Monty Loree arriving at the office


Monty Loree at his desk

I thought I should take a few minutes to introduce myself, as we probably haven't been formally introduced.

I'll be the person doing the marketing software & ebook evaluations for you.

I thought I should post my pictures to let people know the man behind the keyboard.- Monty Loree- President of HomeGrown Advertising Inc

TOMORROW IS HOMEGROWN'S 11TH ANNIVERSARY!!
I'm excited to say that tomorrow, November 1, 2005 is HomeGrown Advertising Inc's 11th anniversary! We're excited about that as we accomplished alot in those years.

PRODUCT REVIEWS COMING UP
I am currently working on the review system for the affiliate suppliers and for myself. My goal is to be able to review as many products in a quality fashion as I can each week.

I've got my work cut out in the next few weeks as we're just starting on this path. If you are a Clickbank, CJ, Shareasale or other affiliate supplier, and would like us to review your marketing software or ebook, let me know.

Initially we are going to have to inhale a ton of information about the companies, products and people that develop them. Hopefully by today or tomorrow, I will have the review form published for the advertisers to use to tell us more about themselves and their products.

I'll post it here as soon as I've got it up and running.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

THE FIRST REVIEW - RICH JERK EBOOK
I just thought I would give a real , but example quick review on the Rich Jerk ebook using my new buttons.

RATINGS




I researched the Rich Jerk ebook for about an hour. I read different blogs on the Rich Jerk's ebook product.

I READ THE WHOLE PAGE!!
I visited his website. Normally, I don't read the whole 'mile long' sales page because I can usually get to the point at the bottom of the page. However, I DID read the Rich Jerk's whole page, including his claim where he shows how much money he's made. I wouldn't have continued to read unless he was showing me some of his own success. He did manage to grab and keep my attention which is unusual.

I was impressed with the lay out and copy on his page. Let's face it, marketing is marketing, even if he is insulting you throughout the copy. I was intrigued and tempted to buy the book.

After reading some blog and forum reviews, some of the readers indicated that they tried to return the book for a refund and received a nasty email with profanities from the Rich Jerk. They did not get their refund back.

At last look I couldn't find his book listed anywhere in the first pages of Clickbank. It may be because of the complaints from his poor refund performance.

BOTTOM LINE:
If you're a newbie, apparently there is SOME GOOD and valuable information in The Rich Jerk's book. His style of writing is definitely unique, and he seems to be doing well with his style. You may or may not get a refund from him. It's a good idea to visit his sales page to get a preliminary look at how he works.

aluminum manufacturers

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

In reviewing different products and services, I have created some visual indicators to help readers understand how we rate each product and how much time and effort has gone into the review.

RECOMMENDED STATUS







REVIEWED STATUS











The benefit of this format is that we'll be able to tell you if we've reviewed the product or not. If we've done a light review, but everything looks good, we'll put a recommended label, with a lightly reviewed button.

I'll use the "Warning Label" if a product has value but should be used with caution. This is especially true if it's a product that is meant for experienced users and not by brand new internet marketers.

I'll post some more detailed instructions for our recommended buttons and review stages on a static page.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

With the last google update Jagger, we're having to change / greatly enhance the way we're talking about our products and services.

It seems that the old rules of website marketing have changed. Change is good. After reviewing our strengthes and weaknesses, coupled with what we like to do, we've decided to change www.express-marketing.com into a product review format.

As an advertising company, we believe in truth in advertising. Sometimes it's difficult to get truth on the internet, or at least that's what I find. Only after doing a reasonable amount of due diligence am I able to get an answer that I'm looking for, or at least a pattern of an answer. This is especially true for website marketing software and ebooks etc.

As the owner of an advertising company since 1994, I have seen many products and companies come and go. I have seen advertising campaigns succeed and fail. I have seen more hype in my life time than I can remember.

Don't get me wrong, along with being the CEO of my company, I am also the CXO "Chief Excitement Officer" of my company. I like excitement and I like to generate excitement.

The excitement I would like to generate on this blog is based on facts. I would like to think about what we're building as 'clinical' reviews of products that are offered for sale on the internet.

My understand of products on the internet is that most are NOT one size fits all. For example, while I have years of experience writing online and offline ads, I am relatively new to blogging. Thus I need software / ebooks for people who need help with blogging.

I don't need help writing ads. I understand fundamentally why people buy products and services. I do however need products or services which talk about working PPC's and ad placement as this aspect is not something I've aggressively practiced. I am just now learning about high end ad placement on my site to get the best results.

As I start to publish reviews on products, I will keep in mind that what's best for me is not best for people with other levels of experience.

I will try to give a very objective look at what I'm reviewing. If I think the product or service is garbage and of no value to anybody, I won't hesitate to say so.

To be honest, I am a very discerning customer. I usually spend a while reviewing a product or service before purchasing it. If a product is going to give me value, I want to purchase it. I hate wasting my time reading or using crappy products.

My aim is to build this site into a place where I would trust buying the product.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (1)

That would be interesting if credit card companies had to put health warnings on the back of their credit cards.

WARNING: USING THIS CREDIT CARD CARRIES THE FOLLOWING HEALTH / LIFESTYLE RISKS:

• Suicide
  
• Depression
  
• Anxiety attacks
  
• Marital separation
  
• Marital Divorce
  
• Over stress
  
• Sleepless nights
  
• Over working
  
• Bankruptcy
  USE THIS CREDIT CARD AT YOUR OWN RISK

People think of financial maturity like health food. "That's old fashioned, we have new ways in the year 2005." People rely on medicines that are developed to cure problems that have cropped up in our 21st century, because of our current lifestyle.

In the beginning, when God created Adam and Eve, they had a pretty simple life style. Adam and Eve didn't have credit cards, ipods, electronics of all types, BMW's. They weren't bombarded by advertising. They couldn't have lived our current North American lifestyle if they wanted to.

People look on credit and consumerism as the lifestyle, because it's relatively new and exciting. They're not looking at the risks associated with this lifestyle.

In my opinion, "NO, IT'S NOT OK TO GET DIVORCED OR SEPARATED BECAUSE OF DEBT / MONEY PROBLEMS!" It's not really ok to have prolonged arguments between spouses because of the pressure that debt puts you under. Especially if the debt was caused by irresponsible spending. ie.. if you don't need what you purchase and it's going to cause fights later on... that's irresponsible spending. Don't buy it!

There should be more discussion in the market place about the risks of credit usage. Clinical studies of what happens when you owe way more than you're able to pay back in the next 20 years. They can be just as deadly and serious as some other types of activities.

Here's a site that I found when searching for "clinical studies" people in debt on google.com

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (3)

MSN Money - Why credit cards expire
This is an interesting article as to why credit cards expire.

They site that the two main reasons that you credit card companies expire you credit card is that the card deteriorates physically. As well, They have to mail the card out to you which keeps their databases more up to date.

If you think about it, there are hundreds of millions of credit cards outstanding and the credit card companies need different ways to keep track of them.

Hypothetically, if there are 300 million credit cards outstanding, there would be approximately 274,000 cards that expire each day over a 3 year period. IMHO this is another great marketing tool for the credit card companies to stay in touch with the customers. Keeping 274,000 credit cards up to date each day must be a pretty large task, especially with people moving on average every 5 years.

