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I just learned that Trans Union deleted three more negative trade lines from my credit report that were on there because of identity theft.

This is so cool.  I had requested copies of my credit reports from annualcreditreport.com.  I have gotten so sick of dealing with my credit reports!  The errors on them were so bad that for a long time I could not even GET a copy of my Equifax credit report.   The ID theft problem?  I have no idea how it happened.  Maybe just because I did the stupid thing and lived in California for a while.   One California police department actually told me in 2001 that my social security number was coming back as registered to 7 different people in Southern California.  I wanted to just crawl into a hole right then.  They also said that brokering social security numbers on the black market is big business in Southern California.  I thought it would be hopeless ever trying to get my credit reports fixed.

But,  I have been working on it.  For a VERY LONG TIME.  It has been an uphill battle both ways.   Because of bouts of discouragement, in some cases I ended up waiting the 7 years and the accounts fell off.  Trans Union finally actually DID delete 2 new addresses that had popped up that were never addresses that I had lived at or even knew anybody who lived there.  One was in Vermont and one was in Rockford, IL.   I think that might be the last of the bad addresses on there, but the online version of my updated credit report seems to be somewhat incomplete, so I will need the paper copy to see.  It was nuts.  Besides apparently deleting those addresses, they also deleted three pretty huge collection accounts.  One of those was a vehicle repossession!  That was so very cool to get that stuff off of there!  I am finally starting to see light at the end of the tunnel, and starting to feel a little bit more confident in my credit scores again.

Not that long ago, I made a really stupid choice to buy a $5.00 fan at Wal-Mart.  I thought it was “nifty” because it was rechargeable.  It seemed like a handy thing to have around in case the power went out.  Very practical, right?  Well.  It only lasted 30 days, and the cheap little motor burned up.  I did not save it just for emergencies, I had it running quite a bit actually, along with other fans, to avoid using the air conditioning.

But this is why it was such a stupid choice.  Last year I had purchased three of the same brand of fans for $10.00 each.  They were slightly larger than the $5.00 version, and came with the DC charger, which the $5.00 one did not.  Two of them lasted a whole season.  Of the three only one is still working.  I guess I had forgotten that when I picked up the $5.00 version.

What does that tell you?

Two things.  I am a slow learner.  And 02Cool fans are junk.

Earning cashback rewards on KickItBack.com begins and ends with a very simple principle: eBay wants people to shop on eBay. One of eBay’s programs pays commissions to companies who bring shoppers to eBay.

KickItBack is using profit sharing on an affiliate program to generate revenue and referrals. This is not only generous, but very smart! And it is good for you too!

Another affiliate marketer that uses profit sharing for YOUR benefit is BigCrumbs. They have agreements with eBay and over 240 (and growing) popular retailers, such as Target, Old Navy, Gap, Circuit City, Best Buy, and more.

When you visit BigCrumbs.com before shopping online and click their links to reach these retailers, BigCrumbs.com is paid a marketing commission. They pass that commission on to you!

Membership in BigCrumbs.com is 100% free. There are no hidden costs and you don’t pay extra when shopping at their featured retailers. It’s really that simple!

People hate advertising on the internet. I do too. But I look at advertisers that employ profit sharing as very generous and worth taking a look at in these tough economic times. Also the main purpose of this blog is to help you help your bottom line. Up to 1% cash back might not seem like much, but those nickels and dimes eventually do add up.

Here’s another TIP. If you use your paypal debit card to pay for your purchases you get another 1.5% cash back from PayPal. Pretty nifty, huh?

Here’s how I use PayPal. At the beginning of the month, I transfer money to PayPal to cover my large regular expenses for the month that I know I can pay by debit or credit card. I know that I automatically have 1.5% more than what I deposited! PayPal also pays a much better interest rate than my regular bank does, so I don’t mind leaving the money sit in there for a couple of weeks until due dates near the end of the month.

If you employed my other TIP from the other day and enrolled in upromise for college savings, guess what? You go through KickItBack.com or BigCrumbs.com and save maybe 1% on your little bit of shopping. You pay for those purchases with your PayPal debit card and get another 1.5% cash back. And since you enrolled your paypal debit card with upromise, 8% of the value of that purchase just went into your college savings account.

And by using these techniques, you basically just gave yourself a 10% raise.

So now what do you think of those nickels and dimes? I’d love to hear your comments on these thrifty ideas, and if you have any others to add, please do so!

Banks use a system that debits your account from highest transaction to lowest, not in order in which they were spent as most people think. This gives the bank more reasons to charge overdraft fees. If they take out the highest transactions first, all of those little transactions that your balance would have covered are each charged overdraft fees.

Here’s how high-to-low check processing works: Say you have $50 in the bank. And suppose three checks come in on the same day: for $20, $15 and $45. The bank would clear the $45 one first. That way, it could charge you a fee, of up to $35, for each of two checks bouncing. If it had cleared the lowest-amount check first, you’d incur only one bounced-check fee.

I would say that if your bank is making money off of you by waiting for you to make a mistake or have a bad month, they’re not looking out for your best interests.

• Balance your checkbook
• Ask your bank about its order of check, debit processing
• Know deposits may take longer to clear than checks
• If you’re charged fees, ask the bank to waive them
• Read bank’s deposit agreement
• Sign up for a low-cost transfer from savings for overdrafts

Of these, I think overdraft protection is probably the most important. Linking your checking account to a savings or credit account that can absorb a mistake can be very helpful. Be aware, though, that some banks still charge for *using* overdraft protection, so you’re just reducing the amount you get charged, not eliminating it. The amount of the fee you are charged for this will easily eliminate your interest earnings for the year. (My bank charges $10.00 if they transfer funds from my savings to my checking account to cover an overdraft.)

Remember, with a customer-acquisition cost of over $350, banks want to keep you as their customer. The next time you get charged a fee by your bank, make the call! Simply tell them, “I’d like to have that removed.” Be polite, friendly and direct.

If the rep says to you, “Unfortunately, we’re not able to waive that fee. It was [some excuse about how it’s not waivable].” Don’t give up here. “No” does not mean “No” when it comes from a bank!

Try this: “Well, I see the fee here and I’d really like to get it waived. What else can you do to help me?” (Repeat your complaint and ask them how to constructively fix it.)

Always, always track your customer service calls.

So what do you do if you can’t get resolution with your bank over fees? Complain to the Federal Reserve! Send them a copy of your complaint and a summary of your calls.

Here is the link to the Federal Reserve Consumer Help web site:

http://www.federalreserveconsumerhelp.gov/

Of course, you should try to bank with a bank that does not charge monthly fees and you should try NOT to overdraw your account. But if you are “overdraft prone”, you might want to go ahead and open an account with First Security Trust Bank. http://free-overdraft.com/signup/home.html They have a high monthly fee, $19.95 per month, but they say no overdraft fees.

I have not used them, so I don’t how it is. If you have used First Security Trust Bank, please post comments about them here. Thanks!

Join Upromise and earn up to 8% of your bill in college savings rewards when you shop or dine out at any of over 8,000 participating merchants.

Upromise is the free service that rewards members with college savings just for doing what they normally do: shopping, eating out, filling the gas tank, taking trips, buying groceries and more.

So far, Upromise has helped more than 8 million members save for college. How? By partnering with thousands of contributing retailers, grocery chains, and restaurants who share our desire to help make college affordable. And who reward our members for using their products and services.