Online Shopping Shortcomings...Buyer Beware

Everyone loves getting a good deal. Whether it's receiving a low-interest rate on a car loan, to finding a can of tomato sauce on sale at the supermarket. Saving money on something you want feels great. 

Often times you can find great deals online at sites where individuals sell things, like eBay or Amazon (through third-party sellers). One such site I recently had an opportunity to do business with was Poshmark, a site where sellers list new or slightly used items of clothing, shoes, handbags, accessories, along with a few other things. While I had created an account about six years ago, probably to review the site for an article, they were not high up on my list to search when needing to find an item. 

How data breaches go beyond financial theft

Security breaches are nothing new. We learned this back in 2013 when Target lost data, again in 2014 when the White House was hacked, and back in 2017 when Equifax fell victim to a cyberattack. And here we are again, years later, with Capital One acknowledging their security breach of personal information.  

Credit Reports vs Credit Scores...

Interested in how your credit score is calculated? Well, it's not as simple as just paying your bills on time. Your FICO score is based on five different factors... Here's the breakdown:

30%   Available Credit
10%   Number of Inquiries
10%   Type of Credit
35%   History of Credit
15%   Length of Credit

Raising Money Through Crowdfunding? Don’t Forget to Include It on Your Taxes

My community pulled together recently to help a young father battling cancer for the second time. A local cupcakery held a fundraiser in his honor and donated $1 to his family for each cupcake sold on a particular day. The store was packed, the lines were long, and the cupcakes sold out quickly -- well, at least the triple-chocolate cheesecake ones did.

When it comes to raising money for a cause, what used to be as simple as putting out a donation jar has been made even easier -- you can ask people to donate right from their smartphones through crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe, GiveForward and YouCaring.

But does that help actually hurt you when it comes to tax time? As the recipient, do you need to claim the funds you raise through a crowdfunding campaign as income, or is that money considered a gift?

5 Ways To Help Protect Your Credit

What should you do if your account gets hacked?

A while back my debit card got hacked. Yep, some loser got a hold of my card number. The assailant attempted to use it to purchase various computers and equipment, along with a Match.com membership.  And while some of the smaller charges hit my account, it was the fine people in the fraud detection department of my bank that blocked the other charges from hitting. 

Luckily the fraud was detected in time. Luckily the loser wasn't able to clean my checking account out. And while I try to be super careful when using my cards, sometimes the good guy just gets the short end of the stick. 

Going off the grid

So, how can you protect yourself against becoming a victim? Easy. Build a bunker, grow your own food, use solar energy, and only trade in gold bullion. However, if you're anything like me, this isn't quite a viable option. Don't get me wrong...if you're in the first category I mentioned, feel free to bring me cucumbers and berries from your garden. I love cucumbers and berries...bring a lot~ But for the rest of you, here are some precautions you can take:

Protecting your money and staying on budget with prepaid cards

Sometimes I like to pass the time by playing games on my iPad. I have downloaded various apps for puzzles, slots, and of course Angry Birds. A few months ago my friend, Keith, decided to hijack my iPad and partake in some of this frivolous entertainment as well. 

Now before I get too far in to how the events went down, let me start by saying this was his first time playing these games. Let me also preface that he is not very technologically savvy. At least not with the mobile devices.

While he was pretty content playing solitaire, I mentioned there were plenty of other games he could try. Being the kind person he is, he didn't want to "mess up" my high score. I insisted he give them a try, and said "let the games begin".