MSN - So is an upcoming expiration date a good time to talk terms with your card company?
"It's always a good time to renegotiate," says Staten. "If you think you're in a position where you think the issuer would be sorry to see you go, you can always call and bargain for a better rate." This is the best point of all. Use your card expiration as a great time to renegotiate interest rates. And yes... you can get better interest rates IN CANADA!

MSN Money - Why credit cards expire

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

U.S. Treasury - Fact Sheet on the Gross Federal Debt History

In 1940 the Gross Federal Debt - U.S. debt was $ 50,696 million ($51 billion). in 2005 the Gross Federal Debt is estimated at $6,118,364 million ($6.2 trillion)

That's a 12,000% increase in the debt over 65 years.
That does not indicate that people have been patient and paying cash. It indicates that everyone from individuals to corporations to goverments are deep in debt.

U.S. Population 1940 - 130,962,661
2005 U.S. Population - 296,383,219
That's a 226% increase in population.

Recap:
12,000% increase in debt
226% increase in population

U.S. Treasury - Fact Sheet on the Gross Federal Debt History

Check out Population Clock World

How long can this go on?

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I'm just reading Clash of the Titans by Richard Hack.

This is a dual biography about Ted Turner of Turner Broadcasting empire and Rupert Murdoch of the Fox News Network. These guys are multibillionaire media giants.

The thing that I keep thinking about is that even though these guys are titans of business and media and news, they don't publish a fraction of what is published on the internet each day.

If it was possible to read all of the blogs of all genres, I'm sure the pages published would be in the hundreds of thousands.

Anyway, it's interesting to hear about the start of CNN which is currently the credible source for news, especially with disasters and wars etc. CNN has come along way since it was a gleam in Ted Turner's eyes. According to this book, CNN was on the brink of bankruptcy before it hit some breaks. This was in the first few years of its existence.

The beauty of the internet is that it is uncensored. When you're reading people's blogs, it's what's on a person's mind. Blog writers don't have to write to appease a boss, in most cases.

When watching CNN this past few weeks with Hurricane Katrina, I got a sense that CNN was ratings grabbing, even though they had the ratings in their pockets. It was amazing that at some points they would show only some pictures until some new news broke. Then all of a sudden they would show a more relevant set of photos and video feed.

I have already read the Clash of the Titans once. I am going to reread it to glean out some more points. These media titans are described as having a whole bunch of control over how people think about the news etc.

I am beginning to see that bloggers might have a little corner on the real opinion market. Blogs are 'Opinions Unscripted'

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - Ted Turner, Rupert Murdoch News and Media Titans

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I'm pretty excited. I just got back from the WebMasterWorld Conference 2005 in New Orleans today. I got a whole bunch of ideas on what to do with this blog.

There are a whole bunch of things that need to be said about where people are heading with their current financial spending habits. I think that Canadians and Americans are on a pretty slippy land mass (financially) that is sitting on a huge earthquake fault! More and more spending happens, and people are digging themselves into the ground.

I've been talking about this stuff since I was in high school. I've been talking about this stuff since 1992 when i was a financial analyst in Toronto. In 1992 the debt balloon scared the crap out of me. I was in awe at how much debt people were in.

People are stressed out. Here's the vicious circle... We buy "stuff" to make out lives easier. Then we work really hard to pay for the stuff that makes our lives easier. I can't say it any better than that.

The best way for a country to lose control of itself is to be in huge debt and then start owing other people and countries. Right now we're pretty wealthy countries in North America. We're also in the cross hairs of financial/debt disaster.

So... People... I am urging you to take a look at your lifestyle. If you're working in a vicious circle of "quality of life" please take a look at what you're doing. Maybe you should find the real meaning of quality of life.

To put it in perspective: "In the beginning, when God created Adam and Eve, people didn't need cell phones, computers, wide screen tv's, and all of the modern gadgets that make life so much easier."

For the most part, I practice what I preach. I am putting these thoughts into even more of my own future plans.

What do you think?

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

52" TV vs visiting with your neighbors?!

WHAT A CONCEPT!

I'm sitting on my couch, watching commercials yesterday. As I'm sitting there, rather exhausted from the day, I'm getting less and less interested in the widescreen T.V. that is being advertised. I use TV these days more as a time killer than enjoyable entertainment.

I'm trying to think how much extra work I'd have to do (I'm self-employed) to pay for this new luxury. I'm getting less and less interested because I don't want to do any more work. I'm tired and burnt out from the regular day to day grind.

I'm trying to think of alternatives to purchasing a $6,000 72 inch TV to replace the 32" I've enjoyed over the years. It's hard to think about this concept because every advertiser and lender wants me to buy the bigger and better TV. I've allowed my conscious and subconscious to be programmed to want the bigger, better TV. Nobody is trying to get me to keep what I've already got, and save my money!

Now I'm thinking to myself, what are ways that I can combat the programming in my head. I need to start to relax in ways to don't cost money and don't cost any more stress on my overworked mind and body.

(I am not adverse to buying the finer things in life. However, I am getting more and more adverse to over working myself for less and less benefit and enjoyment.)

The following are things that I'm starting to toy with:• Visit with my wife and kids in low tech ways. ie.. playing monopoly or cards
• Visit with their neighbours more. I haven't spent any time with my neighbours ever.
• Hmmm... I'm running out of ideas.

The thing I'm trying to achieve is starting to enjoy what I've already got, and maybe work a little less. Put less stress on myself. Ultimately this will put less stress on my wife and family. (They won't have to listen to me bitch and complain.)

If you're making good money and it's not going to cause you any more stress to purchase a huge expensive TV, then you should buy it, if you really need it. If you're trying to keep up with the neighbors and you can't afford the new luxury, please don't buy it. The costs emotionally and mentally are not worth it.

The ad agencies and banks don't like my logic here. I don't care. I am saying enough is enough. I'm happy with what I've got. No sale here for the TV manufacturers and retailers!

I hope you have a relaxed day as well!

Monty Loree is self-employed and lives in Canada.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I heard it once said that people have either too much money, or not enough money. Nobody that I have ever met has just the right amount of money.

How often have you heard people say, "I wish I could afford that", or "That's way too expensive". These are the people who don't have enough money. Otherwise they wouldn't make these comments.

On the other side, there are people who have too much money. They have all of the things in life that they want and need, etc. This position in life has it's problems as well. When you make too much money and have achieved all of your worldly goals financially, you have nothing to look forward to. This can be very demotivating.

I would like to hear from others the problems they have experienced from having too much money!

If you have too much money:

1. Do you feel compelled to continue to work for more?
   
2. How do you motivate yourself to continue on?
   
3. What types of new goals do you set for yourself? Financial, mental or spiritual?

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

That's unusual... President George W Bush telling Americans to Conserve. I guess he was mostly talking about using gas resources, but it's unusual to hear President Bush say that.

It's interesting that The Federal Government is spending approx $1 billion per day to keep troops in Iraq etc. I'm thinking that many Americans may disagree with a President asking them to conserve, while the government is debt spending on a nation, and in an action that is not well accepted.

I question also whether this conservative mentality is going to lead to a "recession"

As gas prices continue to rise, as well as other products and services because of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, many people are going to have less discretionary income to spend on luxury items.

The word conservative in my opinion may be the start to some kind of recession.

