By Noreen Ruth

Begin with your Browser and Internet Connection
An unsecured web browser or Internet connection be easily be intercepted by a hacker resulting in the theft of your credit card information and possibly your identity. A secure computer connection will scramble (encrypt) everything you enter into the web browser. The easiest way to insure that you have the latest technology to safeguard your Internet shopping is by keeping up-to-date on all upgrades and new releases. Allowing Automatic Update for Windows is one important way to be at the top of your game when it comes to Internet security. Contact your service provider, if you’re not sure if your connection is encrypted.

If your connection is wireless, especially if you’re surfing the web in public places, it is imperative that you have your wireless router WEP enabled. This is accomplished through the setup window of your wireless connection. Again, if you’re unable to determine your security, contact your wireless router manufacturer to help you out.

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Ever charged your rent or groceries to your credit card. You’re not alone. It’s a common path to high-rate credit card debt. Credit card debt grows more costly as short-term interest rates rise; an excellent reason to get rid of it quickly. Don’t use your credit card to buy anything you can’t pay off at the end of the month. That applies to everything from groceries to vacations.

Consumers ages 20 to 29 carry an average $5,781 in revolving debt — which includes credit card loans — a 24% rise from five years ago, adjusted for inflation, according to an analysis by Experian of the credit records of 3 million twentysomethings for USA Today.

Twentysomethings “are one of the groups that we’re becoming more concerned about,” says Nick Jacobs, a spokesman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, which counsels 40,000 twentysomethings each year through its 115-member debt-counseling agencies nationwide. “They’re out there living on their own and have a whole new set of obligations.”

It’s vital to have a plan to cut credit card debt. Some suggestions:

1. Limit credit card use.
Eliminate the temptation of credit cards; cut some cards up, keep only the cards you really need. You could also close credit card accounts. Generally, you should think twice before closing older accounts, though, because doing so could hurt your credit score. This is especially true for young adults who lack a long credit history. (check out our recent article on how closing credit cards can effect your rating)

2. Negotiate lower credit card rates.
Young credit holders (early 20’s) often pay higher card rates than older adults because they’re considered a higher risk since they have limited financial experience and little payment history. it’s worth the time to call your credit card issuer. You can often lower your interest rate by a few percentage points and help you emerge from debt more quickly.

3. Pay high-rate to low-rate credit card debt.
If you have debt on more than one card you should tackle the highest-rate credit cards first and heaviest.  This usually cuts your debt load faster. Monitor your accounts closely, though, because credit card rates change all the time. However you tackle credit card debt, make sure you still pay at least the minimum on other accounts.

4. Pay credit card bills on time.
On-time payments have EVERYTHING to do with getting out of debt. Many banks adjust interest rates on your credit cards by looking at your payment history not only with them but with other creditors. Consider setting up automatic transfers from your checking or savings account to your credit card issuer to make it easier to pay on time.

5. Beware of low-rate loans to pay off credit cards.
Financial experts say they’re seeing more signs of young adults paying off high-rate cards with lower-rate loans, such as home equity credit lines and student loans. Paying off credit card balances with mortgage debt can be risky; you’re putting up your home as collateral. If you’re considering paying off your credit cards with student loans, just be aware that student-loan debt can’t be discharged if you ever have to file for bankruptcy. What about those low-rate balance-transfer offers on credit cards? Read the terms carefully. Some banks charge 3% of the amount transferred. On top of that, if you pay late or spend over your credit limit once, the interest rate could soar to 30% or more. You should also be building up three to six months of emergency money. Saving money may seem to thwart the goal of paying off debt as quickly as possible, but if you don’t have this cash, and your car breaks down or you have unexpected health care expenses, you’ll be tempted to pay with plastic.

One Tennessee anti-shopper shares a bit about his pursuit of ‘Yule’ (whatever that is), Christmas cheer and the perfect gift for the ‘missus’. Shopping for hedge trimmers is a no brainer & takes a few minutes flat - shopping for the fairer sex involves excursions to uncharted territories, a task the writer seems to have bested in the name of love and with the help of a healthy sense of humor.

By MIKE PIRTLE
I’m not much of a shopper.

I don’t like shopping for the most part, except Bink’s, and am old enough I generally have everything I need and a whole lot of stuff I don’t need.

This time of the year though I have to do some shopping whether I like it or not.

Now, buying the son-in-law a new shrub trimmer is no big deal. I know what I want and where it is.

Shopping for the missus for Christmas I hate because if she doesn’t want jewelry I have to enter shopping areas where I have no knowledge or understanding.

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Research shows that companies that accept credit card payments online have higher Internet sales than those that use PayPal and other such services. However, accepting credit cards alone won’t necessarily result in higher sales. Rather, companies that take the pains to accept credit cards do so for one of the following reasons:

• Integrate the inventory management system with the payment system

• Professional appearance (includes having a customized shopping cart rather than PayPal’s generic one)

• Cash flow is tight (need real-time payments that only direct credit card payments provide)

• Full control of the security of the payment process and potential refund issues.

• A complicated inventory (makes outsourcing more painful than gainful)

Shopping online is quick and convenient. You can find anything from fantastic new shoes to go with that great new dress, to a feature full digital entertainment systems, from a rebuilt transmission to a new car all togather. These days shopping online gives you as many options as you could possibly need. As anyone shopping online these days knows, there are typically a number of payment choices when purchasing items online, but which is best..? The question was recently put to some credible credit experts, take a look at their response.

