Credit Questions? Just Ask Nicole

December 1st is World AIDS Day - Shop (RED)

(RED), the campaign created by Bono and Bobby Shriver to raise awareness and funds for the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa, is one of my MySpace friends.

They sent out a bulletin message earlier today reminding everyone that World AIDS Day is December 1st.

They also announced that thanks to everyone's (RED) purchases, their partners' contributions to the Global Fund have reached over $50 million.

And as a result, an extremely effective medicine to treat HIV, which can return a person to vibrant health in as little as 60 days, is becoming widely available to the people in Africa.

They also wanted to remind everyone to shop (RED) for the holidays, because when you do, you're helping to eliminate AIDS in Africa with your purchases.

Please watch the brief 30-second video below and visit www.joinred.com to see what cool new stuff you can add to your carefully thought out holiday spending plan. :)

How to Use Your Spare Change to Make a Charitable Donation

In my previous post, I told you about Coinstar's "Coin to Card" program, where you can turn your spare change in to a gift certificate or eCertificate.

Well, Coinstar also has a "Coins that Count" program, where you can cash in your spare change and make a donation to one of their participating non-profit charitable organizations, and get a tax-deductible receipt right there on the spot.

The current participating non-profit organizations are:

• America's Second Harvest
• American Red Cross
• Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
• March of Dimes
• The U.S. Fund for UNICEF
• World Wildlife Fund

Click here to read more about this cool little way to make a charitable donation to some worthwhile causes.

The Easy Way to Turn Your Spare Change into a Gift Card or eCertificate

Have you heard about the "Coin to Card" program offered by Coinstar, the coin counting machine company?

They have a program where you can cash in your spare change at one of their participating machines for FREE when you turn your coins into a gift card or eCertificate. Otherwise, you'd be paying 8.9 cents for every dollar of coins you cash in.

Gift cards and eCertificates are currently available for the following merchants (varies by location):

• Starbucks
• Amazon.com
• Circuit City
• JCPenney
• iTunes
• Borders
• Pier 1
• Eddie Bauer
• Cabela's
• KB Toys
• Old Navy
• Timbaland
• DisneyShopping.com
• Hollywood Video
• AMC
• Linens 'n Things

According to Coinstar, the average US household has about $90 of spare change just sitting around.

If you have spare change lying around the house, consider cashing it in for a gift card or eCertificate to do some of your holiday shopping, or to give as gifts!

I should've included this in the show I did last week on holiday spending tips! :)

Click here to use the Coinstar locater to find a machine near you and to see the list of participating merchants.

Are You Concerned About ID Theft During the Holidays?

I just finished reading about the results of a consumer survey conducted by a company named BitArmor Systems. They help companies manage and protect sensitive data throughout their organizations.

They conducted a survey of 400 consumers over the Black Friday weekend in cooperation with news stations from Louisville, Nashville, Pittsburgh, and Birmingham.

Turns out, lots of folks are concerned about the risk of identity theft over the holiday season when it comes to using their credit cards.

This is what their survey revealed:

• more than 3 out of 4 people are concerned about companies losing their credit card info to hackers and other criminals during the holiday season

• 2 out of 3 people will use their credit cards to pay for less than 25% of their purchases this year

• more than 40% of them revealed that they or someone they know has had their identity stolen

• 80% said they were "likely" to stop shopping at a store where adequate measures weren't being taken to protect their information, with 68% saying they were "extremely likely" to take their business elsewhere

• 75% would tell their friends about companies that don't protect their personal data

• only 5% said they were not concerned about the issue

This survey comes on the tail end of that big TJ Maxx security breach scandal, where 94 million credit card numbers and customer records were stolen. An event that could've been prevented because TJX, the parent company of TJ Maxx and Marshall's, was using obsolete data encryption measures to protect their customers' information.

When all of the hoopla and investigation was going on about the stolen records, an internal TJX company email surfaced that said "It must be a risk we are willing to take to for the sake of saving money."

Wow!

What about you?

• Are you concerned about using your credit cards during the holiday season?

• Do you think the holiday season increases the likelihood of your identity being stolen?

• Would you stop shopping at certain stores if you knew they weren't doing a good job of protecting your personal information?

Tell me what you think by clicking on "comments" right below the dotted line at the bottom of this post.

BE AWARE! DTE Energy is Gonna Report You!

It's about that time folks...

Where the onset of winter causes it to get a little "chilly" here in Michigan, and it seems like our days get shorter and shorter because it gets dark so early, and it gets freezing cold (although we've been luck so far with pretty decent weather) and we get all of that lovely snow.

But it's also that time where we start cranking up the heat in our homes! And you know what that means, right? HIGH HOME HEATING BILLS!

I'm 99% sure that the ever-rising heating costs are to blame for the difficulty DTE Energy has had over the past couple of years with collecting on those astronomical bills they were sending out.

There have been soooo many horror stories of people's home heating bills literally skyrocketing to double or more of what they paid for heat on a monthly basis from the previous year.

Lots of Michigan consumers faced difficulty paying those outrageous monthly bills, and ran the risk of having their gas service cut off - in the dead of winter.

So, I guess to make sure they get paid, and in a timely fashion (that's my theory, anyway), DTE Energy instituted a new credit reporting policy last year.

They "say" they report all of their residential customer's payment histories, both timely payments and late payments. And they report late payments after being 60 days overdue.

So as a word of caution... be aware that DTE Energy has a full-file credit reporting program.

If you pay your DTE bill on time or if you pay it late, your payment history will be reported to credit reporting agencies and will be reflected in your credit reports.

I know some of you out there may have DTE Energy as both your gas and electric utility service provider.

If you run into difficulty paying your DTE bills, contact them as soon as possible to set up payment arrangements or to see if you qualify for a payment assistance program. Doing this will help prevent any negative entries from being added to your credit reports.

And the same holds true for you readers out there in other parts of Michigan and the country where you're not serviced by DTE Energy. If you run into problems paying your utility bills, contact your local service providers ASAP to see what you can work out.

And even if you're not experiencing problems paying your utility bills, contact your local service providers anyway to ask about their credit reporting policies, if they even have any. If they do, ask them to send you a copy of the credit reporting policy in writing.

You can read more about DTE Energy's credit reporting program by clicking here.

And you can review the FAQ about DTE Energy's credit reporting program by clicking here.

FREE Michigan Avoid Mortgage Foreclosure Event 12/13/07

Michigan Attorney General Michal Cox just announced that his office will be sponsoring a forum to help Michigan home owners avoid foreclosure:

"Avoid Foreclosure: Tools to Help Save Your Home"

The forum, which will assist home owners with options they can use to help save their homes, will be held on Thursday, December 13th, at Cobo Hall in downtown Detroit.

The forum is FREE, open to the public, and will run from 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

There will be mortgage lenders and independent loan counselors present to talk to homeowners one-on-one, as well as educational seminars being held every 30 minutes.

Did You Survive Black Friday?

This past weekend marked one of the busiest shopping times of the holiday season, with Black Friday kicking off the festivities the day after Thanksgiving.

Did you get out into the hustle & bustle of the stores?

Did you get knocked around by the rowdy crowds trying to get first dibs on all of the hot sale merchandise?

Tell me, did you do it?... Did you survive Black Friday?

If you were out there in the stores browsing and shopping for deals, I hope some of those holiday spending tips I talked about last week on my talk show helped you shop smart, save some money, and prevent any unjust damage to your bank account or credit cards!

And in case you were wondering, I was no where in the mix!

[at least for now J]

Operation NWSC: "Nicole's Wallet Stayed Closed" - accomplished!