Kids these days. With their iPods and their Xboxes and their cellphone texting. Overdeveloped fingers and underdeveloped social skills. You disobedient rugrats, get offa my lawn!
Annnnnnd apparently I’m an old man waving a cane from my porch rocking chair. But it’s true that kids have gotten highly dependent on their technology, and they may not take it well when you have to cut down on luxuries like cable and cell phone allowances.
See it as an opportunity. Through no fault of your own, your kids have to do without technology. This means they could spend time doing other things. Like . . . gasp! spending time with their families.
That’s you, by the way. Ever wish your kids spent more time with you? Well, now they have nothing shinier and more brightly colored distracting them. Take advantage.
One of the best things about family outings is that they’re cheap. The idea is to spend time together, not to spend money. Here’s 5 Things you can do with your kids on the cheap. Who knows, they might even have so much fun they won’t complain about the fact that they can’t bring their handhelds.
Well, no. That’s a little too optimistic. But they might forget to complain for awhile. You know, while they’re having fun.
#1 Pack a Picnic.
Make it a big, complicated picnic. The more accoutrement involved in getting the picnic together, the more exciting the prospect.
Send the kids around the house for a good blanket to lie on, a Frisbee and a football, a baseball bat and a ball appropriate for their age range. Bring books. If you have younger children, bring ones you can read aloud. Bring a boombox with a good CD in it that you can play low in the background. Bring a book on trees, insects, flowers, or animals if you want to throw a little education into the mix.
Take your picnic to the beach, the park, or even the backyard. Just laying out a picnic is incredibly satisfying. The best part is that the meal itself doesn’t have to be any more expensive than your usual lunch budget. Sandwiches, chips, and fruit are easy and cheap. They’re also hard to screw up if you aren’t the culinary type.
#2 Take Them Out to the Ballgame.
Gone are the days where you had to sell your firstborn for seats to see the home team. The economy sucks – take advantage.
I’ve seen tickets for the Padres at $12, which price also includes a hot dog and a soda. Remember when you used to have to pay $12 for the hot dog and soda alone? Those days are gone. Kick back, put your feet up on the seat in front of you, and teach your kids about the fine art of watching a good game – namely, eat bad food, cheer a lot, and don’t throw up.
You can also do this with your local high school or college game. Trust us; the cheering is the same no matter where you go. And a smaller venue with more people in it is just as exhilarating. Also, they probably won’t kick you out if you say something mean to the ref. They’re used to crazy parents.
#3 Monopolize Their Night.
Monday nights are boring. Competition is exciting. They can make beautiful music together. Crack out the Monopoly board, Trivial Pursuit, Life, Trouble, or any other board game you have sitting around in the closet. Make some snack foods and get some cheap paraphernalia to make it more interesting. Hats are always good.
If you’re really adventurous, try your hand at turning your kids into card sharps. Teach ‘em poker or blackjack and use pennies, nickels and dimes for chips. Playing for real money – even when it’s literally chump change – appeals to kids of all ages. At the end of the night, they’re up two dollars. Wooooow.
Seriously, they’ll love it.
You can also take bets. Not real bets. We’re not trying to turn your kids into the spawn of Vegas here (although if you train ‘em really hard, maybe they can get you out of your debt in their new careers as professional poker players). But fun bets. If they win, you take them for ice cream. If you win, they have to do the dishes.
I used to do this with my girlfriend. We were slightly more avant-garde. I believe I was cured of any betting addictions that may have been lying latent in me when I had to run down a beach in a wedding dress carrying a boom box on my shoulder playing Tiny Dancer by Elton John. That sort of thing is better than any 12-step program.
#4 Kick a Ball.
Or hit one. Or throw one. Or do whatever the hell it is soccer players do with their foreheads. Go play a game, an impromptu playground-style game, at the park. Invite another family you know, or start a pick-up game with other families at the park.
Hint: kickball has never not been fun. Ever, in the history of kickball games. If your kids are too young or uncoordinated to hit a baseball reliably or make a basket, they can still kick the bejeezus out of a bouncy rubber ball, and have a great time doing it. The nature of the game also means they have a pretty good shot of getting to first base, even if they kick it right to someone.
Play Ultimate Frisbee, or football, or Monster Tag. Have your kids teach YOU the games they play on the playground at school. Just get out there and roll in the grass. They call it “fun and games” for a reason.
#5 Take a Hike.
Wherever you are in the United States, there is a pretty trail just begging for you to walk it. Mountains are great: they’re pretty and they’re challenging, so your kids will be focused on getting to the top and not on nagging you about whether they’re there yet. No, you’re not there. The top is when you’re there. Bet you I can beat you.
No kid is going to let you beat them up a mountain. Well, your six-year-old might. But after about the age of ten, there’s no way they’re letting you beat them.
And when you get to the top, you can pass them the water bottle and have a heart-to-heart, just like you wanted. They’ll be too exhausted to run away.
You never know. Having to cut your entertainment budget may be the best thing that ever happened to your relationship with your kids. Get creative. Spend some time with them. And save some money while you’re at it.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
5 Thing that ruin your credit and how to avoid them
Your credit’s lousy, and somehow it just got worse. You’re not even sure how it happened. You’ve been making your payments, you’re not a loser. Here’s 5 Things that screw up your credit that you probably don’t know about.
