“Thomas Stanley has written a fascinating book that is based on years of research into how the truly wealthy live.

Stanley’s main contention is that those with millions aren’t among the nation’s hyper consumers. Rather it’s the “aspirationals,” those seeking recognition as members of the moneyed set, who are loose with a buck. It’s a hypothesis offered often, but the difference is Stanley’s research.

He has packed his book with oodles of statistics — and not just the usual numbers. For example, 75 percent of millionaires pay $19.79 or less for a bottle of wine. When it comes to a dinner, 75 percent pay $24.53 or less and 95 percent keep the tab to less than $40. This is all fascinating stuff and Stanley presents it in a very readable style. Stanley has written two other best-sellers on millionaires. It seems he’s done it again.” (The Star-Ledger)

Check availability in MINERVA or Read about this title at Amazon.com

MoneyRates.com enables you to compare FDIC-insured banks that offer the highest interest rates available for savings accounts, money market accounts, CDs and interest checking.
money-rates.com

Online banks are able to offer higher interest rates than “brick and mortar” financial institutions because their overhead (i.e. cost of doing business) is considerably lower.

The First Ten “Peace Puppies” from Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Revisited:

1. Avoid “Stuffitis” – The Worship of “Stuff”

2. Plant Seeds – Give Money Away to Worthy Causes

3. Develop Your Own “Power over Purchase”

4. Find Out Where You Are Naturally Gifted – Enjoy Your Work and Work Hard

5. Live Substantially Below Your Income

6. Sacrifice Now So You Can Have Peace Later

7. You Can Always Spend More Than You Can Make

8. The Borrower Is The Servant to the Lender; So Beware!

9. Check Your Credit Report at Least Once Every Two Years.

10. Handle Credit Report Corrections Yourself.

See the rest – p. 277 to 278:

Financial peace revisited / Dave Ramsey ; with thoughts by Sharon Ramsey.

As many of us are well-aware, being deep in debt can be detrimental to one’s slumber, peace of mind and sense of well-being.

But the good news is reducing debt is not rocket science.

Simply cut your spending and apply the savings to your debt.

1) Use real money instead of a credit (or even a debit card) for all your purchases.

Personally, I’ve found that it’s harder to pull cold hard currency out of my wallet than to slide my debit card. This has helped me cut back on non-essential purchases.

Here’s a great way to painlessly save some extra money:
Since the beginning of this year, I started putting all the coins from any change that I receive into a piggy bank.

Last night I dutifully rolled and wrapped these coins which gave me a “surprise” $104 windfall.

2) Cancel your cable TV service and rediscover your love of reading.

This was the first thing I did to cut expenses and I miss my monthly $65.00 bill not one bit.

Please visit the Curtis Memorial Library’s Readers Corner for book recommendations, book groups (meet some new people!) and book articles:
http://www.curtislibrary.com/readers-corner/

Please also browse our financial literacy books and CDs (including excellent works by Dave Ramsey and Andrew Tobias).

If you still want to watch some movies and/or documentaries, please look over the library’s DVD collection on the first floor. Ask a staff member for help if you can’t find what you want to see.

3) Avoid dining out. Save restaurants for special occasions.

Prepare tasty and nutritious meals at home. Cookbooks for every type of cuisine you can think of are on the second floor of the library in the 641s section.
(Large print cookbooks are on the first floor – also 641s.)

4) Examine Amazon’s subscribe and save program for essential household items (dental floss, laundry supplies, cat food, paper products etc.) that you frequently purchase.

You get typically get a 5-15% discount, free shipping, and as an added bonus, you can use the Amazon shipping boxes for your eBay auctions (an income-enhancing topic which we’ll address in upcoming Curtis Money posts).

If you don’t have a computer at home (and/or Internet service), you can take advantage of the library’s public computers and/or wi-fi.

5) Review ongoing costs such as gym memberships (home exercise books and DVDs are in the 613s), insurance premiums (books on this subject are in the 332s), magazine subscriptions (new issues are in the 1904 room) and so on.

6) Cut coupons (even if you’re a guy) for essential items to use at the grocery store and your local retailers because every little bit counts.

“Money is the opposite of the weather. Nobody talks about it, but everybody does something about it.” – Rebecca Johnson

As stated in a post on the Curtis Memorial Library’s homepage, in addition to providing the researched and selected money resources that you see on the left, Curtis Money will be devoted to helping the financially shy.