Inflation: Along with higher gas prices, I believe that all of the supplies being consumed in the Gulf coast rebuild is going to cause the cost of these building materials to hit the ceiling. It's great that there is going to be a huge demand for building materials in the Gulf Coast. It's going to mean that these building materials are going to be as readily available for the rest of the country. Of course, everything is available at a price.

It's estimated that there are going to be 450,000 homes needed to be rebuilt ALL AT ONCE. That's unprecedented.

More Housing Inflation: The Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita victims take up some of the vacant housing slack across the other states. Should these evacuees decide to relocate to other states, they're going to be using up a percentage of the current vacancies. This means that the house prices and rental properties will increase in those areas because the inventory of those properties will diminish. In this case the Hurricanes are increasing the property values of other cities and states.

Of course this bad economic news is not going to relate to higher income people who have more than enough discretionary income. The rise of housing and gas prices etc are not going to affect their behaviour. The affect will be mostly to middle and lower income families.

Is a recession around the corner?

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - President Bush Conserve - Recession and Inflation

animal pet photographers

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I've been working like crazy lately. Doing projects and making money. It's been exhausting but rewarding, to a point.

IS THAT ALL THERE IS?
The problem is that throughout the last 3 years or so, I have gone out and purchased whatever I wanted and tried to get the most expensive or highest quality of what I've wanted.

TOO MANY CANADIAN TIRE REWARD POINTS
With my Canadian Tire points card, I was getting close to $100 per week in Canadian Tire points. (Canadian Tire is a big retailer in Canada.) So for approximately six months, I spent $100 per week on household items, housewares, dishes, soaps, tools, garden tools, and anything else I could find. I overstocked on things. I bought the most expensive Canadian Tire things I could find.

Eventually I was buying stupid stuff that was just cluttering up the house and office.

I switched to purchasing stuff on my air miles card so that I could collect air miles. I soon had collected too many air miles.

For the office, I purchased absolutely everything that I've ever wanted. Pens, paper, etc. I even purchased a real leather covered inbox for my desk, because I needed a little something extra.

I hate electronics, but I purchased high quality electronics, DV cameras, sound boards, sound cards for my advertising company. If it makes me money, I'll buy it.

I bought and bought and bought. It was fun buying all that stuff. I researched the items, talked about them with others, and have fun using them.

HERE'S THE PROBLEM:
I don't really need much. I haven't been to the electronics store or any store really for the last year. I haven't felt a big urge to go out and buy stuff. I haven't been motivated to look at any electronic gadget for the office or home.

The excitement has gone for most of this stuff. All of that fun stuff that I purchased has now become work. It's lost the glamour and glitter.

I'M A BAD CUSTOMER - SORRY, NO SALE HERE!
Currently I'm not a really great booster of the retail industry. I'm not going to purchase the newest Ipod, or the lastest Cell phone/mp3 player. I'm not going to purchase the 62" TV or any other gadget found at the store. I just don't have the interest.

Being a workaholic doesn't have its rewards at times. The American dream is about making money and buying bigger better things constantly. Here's the question: what happens when you've satisfied everyone of your gadget needs? What do you do then?

GADGETS AREN'T THE SAME RUSH AS A GOOD BUSINESS VENTURE
Workaholics, myself directly included, are usually people who are unhappy or dissatisfied with the status quo. We like to work hard to achieve goals and beat the challenges. I personally love a good challenge and am always interested in the next challenge. The bigger the better. I don't get the same rush with gadgets and trinkets.

The good thing is that I like working and I love what I do for a living. I'll just have to sort through this problem. Maybe I'll just have to find more extravagant ways to save or invest or something.

Anyway, as far as financial maturity goes, this is my new learning curve. Getting happy with the way things are. The way things are means that I am completely happy and satisfied with all of the things that I've got and don't really want or need much more.

The problems some people have!?!! I better go read my post on How to feel rich.

Your thoughts?

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - Satisfied with what I've got. Don't need much else.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

How do recessions begin? Recessions start when people start to get into conserving mode. Spending less on gas, and then less on automobiles, and then less on travelling.

With all of the news about Hurricane Rita and how people are cutting back, it's no wonder that people may be in the mood to start conserving a little. The governor of Atlanta keeping kids home from school for 2 days to save 500,000 gallons of diesel fuel. That sends a huge message across to people in Georgia, but also all across the U.S. and Canada. (It's shocking to learn that 2 days of school uses that much diesel fuel.)

Gas prices are going to rise after Hurricane Rita. That is definitely going to cut into lower income people's discretionary income. They may have to start buying less consumer goods.

There seems to be talk about how the government can conserve money. Can we save money here? Can we save money there? Saving money means a conserving mentality. Once you start asking how you can save, you start spending less money, and especially on luxury items.

If gas prices are that high, you're probably going to think twice about driving across country to go to Disney Land. You're probably going to think twice about travelling on the following because prices are going to skyrocket:

• Cruise Trips -
  
• Airline Trips
  
• Train Trips
  
• Car Trips

If you're not travelling, it's going to put a dent in the hospitality industry, including hotels and restaurants.

Gas prices may only affect decisions made by lower income people. They will be more sensitive to price increases. If you've got to choose between purchasing gas for your car, and food for your family, you're going to choose your family.

I'm wondering if the hurricane disasters as going to make people think conservatively.

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - Recession - conservative thinking.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

The news has been crazy lately with regards to finance and economy. Interest rates are rising, gas prices are up, record bankruptcies filed with the new bankruptcy laws coming into place on October 17.

One of the good things about reading personal finance blogs is that I've learned about how to get finances in order.

Quite frankly, even with a depressed economy, if you've got your finances in order, you're going to become more depression proof.

I've heard news where people making $50,000 to $80,000 are having trouble making ends meet! The elevated gas prices are taking a bite of the life styles of people making $80,000 per year? That's ridiculous.

Many years ago, I visited a family who had a combined income of $80,000. I was trying to sell them a $20 per month subscription to an education savings program. As I drove up to their house, I noticed they had a boat, a RV, motorcycles skidoos and more toys. I thought to myself initially that these people must be loaded. They showed their wealth pretty well.

After talking to them for a while, they were genuinely discussing whether they could afford $20 per month for their child's savings program!! $20 was going to stretch their budget. I never forgot that example.

I don't have much sympathy for people who make lots and spend lots and save nothing. If a person has a 'live for today' policy, then enjoy today. I certainly hope that nothing happens to upset these people in the future.

Middle income people who are used to living free and easy with their money, may have to adopt a little more conservative approach to spending their money. I'm hoping that with the vivid examples of Hurricane Katrina and Rita victims, people will get the idea to save up some reserves to help through slow economic times.

Ideal scenario:
Let's say that you've been prudent to keep your credit card down to a minimum and have adopted a 'purchase needs only' mentality. You also have saved up enough reserve to pay your expenses for 3-5 years.

You'll be sleeping much better than a person who makes $80,000 per year, spends it all and loses his/her job. Especially if this person is used to the $80,000 per year lifestyle with all of its expectations. People who are used to spending $80,000 per year have a tough time coming down to earth if their income source is all of a sudden wiped out. (Being self employed I've seen the ups and downs of business and have experienced this a few times over the last 20 years.)

Recession is a state of mind. If you've got money in reserve and have cut back your desires to a level that you can afford, you won't be affected by a recession or depression.

That's the good news!

