My Personal Finance Blog

If you have seen on TV and other news media that the USA is coming out of the recession, then why will no bank offer you a decent, no balance transfer fee offer with zero percent interest for 12 months, zero interest on purchases for six months, and a generous 5% money back on purchases rolled in one card?

Well the answer is quite simple. The banks are really not too sure that the recession is over, and their lending standards reflect that. However, there is one way you can get a top, high cash back credit card in 2010 and 2011. The way to do it is to reduce your debt level, increase your FICO score, and then apply for a best cash back credit card you can find.

So what is the best cash back credit card for 2011?

Once you have established a high FICO score by reducing your debt, preferably to less than 25% of the credit limit on each of your cards, banks will compete for your attention with high cash rewards card offers. You will probably start getting attractive pre-approved offers in the mail again! Which will be the best credit card for you will depend on where you spend the most money. Let’s see a few possibilities:

If you carry a credit card balance

Maybe in this case you should not even focus on getting your money back as much but rather on developing methods of getting out of credit card debt as soon as possible. Look for a balance transfer card with the longest intro rate possible. And look for cash back debit cards in addition.

If you have high weekly grocery and gasoline expenses

Maybe you are taking care of a large family and spend significant amount of money on groceries and for the cost of transportation, that is gas? In that case, the best credit card for 2011 will give you as much as 5% off on all gasoline purchases and some grocery purchases. Likely, you will get the highest 5% money back by pumping gas at a single brand station such as BP.

If you travel much

When you travel across the globe or within the USA, you could benefit most from a no-limits miles card. You will receive multiple miles, up to 5, for purchases of airline tickets, and lower amount of miles on all other purchases. Combining frequent flyer miles with the miles earned through purchases, your rewards will come quickly and will be easy to redeem.

For everyone else…

For everyone else, getting cash back on most purchases makes the most sense. While there are no cards that will give you high, as much as 5% cash back on all purchases, you could go ahead and get two or three different cards that will have high cash back of 5% at different times of the year. Thus, by rotating your cards, you could earn 5% on many purchases throughout the year. Of course, shuffling credit cards like that requires quite a sophisticated tracking system.

Graphic Design is one of the most vital elements concerning the overall appeal of any website. It is obvious that the visual content is always more effective than the text especially at converting a visitor into a buyer. This implies that without graphic design one cannot expect the website to be successful and revenue generating.

Basic Components of Graphic Design:

There are three main components of Graphic Design; namely subject (positive space), frame and negative space. The subject (positive space) is the space occupied by the matter whether it is the text or image. The frame is total space available. The negative space is the white space that is left empty.

Balancing the positive and negative space:

If the negative space is stuffed with a lot of content, the website owner will be very happy for not leaving any space and optimizing the use of resources at hand. On the other hand the possibilities of him/her being sad are higher. This is because when the visitor sees the web design he/she is going to get confused with lot of content and images. This can be a big impediment in the navigation. This can make the visitor very irritated and ultimately hurt the business. This implies that too much use of negative space can have a negative effect on the performance of the website.

Negative space by definition is the space not used. A lot of negative space means waste of resources. The website looses the chance of presenting forth the visitor any product or service that could generate revenue for the website owner. The visitors usually do not like too much of negative space on the page. This implies that too much of negative space is also not advisable.

The web designer needs to strike a balance between the positive space and the negative space. The right blend of the two can be created by appropriate placement of the two. This can assure that the eyes of the visitor are drawn towards the text or image that the designer focuses.

The negative spaces can also be used to highlight the positive space. If the content or a image is surrounded by negative space it is obvious that the eyes are going to be glued to the subject of the positive space.

The text content can be made attractive by introducing the negative spaces between the bulleted points or paragraphs. This depends on the creativity and expertise of the web designer.

The other aspect of negative space is that it can be used as a white color. If properly used this space does not need to be colored. The designer need not put in a lot of effort too.

The positive side of negative space that if used properly it can save time, money, resources and at the same time make the web design attractive and generate revenue.

Copyright © 2011

Internet based businesses / jobs that enable you to work from home are many and varied, some are good and some not so good. The great news is that there are lots of websites that explore these home working opportunities and they give you an idea of what the companies will be like to work for in reality.

If you are in the position of thinking about working online you may already have one or two possibilities in mind. There are the perennial favourites such as earning money from eBay for example. But this is just one of many business opportunities for earning money online, and if you go straight for the ones you know about you could be missing out on plenty of others.

For an example, there are people online right now who are earning good money from their photography; others are making a small amount of money by taking part in various surveys. Many people are making a good living from their writing or editing skills whilst others are earning an income helping small internet businesses with their SEO.

There are so many jobs and business ideas which involve the internet that it can be hard to find them all, let alone think about which one will match your own skills. This is the important thing though. Not only should you make a list of all the potential jobs / businesses there are, you should also think about which ones match your own skill set most closely. This will enable you to make more money at what you do.

For example you might think you can make a lot of money from photography and selling online stock photos, and indeed you can if you are talented enough. But if you dont have that talent you will struggle. However, if you have decent writing skills you could make a lot of money focusing on your passion and doing that instead.

