Sense to Save

Some renters being affected by foreclosures

This story on CNN.com made me mad.

Renters are being affected by this foreclosure mess, too. In the article, one family dutifully paid rent on time. They’re probably going to get kicked out of their home, because the owner of the rental house is behind on the mortgage. Good grief. The family will lose their home and their $7k security deposit.

The same thing is happening to a single mother of eight children, also mentioned in that story.

It’s really a shame when a family does their best by renting a house (and avoiding a mortgage they can’t afford), and paying their rent on time, and get kicked out anyway.

My husband and I are renters in an apartment complex, and I feel it’s less likely that the apartment company will go into foreclosure. But nothing is guaranteed.

Really? A credit card co. that wants to help you get out of debt

You might have seen the Discover Card commercial that details a new “paydown planner” online feature.

I’m not, nor have I ever been a Discover customer, so all my thoughts are from the outside looking in, I suppose.

With the paydown planner, you enter your desired payoff date and/or how much money you can afford to send to Discover each month. It will show you your spending history and if your goals will be possible.

In the commercial, people are skeptical.

“Why would a credit card company want to help me?” one asks. Fair question.

Perhaps they think that if they show you how to get out of debt, you’ll feel more empowered about your financial situation. That may or may not spur you into taking action and paying off the credit cards for good. Or, maybe Discover hopes people will get out of debt, but continue to use their credit cards, figuring they’ll always be able to get out of debt if they wanted to.

Or maybe, Discover wants to paint themselves as a company that’s on your side.

I have a hard time believing any credit card company would do anything that’s actually good for the consumer. I guess I’m cynical like that.

If Discover can actually help some people get out of credit card debt, I think that’s a step in the right direction.

Ultimately, it is good to pay off your credit cards–and if you decide to continue using them, make sure you absolutely can pay off your balance each month. One way to be sure you’ll be able to is to have a decent emergency fund. Or, just stick with cash and debit and not have to worry about it.

What do you think?

Got my free magazine!

In April, I wrote about Adperk, and how you can watch ads to earn a free magazine subscription. I earned a year’s worth of Good Housekeeping, and my first issue arrived in the mail today. Quite a quick turnaround, in my opinion.

Other magazines you can earn are: Ode, Popular Science and Field & Stream. There are more magazines that are supposed to be “coming soon.” I hope to earn Smart Money once that becomes an option.