Oliver News

There has been much in the news about the credit crisis and impending recession in the U.S. What can people do when they need credit and the process is being made even more difficult? The first thing I suggest to people is to get an education about credit. The process is different for different people, some people have no credit and need to get it established, some people have good credit and just need to find the best loans and credit opportunities that they can get. There are also a ton of people that have bad credit, and yet there are times in life when you need credit, and times when it just makes more sense to finance.
I have been amazed about how much there is to know about the credit process and the various ways and means that those in the financing industry score and keep up with people. I have also been quite surprised that so many do not know much about their credit rating and the options that they can take advantage of out there.
There are methods to getting better credit, and the main way to do that is make payments on time, if you can’t make them on time, get in touch with your creditors and see what can be done. Sometimes a consolidation loan is possible to help you make payments on time. There are also credit repair services out there that can assist you with getting it back on track. If there are items on your report that shouldn’t be there, write the reporting agencies. When you are ready to be more educated about loans look around for all the info you can find. Learning about all the options out there can save you a ton of money in the long run, just like shopping around can save you a ton of money on car insurance, it’s worth the time you put into the research.

Saw a story today that talked about the Massachusetts law with mandates everyone has to have health insurance. This started about two years ago and is already costing much more than they expected, and it is not covering everyone in the state. Sure it’s a good experiment, but now they are talking about more taxes to cover it. Looks like the idea that covering more people will save more money because of quantity is not the case with health coverage.

From a news story found at yahoo:
“They said it would get us universal coverage and reduce costs and it’s done neither,” Tanner said.

The biggest challenge is rising costs.

In 2006, a legislative committee estimated the law would cost about $725 million in the fiscal year starting in July. In his budget, Patrick set aside $869 million, but those overseeing the law have already acknowledged costs will rise even higher.

Lawmakers are hoping to close the gap in part with a new cigarette tax expected to generate about $154 million a year.

And they are talking about raising the tax on cigarettes to cover it - ridiculous. No new taxes, we need less taxes. Raising the cigarette tax seems easy to them who say divide the people and conquer them - people rarely fight as a group to stop taxing what some consider sin. That’s bad for everyone as a whole. Raising the tax on smokes will make less people smoke which will bring less tax money than they expected, it will also cause the cigarette companies to offer special deals and bonus free packs to try and keep customers, which will lead to even more loss in tax revenue. These people are so short sighted and quick fix it drives me crazy.

I am not against universal health care, but let’s not raise taxes to make it happen. Let’s also not fool ourselves into believing that more people covered means prices will come down.

See this is how it works. I want to go on more trips, Mary wants more shopping. After selling her snowboard a while back she was wanted to trade in that dough for some new sunglasses and swimsuits, well I’m talking her into sunglasses and skis instead. I started looking into the ski trips we can make in Europe and there is more time to enjoy the snow there, so it’s time to get on a plane, of course Mary knows it’s time for more shopping.

I’ve suggested some new Salomon skis since snowboarding is not really her thing, she asked if we could find some that matched her new sun goggles and I said of course. So we are getting new skis and getting out to Europe for some real crazy mountains. I’m hoping we get there early enough and without any hassles so I can ski the first day we arrive. Mary will undoubtedly pass on the first day - probably claiming jet lag - but nothing is keeping me from the slopes on the first day!

When stuff like this makes it into the news I am scratching my head in wonder. Doesn’t this sound like common sense, it shouldn’t take a rocket scientist or a Harris poll for everyone to know - people have issues with stealth marketing, and do not like the idea of personal data being used in stealth ways. Sure there are people out there that willingly give up info and get ads tailored in exchange for cheaper services and such, but when it becomes not so obvious and ads are tailored to people it creeps them out.

From the article I found at yahoo:

Nearly 60 percent of 2,513 people in the United States questioned in a Harris Interactive poll said they were uneasy when Web sites use information about personal online activity to tailor advertisements or content.

Really? Boy if people only knew how much of their private data was being stored, used, bought, sold traded, hacked and otherwise taken advantage of they would be up in arms - if you only knew.

So the snow bug got me last week and I booked a trip to Canada for some more snow boarding and skiing. Mary was reluctant to make another snow trip so soon, but when I started shopping for more clothes, well I guess that changed her mind. Some would call this bribery, but if you’ve ever been married you know that it’s just part of the deal. Why fight it? Use this information to make life easier. Shopping always helps you get what you want with your wife, sometimes it just means you have to shop for more expensive stuff.

Anyway, she wants to be bionic woman, or at least that’s the new coat that she picked out, I wanted her to get the red but she choose the new age blue, which should be pretty on her too. We decided to get some clothes that were unusual and versatile (one of my favorite ways of getting what I want and getting her more interested in the shopping) - so I surfed over to North Face and we found all kinds of cool stuff - perhaps I will talk into more than one snow trip before the season is over. I got some new pants and she got a new coat. This is how to keep you relationships smooth. We both got what we wanted, and we’ll be doing it again.