The battle begins - One question is worth $50

We discuss hundreds of topics in a day in our forums but the “Answer & earn $50″ section has twisted the story. This recently added section is an opportunity where hundreds of us can answer one question and battle it out for better and the best ones.

How it works?

1. Our community picks up the question of the week, which is displayed on the site under the section “Answer & earn $50″.
2. Anyone can answer it. All the answers are kept hidden.
3. At the end of the week, all the answers are shown to our moderators’ panel. They pick up the 5 best answers (first one gets 5 points and fifth one gets 1 point).
4. Answers with the maximum points win.
5. $50 is paid to the member for the best answer.
6. Once the result is declared, all answers are made public.

Today is the first day of “Answer & earn $50″ and the first question is “What are the alternatives to payday loan?”And we already have SIX answers. Must say it is a great going

Technorati Tags: dollar, money, community, finance, payday loan

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Mike you are always there in our prayers

Life can be tough sometimes but during those toughest times it is wonderful to know your friends and loved ones care for you. DebtCC is a big family and like every family it too has its own conflicts, problems and disputes. But what happens during tough times? Yes, each and every member forgets his or her differences and stands united. That’s what happens in DebtCC also. Recently the forum members have come together to support Mike during his tough period.

Mike I want you to know that you are always there in our thoughts and prayers. I truly believe that all the prayers from every one of us are heard and will be answered by GOD. So, do not lose hope and stay strong buddy.

Here are some lines for you friend

“Never let go of hope. One day you will see that it all has finally come together. What you have always wished for has finally come to be. You will look back and laugh at what has passed and you will ask yourself… ‘How did I get through all of that?”

“Hope” is the thing with feathers– That perches in the soul– And sings the tune without the words– And never stops–at all– Emily Dickenson

Fortune favors the brave - Publius Terence

Hope is always available to us. When we feel defeated, we need only take a deep breath and say, “Yes,” and hope will reappear. — Monroe Forester

Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall - Confucius

For hope is but the dream of those that wake - Matthew Prior

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do - Epictetus

The rose is fairest when ‘t is budding new, and hope is brightest when it dawns from fears - Walter Scott

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hope is the last thing that dies in man; and though it be exceedingly deceitful, yet it is of this good use to us, that while we are traveling through life it conducts us in an easier and more pleasant way to our journey’s end. — François de la Rochefoucauld

Technorati Tags: hope quotes, motivational quotes, inspirational sayings

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Inquiries and establishing credit

“I am on my way to establish credit so how many inquiries should I make? I have also heard that too many inquiries can lower down my score. Is it correct?” - This is a common question that most of the people trying to build up credit face. This post is an attempt to help them.

Inquiries negatively affect your score but the extent to which it affects actually depends on the overall profile of the credit report that’s being scored. For instance, an inquiry is going to matter more on somebody who has a short credit history without a lot of accounts.

Consider a college student who has only a student loan included in his credit report. Now, if he gets a few inquiries, then that’s going to affect his score more negatively than someone else who has got a long credit history.

The worst thing to do while establishing credit is getting a secured account and then putting across your credit applications to all of the big banks and the national department stores. By doing so, you start generating hard inquiries that in turn lower down your score. As lenders consider too many hard credit checks as an indication that you’re facing some kind of financial hardship and are desperately looking for credit to help you out

Technorati Tags: credit report, credit inquiry, hard pull, credit score, establish credit

1 Comment | Posted in » Personal Finance
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5 Tips to lower your grocery bills

I am not a very meticulous person and it reflects on the way I keep (Do I really?) a track of my grocery bills. The very thought of spending hours and hours in keeping notes of each and every grocery item purchased from stores gives me a headache. I am not an overspender and buy things that I need (things that are necessity) but of late I have realized that I can save some extra money if I start paying a little more attention towards reducing the grocery expenses. I have started adhering to these simple tips to cut down my expenses on grocery and its working. So, I thought of sharing them with you all.

• Make fewer trips to store: I have cut down my trips to the grocery store. My trips have been reduced to once or twice a month. The fewer times I visit the store, the less opportunities I will have for impulse buying. Shoppers making a ‘quick trip’ to grocery stores end up spending 54 percent more than they intended.

• Every weekend plan for the coming week’s meals and snacks: On Saturdays I sit down and make a plan of the menus that will be cooked for the next week. I also plan for the snacks. Planning ahead restricts me from buying unwanted stuffs and also gives me an idea about the quantity of the items I need to buy.

• Try generic grocery products: Most of the people rush to grocery stores and grab the name brand. They simply overlook the generic products. I was also a bit apprehensive about using generic items at first, so I compared the ingredients in the generic and the national brand items. To my surprise in most cases, the ingredients present in the generic and the brand items were same. So, buying generic items do not imply that you are compromising on quality. Everything from breakfast cereals to canned goods and prescription drugs is available under a generic or store brand label. And by purchasing them you can actually save from a few cents to a couple of dollars per item.

• Stock up the necessity items if they are put on sale: Items like soaps, tissue papers and toiletries can be stocked up. Buying them in bulk will be cheaper. Instead of rushing to stores and wasting gas, you can easily use the items from your stock anytime when you need a new supply for your own use.

• Use coupons: I usually clip out the coupons that I intend to use in a week from the Sunday paper. I usually buy items that I regularly use with coupons- it does save money.

budget,grocery bills,budgeting tips,reduce grocery bills

Technorati Tags: budget, grocery bills, budgeting tips, reduce grocery bills

3 Comments | Posted in » Personal Finance
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Talk to debtcc community members for free counseling

This is another step towards offering free help to people who can’t afford or are scared of all fishy debt settlement companies. We have a lot of community members in DebtCC who are counseling experts but do not want to disclose their personal identity due to personal as well as professional reasons. Now here comes the good news for all of them who want to help others yet do not want to disclose their identity. There are lots of financially distressed people out there who need counseling but can’t avail it as they do not have money to pay the fees for counseling or are scared of dealing with a debt management firm (rightly so).

How is DebtCC trying to help people who can not pay the counseling fees?
People who need financial counseling can call at the DebtCC numbers. Then our system checks the list of the financial coaches available on the phone and will send call requests to the available coaches. The person who is calling will not know the number of the coach as the call will be routed via the DebtCC numbers. The process will almost look like:

The community members interested to help financially challenged people have to register their phone numbers with us (which will never be disclosed to anyone). As mentioned above the caller won’t come to know about financial coach’s identity as well as the number.

Discuss the idea with community members.

Technorati Tags: financial coach, debt help, counseling, debt, credit, community

2 Comments | Posted in » Debt Consolidation
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