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - recession, depression, get reserves saved up. Get your financial expectations in order.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Did you ever notice how TV advertising is completely controlled by the TV stations and the government. I was thinking about this today as I was reading Kevin Trudeau's newsletter about his struggles with advertising his health book.

TV stations are all about ratings, even when it comes to the advertisements shown. Of course ads have to be approved by the appropriate legal and regulatory body before they're shown on TV.

However, you just can't say anything you want about any topic in an ad or TV spot.

Advertisers want to show you the great parts of their products and services. They don't get into the reality of situations that you can encounter with their products.

It would be funny, but sad to see an add for some new drug like VIOXX where the people are experiencing the side effects of the products. You've heard the great virtues of each product as designed and developed by the ad agency.

What would happen if the commercial enacted what really happened with the product. Example: "This product can help your allergies, but the side effects may cause dry mouth, nausea, weak bladder, lack of sexual performance and desire, loss of sleep etc."

The commercials should show these as the total package of what the drug is actually going to do to the person. My question is then: If you showed the benefits and side effects of drugs, would as many people buy them?

I saw a documentary about McDonalds Restaurant. In it they showed how McDonald's uses the whole cow in their meat. The brains and bones and guts of the cow are ground up to a point where they're imperceptible. It just tastes like a nice burger, with all of the additives they put in. Why doesn't McDonalds actually show this. Why doesn't McDonalds show the conditions of where the chickens are grown and how they are treated before they become chicken McNuggets?

McDonalds spends it's money on image enhancement and driving volume. It would lose 90% of its business over night if it showed in its ads what that documentary showed.

On the flip side, most activists who would want to purchase ad spots to show the reality and/or down side of products and services aren't able to advertise on TV or any other medium. Why would they be allowed to do so. I've had credit repair ads refused by a newspaper because they were distasteful and would hurt the newspapers relationship with its creditors.

If activists showed the reality of the past/present/future of a product it would reduce sales for companies and stop those companies from advertising. These wet blanket companies are not welcome to advertise.

The big question is: If this is really the way advertising works, where you're only shown one side of the product, is that really good for the economy? People then seem to be buying products and services that are based on a one sided foundation.

Just a bit of economic philosophy rattling around in my head.

Thoughts?

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - advertising is one sided.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I've been working on a project lately that has been quite challenging and exhausting. Being self employed, it's always important to secure continuous revenue streams. As with all businesses, there are no guaranteed revenue streams.

What I've found is that more always wants more. Success always wants more success. Everytime I've succeeded at a goal, I've always told myself, I will sit and enjoy this feeling of accomplishment for a while. It always seems that there are external requirements that keep asking for more. ie... other people see that you're successful with something and want you to help them out.

Conversely, if your business has slowed down sales wise, and you're having to cut back, you have to scale down in all respects to accomodate the slow down.

So... You're either going to be in a state of growth or decline. You're either going up, or you're going down. That means you can plateau for a short time before you go up or down. Plateauing, or enjoying what you've got, only lasts a short time.

Here's the part I've learned over the years. No matter what state you are in your life, you're either going up or down with things in your life or your career. You're going to have to face decline or incline even if you're exhausted, stressed out, unhappy, excited, happy, or energized.

I will always remember the time when I had worked several months to get a project off the ground. I was completely exhausted and was suffering from burn out. I worked seven days a week to get the project going and successful.

All of a sudden the project took off and the business started to be wildly successful. All of a sudden I went from exhausted to way past exhausted trying keep up with the successful business.

People around me were wondering why I wasn't ecstatic about the new business success. I was ecstatic, however I was completely exhausted.

Here's what I learned. I still practice this today. Just keep showing up!

If you're working on a project and for whatever reason you don't want to be there, it's really important to keep showing up each day. That's usually the difference between failure and success. People usually fail because they lose interest and stop showing up for the job or project.

I find that even if I show up and do five minutes of work, because that's all I can manage mentally or physically, it's better to do that then to quit the project. The next day will be better.

This is what I've been doing in the last few weeks. I've been working to get my business off of the plateau and moving it in the upward direction. Overcoming the inertia to get off the ground takes a huge amount of work. The good news is that my efforts are paying off and things are starting to move forward.

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - maturity of success - just show up.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

GOOGLE UPDATE JAGGER named on webmasterworld.

Matt Cutts - Googleguy says that there will be PR and backlinks updates in the next few days.

This means that your google toolbar will show some new results for your sites with regards to your websites PR and the amount of back links your site is showing.

It's nice that google and its reps are telling us before hand.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Jane Galt's -Assymetrical has a post regarding Kevin Trudeau being a quack. See Comments More Comments Jane Galt is saying that:

"Just last night I was watching some guy on television claim that the drug companies are withholding the cure for diabetes in order to make a profit."

See also Corante's Derek comment about Kevin Trudeau.

Here we have a one sided opinion about a guy who is trying to make a difference by disagreeing with the all powerful drug companies. It's a pretty flippant commentary.

Here's my short comment on the situation:

• Ignorance is bliss until you get sick.
  
• Ignorance is bliss until you run into financial problem situations.

I'm not going to get into a health argument on this point. I hate onesided, narrow-minded commentaries that try to destroy a person's character.

We live in a lazy convenience oriented society, financially as well as healthwise.

People are suffering from credit health problems at a chronic rate. They're using "financial drugs" and get quick schemes to try to dig out of the problems.

Subsequently bankruptcy rates are at record levels. Debt settlement is becoming a credible business model.

Ignorance is bliss until you start having financial health problems.

My recommendation is to look at the "herbal / natural" solutions for credit problems:

• Learn about your credit agreements. Understand what you've agreed to with the credit companies. This will give you the frame work of what you need to do.
  
• Start taking your credit seriously. If you're spending unnecessarily using credit.. DON'T DO IT!
  
• Get involved learning about your lifestyle and how credit affects it.
  
• Get to understand your financial situation
  
• PAY CASH FOR EVERYTHING. If you don't have the cash, don't buy it.

These are some healthy naturopathic solutions for your chronic credit problems.

Don't be blissfully ignorant about your money and credit. You can get into control of your financial situation.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

That's in part why the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) together with the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys will call on lawmakers Wednesday to postpone implementation of the law for Katrina victims for six to 12 months, said CFA's legislative director Travis Plunkett.

It's nice to see CNN Money covering this almost a week after I put this on my blog. I wrote into CNN about it as well.
It's amazing that they've got some of the poorest people in the nation in refugee camps in Louisiana and around the nation.

People are in trauma. These people barely know what day it is. Now they're potentially being legislated on for bankruptcy. That's pretty ridiculous. I have a problem with that.

Maybe the government will set up bankruptcy booths in the Houston Astrodome so that people can conveniently declare bankruptcy, by the October 17th due date.

Hurricane Katrina is going to bring us stories of credit and debt late payments, defaults, bad credit. debt settlement, bankruptcy etc.
This is a bad situation which is no fault of the people. Some people are going to stop paying their bills just because they can't pay them. PERIOD!!

As I've said before, something that will make me furious is if these crisis victims start getting hounded by debt collectors anytime soon. Third party collection agencies who call up and say, "well I understand you've been in the New Orleans hurricane. It's been six weeks since the hurricane, I'm demanding that you can start paying your bills or we'll take you to court." The next thing the bill collector is going to hear is , "CLICK!"

