Fearless Money

If you’ve taken the time to read about my credit fraud or my debit fraud experiences, you’ll know that it hasn’t been any fun at all for me…. In this post, I’ll try to find a silver lining in the whole experience.The only positive element I can come up with is my lessons learned: Banks and credit card companies simply do not care. They will not follow up, and they will certainly not take any proactive actions to block credit fraud…. Put more bluntly, once debit fraud starts, you are liable for an infinite amount of money for an infinite time. If you must close your bank account due to debit fraud, it is better to change banks entirely. That way the bank will not be able to “attach” the money in your new account during the inevitable dispute to follow…. Many scammers will put a test charge in, and if it is not challenged, they’ll start a regular “leak” on your account…. Find out if your credit card allows you to generate “one time use numbers”…. This works by making a number you can enter on a website which will be valid only once and which must be used within a set amount of time, usually a few months.

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I have had an account with Washington Mutual for years. It is a good bank in the Northwest, with a lot of local branches and with absolutely free ATMs and online billpay. However, they just don’t know how to deal with Debit Card fraud.
It all started on September 24, when I got a […]

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I thought I’d start with the easy one. On November 29, 2005, scammers using the business name “JM Business Products” changed my Bank of America credit card $9.95. I noticed it straightaway when I was balancing my budget, which I try to do every week. I was paying pending bills, and noticed […]

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I am a victim of credit fraud. Actually, both credit and debit fraud. It is a terrible experience, and one I wish I could say has been a learning one. But really, it is mostly just painful and annoying. Luckily so far, it has not been financially dangerous. I haven’t […]

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I’ve dipped my toe into the world of Google Adwords with a campaign for $20 off of a $100 order at Franklin Covey using code 15086. It was much easier than I’d expected, to be honest. Google has a great hand-holding demo which walks you through the whole thing. I’ve set a […]

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This time of year, we are all considering adjusting our retirement contributions for next year. Did you max out your Roth IRA? I did not, sadly, but that is now one of my top financial resolutions for the new year. If you have been maxing it out, then you may want to […]

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Today, many startups are designed from the start to be acquired by GYM (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft). That is their only real plan for making money. Greg Yardley points out with example numbers to back him up, that having actual income ahead of acquisition will vastly increase the selling price. For example, he […]

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Browsing PF Blogs tonight, I came across a great summary of one man’s approach to his goal of becoming a millionaire. It details the eight components of his recipe for success. Boiled down, “Have a lot of projects, keep working on them, don’t give up, do be flexible, watch out for barriers to […]

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Great article at Quit Your Day Job, on planning your affiliate programs for next year. It suggests helping people with resolutions in January, focusing on love/dating in February, and tax assistance in March. Much more in the actual post.
Link: Start Planning for Q1
Technorati Tags: affiliate

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In his article about Overcoming Limiting Financial Beliefs, Steve Pavlina has once again made me think deeply about what I believe to be true and why I believe it. His article, a must-read for would-be financially fearless people, challenges us to find and possibly remove our blocks to achieving wealth.
I suggest that if you […]

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