Q: My husband uses our debit card for online purchases and I think he should use the credit card. He says there’s no difference, but I disagree. Who’s right? — T.H., Revere

A: We believe you’re right. Debit cards are connected directly to your checking account. When you make a purchase, your account is debited automatically. If the merchant makes a mistake and debits the account twice or the $29 debit is accidentally debited at $290, your account can be overdrawn.

That causes bounced checks, fees and a lot of time and stress. Debit cards are best used for any direct point of sale. Credit cards are a better option when buying online. They’re not connected to your checking account and it’s much easier to fix errors. There are also dispute options associated with credit cards, plus many credit cards offer bonus features and purchase-protection options. Debit cards don’t.

Incidently PayPal has great buyer protection as well, unless you’re purchasing ‘intangibles’ - design, consultation & other services - anything that does not qualify as an actual product.

All in all for online shopping it seems that consumers should use their credit cards. Benefits include…

• Buyer protection
• Easier to manage errors
• Not connected to other debt/credit indicators (bank account)
• Credit card benefits (miles, cash back, points etc)

Having and using credit cards helps build credit …right? In most cases this is true, obtaining credit cards helps to build your credit rating based on your ability to get and maintain credit from various sources. However, Selena Maranjian of Motley Fool fills us in on some of the details that may not be so obvious, and that may infact hurt our credit score.

Focus on the financial world, and it’s easy to learn something new every day. Here’s what I learned, thanks to a Bankrate.com article by Kristin Arnold: It seems that there are credit cards with no borrowing limits, and that using them can damage your credit rating. Yikes!

Arnold offered this eye-opening example: “Anthony Citrano, a partner in a Cambridge, Mass., public relations firm, opened a Citibank World MasterCard account in November of 2004. Within two months, his credit score dropped 50 points at Experian and 35 points at Equifax.”

So what’s going on here? Well, the main problem is tied to how credit scores are calculated. One major factor, which makes up nearly a third of your score, is “credit utilization,” which measures the percentage of available credit that you owe. If your card’s limit is $12,000 and your balance is $4,000, your credit utilization is 33%. (The lower the better, when it comes to credit utilization numbers.) Interestingly, if your card has no limit — which many card users would consider a good thing — then the metric can’t be calculated, and it isn’t there to boost your score. Some card companies are getting around the problem by using your largest recent balance as your limit, but this is an imperfect solution. For one thing, not all card companies are doing this, and for another, the numbers won’t always work in your favor. If you’re a modest charger with a highest balance of $5,000 and a current balance of $3,500, your credit utilization will be a relatively steep 70%.

Learn more in our Credit Center, which features some surprisingly interesting info about the credit card industry. Being smart about credit can save you lots of money. And speaking of credit cards, check out our Fool credit card, which is so snazzy that it often serves as a conversation piece. Use it responsibly, and it can serve you well.

Whether you’re looking for credit approval or to improve your credit rating, Credit Report Pro has a solution thats perfect for you.

Police have charged Christopher Hicks, a teenager working in a Laconia McDonald’s, with stealing customers’ credit card numbers. What’s worse is he had apparently also used them to buy electronics online, including an X-Box game system, spending in excess of $2,000.

Christopher Hicks, 17, was charged with fraudulent use of a credit card. Police said that Hicks was working in the McDonald’s drive-through in Laconia when he stole card numbers and used them to buy the electronic & entertainment merchandise online.

“While he had the cards in hand, he memorized some of the numbers, then wrote down the rest of the digits and then fraudulently used those over the Internet to make purchases,” Lt. Bill Clary said.

Police said a customer noticed unauthorized charges on her bank statement and reported it. Investigators said four customers’ card numbers were compromised.

Police said the merchandise was shipped to his aunt, Tina Solovicos, who was charged with receiving stolen property.

“We don’t believe she had any knowledge of the theft of card numbers,” Clary said. “However, she was aware the goods were stolen.”

Hicks and his aunt are due in court to face charges next month.

Police said several of the attempts to buy items were refused because the online company required a billing address.

That last bit is a great reminder to online merchants everywhere - there ARE some things that merchants can do to reduce credit card fraud. Recent studies have proven that traditional brick & mortar merchants could help reduce credit card fraud by as much as 50% simply by checking signatures & requiring valid ID at the point of sale.

Although it happens all too rarely, I’m greatful to the clerk when I’m asked to produce ID at the register. I feel even more strongly about my credit card purchases that occur online, and that could be performed by any person, any where in the world.

Protect yourself - shop at merchants that verify ID. Sooner or later the other merchants will begin to understand that this is a ‘value add’ that simply cannot be ignored, and will begin to offer this same level of what should be basic client/customer service.

 Check out this article at Bostom.com

It’s always easier to spend someone else’s money.

When it comes to a corporate credit card, though, don’t become reckless. Otherwise, you could put your credit history at risk or be on the hook for charges.

In 2004, on average, organizations that used corporate cards gave one — often referred to as a travel or purchase card — to 23 percent of their employees, according to the most recent Corporate Travel Card Benchmark Survey conducted by RPMG Research Corp.

And not all companies run their card programs the same. More than half the programs have a corporate liability, meaning your employer is on the hook for the bill. If payment is late, it won’t affect your credit report.

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A Beach police supervisor said the number of credit-card fraud cases reported in his city could be cut in half if retailers verified the identities of card users.

Sgt. Dave Roughton of the Economic Crimes unit says his seven-person squad is straining under 1,100 cases reported so far this year. He said more money is stolen in one month through credit-card fraud that is lost in an entire year to armed robbers.

“I cannot think of any merchants that require their cashiers or their customer-service agents to ask for ID,” he said.

The result is fraud totaling as much as $50,000 per month sent to Beach detectives to investigate.