#1 Closing Old Credit Cards
When you finally pay off that credit card, it seems like the smart thing to do is just chop it into tiny pieces, call up the company, and close it down completely. No temptation, no consequences. You are finally free of the credit card! It has no power over you. You are no longer being drawn to the Dark Side.
Sorry, Luke. Turns out your credit rating isn’t going to get rewarded if you remove the temptation. It’s only going to reward you if you get tempted and deny said temptation. Be strong.
A credit report with old accounts looks good on your report. The aged accounts give you points, just for having had a credit line open that long. Go bury them in the backyard if you want to make using them hard on yourself, but don’t close them out with the company.
#2 Using Up All Your Available Credit
You have a credit card with $3,000 available credit. That means you can spend $3,000. Because that’s what’s AVAILABLE. Right?
‘Fraid not. Credit card companies are sneaky like that. Truth is, your balance-to-limit radio is going to have a big effect on your credit. You want your balance (the amount you spend) to be only 20% of your limit (the amount that’s available). That means that $3,000 credit card should only have $600 on it if you want to keep your credit shiny clean.
If you really need that credit to get through the day, call up your credit company and find out what day of the month they report your balance to the credit bureaus. If you pay your bill just before that day, the amount reported to the credit bureau will be as low as possible.
#3 Applying for Too Much Credit
When you’re hurting for cash, your impulse may be to fill out as many credit card applications as possible in hopes that one will come through. This is actually a good way to make sure NONE of them come through, since lots of inquiries damages your credit report and makes those credit card companies less likely to give you credit.
Allow there to be 6 months between every applications. Let your old cards get older (see our advice on #1) and don’t get new stuff. Credit card companies are watching.
Yeah, it’s creepy. But it’s true.
#4 Not Paying Late Fees
When you’re late or over the limit, credit card companies charge you a fee. We’ve all gotten these, and they suck. The problem isn’t the fee, though. The problem is when you only send your regular payment, and don’t include the fee.
The fee will roll over and it will be considered 30 days late. Not only will that get you another fee, it’ll show up on your credit report. It’s a vicious, vicious cycle, and it’s sneaky too. Out-sneak your credit company and enclose the imposed fee with your payment.
#5 Moving
We’re not saying you shouldn’t move. But seriously, you would not believe how many times a day we see angry people whose companies didn’t forward their bills in time. They got late fees, they got dinged credit reports, and they’re pissed.
They should be pissed. It’s a lousy policy on the part of the credit companies. If they wanted to get good customer service points, they’d be all over sending your bill to the right place.
Unfortunately, they’re more in the business of collecting late fees. They don’t care that you’re upset. You have to be in charge of your own bills.
You know what date your bills are due. Set up online bill pay, write the due dates in big letters on your calendar, do whatever you have to do, but don’t rely on the postal service to get your bills to you on time.
Seriously, the postal service? That’s dangerous even if you’re not moving. Join us in the 21st Century. Set up an alert on your computer or have your email calendar remind you. Use your cell phone. Make it happen.
You know when your favorite TV show is on, right? We’re going to go out on a limb here and say that keeping your credit score high is slightly more important than what happened on Lost this week. What happens on Lost isn’t going to make any sense, anyway. There’s no reason your credit report should be the same.
#1 Closing Old Credit Cards
When you finally pay off that credit card, it seems like the smart thing to do is just chop it into tiny pieces, call up the company, and close it down completely. No temptation, no consequences. You are finally free of the credit card! It has no power over you. You are no longer being drawn to the Dark Side.
Sorry, Luke. Turns out your credit rating isn’t going to get rewarded if you remove the temptation. It’s only going to reward you if you get tempted and deny said temptation. Be strong.
A credit report with old accounts looks good on your report. The aged accounts give you points, just for having had a credit line open that long. Go bury them in the backyard if you want to make using them hard on yourself, but don’t close them out with the company.
#2 Using Up All Your Available Credit
You have a credit card with $3,000 available credit. That means you can spend $3,000. Because that’s what’s AVAILABLE. Right?
‘Fraid not. Credit card companies are sneaky like that. Truth is, your balance-to-limit radio is going to have a big effect on your credit. You want your balance (the amount you spend) to be only 20% of your limit (the amount that’s available). That means that $3,000 credit card should only have $600 on it if you want to keep your credit shiny clean.
If you really need that credit to get through the day, call up your credit company and find out what day of the month they report your balance to the credit bureaus. If you pay your bill just before that day, the amount reported to the credit bureau will be as low as possible.
#3 Applying for Too Much Credit
When you’re hurting for cash, your impulse may be to fill out as many credit card applications as possible in hopes that one will come through. This is actually a good way to make sure NONE of them come through, since lots of inquiries damages your credit report and makes those credit card companies less likely to give you credit.
Allow there to be 6 months between every applications. Let your old cards get older (see our advice on #1) and don’t get new stuff. Credit card companies are watching.
Yeah, it’s creepy. But it’s true.
