When you’ve got a great idea for a business, often, the biggest hurdle is getting the money you need to bring your dream to fruition. A business line of credit is what you need to get started, but banks are a bit leery about lending to people based on “great ideas”. EZUnsecured.com offers business owners the chance to get an unsecured line of credit for their business, or a business loan, quickly, and without a long approval process. The business line of credit comes with a low 8.25% APR, and business owners can receive up to $350,000 for a no doc line of credit. You can be approved in 1 to 3 days, and have your funds in 1 to 3 weeks!

This site promises something a lot of people with a dream of being their own boss are will be interested in - completely unsecured lines of credit. The site’s niche seems to be assisting small business owners and entrepreneurs obtain capital to open new businesses. Having been a small business owner at one time, I can tell you how hard it is to obtain a loan without signing over your first born, and unsecured business loans were few and far between when I looked for one. This site should be of interest to a lot of people who have had the same experience I did. By applying today, you can have your cash in hand in 1 to 3 weeks, with approvals in a matter of days.

Related Link: Payday Loans Get your cash fast

I get all sorts of junk mail from credit card companies offering me special promotional rates and deals on balance transfers. When you read the find print, you see that most of the deals offered really aren’t that great, so I prefer to find my credit cards online, at sites that will easily allow me to compare two or three cards and their offers side by side to see who really has the best terms. Creditnet is one of those sites, and once you find a card you like, you can submit a credit card application online.

And in addition to seeing cards ranked according to fees, limits, and terms, I’d like to make another suggestion. We had a card once that looked GREAT on paper, but when we got it, and wanted to make our first payment online, we couldn’t pay more than $1000. We also then had to wait 2 weeks to make another payment, so there was absolutely no way we could pay off the balance in full online. So I’m suggesting a category for “great online interface” or “horrid online payment system”, or something like that. Whadya think?

It’s a big day for teenagers who love to shop! The new PAYjr Visa Buxx card launched today. Not only does this prepaid card give teens the chance to shop without carrying cash, but they can log in to the website and upload images to design their very own card. (I can see it now - one month, your daughter has one boy’s face on her card - the next month, she’s moved on to a new love and wants to change her card to put HIS face on it. HA!)

A competition has started as well, and people can upload card designs to compete for a chance to win an Apple Macbook!

Jim and I went for a walk around the neighborhood earlier this week with a neighbor of ours, and his kids. (I love that we actually KNOW our neighbors!) Anyway, the topic turned, of course, to discussion of the recent home sales in our neighborhood, or lack of sales. We had a TON of investors buy in our neighborhood and those homes are sitting empty, and several have already been foreclosed. Looks like those people won’t be buying another home anytime soon, unless they get some type of debt loan - it’s not so easy to get financed for anything after you walk away from a mortgage like that!

Is your home next on the repossession list? There’s some good advice in this article about how the avoid being forced to walk away from your home. Obviously, the investors that bought in our neighborhood were positive that they WOULD sell the home and make a quick buck, and they failed to have a contingency plan, as the article suggests. The housing market scam is real, and buying a home as an investment isn’t always the best move.

I closed one of my credit cards last month. It was an old card, and the balance on it has been zero for a long time, but the card had a relatively high interest rate. Yeah, I’d only use it in an emergency, but I’d gotten a few new cards since I had received this one, so I didn’t need it, and due to the high rate, it would be my last choice of cards to use in an emergency. Why keep a card I’m not going to use, when I have plenty of other better options? So I called to cancel it, and man, did they try to talk me out of it! They actually asked what they could do to keep me as a customer…and I said, “give me a 0% APR“…and they couldn’t, so see ya!

I love my credit cards, but I don’t need one I’m not using. I’ve been told it’s quite alright to keep cards you’re not using, because the more credit you have available (that you’re not using) the better you look on paper. I agree with that, but I don’t need 5 or 6 cards that I’m not using, so I was happy to let this one go. Credit is entirely too easy to get, even when you’ve got bad credit, and I’ve improved mine so much that I’m very very careful when making decisions like this.

Oh, and while I’m on the subject, I don’t mind being asked when I’m in a department store if I want to open up a store charge and save 15% on my shopping that day. Really, I don’t mind. What I do mind is a pushy salesclerk who assumes I’m a moron for saying no and tries to sell me on why I should do it. The girls at Victoria’s Secret are the WORST! “You get a free bra! You get coupons!” Yeah, you also get a high rate credit card you can only use at Victoria’s Secret. No thanks! I said “No means no” to the last woman who offered me one repeatedly. I wonder if those salesclerks get bonus points for asking us 2 or 3 times? Now, if it were a cash back credit card, that would be a different story entirely. I do buy a lot of stuff in Victoria’s Secret.