Things are not going to be status quo for these Hurricane Katrina catastrophe victims for a long while. I just hope that the mechanical credit system will understand that. Things can't be done on a 30, 60, 90 day basis like the computer program says. People aren't machines.

Bankruptcy worries for Katrina victims - Sep. 6, 2005: "Bankruptcy concerns for Katrina victims
A new bankruptcy law may deal another blow to those left financially hard up by the storm, some say.

The brutal distress of the nearly one million people affected by Hurricane Katrina may be compounded for those victims who could face bankruptcy in the coming months.
Consumer advocates and bankruptcy attorneys are concerned that tens of thousands of people may be pushed into bankruptcy as a result of the storm and will be unduly hindered by the provisions of a new bankruptcy law going into effect Oct. 17.
The new law makes it harder for individuals to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 7, which allows them to clear their debts and get what's known as a 'fresh start.' It makes it more likely that those wishing to declare bankruptcy must do so under Chapter 13, which requires debtors to repay some or all of their debts within five years. "

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

PAY YOUR DEBTS!!

I am the first one to say it.. if you signed a contract, you owe the money, you agreed to it, pay what you owe.
The integrity of a nation is based on things like paying what you agreed to. Integrity is not based on defaulting on payments because they're too hard to make.

This article Problems with debt settlement companies talks about the problems of debt settlement companies. There have been some FTC issues with debt settlement companies.

It goes against the grain that people would want to settle their debts at 35%-50% of the agreed principal amount.

According to http://credit.about.com/cs/economics101/a/031203.htm
(I assume this article is dated March 12, 2003)
• BusinessWeek says that total household debt in the US was more than 100% of our disposable annual income last year. Now that is scary.
• The total consumer debt is at 1.7 trillion dollars. Apparently is close to $2.2 trillion in 2005

According to another source, American's default on between 5-7% of it's debt on a yearly basis.

This means that
$2,200,000,000,000 ($2.2 trillion) x 5% =
$110,000,000,000 ($110 billion)
defaulted each year. (Of course these are approximate figures)

These are $110 billion dollars that that the creditors have to try to collect from people. I'll have to research what percentage of these dollars
are due to bankruptcies and what percentage is because of people simply not paying.

These $110 billion dollars the creditors have to build into their price of credit.. ie high interest rates.

On the one side, the creditors are some of the most aggressive marketers in the U.S. Stuffing credit down peoples' throats.
People are addicted to credit. They love their credit. They love buying stuff. All of the big box companies such as Walmart, Home Depot, Loews, Circuit City, Best Buy etc are built on people's credit cards. Consumer debt. Consumerism. Don't even get me started about people shopping on the internet.

How can you help but not get hooked into the consumption spiral? You've got to be pretty strong willed to resist it.

Getting back to debt settlement:
People are in an age of what I call "mechanical debt". Almost all consumer credit these days is mechanical. It's computerized.
The credit card companies are willing and able to sell this much debt because it's all computerized, non-personal and mechanical.

PEOPLE AREN'T MACHINES
Meanwhile, people are flesh and blood. People are not mechanical.

I liken this mechanical credit card problem to "people running behind their car for five miles at 60 miles per hour." Your car is a machine. You are not. You can't keep up with your car.

Similarly, your body and mind are not machinery. Your emotions are not mechanical.

You get stuck in this mechanical debt world and sometimes it's pretty hard to keep up with it.. especially if you get behind.
Sometimes life gets pretty hard, and you get exhausted by it all. You're so exhausted that you're just struggling to keep your job and keep your family together. If you get behind in your credit payments, you start to get collection calls. This is more exhaustion.

CREDITORS ARE FULLY MECHANIZED
If you don't make your credit payments, the creditors and collection agencies electronically report your missed payments to the credit bureau. They don't care about your exhaustion because they report mechanically, with their reporting machinery.

Once again, your body and mind are not machines. At some point they're going to give out and collapse.

That's where bankruptcy and debt settlement come in... people NEED relief.

Finally, it may take a few generations or so for people to learn to properly manage their debt in this mechanised world.
Currently people are dropping out. They've learned that they've taken on too much debt. They're exhausted. They just want out.

Want out?

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Saturday Commentary:
Writing in this blog has been quite enjoyable. I have enjoyed the comments and responses that I have received so far. I invite everyone to stop by, comment and leave a link to your personal finance blog.

In writing about financial maturity, I am usually pulling from my own experiences. Since a very early age, I have always been extremely anxious when it comes to money and credit and debt.

A silly but important story.
When I was about 21 years old, I owed $5 on my TD Visa credit card. This was after months and months of paying down a $500 balance. I was so debt anxious that I actually lost sleep over the $5 I owed. Don't ask me why. The next day when I got paid, I literally ran down to the bank and paid my $5.00 off. I was then debt free.

It was cool that I was debt free, but it was scary that I had that much anxiety over the enormous $5 outstanding. That was the beginning of my financial maturity process.

I suddenly realized that the banking system wasn't going to crash without my $5.00!! I realized that I had always paid my bills on time and that my credit rating was perfect. The amount of anxiety that I had wasn't going to make my credit rating any better. All of the fears that I had relative to my meager $500 credit card were pretty much unfounded.

Since then, I have created, developed and ran a few companies. In my employee days I was a financial analyst and my job title was to administer company debt, foreign exchange transactions, fixed assets etc. I administered $110 million in debt, $650 million in fixed assets and $35 million in foreign receivables, corporate payroll, amongst other things.

So... on a corporate financial level I've seen many things that the average person wouldn't see. I've seen what happens when a large company defaults on its debt. I've seen what happens when foreign exchange changes rapidly when I'm trying to sell a 650,000 pounds sterling letter of credit.

The beauty of my corporate experience is that it rings true for the consumer. Leveraged by outs of the 80's created a glut of debt that hurt and destroyed many companies.

It is my opinion that the U.S. and Canadian consumer will soon feel the same damage. That's why I'm pretty passionate about this topic.

Corporations did not have financial maturity in the 80's when they were taking on debt. They had no idea what was going to happen to them. They were more interested in the instant gratification of expansion via leveraged buyouts.

I have learned and grown a huge amount personally since my $5 credit card debt - anxiety days. I still have the same fears and anxieties, as they are part of my nature. However I have learned to deal with these anxieties in a much more productive fashion.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I've been trying to come up with a good way talk about my favorite pipeline of cash illustration. I thought I would draw it with my Adobe Illustrator package as that seems to be the easiest way. (My art skills are not as well developed as my writing skills)

PIPELINE OF CASH ANALOGY
This really talks about a person's economy and their ability to earn cash. For example a person who makes minimum wage needs a smaller pipeline than a person who has a business that generates $1 million in sales and a personal income of $250,000.

SMALL CASH FLOW MEANS SMALLER PIPELINE
If you're starting off your career and making a smaller amount of cash, you generally don't need a larger and stronger pipeline to flow your cash through. You don't need a well insultated reservoir to hold your cash in. A bank account usually does well enough.

MORE CASH FLOW MEANS BUILDING BIGGER PIPELINE
If you decide to make more money, you've got to increase the pipe size and wall thickness in order to properly house the flow of more cash into your economy. The more money made means greater complexity as far as what to do with it, taxes, investments etc.

MORE MONEY REQUIRES MORE EDUCATION
More complexity means more education and research into your financial situation. The best way to lose all your money is through lack of education and practice of using or investing your money. The more education you acquire, the 'thicker' the walls of the pipeline become. Thicker walls insulate your money much better.

