Chiu, who promote online auctions for eBay, flog products for Amazon and Yahoo, provide eyeballs for Google’s AdSense, and collect for each sale or click they bring in. The millions the big boys pay out for these services are just a fraction of what they make from them. The beauty of the model isn’t lost on the rest of the world: Hundreds of companies—from Macy’s to Best Buy to Marriott to Citigroup—have now formed affiliate networks of their own. To start your own on-line business click here: http://www.ebiz-u.com/28c73d3
Company Affiliate Sales Affiliate Commission
Amazon.com $460 M $100M
Ebay $300M $140M
Google $1.4B $$1.1B
Yahoo! $1.1B $910M
*Estimates for 2004 based on financial reports and business 2.0 research **gross profit after cost of sales.
Source Business 2.0 December 2004.
Holiday shopping Tips
By Getachew Teklu
With Christmas only 3 weeks away, it’s time to start getting our act ready for holiday shopping! Below are a collection of shopping tips so we can enjoy a happy, sensible and responsible Christmas! 
Make a Shopping List – Write down everyone that you plan to buy a gift for and how much you plan to spend. It’s not just to save money, it’s so you don’t miss anyone too!
- Be Patient and Look for Deals – The bad economy means that all retailers are marking down their merchandise in a huge way. Shop around at different stores and chances are you will find what you are looking for at a lower price!
- Plan Ahead – Make sure you call the store to see if the item you want to buy is in stock. Otherwise, you would’ve wasted your time and gas!
- Organize Your Trip – Group your gift list into different categories and plan your route. Trust me; it will save you so much time!
- Buy Online – If you still haven’t bought anything online before, you are missing out because online retailers like www.ibexmarket.com often give huge discounts! Remember to also calculate shipping into the total price before committing (better yet, find one that offers free shipping).
- Don’t Buy More than You Need – Never fall for those offers that seem like a bargain but need you to buy additional products. If you need only one, never go for the “buy one get one free” offers!
- Clip Coupons – Go out of your way to find coupons. It might be a hassle but it is time well spent!
- Find Alternatives – When a similar product goes on sale, try to see if the savings is worth the trade-off. Sometimes, the product on sale might be selling for less and be even better than the one you were going to get!
- Gift Receipts – Always ask for one just in case!
- Get the Items Shipped ASAP – It’s the holiday season so shipping may take longer than usual. Remember to get everything shipped to you in ample time or you might not have a gift to give during Christmas!
- Beware of Your Belongings – Holiday shopping usually means long lineups and crowded malls. Watch your belongings and be careful!
- Try Using Only Cash – If you know that you are those people who can’t control yourself, use cash! Having a limited supply of funds will surely help tone down the spending!
- Credit Cards Might Be Good Also – If you use your credit card, find one that has the best reward program for retail goods!
- Reward Points – Remember your reward points? Maybe you can use some of it to get some gift cards this year to buy gifts!
- An Activity Could Be Worth Even More – Gifts are not just tied to an item! It could be a favor, an event or an experience so use your imagination!
- Taking the Experience a Step Further – Perhaps it makes more sense for you and your friend to go out on a dinner or trip together instead of buying each other a gift! It could be more fun and more financially sensible at the same time!
- Don’t Buy Extended Warranty – Instead, buy the product with a credit card that offers double the warranty period.
Enter Promo Code PW1104A at checkout to receive your discount. Click below:
Daniel W. Yohannes as CEO of Millennium Challenge Corporation
U.S. Senate Confirms Daniel W. Yohannes as CEO of Millennium Challenge Corporation
Washington, D.C. – (November 20, 2009) – Today the United States Senate unanimously confirmed President Barack Obama’s nomination of Daniel W. Yohannes as the new Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). As CEO, Mr. Yohannes will undertake MCC’s mission to reduce poverty through economic growth.
MCC is an innovative and independent U.S. foreign aid agency that is helping lead the fight against global poverty. Created by the U.S. Congress in January 2004, with strong bipartisan support, MCC is changing the conversation on the delivery of U.S. foreign assistance by focusing on good policies, country ownership, and results.
During his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Yohannes said, “I welcome the opportunity to lead MCC. I will work as a good emissary for MCC to partners around the world, to U.S. Congress, and to all stakeholders, with the input of MCC’s professionals, the Board of Directors, the development community, partner countries, and the private sector. I’m confident that MCC’s anti-poverty partnerships worldwide will generate sustainable economic growth and opportunity, and this is fundamental to enhancing our collective security and common humanity for a more prosperous, peaceful world.”
Mr. Yohannes continued, “We have a lot to accomplish in order to advance our government’s vision to reduce global poverty. It is challenging to replace patronage with partnership to deliver smart aid that matters by encouraging some policies, country-led development, and sustainable results. MCC offers some important lessons on where to start. MCC lays an innovative foundation to address the complex problem of global poverty.”