I was watching TV earlier and one of the characters mentioned having $80,000 in student loans to repay. Oy vey! I’ve always gone to a local college, and even when I was full time, I got a deal because I was an in state student, there were no dorm fees, or meal plans, or any of those other things to add on to the tuition. I can’t even fathom graduating from school and getting an entry level job in my chosen field and having thousands of dollars in student loans to repay. If you’re in that boat, do yourself a favor and find out if you’re a candidate for student loan consolidation. Much like debt consolidation for your credit cards, this will cut payments (up to 60%) and reduce the amount of interest you’re paying over the length of your loan. Student loan consolidation can help if that debt is keeping you from buying a house or taking other big steps in your life, like getting married or having a baby.

If you’re considering going back to school, you can also check out private student loans, which allow you to borrow (annually) the full cost of expenses (less financial aid received) or $40,000 (whichever is the lesser). Not a bad way to go for those of us considering a change in careers. When you think about quitting your job to return to school, that’s a big step, but a private student loan can at least cover the cost of the schooling to help you out.

I mentioned the new shopping center opening up near us - I can’t wait! There’s another center down the street that is advertising a bank (boring) and a restaurant (great!) right now…with more to come. Commercial mortgages are going to be needed up and down the main drag in town, and
commercial hard money is totally different from the residential lending game, and it can be confusing for newbies with a small business. CEM Lending simplifies and process for obtaining a commercial loan, and passes along great rates, on loans from $100,000 to over $500 million!

Since this IS a shopping blog, I’m sure some of you out there reading this that hate credit. Others love it. I have a love / hate relationship with credit cards myself. Hated being in debt, love NOT being in debt. LOL! Credit cards are good when you can be disciplined with them. The best thing I’ve used my credit card for lately was booking our airfare to Detroit in June. Now, Detroit may not sound like a vacation hot spot, but we’re just flying in there - not staying! We’re planning on driving to Toronto and Montreal and spending a week in Canada altogether. I found a sweet deal on the airfare a few months ago and used one of my 0 interest credit cards to buy it. We’ve never been to Canada, so the whole family is excited about this trip. And the nice thing is that if we needed to charge a rental car or anything else, we could move that balance to one of our 0 balance transfer credit cards when we return home. Free vacation with cheap credit cards. Sort of. LOL!

Right now, I’ve got some spare change in one of those online savings accounts. The online banking industry has great rates for savings accounts, and they’re much better than the local banks…which usually require high deposites. You can compare online banking interest rates, savings accounts features and find a new savings account or checking account that earns more interest with SavingsAccounts.com. Some of the rates are as high as 6% - that’s even higher than what I’m currently earning! I can only hope that this encourages more banking competition, and we’ll see more high yield savings accounts.

While I was driving down the street today on my way to lunch, I noticed a ton of businesses that specialize in check cashing, personal loans, and payday loans. Is it just a coincidence that these places only seem to exist in the poorer sections of town? I understand WHY people have a need for this type of business, I only wish they didn’t have a need for it - does that make sense? I like the fact that this site gives you the lowdown on the payday loan industry, good and bad. They speak honestly, and tell people how to avoid troubles with payday loans, and even provide information on how different states treat payday loans, and what your rights are as a consumer.

I really like one of the credit cards I got in the past year. When I log in online to pay my bill, I get all sorts of little tips and advice, and even a snapshot of my most recent FICO score. Considering that you typically only find out what your credit score is when you’re rejected for credit, that’s a nice little perk! (You can also get one free credit report per year, but this FICO score updates a lot more than that!) I didn’t know that this particular card was going to offer all of these neat features when I applied for it, so I just consider myself lucky. But if you don’t want to count on luck, you should give CreditCardFlyers.com a try.

Looking for a credit card for your business and your employees? Check out the business credit card recommendations. Hoping to go on a trip? Take a look at a card offering airline miles. Happy with cash? Check out the huge selection of cash back credit cards. No matter what you want, they’ve got it. You can also search by bank, or exclusive offers. I love how the FICO score is shown on each page, reminding you of what range you fall into for credit. There are also tips on how to keep your FICO score high, like not applying for too much credit in a short time frame.

Don’t get credit crazy - just because you CAN get more cards, doesn’t mean you should. But when you are ready, pick the right card for your needs, and use it wisely! And use this site to keep yourself in check!

This is a sponsored review.

I’m all about using credit, loans, and money wisely. I used it the wrong way for so many years, and now I only use it correctly - go me! Someone give this girl a cookie.

It’s really easy (too easy, in fact) to get a charge card and charge up a mountain of debt in a matter of minutes. Have you ever seen people in the mall, or at sporting events offering free t-shirts or other swag, in return for applying for a credit card? How many people sign up for one, just to get something for free? You’re paying for that umbrella, or t-shirt, or whatever it is, for years to come in the form of interest and fees. If you can keep your good credit, but you still want to get out from under your mountain of bills, you may qualify for a debt consolidation loan. All too often though, by the time you realize it’s time to check into secured loans to pay off your debt, your credit rating is already in the toilet, and you can’t get a loan to save your life.