In the days and weeks ahead, we will address the following topics:

• how to increase your income
• inventive and fun ways to save money
• how to find the highest interest rates for savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit (i.e. “CDs”)
• how does online banking work? And why should it interest you?
• how to pay down debt –> how much do you owe and how can you pay it down? (eventually to nothing)
• is cutting up all of your credit cards a good idea?
• what are credit scores & credit reports and how you can get yours?
• insurance matters – what if you get hit by a bus? (i.e. planning for illnesses and/or debilitating injuries)
• Stocks, and bonds, and mutual funds! Oh, my! (investment basics for complete novices)
• when is it time to think about buying a home?
• and more!

This promises to be an exciting and insightful journey to financial knowledge and well-being. We hope you will come along for the ride.

We Take Requests!

On the left side of each and every Curtis Money page, you’ll also find a handy feedback form.

The Curtis Money scribes are by no means financial planners but we are Reference Librarians of the highest order and will do our best to provide appropriate resources for any money question that you have.

“Never spend your money before you have earned it.”
― Thomas Jefferson

As related in an earlier Curtis Money blog post, a credit score is a numeric snapshot of your credit risk picture at a particular point in time. It is calculated using data from your credit files.

A higher credit score can save you money on loans by qualifying you for lower interest rates.

(As a higher credit score represents a lower risk to the lender.)

You can get your credit score from one (or all 3) of the major credit reporting agencies:

• TransUnion
• Equifax
• Experian

I got instant access to all 3 scores by signing up for a free trial of Equifax’s Complete Advantage Plan (which is a credit monitoring service):

The cost for this subscription is (at the time of this writing) $16.95 per month but if you cancel during the 30 day trial period, you don’t have to pay anything and of course you still have your credit scores.

(these aren't really my scores)

How to Cancel (and avoid paying)

Unfortunately, Equifax will not allow you to cancel by email. You have to call them.

Well before my free 30-day trial period ended, I called Equifax’s customer support number (866-243-8181) and told them I wanted to cancel my subscription.

The customer support person tried her best to keep me from canceling, throwing advantage after advantage of this wonderful service at me.

But I stayed firm and told her that I really only wanted my credit scores.

My subscription was finally cancelled and my credit card was not charged.

NOTE: Once you cancel your subscription, you will no longer have free access to your credit scores.

“When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is.”
― Oscar Wilde

The National Financial Educators Council cites the lack of savings as the biggest financial problem facing more 70% of Americans today.

Most people the Council states, will never be able to retire.

To help today’s youth avoid that problem, they advocate that parents help and encourage their children to develop a savings plan as early as possible.

Children can set aside a portion of any money they receive from birthday & holiday gifts, allowances, income from dog walking, earnings from raking leaves / shoveling snow, proceeds from lemonade stands et al.

The ultimate goal of this savings plan is by the time the children enter their teenage years and start earning their own money, saving will be second nature.

For I can raise no money by vile means.
― William Shakespeare

If you think a national financial institution or company has failed to fulfill its responsibilities to you, you can file a complaint with the appropriate federal agency.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (an independent bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury) maintains a website to help you do just that:
www.Helpwithmybank.gov
Phone: 800-613-6743

This site also provides answers to more than 250 frequently-asked questions on topics like bank accounts, deposit insurance, credit cards, consumer loans, insurance, mortgages, identity theft, and safe deposit boxes.

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.
― Charles Dickens

A FICO score is the most prevalent type of credit score in use today. It’s an acronym for its creators, the Fair Isaac Corporation.

A FICO score is commonly used to determine an individual’s credit risk (or worthiness as the case may be) and has whimsically been called “an adult’s GPA.”

This score is objective (as opposed to subjective) as it is based entirely on historical data about your past financial behavior and not on anyone’s opinion.

It’s worth noting here that anything not in your credit report (such as your age, religious beliefs, or ethnicity) will not be reflected in your FICO score.

FICO scores range between 300 and 850 (with both extremes being exceptionally rare).

Generally speaking, the higher a person’s FICO score, the more likely they are to pay their debts (and vice versa). Therefore people with higher FICO scores tend to receive more favorable terms from banks and other creditors.

So (again in theory) having a higher FICO score can help save you money.

Any score above 650 would indicate that person is a very good credit risk.

A FICO score is a mathematical model based on the following areas:

1. payment history – The largest factor in your FICO score. A history of making timely payments will positively affect your credit score. Conversely having credit accounts turned over to collection agencies will push it in the other direction.
2. current level of indebtedness – Another large factor in your FICO score. In addition to the amounts owed, the scoring system also takes into account the ratio between an individual’s total credit limit and the balances owed on each account. Carrying too much credit can negatively affect your FICO score.
3. types of credit used – Having a “healthy” mix of credit (i.e. credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, mortgage, consumer finance accounts, etc.) is favorably viewed by the scoring system. The assumption here is that somebody with no credit cards tends to be a higher risk than someone who has managed credit cards responsibly. However nobody recommends applying for credit that you don’t need.
4. length of credit history – Your FICO score considers the age of your oldest account, the age of your newest account and the average age of all your accounts.
5. new credit / new inquiries – Applying for new credit results in an “inquiry” from the creditor. The scoring system tends to take a dim view of numerous inquiries and newly established credit accounts.