Following is Mr. Yohannes’ biography:
Daniel W. Yohannes, Chief Executive Office, Millennium Challenge Corporation
Daniel W. Yohannes, a former banker and active philanthropist from Englewood, Colorado, was nominated by President Obama as Chief Executive Officer of MCC on September 18, 2009.
Since retiring from his post as Vice Chairman of U.S. Bank in 2003, Mr. Yohannes has been a private investor specializing in real estate, financial institutions, and the renewable energy sector. From 1992 to 1999, Mr. Yohannes was President and CEO of Colorado National Bank (part of U.S. Bank), and before this held a number of leadership roles at Security Pacific Bank (now Bank of America).
Mr. Yohannes is active in his community and serves on various boards and civil organizations, including the Board of the National Jewish Hospital, the Denver Art Museum’s Board of Trustees, and the Board of Directors for the University of Colorado Medical School. He was a board member of Project C.U.R.E. (Commission on Urgent Relief & Equipment), which provides medical supplies for needy people around the world, and chairman of the Mayor of Denver’s Greenprint Council, a leadership group focused on improving the environment of cities and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr. Yohannes graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a B.A. in Economics and earned an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University. Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, he is fluent in Amharic.
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a United States Government agency designed to work with developing countries, is based on the principle that aid is most effective when it reinforces good governance, economic freedom, and investments in people who promote economic growth and help eliminate extreme poverty. For more information about MCC, visit www.mcc.gov.
Top 10 Habits That Can Help You Lose Weight
Making little changes can make a big difference
Reviewed by Michael W. Smith, MD
Weight control is all about making small changes that you can live with forever. As you incorporate these minor adjustments into your lifestyle, you’ll begin to see how they can add up to big calorie savings and weight loss. Here are my top 10 habits to help you turn your dream of weight loss into a reality:
1. Evaluate your eating habits. Are you eating late at night, nibbling while cooking, finishing the kids’ meals? Take a look around, and it will be easy to identify a few behaviors you can change that will add up to big calorie savings.
2. If you fail to plan, plan to fail. You need a strategy for your meals and snacks. Pack healthful snacks for the times of day that you know you are typically hungry and can easily stray from your eating plan.
3. Always shop with a full belly. It’s a recipe for disaster to go into the grocery store when you are hungry. Shop from a prepared list so impulse buying is kept to a minimum. Eating right starts with stocking healthy food in your pantry and refrigerator.
4. Eat regular meals. Figure out the frequency of your meals that works best in your life and stick to it. Regular meals help prevent bingeing.
5. Eat your food sitting down at a table, and from a plate. Food eaten out of packages and while standing is forgettable. You can wind up eating lots more than if you sit down and consciously enjoy your meals.
6. Serve food onto individual plates, and leave the extras back at the stove. Bowls of food on the table beg to be eaten, and it takes incredible will power not to dig in for seconds. Remember, it takes about 20 minutes for your mind to get the signal from your belly that you are full.
7. Eat slowly, chew every bite, and savor the taste of the food. Try resting your fork between bites and drinking plenty of water with your meals.
8. Don’t eat after dinner. This is where lots of folks pack on the extra pounds. If you are hungry, try satisfying your urge with a non-caloric beverage or a piece of hard candy. Brushing your teeth after dinner helps reduce the temptation to eat again.
9. If you snack during the day, treat the snack like a mini-meal. The most nutritious snacks contain complex carbohydrates and a small amount of protein and fat.
10. Start your day with breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day. After a long night’s rest, your body needs the fuel to get your metabolism going and give you energy for the rest of the day.
Source WebMD
Tax Incentives for Higher Education
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Source: IRS
What is Credit?
By Getachew Teklu
Whenever you make a purchase today with the promise to pay for it tomorrow, you are using credit. Having credit lets you make purchases when you don’t have cash available. Before a lender will allow you to use credit, it must first believe that you can be trusted to repay the amount of credit you use. This is considered financial trustworthiness. Lenders use a number of factors to determine your financial trustworthiness. The most commonly used factor is your credit history. How you have used credit in the past – your credit history – is considered to be the best way to predict how you will use it in the future. Your credit history is reported in your credit report and credit score. When you are a new creditor and do not have a credit history, the lender might use other factors such as employment and salary to gauge your financial trustworthiness. Or, the lender might require that someone who does have favorable credit agree to repay your charges if you fail to do so. In this case, the two of you share credit. How Does It Work? To establish credit with a financial institution, you must first make an application.
