Interesting Tidbits About Money
They say money makes the world go around and it is pretty hard to argue otherwise. Here are some interesting tidbits about money that you might not know.
The first money was what is called a commodity money system. The money was actually some type of commodity that had an intrinsic value, but was used as a medium of exchange. In ancient Mesopotamia, the shekel was actually a certain volume of barley. In early Europe, salt was used as money. In the Sydney Bay colony of Australia, rum was used as currency. Colonial Virginia used certain cash crops such as tobacco, rice, and wheat.
The first paper money issued by the United States Government was printed in 1862. The reasons were the shortage of coins and the need to finance the Civil War. People were hoarding coins because they were made of precious metals and confidence in their value as currency was fading quickly. The first United States bills were intended to replace these coins and were issued in denominations of one cent, five cents, twenty five cents, and fifty cents.
The modern one dollar bill has an average lifespan of about seventeen months before it wears out. The larger denomination bills tend to last much longer because they are not used as frequently. The one hundred dollar bill usually is good for at least five years. If all of the one dollar bills that wear out in an average year were put into a single stack, it would reach 200 miles into the sky.
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing is the Federal agency charged with the printing of money. Each day they print around 35 million bills worth around $635 million dollars. This does not mean that the money supply increases by this amount every day. At least 95% of the bills printed each year are intended to replace the bills in circulation that have worn out.
Money has been the subject of our desires and a cause of our problems for as long as we have used it. It is said that money is the leading cause of disagreements in marriage. In the First Epistle to Timothy 6:10, we are told that the love of money is the root of all evil. It is calculated that if you had 10 billion one dollar bills and you spend one every second of every day, it would be 317 years until you finally went broke. Money has come a long way since the days when people would pay their bills with bushels of barley, or bottles of rum. It can be expected that money will change even more as we move into the future.
Winston Goldstein is with MoneyMakerstop.com - your source for advice and information on money.


Are You Throwing Your Money Away?
Dear Readers,

My story, describes just one of the many basic financial mistakes that most people make during their working lives. I am writing this with the hope that it may just trigger your financial alarms bells and save you and yours from potentially loosing thousands like silly oul me did.

I got my first Job in 1997 after graduating from college with a degree in Computer Engineering. I was on a starting salary of $29000. I also moved out of home and shared a rented house with some old college friends. The rent was approx $180 per month.

After a few months I took out a car loan for $22000 @ 9% per annum. Life was great and like most 22 year olds, I lived from pay check to pay check and had a great social life.

When I turned 24, I decided to start planning for my future and save some money. I cut back on my social life and was careful with my spending. Eventually I could save about $400 dollars per month.

I asked my bank manager for advice about my extra $400 and he suggested I put it into THEIR savings plan every month where It would earn 3.2%. I was chuffed with my-self. Like my parents and teachers had thought me, I was saving a percentage of my salary. And 3.2% is a nice no risk return from a reputable financial institution.

(THIS IS WHERE MY MONEY DECIDED TO HEAD FOR THE TOILET)
(! TIP Banks are out to make a profit for themselves. )

If I had just sat down and thought it through for a few minutes I would have saved myself a large sum of money. Also, if my bank manager had my true interests at heart, he would have explained this simple principal to me. But if he were to do that, my gain would take from the banks profits.

The simple Math. My Loan was costing me 9% and my savings earning me 3.2%. If I had simply put my $400 extra towards repaying the loan every month here is what would have happened.

I would have decreased the term of my loan substantially and as well as paying off the loan early I would have saved approximately $2,200 in interest repayments. If I had continued the saving scheme, I would have earned interest of $683. That means I would have been $1,520 ($2,200 - $680) better off if id concentrated on repaying the loan.

That’s $1,520 I wasted. As foolish as my mistake was, the sad fact is, a huge number of people are doing the exact same thing. People are putting money away for their future, kids education etc, while also repaying high interest loans, consumer debt and credit card debt.

I was fortunate in that my loan was only over five years, yet people go through most of their life saving this way. Over 20 years my loss would have compounded to 10’s of thousands.

Now I’m not saying by any means that banks and loans should be avoided. Even the mega rich get loans. The difference is, they can make the loans work to their advantage. The points I’m trying to bring across is that one should pay close attention to how they repay their loans.