As mentioned in a previous Curtis Money Blog post, Your FICO score is based on information within your credit report but it is not actually in your credit report.

We’ll cover how to actually get your FICO score in an upcoming post.

I can make more generals, but horses cost money.
― Abraham Lincoln

Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), you have have the right to obtain one free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) every 12 months through AnnualCreditReport.com.

According to the FTC, AnnualCreditReport.com is the ONLY authorized source for the free annual credit report that’s yours by law.

This can be done online, by phone, or by mail.

You can request (and print) your Credit Report online by going to www.AnnualCreditReport.com.

You can request your Annual Credit Report by phone by calling
1-877-322-8228 (toll free).

After you complete a simple verification process over the phone, your credit report will be mailed to you.

To request your Credit Report by mail:

1. Download the request form (You will need the free Adobe viewer for this.)
2. Print and complete the form
3. Mail the completed form to:

Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

NOTE:
Your credit score will not be included in your credit report.

Charles J. Givens in his best-selling book More Wealth Without Risk advocated what he termed “The 10% Solution” in order to go from paycheck to prosperity.

It’s a pretty straightforward system.

Givens said we should pay ourselves first by taking 10% out of our of our very next paycheck and sending that amount to a no-load mutual fund family (a topic which we’ll address in a later Curtis Money post).

Not ready for mutual fund investing? A savings account works just as well.

If you’re literally living paycheck to paycheck, write down each and every one of your expenditures and figure out which ones you can eliminate all together (such as a cable TV bill) and which ones you can spend less money on (such as feasting on frozen pizzas instead of pizza parlor pizzas).

The Federal Trade Commission’s official identity theft website (www.ftc.gov/idtheft) is "a one-stop national resource to learn about the crime of identity theft."

This crime can have disastrous financial and legal consequences for its victims if not detected and dealt with in a timely manner.

It’s well-worth nothing here that in addition to being the de facto definitive source on this subject, the FTC is a non-profit government agency.

(They’re not trying to sell you anything.)

Not only will you learn how to recognize and prevent identity theft (straight from the horse’s mouth so to speak) but the FTC also tells you what you can do to respond to and recover from identity theft (such as instigating a credit freeze).

Victims (or possible victims) of identity theft can also file an official complaint here.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has investigated and identified the various methods that no-goodniks can use to steal your identity.

These methods include:

1. Dumpster Diving – They rummage through trash looking for bills or other paper with your personal information on it.
2. Skimming – They steal credit/debit card numbers by using a special storage device when processing your card.
3. Phishing – They pretend to be financial institutions, companies or government agencies, and send email or pop-up messages to get you to reveal your personal information.
4. Hacking – They hack into your email or other online accounts to access your personal information, or into a company’s database to access its records.
5. "Old-Fashioned" Stealing – They steal wallets and purses; mail, including bank and credit card statements; pre-approved credit offers; and new checks or tax information. They steal personnel records from their employers, or bribe employees who have access.

The FTC estimates that as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year.

Here are five identity theft warning signs:

1. Rejection from lenders – your credit card applications or loan applications are denied despite your good credit.
2. Strange charges appear on your credit card or bank debit card statement (you receive bills from unknown accounts).
3. Missing mail or monthly bills (could mean that someone has changed your address).
4. Your passwords and/or personal identification numbers (PINs) no longer work.
5. phone calls or bills from collection agencies demanding payment for accounts you are unaware of.

In a nutshell, a credit score is a number representing the creditworthiness of a person, the likelihood that person will pay his or her debts.

It is based on information within an individual’s credit report.

Like a test score, the higher your credit score, the better your credit.

A good credit score shows that you have a high probability of repaying loans on time. Therefore, a good credit score will help you take out loans more easily and even get better interest rates.

A credit score is a three-digit number between 300 and 850. It’s basically a snapshot of a person’s financial standing at a particular point in time.

The mathematical formula behind an individual’s credit score can get pretty complicated (and seems to vary a bit depending on who you talk to) but we can safely say here that a credit score includes:

• Your payment track record.
• How long you’ve used credit.
• How often you’ve applied for new credit and whether you’ve taken on new debt.
• The types of credit you currently use, such as credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts and mortgages.

The three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

As we’ll see in the very next Curtis Money post, you can get a free annual credit card report but a free credit score is a little more difficult to come by.