CITY OF NEW ORLEANS PIPE LINE EXAMPLE
Increasing the pipe size/diameter is important to getting more money flowing through.
I've recently seen images on CNN of Louisiana pumping out water out of the city of New Orleans. Apparently they're using 16" diameter pipe and all told they're pumping out 27,000 gallons per minute. This is a huge amount of water to pump out all at once. That's 1,620,000 gallons per hour.

If the city of New Orleans decided to use 1" diameter pipe, it would take them infinitely longer to pump out the same amount of water. You get the idea.

The whole idea is to get the money to flow safely into your bank account. Next the next point is to keep your money and investments safe and insulated against predators.

Building a bigger pipe line for your cash flow comes with the following:

• Developing bigger goals
  
• Educating yourself to achieve the bigger goals
  
• Educating yourself on how to handle more money
  
• Learning how to insulate your money against outside forces
  
• Learning how best to work your money and investments so as to pay the least amount of interest and taxes
  
• Watching and Managing your money and investments on an ongoing basis.

You cannot make more money if your mindset and education don't allow for it. If you have a small money mind set and then all of a sudden start making big money, you'll lose it right away. The reason is that you're not ready for it emotionally and mentally. How many times have you heard of people who have received money and then spent it right away on frivolous items.

There are generations of families who don't have money because they're not educated for it. They don't understand money.

THE RICH GET RICHER
There are generations of rich families who have money and build their wealth because they understand the pipeline theory, and how to insulate and grow their pipeline. That's why the rich get richer. Because they understand, or hire people to understand how to manage their money for growth and security.

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - CashFlow Pipe Analogy. Why the rich get richer.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

As Promised, the manager of Media over at Experian Sent me this press release with regards to how the credit bureaus Experian, Equifax and TransUnion are going to help out Hurricane Katrina, and also Hurricane Rita victims. Please read this carefully as it will help you with your credit reporting problems if you were a hurricane victim.

Maintaining and Salvaging Credit After Katrina

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion Offer Important Education Information to Help Consumers Take Steps to Maintain Their Credit Standing and Avoid Becoming Victims of ID Theft

Washington, D.C. ?V Sept. 15, 2005 - The waters may be subsiding in New Orleans and throughout the Gulf Coast, but for millions of Hurricane Katrina survivors the process of rebuilding their lives is just beginning. After they??ve secured the essentials of shelter, food and medical care, survivors are wondering how they can get their financial affairs in order.

For those consumers affected by Hurricane Katrina who wish to take steps to protect their current credit standing, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion recommend the following actions:

?h Consumers should send letters to their creditors explaining their situation and inquiring about any special programs or handling they may be offering to hurricane victims.

?h When evacuees become settled in to their new addresses, even for the short term, they should file a change of address form with the post office. This will ensure that they receive their bills and credit card statements?Xenabling them to keep track of their financial situation while also keeping these documents out of the hands of potential identity thieves. Consumers who may not yet have a permanent address should consider getting a locked P.O. Box to protect their forwarded mail.

?h After affected consumers have changed their address with the U.S. Post Office, they should make certain the address changes have taken effect before ordering a credit report.

?h As soon as possible, victims should examine their credit and bank accounts and look for any impact, and take the necessary steps to resolve any discrepancies.

Those who suspect they are victims of fraud should quickly report and resolve the matter. Equifax, Experian and TransUnion suggest the following steps for dealing with fraud:

Step 1: Fraud alert

Contact one of the credit reporting companies to request that a fraud alert be placed on their credit files. Consumers only need to contact one of the credit reporting companies to have an alert placed on their credit files at each of the three companies.

?h Initial alert - This 90-day alert can be placed on a consumer??s credit file if the consumer suspects fraud. This alert warns potential creditors to verify a consumer??s identity or contact them before opening new accounts. Consumers should be aware that adding an alert to their credit file may prevent them from opening an account unless the creditor is able to contact them and positively confirm their identity and that they are applying for credit.

?h Extended alert ?V The initial alert can be extended to 7 years when a consumer confirms through an identity theft report that he or she is a victim of fraud or identity theft. The extended alert also removes a consumer??s name from prescreened credit offers for 5 years.

Step 2: Review all three credit reports

Consumers should review their credit files from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Look for signs of identity theft such as suspicious inquiries, unfamiliar new accounts and unfamiliar new addresses.

Step 3: File a police report

If a consumer is a victim of fraud or identity theft, he or she should contact their local police department to file an identity theft report. Record the officer's name and the report number and keep a copy of the identity theft report in a safe place.

Step 4: Complete the Federal Trade Commission's Universal Fraud Affidavit

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) offers a fraud report form online at www.consumer.gov/idtheft. Consumers should complete the fraud affidavit form, sign it and have it notarized, and sent to those companies that opened fraudulent accounts in their name.

Step 5: Notify your financial institutions

If consumers find fraudulent activity on their accounts, they should report it to the creditor's fraud department. Include copies of the police report and the FTC??s Universal Fraud Affidavit with the report. Follow up to ensure all accounts are correctly resolved and keep copies of all communications for future reference.

Step 6: Notify the credit reporting agencies

Mail copies of the completed fraud affidavit and identity theft report to the fraud departments at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Follow up to ensure all account concerns are correctly resolved and keep copies of all communications for future reference.

Step 7: Check your credit regularly

Consumers should review their credit reports at least 1-2 times a year or 3 months before making a credit application to verify that all information is accurate and free from fraudulent data.

Consumers affected by Hurricane Katrina are reminded that they have the right to a free annual credit report from each of the three credit reporting companies. Reviewing their credit files at this time may help to determine the current status of their financial situation. Consumers who wish to obtain their free annual credit reports may visit www.annualcreditreport.com. If a consumer wishes to receive a credit report by mail, they may contact the credit reporting company directly to assure proper delivery of the report to the correct mailing address.


Contact Information:

Equifax: 800-685-1111 or www.equifax.com

Experian 866 966 1067 or www.experian.com

TransUnion 877-680-7275 or www.transunion.com

About Equifax
Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) is a global leader in turning information into intelligence. For businesses, Equifax provides faster and easier ways to find, approve and market to the right customers. For consumers, Equifax offers easier instantaneous ways to buy products or services, and better insight into and management of their personal credit. Headquartered in Atlanta, Equifax reported annual revenue of over $1.3 billion in 2004, and employs over 4,600 employees in 12 countries in North America, Latin America and Europe. Equifax. Information That Empowers.

For more information, please visit www.equifax.com.

About Experian
Experian is the global leader in providing value-added information solutions to organizations and consumers. It has an unrivaled understanding of individuals, markets and economies around the world. Experian provides information, analytics, decision-making solutions and processing services. It assists organizations in understanding their markets and customers and helps them find, develop and manage profitable customer relationships to make their businesses more profitable. Experian promotes greater financial health among consumers by enabling them to understand, manage and protect their personal information and helping them control financial aspects of key life events.

Experian works with more than 50,000 clients across diverse industries, including financial services, telecommunications, health care, insurance, retail and catalog, automotive, manufacturing, leisure, utilities, e-commerce, property and government. A subsidiary of GUS plc with headquarters in Nottingham, UK, and Costa Mesa, Calif., Experian??s 12,000 people in 28 countries support clients in more than 60 countries. Annual sales exceed $2.5 billion.

