Holiday Spending Solutions

1. Avoid Department Store Offers for Instant Credit and Don't Open Up New Lines of Credit

"Would you like to save 10% today on your purchase today?". We have all been asked that question when paying for our purchases. Every store under the sun would like to offer you their own credit card. This is not good for your score. The damage to your score you'll incur by opening up a new line of credit is just not worth the few dollars you might save. Department score credit is poor quality credit and the credit scoring system frowns on it. Just don't apply for the card. You may want or need to apply for a new car loan, a new home loan, a re-finance a home loan. By applying for store credit to save a couple of dollars, you could be hurting your chance of getting an important loan at a good rate until the middle of next year.


2. Avoid Overspending

Spending affects credit. 30% of your credit score is made up of how you manage your debt, and when your credit card balances exceed 30% of their available limit, the credit scoring system red flags you and your score goes down instantly. The logic behind this is that if you suddenly max out your credit cards, it looks to the system as though you are in financial trouble. Only charge if you can pay the balance in full before the next statement date. Plus, overspending and overcharging will also cause you to carry larger balances longer. It is best to keep your balances low at all times.

3. Pay Your Bills On Time

Payment history is 35% of your credit score. One 30-day late can cost you 50 points or more. December is traditionally the busiest time of the year. Active calendars filled with work and social commitments for family and friends and the frenzy of the season can preoccupy you and cause you to be late in paying your bills. Make staying on top of your bills a priority. Put all of your bills in a file and make sure you pay them on time. In doing so, you will save points on your credit score and ridiculous late charges as much as $39 or more. Additionally, when you are late in paying your bills, you nullify any preferential finance rate and your account will default to a dramatically higher interest rate. A ding to your credit score, a high late fee, and a huge increase in interest rates are all big incentives to make sure you are on time with your bills. I recently got a call from a customer who had been late, but not 30 days late and the rate jumped on his card to over 30% annually!

4. Take the Time to Plan and Prepare Your Gift Giving

We all do it. We walk into a store ready to buy a specific item and end up getting lured into a spending vortex. Panic spending because the store does not have the item you went in to buy; deciding that if you buy this item for this person, then you have to buy this item for another person; succumbing to the temptation of the latest must-have gadget. You can prevent this well-woven retailer trap by doing your research online. By preparing before you even darken the automatic doorstep of the alluring retail establishment, you can determine where you can purchase specific items and for what price. In doing so, you can avoid the retail traps and retain control of your spending (and your sanity). Online shopping sites have grown tremendously in popularity. Traffic to those sites is up more than 30% from just last year. There is a wealth of information on the web. In fact, www.pricegrabber.com lists all of the hottest holiday items and tells you who sells them and for how much. Remember, if you pay your credit card bill prior to the statement date, it will help your scores. www.froogle.com is another great site to find the item for less.

5. Manage Your Credit Wisely

Keep track of your credit card balances and keep them as low as possible. Studies show that as consumers increase their credit card balances, they become increasingly apathetic about their balances and even about adding new debt. By tracking balances, you will maintain a sense of control over your credit score and your finances. Write out a chart of who you owe, how much you owe, and what the minimum payment is. It will help you to get a handle on your bills, and help start planning how to pay them off.

Remember that if you want to stay in touch with your family this season for a low price, contact National Access Long Distance.  We keep your long distance costs low.

Adjustable Rate Mortgage Information

Some great tips on an adjustable rate mortgage to increase your knowledge, from National Access Long Distance.

The adjustable rate mortgage is a type of loan which will be secured on a home which has an interest rate and monthly payment that will vary. The adjustable rate will transfer a portion of the interest rate from the creditor to the homeowner. The adjustable rate mortgage will often be used in situations where fixed rate loans are hard to acquire. While the borrower will be at an advantage if the interest rate falls, they will be at a disadvantage if it rises. In places like the United Kingdom, this is a very common type of mortgage, while it is not popular in other countries.

The adjustable rate mortgage is excellent for homeowners who only plan to live in their homes for about three years. The interest rate will typically be low for the first three to seven years, but will begin to fluctuate after this time. Like other mortgage options, this loan allows the homeowner to pay on the principle early, and they don't have to worry about penalties. When payments are made on the principle, it will help lower the total amount of the loan, and will reduce the time that is necessary to pay it off. Many homeowners choose to pay off the entire loan once the interest rate drops to a very low level, and this is called refinancing.

One of the disadvantages to adjustable rate mortgages is that they are often sold to people who are not experienced in dealing with them. These individuals will not pay back the loans within three to seven years, and will be subjected to fluctuating interest rates, which often rise substantially. In the US, some of these cases are tried as predatory loans. There are a number of things consumers can do to protect themselves from rising interest rates. A maximum interest rate cap can be set which will only allow interest rates to rise at a specific amount each year, or the interest rate can be locked in for a specific period of time. This will give the homeowner time to increase their income so that they can make larger payments on the principle.