The lender will use identifying information, like your social security number, to look up your credit history. If the lender determines that you are a trustworthy borrower, then it will extend credit to you. Once you have been approved for credit, the lender will give you guidelines, or terms, for using your credit. The terms include, but are not limited to, how often you should send payments for purchases, what happens if you are late on a payment, and the cost of using credit. Usually, the lender establishes a maximum amount of credit that you can use, a credit limit, based on your credit history. Your credit terms will outline what happens if you exceed this limit. In most cases, there is a monetary penalty. When you’ve been approved for credit, the lender provides you with a way to use this credit, e.g. a credit card. Periodically you will receive a billing statement from your lender detailing purchases you’ve made, interest charged, minimum payment amount due, and payment due date. Per your agreement with the lender, you must make payments by the due date to avoid penalties.
You can get all your free credit reports?
By Getachew Teklu
Due to the passage of the 2003 Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA), all Americans are entitled to one free credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — upon request every 12 months. There are several ways you can request your free credit report:
•Online: Visit AnnualCreditReport.com
•Telephone: (877)-322-8228
•Mail: Complete the Annual Credit Report Request form and mail it to the following address:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
The 2003 law did not eliminate the other ways to receive a free credit report. You’re still entitled to a free credit report if you meet any of the following conditions:
•You applied for a loan and were turned down. You can request a free credit report by writing the correct credit bureau within 30 days of your rejection. Enclose a copy of the declined loan application with your request.
•You’re unemployed and planning to apply for jobs in the next 60 days.
•You’re receiving public assistance.
•You believe your credit file contains mistakes due to fraud.
•You currently reside in a state that offers an annual free credit report from each credit reporting agency by state law. Residents of the following seven states are entitled to one free copy of their credit report each 12 months from each of the three main credit agencies per federal law and one free copy of their credit report each 12 months from each of the three main credit agencies to satisfy their state’s law.
Colorado
Georgia
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Jersey
Vermont
The second free report can be obtained by directly calling each credit bureau:
Equifax: 1-800-685-1111
Experian: 1-888-397-3742
TransUnion: 1-800-916-8800
If you have any difficulty ordering this free report over the phone, you may also write to each bureau:
Equifax
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, GA 30374
Experian
P.O. Box 2002
Allen, TX 75013
TransUnion
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19022
Include the following info in your letter. Be sure that each person requesting the report signs and dates the request.
•Your full name
•Date of birth
•Current and former address
•Social Security number
•Your spouse’s name
•Your phone number
Sources: Bankrate.com and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
For those who do not reside in the seven states where you are entitled to a second free credit report per agency per year, you may order a second or third report directly from the three agencies by mail. Include the same identifying information listed above and mail to the same addresses listed for each bureau. Here is a breakdown of the charges:
California residents: $8 per report
Connecticut residents: $5 per report
Minnesota residents: $3 per report
Montana residents: $8.50 per report
Virgin Island residents: $1 per report
Residents of all other states: $10 per report
Fixing Errors on a Credit Report
What if your name is Bob Jones, and when you get your credit report from one of the credit bureaus you find that there are accounts listed there that are held by another Bob Jones? Or, you find that your unemployed and debt-heavy brother’s information is showing up on your report? What do you do? Under the FCRA, you have the right to, and the CRA has the responsibility of, correcting any errors or incomplete information in your credit report.
Listed below are some steps you can take to correct errors on your report. Whatever you do, don’t use one of those companies that say they can “fix” your credit history — erase bankruptcies, liens, bad credit, etc. While there are some legitimate companies out there that can help you, you can do anything they can do.
One very important thing is to document everything you do (dates and times of phone calls, people you spoke with, what they said, what your action was, etc.), and keep copies of everything you send them. Don’t send original documents — send copies. Remember to be aggressive and persistent. This process may take a while — usually three to six months.
- Let the paperwork begin – You will begin a long and often arduous task of writing letters explaining the inaccuracies. First, send a letter to the CRA to give your side of the story and try to set straight the inaccuracies that have been reported. The letter should include your name and address and explain what is inaccurate and why. Tell them the facts and request a correction to your report. It would also help to include a copy of your report with the incorrect information circled, along with copies of any documentation that supports your claim. Send your letter by certified mail with a return receipt so you know it was received. Keep a record of everything you sent.Second, send a letter to the merchant or creditor who supplied the incorrect information to make it known that you are disputing it. Send copies of the documentation that supports your claim, just as you did with the CRA.
(NOTE: Most of the national credit bureaus allow you to begin the dispute process online. This isn’t a bad place to start; but if you have additional documentation, presenting it the good old fashioned way is probably best.)