Remember too that every niche has several sub-niches to explore. For example with photography you could focus on surreal images, images of people or images of recognisable places. With writing you could write press releases, create blogs and update them for clients and companies, or even write articles and web pages for them. The opportunities are endless and that means you need to think about where your skills and experience lie to make the most of them.

But perhaps the most important thing to remember is that you need to focus on one business idea to make a real success of it. Many people try sticking their fingers into too many pies, and as a result they end up struggling to make anything work effectively. This is bad news because you need to devote enough time and focus to one thing to make it work properly.

By focusing on a single money making opportunity, working your socks off from home, you should be able to succeed and hit your targets or even surpass them.

Once you have nailed your first venture from home you can move on and add something else to your repertoire. But until then stick with the single opportunity that stands the best chance of making you some real money.

The insurance companies will always reward you for driving less. If you rarely put wheels on the road, the chances of a claim are small and all your premium will be “profit to the insurer. So how does this work? In theory, it could not be more simple. The insurance company looks at who you are, when you drive and where you drive in deciding how much of a risk you represent. If you live 50 miles from your work and have a daily commute along a busy Interstate, the chances of an accident are high. But if you live on a bus route to work and only use your vehicle for odd journeys at off-peak times, the chances of an accident are small. When you answer the questionnaire, you will see questions covering these possibilities. Remember, if you get caught out in dishonest answers, the insurer will cancel your policy and leave you without any coverage.

The first question is where you live. Although some states like California have outlawed setting rates according to your zip code, the majority of companies focus on your home address. If there’s a high accident or theft rate among people living in your area, you will all pay a higher premium. The only choice, if you can afford it, is to live some place where the crime and accidents rates are lower. You look for the middle ground between the worst inner city crime hot spot and a house on the prairie where you never see another vehicle from one day’s end to the next. All the discounts favor drivers who only drive off-peak during the day, and restrict their annual mileage. No more late night and early morning driving when the majority of other drivers may be tired or affected by alcohol and/or drugs. This raises the question of monitoring. It’s easy to answer the questionnaire and claim the maximum discounts. But the trend among insurers is to ask people to drop their vehicle in for a regular inspection of the recorded mileage. The maximum discounts are given to the drivers who agree to devices being installed which collect all the data on driving and transmit it to the insurers. These devices have a GPS element that records where you drive, the time and, in some cases, some measurement of the quality of your driving, e.g. how often you brake. The reward for accepting this invasion of your privacy can be discounts of up to 25% on top of the usual discounts. Obviously, it’s not a good idea to use your own vehicle to rob a bank since the insurance company will know you were there.

This set of discounts is somewhat frustrating. In the larger cities with well-developed public transport, it’s usually not too much trouble to get where you want on time without using your own vehicle. Assuming your vehicle is safely in a garage to reduce the risk of theft, you should break even or better, i.e. what you save on the insurance pays for your use of buses and trains. But the most of the US has poor public transport, so there’s little choice. Remember the car insurance quotes are not the final word. Call the company, explain your circumstances and discuss how you might qualify for discounts. In discussion, you often discover options not included in the website. So, treat the car insurance quotes as the opening offer and start negotiating. Investing a little time often saves you money.

Facing a car insurance fraud even in the role of a victim means that you will have to pay. Your rates will go up because of an expensive claim, but you can risk your and your loved ones’ lives too. That’s why learning about insurance fraud protection is very important, making you prepared for illegal insurance scam that may harm you.

Insurance fraud is as old as the concept of insurance itself. Back in Ancient Greece ships were sunken on purpose to receive insurance benefits from the government. Later on, insurance scam was widely spread in England and then in the United States. With the development of automobiles and car insurance respectively, fraud users have gained a very big market rich with possibilities. Many organized crime groups as well as individuals are using flaws in the sophisticated insurance system of today to use it in their own interest, making you vulnerable to their activities. However, there are certain measures you can take in order to minimize the chance of becoming an insurance fraud victim.

First of all you have to learn what insurance fraud is all about and what schemes are usually employed. And the range of schemes is very wide. It can be a set-up accident with a car intentionally stopping in front of you to cause a collision, or an entire play with many people involved to testify your fault.

Learning what are the most common types of insurance fraud is actually the best way to be protected against such things. Here are some of the most widely used schemes of fraud to be on the lookout for:

Intentional accidents: The scam car will take its place in front of the victim car in traffic and suddenly hit the brakes when there’s not way to avoid collision. This usually causes rear-end accidents, with the scam driver receiving car damage coverage money and sometimes medical cost coverage as well.

Additional damage: The scam driver leaves the accident site, whether intentional or not, and causes additional damage to the car in order to claim that it was caused during the accident and raise auto insurance coverage in his or her favor.

Fake helpers: In such a scenario fraud hunters will let you into the traffic at first and then head in to make a collision with you, claiming that they didn’t let you in the first place afterwards. Another form of “help” could be directing to doctors, repair shops or lawyers that will charge you much more than in typical situation.

Because things like these can happen to anyone and in any place, it’s very important to pay attention. Be on the lookout for traffic participants who may be following you o analyzing your driving style for some time. Keep the safe distance in front of you to have room for emergency stop. In case the accident takes place, make sure to not everything, tape or shoot all the damages and record all the information regarding the other car and people in it. This information will be very helpful when dealing with your auto insurance company and can be proof of fraud if it takes place.