The primary advantage of this loan is that it lowers the cost of borrowing money for the first few years. Homeowners will save money on monthly payments, and it is excellent for those who plan on moving into a new home within the first seven years. However, there are risks to this type of mortgage that must be understood. If the owner has problems making payments, or runs into a financial emergency, the rates will eventually rise, and the owner who cannot make payments may lose their home.

One term that you will hear lenders talking about is caps. The cap can be defined as a clause that will set the highest change possible for the interest rate of the loan. Homeowners can set up a cap on their mortgage, but they will need to make a request from the lender, as the cap may not be present on the rate sheets that are presented.

Cutting Heating Costs

With temperatures cooling, National Access Long Distance presents some tips to cut your heating costs!

Proper furnace care and smart purchases can help you reduce the high costs of heating your home. That's good news considering that energy bills-which are already historically high-are expected to continue to climb. In fact, a recent article in USA Today reported that homeowners on average will see a 25.7 percent increase in heating costs compared to a year ago.

To reduce heating costs, experts say that the energy efficiency of your furnace is extremely important. According to Jim Miller of Amana brand furnaces, "Homeowners don't have much control over the price of natural gas, but they can take steps to minimize the impact of home heating costs." He offers these tips:

1. Have Your Furnace Checked. "If you haven't already done so this year, have a licensed HVAC contractor inspect your furnace now," Miller emphasized. "He can perform a safety inspection and clean your furnace so that it runs as efficiently as possible."

2. When Buying a New Furnace, Choose High-Efficiency. A furnace's efficiency is indicated by its Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency percentage, or "AFUE," a measurement developed by the U.S. Department of Energy. The higher a furnace's AFUE, the more efficient it is. "Furnaces older than 15 years operate at efficiencies of approximately 60% AFUE. This means that for every dollar spent on heating costs, only 60 cents actually helps warm your home, while the remaining 40 cents is wasted.

"If you were to replace that 60% AFUE furnace with a high-efficiency unit, such as the Amana brand AMV9 96% AFUE Variable-Speed Furnace, you would get 96 cents worth of warmth for every dollar you spend toward heating your home," said Miller.

He added that furnaces with a variable-speed blower are even more efficient because the blowers typically require up to 75 percent less electricity than a standard motor. In addition, a furnace's blower also works with the home's cooling system, meaning consumers experience increased efficiency year-round.

3. Investigate Tax Credits for High-Efficiency Furnace Purchases. Thanks to the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT), homeowners who purchase furnaces with an AFUE of 95% or higher in 2006 and 2007 may qualify for a tax credit of $150. And if that furnace uses a variable-speed blower, they may qualify for an additional $50 tax credit.

These tips brought to you by: National Access Long Distance!

Quality Assurance

The Communication Act and the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) hold telephone companies liable for their agents and telemarketers. At National Access Long Distance, we uphold standards of quality on telesales to avoid fraud and error by implementing a written code of compliance-based and integrity- based ethics.

In order to guarantee that a provider-switch is ethical, every call is recorded and stored. National Access Long Distance follows the FCC guidelines for telemarketers to change a customer’s long distance provider. A provider-switch must be done either by Third Party Verification (TPV) or a Letter of Agency (LOA). Our sales are triple checked to confirm that the sale is ethical, that the authorized person in charge of the account made the change, and the sale must pass both an auditory and visual check of compliance.

Third Party Verification (TPV) is recorded 3-way telephone call that connects the consumer and vender to an independent verification company.

TPV confirms a customer’s decision to switch their long-distance carrier by following eight steps after the sales representative transfers the customer to a Third Party Verification company.

1.      The verifier will ask the sales representative to state identifying information and where they are calling from, as well as, the customers’ information.

2.      Then the verifier will ask the sales representative to clear the line.

3.      The verifier will identify his or her self to the customer and then ask if it is OK if the conversation is being recorded.

4.      If yes, then the verifier clarifies the customers’ name, his/her title, address, and phone number(s), and then ask a series of questions requiring either a yes or no response. If the customer has any questions; then, verification is stopped and the customer is transferred back to the sales representative for clarification. The maximum of three times per lead. Third Party Verifiers may never answer any questions.

5.      The customer is asked to supply authorization information, such as, the month and year of their birth to verify that they are over 18 years of age.

6.      The verifier will then supply the customer with a toll-free number of the company they have authorized service with.

7.      The verifier will ask the customer if they can call them right back, just so they can confirm that they spoke to the authorized person in charge of the account.

Letter of Agency (LOA) is a detailed written or electronic letter that is used to confirm a telemarketing order. The consumer must sign the LOA and send it back for sale to be complete.

A toll-free number must be provided to the customer, so that they can confirm the switch. Tele-sales are not processed for 48 hours in order to give the customer a chance to change his or her mind.

For quality long distance contact National Access Long Distance.