Keep in mind that your bank will bring out new products every year, saving plans, pension schemes etc and their staff are often given huge commissions when they sell the products.

High interest loans and credit card debt should always be paid off first. Then when your debts are cleared, keep the habit of re-investing your cleared loan installments towards savings and other higher yield investments.

I was almost at the end of my 5 year loan, when I was shown my silly mistake by a friend of mine who was giving me financial advice. He thought me to think practically about money and he also pointed me towards some financial self help books which have really helped get control of my financial destiny. Two books I highly recommend are, Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. I urge you to study them.

I’m now 31 years old and I’ve now got my financial life well under control. You are probably thinking, (If this jackass can get control of his finances then so can I). YES you can. Make a commitment to start your financial education today and stay focused. Save/Borrow and Invest wisely. Also stay tuned to my web-site http://www.cash-brain.com for plenty of FREE tips and resources.

I hope this simple story pushes some buttons for you. I wish you and yours happiness and prosperity.
John Cranley


The Negotiation Cycle For Talking With A Creditor
Don't be fooled by the come-ons. According to the Federal Trade Commission - you see the advertisements in newspapers, on TV, and on the Internet. You hear them on the radio. You get fliers in the mail. You may even get calls from telemarketers offering credit repair services.
They all make the same claims:

* Credit problems? No problem!

* We can erase your bad credit - 100% guaranteed.

* Create a new credit identity - legally.

* We can remove bankruptcies, judgments, liens, and bad loans from your credit file forever!

Do yourself a favor and save some money, too. Don't believe these promises. Only time, a conscious effort, and a personal debt repayment plan will improve your credit report.

Most of the steps for improving your credit you can do yourself. Follow this negotiation cycle when dealing with a creditor.
1. Contact the creditor by phone and reach a tentative agreement.
2. Send the creditor a settlement agreement, requesting return of a signed copy.
3. Upon receipt of a signed copy, send a money order marked "Full Payment."
4. Order a credit report from the credit bureau to ensure the item is changed or deleted as agreed.
5. If your credit report is unchanged, send the creditor a letter demanding compliance with the agreement.

Your bargaining power in this technique is your willingness to repay your creditor the money that you owe him. If the account has already been charged off or discharged in bankruptcy, your leverage will be even greater. At this point, the creditor has already accepted a loss on your account, and he does not expect to ever see or hear from you again. When he hears that you are now willing to repay the debt (or even a percentage of the debt), he'll be anxious to work with you.

You should expect to repay your creditor from 70 percent to the full amount to have it removed or to change the negative credit rating. However, if you expect to settle at 70 percent or less, you should start by offering around 40 percent. You will also lose some of your bargaining power if the balance on the account is under $200, as the creditor may not even want to waste his time with it.

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Did you know?

If you need to work on your credit report, the FTC warns that no one can legally remove accurate and timely negative information from a credit report. The law allows you to ask for an investigation of information in your file that you dispute as inaccurate or incomplete.
There is no charge for this. Everything a credit repair clinic can do for you legally, you can do for yourself at little or no cost. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

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In many cases, the initial person with whom you begin negotiating does not have the authority to enter into a settlement agreement, especially since it involves changing your credit rating. It is important, therefore, that you talk directly to someone who is in a position to authorize the final agreement.

Another obstacle you may face is that many of these collection officers will tell you that it is impossible (or illegal) to change your credit rating. Therefore, it is often necessary for you to explain to them what you want and how it can be done. The creditor can use the following methods to change or delete credit information on your file:

* All creditors who subscribe to one of the major credit bureaus use a nine-track computerized magnetic tape to report their clients' payment histories. They send this tape to the bureau on a monthly basis. Therefore, you can request that they change the information on this tape after they receive your payment. You may also ask them to delete the account from the tape.

* The creditor can also "bull's-eye" your account. This is an instant method of credit file correction, which is accomplished through the creditor's computer link to the credit bureau. The creditor has the capacity to pull up your account on the computer and make the necessary change automatically. By using a change of information slip, the authorized person can send the corrected information to the data acquisition department of the credit bureau and your file will be updated.

* The creditor can also change the information by submitting a manual update form to the consumer relations department of the credit bureau. With this method, the creditor can delete negative information but cannot change the rating from negative to positive.
About The AuthorMichael Saunders has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He edits a site on how to Fix Bad Credit and is president of Information Organizers, LLC.