For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.experian.com.
The word ??Experian?? is a registered trademark in the USA, EU and other countries and is owned by Experian Ltd. and/or its associated companies.

About TransUnion
TransUnion is a leading global information solutions company that customers trust as a business intelligence partner and commerce facilitator. TransUnion offers a broad range of financial products and services that enable customers to manage risk and capitalize on market opportunities. The company uses leading-edge technology coupled with extensive analytical capabilities to combat fraud and facilitate credit transactions between businesses and consumers across multiple markets. Founded in 1968, Chicago-based TransUnion employs 4,100 associates that support clients in more than 30 countries. Visit us at Transunion.com.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion Announce Coordinated Encryption Standards
The story I promised, Equifax Experian and TransUnion working together for Hurricane Katrina victims, and NOW Hurricane Rita victims.

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion Announce Coordinated Encryption Standards: " WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The three national credit
reporting companies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, today announced a
cooperative effort to adopt coordinated encryption standards to further assure
the protection of sensitive consumer data when transmitted between data
furnishers and credit reporting companies.
Each of the three major credit reporting companies has long employed
information security tools and programs, including programs designed to meet
the Safeguards Rule of the Federal Trade Commission. Today's announcement
further advances consumer data protection by providing data furnishers with
the choice of a single standard of encryption that can be used when reporting
data to Equifax, Experian and/or TransUnion.
'This is an important step for the credit reporting industry,' said Stuart
Pratt, President and CEO of the Consumer Data Industry Association. 'This
cooperative effort to simplify, clarify and accelerate the use of industry-
level encryption standards is progressive and necessary. These standards
address the goals being advanced by the credit reporting industry of
encryption use by all data furnishers and make the implementation of
encryption a single straight-forward choice for all -- from the largest
financial institutions to the smallest market lenders.'"

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

New Orleans - 1 million people bankrupt or bad credit!!??
As I've mentioned in the blog, this is a mechanically credit society. The creditors and credit bureaus seem to have no mercy for people and their credit.

The reports are that there are one million displaced people in New Orleans and Mississippi, etc who are homeless.

These million people have:
? Mortgages
? Lines of Credit
? Credit Cards
? other types of credit.

1 MILLION PEOPLE WITH BAD CREDIT OR BANKRUPT?
If these unfortunate people are displaced from their homes and jobs, they are going to default on ALL of their credit payments for the next several months. Many are going to be forced into bankruptcy.

How are the creditors going to deal with this? How are the credit bureaus going to treat these people?

All credit items and lack of payments are recorded 'mechanically' by the creditors to the credit bureaus Equifax, TransUnion and Experian.

MECHANICALLY REPORTED DEFINED:
At each reporting date, a creditor will send an electronic computer data file of all of their customers accounts and payment histories to the major credit reporting agencies. This information is all generated programatically.

This is going to be a credit repair night mare. These innocent people who would normally make their payments in a timely fashion are going to be penalized because of this Hurricane Katrina catastrophe.

I would be interested to hear from the credit companies and the credit bureaus how they intend to show some reasonability with these hurricane victims!!??

REQUESTING HELP FROM BLOGGERS: I am asking other bloggers to talk about this matter on your blogs. I think this is going to cause a huge amount of problems for the victims, along with the other horrendous things they're already suffering.

The major Credit Bureau websites are as follows:
Equifax: www.equifax.com
TransUnion: www.transunion.com
Experian: www.experian.com

See our press release

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

ARE CREDIT REPAIR COMPANIES FAKE OR REAL?
I've read a few blogs which talk about how credit repair is a fake service. I love/hate uneducated blogs that don't have a clue what they're talking about.

The problems people have with credit repair companies is that it's not understood what a credit repair company is supposed to do.

DELETE ALL THE NEGATIVE ITEMS ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT?
Some credit repair companies claim to delete all the negative items on your credit reports with Equifax, TransUnion and Experian leaving your credit scores nice and clean and perfect.

I know a company that has pretty good success at doing just that, even though I don't necessarily agree with the tactics. This guy uses every loophole in the book to erase people's bad credit. He's very aggressive and forceful, but he gets the job done.

FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT
The U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act which is a Federal act states (paraphrased) that all items on your credit reports, with all credit reporting agencies, must be accurate complete and verified within 30 days or they must be deleted from your credit report."

Being that I do credit repair in Canada, I have seen several credit reports which have items that are not complete, not verifiable, and not accurate. I have seen many bankruptcy reportings that were completely inaccurate, and that's based on the system of how creditors report bankrutpcy items to the credit bureaus.

There are far more things reported in the U.S. on people's credit reports. Medical bills are one that come to the top of mind. Canadians don't see medical bills on their credit reports.

PERSONAL EXAMPLE - GOOD CREDIT REPORT HAS INACCURACIES
I have perfect credit, meaning no late payments etc.
I started my personal credit repair process over two years ago. At the time, TransUnion had duplicate records on my credit report which were costing me 100 points at the time. I didn't understand it until these items were removed.

So... my credit score went from 620 to 720 on my TransUnion Canada report because the creditors had incorrectly put duplicate accounts on my reports. Go Figure.
Not only that, they were showing incorrect previous addresses and credit history going back to 1985!! I am only interested in having credit shown on my report that is within my agreements and within the law.

Equifax had my name misspelled on my Equifax Canada credit report. It took nearly a year before they fixed it. I had to complain to Consumer Protection - Justice department for about 4 months before I got my name fixed properly.

SEX 900 NUMBER ON MY CREDIT REPORT AND OTHER PROBLEMS
There was a contact number on one of my credit items on my Equifax credit report. This is the contact number to get a hold of the creditor to discuss the credit reporting of my account. When I called the number, the recording said, please call 900-555-1212 (i can't remember the exact number). The toll free 800 number sent me to an adult sex line!!

I was feeling disputive and thought I would see what it takes to get this 900 number fiasco cleared up with Equifax. It took two days of rangling with the creditors LEGAL DEPARTMENT and Equifax's LEGAL DEPARTMENT to get the number fixed. Needless to say that I complained about this to Consumer Protection.

Another creditor contact number was a toll free 800 number that was out of service. This was with the TD Bank. I had checked this 3 years earlier and the same number was out of service. I then went through the same process to get the number fixed in their database.

There were about 5 examples of wrong phone numbers and obsolete contact information for creditors on my personal credit report.

INQUIRIES MISREPORTING
For inquiries on my Equifax credit report, there were either no phone numbers, or they had the contact phone numbers listed as 999-999-9999 literally. Or the phone numbers didn't work properly.

I made so much noise with the regulatory bodies and Equifax Canada and the creditors that Equifax cleaned up their whole database in Canada! I had to expose their problems with Saskatchewan Justice and the Canadian Federal Government.

Within a few months, I noticed that contact information was much better updated on my clients' credit reports.

These are the kinds of problems that I've had in Canada with credit reporting agencies Equifax and TransUnion. I have hundreds of stories that I could tell.

CREDIT REPORTS MUST BE ACCURATE COMPLETE AND VERIFIABLE
The point is that all items on your credit reports must be accurate, complete and verifiable. They should be. You wouldn't want anything else reported on you.

When you sign up for a credit card or credit line, or mortgage etc, you authorize the creditor to disclose your information to the credit bureaus. It is the responsibility of the creditors to accurately report your information to each credit bureaus.

