Credit cards play a vital role in helping millions of Americans and small businesses to get by with daily life and daily business activities. For years consumers have been complaining about the unfair credit card practices and wanted a change. The new credit card law, which promises that consumers will be treated fairly and credit terms would be made easier to understand and not mislead consumers, should put an end to the frustration most consumers have had to deal with for years-at least for now.

As president Obama stated “The law is for people who found out those credit cards are a one-way street. It’s easy to get in but almost impossible to get out. We expect consumers to live within their means and pay what they owe,” the president said. So, the new law really doesn’t give consumers an easy pass, but rather warned consumers that they too have to live up to their end of the deal.

New Credit Card Law: In effect July 2010

The new credit card legislation, which takes effect in July 2010, will allow credit card companies to raise interest rates only on new credit cards and future purchases or advances, rather than on current balances.

How are Consumers Affected?

Due to the new law not being in effect immediately, credit card companies are using the window of opportunity between the law’s signing and its effective date to increase rates, cut back on credit card limits and possibly discontinuing your credit privileges.

Effects on Credit Card Lenders

According to a report by Reuters – The new legislation may have a much more dire effect on credit card lenders’ earnings than analysts had expected, and 2010 could be a brutal year for the companies.

Balance Restored Between Consumers and Credit Card Companies

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat who has been holding hearings on credit card abuses since 2007 stated that, “Credit card companies have crossed line after line with outrageous practices that hurt American families and businesses,” Levin said. “They underestimated the ability of Congress to turn public outcry into public policy. We faced powerful forces against this effort, but we prevailed. Millions of Americans will benefit now that some balance of power is being restored between cardholders and card issuers.”

Some Provisions of the Bill Include:

• Credit card issuers must give consumers 45 days notice if there is going to be an increase in your rates. They will also have to give you the opportunity to “opt out” of the rate increase and pay your existing balance under the old rate terms.
• Card issuers that violate the act can receive fines of up to $5000.
• Prohibiting over-limit fees unless consumers agree to allow transactions that exceed their credit limits to go through rather than be denied.
• All penalty fees must be related to the violation and reasonable for over-limit charges, late-payments or other penalty fees.
• Gift certificates and gift cards expiration date extended so they cannot expire within five years of activation.
• Anyone under the age of 21 has to show proof that they have the means to repay the debts or have a co-signer.
• Credit card issuers must send bills at least 21 days before the due date.
• Permission from parents or guardians is required for college students if they want to increase their credit limits on joint accounts they hold with those adults.
• Card issuers are required to disclose how long it would take to pay off credit card balances on monthly minimum payments or the amount required to pay off balances in 36 months.

What was your New Year resolution for 2010? At the beginning of each year most of us make new year resolutions like, spend less, lose weight, cut back on eating out, save money and the list goes on and on, but our ultimate goal really is to get more money or at least save more money.

Well, if you haven’t find a way to make more money by now, then your next best bet is to find ways to spend less and save more.


Saving money is not an easy task, especially when we are used to a certain lifestyle. However, with a bit of hard work and looking at the bigger picture i.e., ‘the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow’ you can do it. The tips listed below are just a few ideas to help you reach your saving goals, and whatever you do –don’t give up!

Only buy what you need - There is a big difference between buying what you want and buying what you absolutely need. Buying what you need takes precedence over splurging on things that you want.
	Budget your monthly expenditures - Track how you are spending your money. Make a budget of the things that you have to pay for each month, such as car payment, insurance, cell phone bill, gas, rent, utilities, credit card payments and groceries. Once those essentials are paid for, the balance of your pay check should be placed into a savings account each pay day.
Cut back on credit card usage – If you have too many credit cards, find a way to get rid of a few by consolidating or paying off the high interest credit cards as soon as possible. It is okay to keep one for emergency purposes only, however only keep the one that offers you the best benefits. You’ll be amazed at how much money you can save if you get rid of your credit card debts.
	Contribute to your workplace retirement program – If you haven’t already, you should start making contributions to your workplace retirement program now!
Take advantage of coupons – Shopping with coupons can save you quite a bit of money every time you grocery shop - just give it a try and add up you savings.
	Refinance into a fixed-rate mortgage – Refinance out of the adjustable-rate mortgage and lock into a fixed-rate mortgage.
Yard Sale – Yard sales are a good way to get rid of things that you don’t want or haven’t used in a while. This can be done on a weekly or monthly basis or whenever you have collected a few items to sell. The money from the yard sale should go directly to your savings account. You can also advertise your for sale items and make a few bucks that way

Let 2010 be the year you stick to your resolutions and save money for an uncertain future. Use the tips above to help lower your monthly expenses and bring some financial stability to your life.

Recession has certainly taken a toll on a number of issues may it be business, technology or personal issues. Considering the aftermath of the global meltdown and its far reaching impact into our future, bad credit whiz have sorted out four issues the recession will call for a change in our world of existence and support.

Four Ways This Recession Has Changed Our World

While several issues line up the list of changes called for, the following four seem to have a far reaching impact.

• Dropping Birth Rates – The rate of population growth should be maintained at a minimum of 2 births per woman, to maintain minimum population growth, but given that, it does not meet the requirement, the replacement rate of population is expected to stay below 1, which means the population will diminish. With increasing cost of living, raising a child is expensive than ever before. No wonder, why parents go for not more than 1 kid.

• Lowering Demand for Houses – Bigger houses have literally become out of fashion. Or should I say, maintaining larger houses invites loads of expenditure and hence people prefer smaller apartment complexes. The trend makes it clear that people are moving towards what is called the joint family system or more preferably called multiple generation houses. While the said trend is prevalent in Indian, Hispanic and Asian families, it is catching very fast in the western countries too. It has multiple advantages. First and foremost is the cost benefit involved in more number of people living in bigger houses, which means the cost is shared among more number of people. Secondly, the same house is used across generations, which means lesser number of houses for the later generations too and thirdly, all members of the family living together reduces the need for day care services, as the family members at home help in taking care of the children, eventually reducing the expenses. Above is not only true in case of buying houses, it holds good even when the houses are rented.
• No to High Cost Colleges – What do you think is the reason behind high cost colleges? Well, it is free availability of student loans and a finance that has enable colleges to increase the cost of education, making it eventually more expensive. While in the early 60’s a family had to save 57 days earnings to pay the annual college fees, in the current decade the number has increased to 195 days.The best thing to do is to reduce the cost of education by opting for community colleges and avoiding high cost colleges. Well, once the trend continues, all high cost colleges will be required to reduce their fees in order to attract more and more students. Until it happens, stay in low cost colleges and then apply for a shift to these colleges. It is here that online colleges will find a favorable position in view of those students, who are looking for low cost and best curriculum courses.
• Retail Shopping a matter of past – With more and more web based shoppers advantages experienced by consumers that help them get rid of the difficulties like commuting to the store for purchasing your groceries. It is also the case with mega stores or the so called all in one store. With growing number of large sized mega stores, retail shops are left to face a big blow in terms of business and demand. With growing technology and changing attitude of people, the retail market never seems to resume. Of course these stores and shopping may not have what is called the human touch, well it is not far off when you will have a dedicated personal assistant who will help you complete your online shopping without hassles.

So what is that you have to say about how recession has changed our outlook?