Why is our society so crazy for credit? Our parents worked for years and years, and probably only took out personal loans to buy a house or some other big ticket item. 40 years ago, even 30 years ago, people didn’t buy ANYTHING on credit. Or even with Loans! If you couldn’t afford it, you didn’t get it. There was no being upside down on car loans, or financing a meal at McDonalds with your credit card. And I think we were better off for it.

Those of you reading this blog from the UK have the opportunity to do your banking with The Co-Operative Bank, which promises to conduct their business in a socially & environmentally responsible manner. It’s a pledge that I wish more businesses in the US would look into adopting as part of a formal mission statement. All too often, banks and other big businesses are concerned with profits and the bottom line, not the customers that have made them what they are.

The Co-Operative Bank offers a wide range of bank accounts, from personal, to corporate, and they’ve adopted an ethical policy to help them provide the best, and most ethical level of service possible to their customers.

I mentioned here earlier that Jim submitted info to a loan site online, wondering if there was any way we could get a lower rate, or get out of paying our PMI. We got SO.MANY.CALLS. They started at 8am on Saturday morning and companies are still calling as, as of last night.

I don’t think he realized what a can of worms he was opening up. I have to say one thing - those sites offering homeowner loans and personal loans - they really do employ a bunch of go-getters! I never imagined that we’d get calls on a Saturday morning. And all of the emails. And the repeat calls, when people couldn’t reach us the first time. They must earn fat commissions on those loans, eh? We decided not go to do anything right now, but it’s nice to know that we can get a response like that, should we want to look into a refinance or secured personal loans. (Note to the guy who called me at 8am - that’s too early!)

Do you try to actively save money by cutting costs at home? I found a great article featuring 101 ways to save $1 a week. All of those dollars add up, and these things are free to try and set into motion. The article divides the 101 tips into the area of application, for example, around the house, on the road, food at home, dining out, buying clothing, recreation and leisure, and credit card spending…as well as a few other tips that didn’t fit into any one category.

We already do a lot of things to save money in our own home, but we could definitely improve. My kids make their lunches for school every day. Bread and peanut butter and jelly is a lot cheaper than a school lunch. I use the library instead of buying books, and we love the $2 movie theater. And those of you reading this blog know how I love a good sale on clothing or shoes!

One area I could improve on? Meal planning. All too often, we decide what to do for dinner an hour before dinner. If I did a little bit of planning and made better use of my leftovers, we could really make a dent in our grocery bill.

Jim listens to a lot of talk radio, and he hears ads all the time advertising mortgage refinancing with no closing costs, so he went to the website and submitted our info to see what could be done. We actually have a pretty decent rate on our mortgage for now but hey, if you can lower things and save money - why not look into it? Since then, we’ve been inundated with calls and emails from mortgage companies. One of them called at 8:45 on Saturday morning and gave us access to an online mortgage calculator and we saw that we could lower our payment by at least a few $100 a month. If the whole no closing cost gimmick is true, then I can see how these guys get a lot of business with refinancing secured loans. We’re just in the fact finding stages right now…but I’m interested in learning more.

We love our credit cards. We take advantage of the offers sent to us, and anytime we carry a balance on our cards, we make sure that we’re not paying interest on it. How? Well, if you do a balance transfer to any of the 0% APR credit cards, you’ll be able to pay down your balance without paying interest. Now, the 0% is usually only for a short time, say 6 months. At the end of those 6 months, apply for a new 0% card and transfer the balance on the first card to your new car. By switching cards like this, you can basically give yourself a free loan. You have to be disciplined enough to make sure you won’t have any late payments (or you could lose your 0% rate!) and you need to make sure you either pay off the card or switch to a new 0% card before the promo period is over. If you’re not getting offers for these cards in the mail, you can find the best credit card offers for your needs online. Search by rate, terms, or even by the bank!

My oldest is 7 years away from college…I hope that we’re able to pay for it and she won’t need to be burdened with loans when she graduates, but I know that student loans are a necessary evil for most people entering college. With prices soaring, most students need some sort of assistance - the tricky part is getting a good job after graduating so that you can pay off your education. Loans vary from state to state - Nevada student loans may differ in terms and duration from Florida student loans. The most important thing however, is to get solid advice on budgeting and preparing for the transition of being a student to working full time and paying off those loans. Consolidate your loans if you need to, which will probably save you some money each month.

Have you seen those ads offering credit report repair? There are some sleazy companies that promise to clean your credit in a matter of days. If you’re considering falling for that, let me clear something up for you. Did it take you a few days to mess your credit up? Probably not. A few months of missed payments and late charges, or maxing out your cards again and again…you can’t fix problems like that in days, and anyone that tells you it’s possible is yanking your chain. If you want to know how to do some real credit report repair, the folks at CreditLoan.com have some ideas for you on their site. They delve into some of the scams used, and give real tips on how to fix your credit yourself, and for free.