Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for May, 2009

Postman Steals Stamps to Pay Mortgage

CNN reported that a Michigan postal workers stole an estimated $20,000 dollars worth of first class stamps in order to help pay his mortgage.  John Auito, 42, from Macomb, Michigan pilfered the stamps from work and was trying to sell them on eBay at a discount.  Not the kind of Federal assistance President Obama had in mind.  After being found out, Auito made arrangements to turn himself in. ... more »

Suze Orman Vs. Liz Pulliam Weston – Who’s Right?

You have to love Suze Orman.  For some unknown reason, this former waitress has become the financial Messiah for a lot of people.  Her current book “Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan,” has one million copies in print, and has allegedly been downloaded 2.2 million times from her website.  These figures are impressive, but I have to ask myself just exactly what her credentials are. It’s pretty obvious that Suze has a taste for the good life.  We’re talking about a woman that spends half a million a year chartering private jets, and did some commercial work for GM.  Her advice? ... more »

How to Clean up Your Credit Report

If you’re not regularly monitoring your credit report to ensure the information is accurate and up-to-date, you are dropping the ball, and you may be paying more for loans and lines of credit then you need to. First thing you want to do is go to Annual Credit Report  and get a free copy of your credit report.  You can do this for free once per year.  They won’t tell you your credit score, but it will tell you what is on your credit report.  If you don’t mind paying, you can get your credit score, too.  You can also... more »