#4 Not Paying Late Fees
When you’re late or over the limit, credit card companies charge you a fee. We’ve all gotten these, and they suck. The problem isn’t the fee, though. The problem is when you only send your regular payment, and don’t include the fee.
The fee will roll over and it will be considered 30 days late. Not only will that get you another fee, it’ll show up on your credit report. It’s a vicious, vicious cycle, and it’s sneaky too. Out-sneak your credit company and enclose the imposed fee with your payment.
#5 Moving
We’re not saying you shouldn’t move. But seriously, you would not believe how many times a day we see angry people whose companies didn’t forward their bills in time. They got late fees, they got dinged credit reports, and they’re pissed.
They should be pissed. It’s a lousy policy on the part of the credit companies. If they wanted to get good customer service points, they’d be all over sending your bill to the right place.
Unfortunately, they’re more in the business of collecting late fees. They don’t care that you’re upset. You have to be in charge of your own bills.
You know what date your bills are due. Set up online bill pay, write the due dates in big letters on your calendar, do whatever you have to do, but don’t rely on the postal service to get your bills to you on time.
Seriously, the postal service? That’s dangerous even if you’re not moving. Join us in the 21st Century. Set up an alert on your computer or have your email calendar remind you. Use your cell phone. Make it happen.
You know when your favorite TV show is on, right? We’re going to go out on a limb here and say that keeping your credit score high is slightly more important than what happened on Lost this week. What happens on Lost isn’t going to make any sense, anyway. There’s no reason your credit report should be the same.
5 steps to get you on the right track
Tip #1: Pay Off High-Interest Credit Cards Faster. When paying off credit cards, always pay off the card with the highest interest rate first, while only paying the minimum payment on card(s) with a lower rate. Once the high card is paid off, apply every dime of what you were paying on that card to the remaining card and be debt free faster than you imagined.
Tip #2: Be Proactive If You Can't Pay. If you know you're going to be late in making a payment on any debt you owe, call the creditor institution or company and let them know.
In some cases, they can arrange for you to at least make a small partial payment on what you owe without serious consequences in terms of interest or damage to your credit rating.
Tip #3: Manage Medical Debt Wisely. If you end up with a large medical bill, be sure to double-check your coverage with your insurance company to ensure you're not paying more than you should.
Also double-check your hospital charges; the federal General Accounting Office estimates that the average hospital bill has about $1,400 in mistakes.² Take a close look at your bill and ask the hospital to explain its charges if something doesn't look right. If you can't pay the entire bill at once, most hospitals will work with you to set up a payment plan without huge interest rates and/or late fees.
Tip #4: Consider a Reverse Mortgage. If you own your home outright, you may want to consider a "reverse mortgage" as an option for paying off a large debt. A reverse mortgage is a special loan that:
Allows you to get money from your home now.
Doesn't require a certain income or credit rating.
Doesn't need to be paid back until you move or pass away.
To qualify, you need to be at least 62 years old and have no outstanding loans or liens against your home. Please consult with your tax or legal advisor to further discuss this option.
Tip #5: Know Your Rights. No matter how deep in debt you are, you have certain rights all creditors must legally respect. For example, creditors cannot call you at work if your employer bans such calls. And they can't imply you've committed a crime or say you'll be arrested if you don't pay your debt.
For more information, call the National Consumer Law Center publications department at 617.542.9595 and request a free copy of "What You Should Know About Debt Collection."
State laws on debt collection also vary. Contact your state's Attorney General's office for more information if you have questions about the laws in your state.
Tip #2: Be Proactive If You Can't Pay. If you know you're going to be late in making a payment on any debt you owe, call the creditor institution or company and let them know.
In some cases, they can arrange for you to at least make a small partial payment on what you owe without serious consequences in terms of interest or damage to your credit rating.
Tip #3: Manage Medical Debt Wisely. If you end up with a large medical bill, be sure to double-check your coverage with your insurance company to ensure you're not paying more than you should.
Also double-check your hospital charges; the federal General Accounting Office estimates that the average hospital bill has about $1,400 in mistakes.² Take a close look at your bill and ask the hospital to explain its charges if something doesn't look right. If you can't pay the entire bill at once, most hospitals will work with you to set up a payment plan without huge interest rates and/or late fees.
Tip #4: Consider a Reverse Mortgage. If you own your home outright, you may want to consider a "reverse mortgage" as an option for paying off a large debt. A reverse mortgage is a special loan that:
Allows you to get money from your home now.
Doesn't require a certain income or credit rating.
Doesn't need to be paid back until you move or pass away.
To qualify, you need to be at least 62 years old and have no outstanding loans or liens against your home. Please consult with your tax or legal advisor to further discuss this option.
Tip #5: Know Your Rights. No matter how deep in debt you are, you have certain rights all creditors must legally respect. For example, creditors cannot call you at work if your employer bans such calls. And they can't imply you've committed a crime or say you'll be arrested if you don't pay your debt.
For more information, call the National Consumer Law Center publications department at 617.542.9595 and request a free copy of "What You Should Know About Debt Collection."
State laws on debt collection also vary. Contact your state's Attorney General's office for more information if you have questions about the laws in your state.
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