Tag Archives: don 39;t
Green Dot Prepaid Credit Card – Review
The Green Dot Credit Card is a prepaid card. This may be unfamiliar so let me explain the basics.
This is not like an unsecured card where the company issues it and attaches a limit on which they then charge interest as it is used. With this you must deposit money and then that amount then becomes your limit.
Instead of making purchases and paying for them later and the interest rate and associated fees. You pay beforehand by loading cash amounts. The issuer is Columbus Bank and Trust Company.
You will need to reload funds onto the card. The minimum amount of the initial load is $20 and the maximum amount of the initial load is $2,500.
You can not have more than $2,500 loaded on the card at any given time. To reload your Green Dot card, you may have a portion of your paycheck directly deposited to your card or you may purchase a Green Dot MoneyPak universal reload from locations such as Rite Aid, CVS, Eckerd, Radio Shack, The Pantry and other participating merchants. The MoneyPak costs $4.95.
You will be charged a $4.95 per month maintenance fee, $2.50 for each ATM transaction ($3.00 per international ATM transaction, $4.00 per cash advance from a teller or non-ATM transaction), up to $1.00 per call to obtain your balance using the interactive voice response system or a live operator, and $10 fee to replace a lost or stolen card. Always be sure to read the Terms and Conditions before applying.
Columbus Bank and Trust Company also offer a Premier version of this card. Be sure to research the Premier card fees before moving forward.
Fees include a one-time $19.95 membership enrollment fee and a $5.00 fee per month if you do not load $750 per month to the card. Additional charges may accrue if you use an ATM.
Likewise, if you purchase one of these cards at a store, the retailer will charge an initial activation fee and a reload fee. Be sure to check with the retailer for the costs involved with purchasing one of these cards.
I do not suggest these cards, however it depend on your situation and why you need the card. Again, personally, I don’t really feel that I want to pay to call someone’s answering machine.
I also don’t want to pay $5 per month merely because I don’t reload $750 per month. I believe I should be the one to decide how much a balance I want to maintain.
Additionally, there are other cards which allow more flexibility as to reload options.
Congress Debt Talks Fall Short Again
The debt talks Congress has held as a result of the failure to meet the debt ceiling deadline over the summer have failed at their intended purpose of creating a deficit agreement. Lawmakers have reached a standstill and much of the talks have devolved into partisan bickering. If the talks don’t change direction by the deadline on November 21, this will result in over $1 trillion in cuts to many social programs and military spending.
This is not the first time government leaders have had problems cooperating to come up with solutions to the nation’s debt crisis. The talks between President Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner fizzled out with no lasting solution for the American people. And the Bipartisan Deficit Commission, formed earlier this year, also made insignificant progress towards the goal of saving America’s financial future. Just using the previous year as an example, it should be clear to many Americans that their government does not have a proven track record of cooperation towards the greater good. Instead, many Americans may feel let down by their government leaders, who just don’t seem to be able to see eye to eye.
Things tend to be much simpler for individuals when they’re looking to solve their debt problems. Sometimes, when one consumer is looking for help managing his or her finances, short term loans are a popular option. Among the most popular types of short term loans are collateral loans, which allow a borrower to give something they own to a lender temporarily in exchange for a loan. And in this category of loans, car title loans are one type of loan that consumers choose because they often find the process easier than other loans. Car title loans don’t require a credit check, and come with lower interest rates and longer repayment periods than other short term loans. For comparison, “check advance” loans often charge interest rates approaching 1000% APR and usually need to be paid back within a week. Further information about title loans is widely available online. But the best source for information is industry blogs, such as those that are found on http://tfciloan.com and http://acartitleloan.com
Obviously, the entire government will not be able to solve the country’s debt problems by taking out car title loans. It would be a nice thought, but when you’ve got a gross debt of over $15 trillion, short term loans simply aren’t going to do it. The only solution to America’s deficit problems is for Congressional leaders to begin working together and cooperating across party lines instead of plain old “politics as usual.” With the country’s economic future in the balance, politicians should learn that these games are not helping anyone.