- Give the CRA 30 days – The credit reporting agency legally has 30 days to investigate your claim (unless your claim is deemed “frivolous” or “irrelevant”). If after this amount of time you haven’t heard back, call the customer service department. There is usually a toll-free number on the credit report that you can call for assistance. Remember to keep notes of your conversations and any actions that were taken as a result.
- Re-reviewing your credit report – When you get a written response from the credit agency, you’ll also get a new copy of your credit report (if there were any changes). If any information is changed on the report, the CRA cannot change it back unless the creditor provides proof that it was accurate. In this case, you will get notification from the CRA that the item has been put back on your report. You’ll receive the contact information for the creditor or merchant so you can begin your battle (if you know you’re right). Like we said at the beginning, be aggressive and persistent. Find out the creditor’s side of the story. See below to find out what to do if they’re right and you’re wrong.
If you can’t get any satisfaction and feel you’re not being treated fairly by the creditor, you can contact the agency to which they report. Credit InfoCenter has a page that lists this contact information.
What if you’re wrong?So, what if you dispute something and then find out that they were right and you were wrong? One thing to try is to go back to the creditor and try to persuade them to take it off your report. Of course, this will depend on how bad the problem was or how often you were late with payments, but it is still worth a shot. The creditor can legally remove anything they have reported whenever they want to. If that doesn’t work, you can still add a statement (of limited length) to go along with your report, but that’s about all you can do (other than debt validation in the case of collections). If the negative information is accurate, it can haunt your credit report for seven years. These are the exceptions:
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How Lenders Interpret Your Credit Report
your credit report only relays the history of your dealings with creditors. However, you need to look closely. There’s information there that may seem innocent to you but not to potential creditors. This includes information like:
- Inquiries – Every time you apply for a credit card to get a free travel mug, duffel bag, or T-shirt, you are adding another hard inquiry to your credit report. When potential lenders see these inquiries, it may wrongly imply that you’re either in some financial situation where you need a lot of credit, or are planning to take on a large debt. Either can flag you as a high credit risk.Other types of inquiries, such as your own requests to view the report, employer requests to view the report and requests by marketers to get your name in order to sell you something, count as soft inquiries. These inquiries don’t show up on the reports that lenders see, and therefore don’t affect how they view your credit.
Also, watch out when you are car shopping or mortgage shopping. Make sure you don’t let the car dealer or mortgage broker run your credit unless you know you’re going to be buying from them. While the FCRA allows these types of multiple credit inquiries that are within seven to 14 days of each other to be counted as a single inquiry, you would have to be careful of your timing to make sure you don’t have multiple inquiries show up.
So, how many hard inquiries can you have without a problem? Some experts say that if you have 10 credit card inquiries in six months, that will probably scare a lender. Others experts say that as few as six credit card inquiries in six months can label you as risky. Inquiries that are older than six months may not be looked at as strongly because if you actually set up the loan or opened the credit card account, those accounts would now be showing up on your report as well. The newer inquiries might lead the lender to think that you actually have the credit accounts available now but they haven’t shown up on the credit report yet. Most inquiries drop off of your report after two years.
Open credit accounts – Another thing to watch out for as you gather all of those free mugs and duffel bags is that even though you may have forgotten about them, accounts you don’t use still count toward your total available credit. Just as with the hard inquiries we’ve talked about, these can indicate to a potential lender that you could easily put yourself into financial danger with all of that readily available credit.
- According to TransUnion and Experian, you should not close out your oldest card, because it has the most history on it; also, you should maintain four to six credit cards to “keep your credit score and debt balances healthy” . But other than that, close the accounts you don’t use. In addition to avoiding excessive available credit, you’re limiting your exposure to identity theft.
Cutting up the card or just not using it doesn’t mean the account is closed. You have to call or write to the card company and ask to close the account.
- Missed payments – Obviously, your payment history makes a big difference. You should always make at least the minimum payment, or consolidate accounts to reduce your payments. These delinquencies stay on your report for seven years — even if you’ve caught up your payments! The same goes for accounts that creditors have turned over to collection agencies or charged-off — meaning that they’ve written the account off as a loss. Even if you do pay off the account at a later date, the charge-off or collection action stays on your report for seven years.
- Maxed-out credit lines – Another thing that scares lenders is a maxed-out credit line (or two). This waves a big red flag and indicates that you may be financially strapped for some reason. Some experts suggest moving debt around if this is the case. For example, if you have a maxed-out card but have other cards that haven’t reached their credit limits, you might consider moving some of the debt from the maxed-out card to the non-maxed-out ones.
- Debt in relation to income – If you have unsecured credit card debt that is more than 20 percent of your annual income, lenders may not want to give you the best deal on a loan — if they’ll take the chance and give you a loan in the first place. Work to reduce the debt-to-income ratio and you’ll be able to get better rates on the loans you seek.