There are countless things that can go wrong in the course of many years through out your credit life or personal credit history. You may switch credit cards with the same creditor. You may sign up for two accounts with the same creditor. You may have made late payments that you didn't know about. Somebody may have stolen your wallet or purse and gotten a hold of your identity. This is identity theft.

Declaring bankruptcy or doing credit counseling or debt settlement are usually poorly reported on your credit report. Not only is bankruptcy hard on your credit, but the creditors don't usually report the credit properly on your report.

NOT SURE WHAT'S ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT?
I hope I have created a little doubt in your mind if you haven't seen your credit reports yet. As part of being in touch with your finances, you need to see your credit reports at least once per year. This should be a mandatory part of your plan.

FINALLY
There are inaccuracies on most people's credit reports, if just small ones.
Credit Repair - Is it real or a fake service?
The credit repair business is for people who don't have the inclination to fight credit bureaus, creditors, and regulatory bodies by themselves. A credit repair company is trained to make sure that all items reported on your credit report fit within the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or in Canada each Provinces' Credit Reporting Acts.

I have seen items on most credit reports that I could easily dispute based on 'loopholes' in the law. The credit bureaus are regulated. And because of these laws need to be fitting within these regulations.

? If you want to do the credit repair yourself, knock yourself out.
? If you have inaccuracies on your credit report and don't want to do the work yourself, hire a credit repair company.
? If you're not sure what I'm talking about, start to do some research on the matter.

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - Credit Repair, Credit Reports, Equifax, TransUnion, Experian credit bureaus

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Wasting Stuff = Wasting Money
I'm still working fast and furiously on my project and will be probably for the next week or so. I've got a great deal of building to do. So.. I'll be posting lighter than usual until I can free up some time. Time is money, so I've got to make it before I can spend it here in time. (Time = Money)

DO YOU WASTE STUFF?
Financial Maturity means not wasting things. I've caught myself on several occasions wasting things because it was more convenient and time efficient to do so.
What I mean by that is, rather than spending time looking for something that I had already purchased, I would just go out and buy another one of the same item.

In my mind, time is important, and sometimes just didn't have the interest, energy or inclination to go and look for something if it had been lost.

The problem is that I would buy 5 or more of the same item. As soon as they would get lost I would go and buy another one. I'm not talking about expensive things, but it is the principal.

IMO, buying a new item when you have an existing item is like throwing a perfectly good item out. It's a waste.

The manufacturers and retailers love it when you're too lazy to find stuff, and rebuy the same item over and over again. When I think about it like that, is it good for the economy for people to be that lazy. What percentage of sales do the retailers enjoy because people are too lazy to use and reuse the old items they've got.

That's the other point. How many times does a person throw something out because it's a year or two old. It's still in perfectly good condition. Yet because we feel we need a new one, we throw the old one out so that we can get that just purchased feeling with the new item. I'm guilty of this. Sometimes I have purchased something just to get that 'I got something new today' feeling.

I've wasted too much money on this type of bad purchasing behaviour. I don't do it alot, but I have done it in the past.

I've started to look for things so that I don't buy and rebuy the same item 5 times. Not only does it save money, but it also makes me feel that I'm in control of my possessions. This is a feeling of control. A feeling of well being.

It's good to stop and think about what you've got and what you value of your possessions. If you value something, then take care of it. And that includes knowing where it is, and being able to find it. This will save money along the way.

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - Wasting money , wasting items. Save money by not repurchasing.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Going back to the gold standard - philosophical question YO

In my fit of non-sleeping last night as I had way too much on my mind, I thought of the following interesting question for PF bloggers, economics bloggers and legal bloggers:

What if the U.S. and Canada was mandated to go back to the Gold Standard as it was decades ago. What if the we had to peg our currency against gold, platinum or some other valuable commodity?

How would that work?

With so much inflated money floating around the world and in our economy, would it be possible to go back to the gold standard for the U.S. dollar and the Canadian Dollar

What economic impact would this have?
What social impact would there be?

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - Gold Standard, U.S. Dollar, Canadian Dollar, economic and social impact.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Budgeting, or the 'B' word, is considered by some to be the hardest thing to do. It's an unpleasant and thankless task.

BUDGETING GIVES YOU PEACE OF MIND
I think that budgeting is actually a relief as it helps me define what I'm going to do with my income over a given time period. It gives me peace of mind to know where my money is going and what bills I can and cannot pay off.

Budgeting is actually quite a large topic when you look at it. It requires gathering up all of your regular bills and then thinking about future expenses that you may incur. You have to look into the future a little in order to anticipate future items that you may have to budget for.

START WITH FIXED HARD NUMBERS
The first thing to do is deal with the hard numbers. These are items that you know are going to happen each month.

Income	$3000
Rent or Mortgage	-$500
Electricity	-$100
Natural Gas	-$95
Water	-$45
Auto Payment	-$320
Student Loan	-$100
Bank Loan	-$135

NEXT PLAN FOR REGULAR VARIABLE COSTS
After these bills are paid, you're left with $1,705
The next thing to plan for are regular things that you buy but don't have a fixed amount.

Groceries	-$750 ($187.50 /week)
Clothes	-$300
Personal Care	-$75
Entertainment	-$150
Credit Card Payment	-$125

LEFT OVER DISCRETIONARY INCOME - REQUIRES GOALS AND PLANNING
This leaves with with an balance of $305 of left over or discretionary spending money. This means that you've got $305 that doesn't have to be spent on anything.

This is where your plans and goals come into place. This left over $305 should go into retirement planning, or vacation savings, contingency fund or whatever your goals lead you to.

DEVELOP A 5 YEAR GOAL - 60 MONTHS
It's important to decide where you want to be financially in 1 year, 3 years and 5 years based on how you use your discretionary income. Since you only have your discretionary money left, you simply multiply that amount x 12 months, 36 months etc.

You could even ask yourself questions like: "what happens if I save $50 over 12 months to start? How much would that give me in savings?" I used to do this for hours when I was just starting off. I remember that it amazed me that I would have $600 saved up after 12 months if I saved $50 per month. I then thought about how I would feel to have $600 cash in the account.

For example, if you saved the $305 for 60 months (5 years), you would have $18,300 not including interest calculated on the savings. If you are currently renting, this may be the down payment you've been looking for. If you value travelling over saving money, then this money could buy you your desired vacations.

It's important that you have a hard look at what your goals are. If you don't have any financial goals, more than likely you'll spend all your discretionary income and have nothing to show for your hard work after 5 years.

IT'S IMPORTANT TO DEVELOP A 3 MONTH CASH RESERVE
It's also important that you develop at least a 3 month reserve in the bank, if you haven't got this already. This is a cash reserve that will keep you safe in case you have a loss of income. I recommend that this be a higher priority than paying off your debts. What I mean by that is, make your minimum credit card payments, but save any discretionary income until you've got a 3 month reserve.

A 3 month cash reserve is defined as what you would need to cover your household expenses for a three month period.

As every body has different priorities and values, it is up to you to decide the best way to spend your money. The more you practice budgeting and looking at your finances the closer you'll get to achieving your goals.

I hope this gives you at least one good idea for budgeting. Let me know if you have any questions.

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - budgeting, making a budget, personal budget detail, personal finances.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)