La Quinta Returns Member Rewards Hotel Program – A Review

Written by 5 Comments
La Quinta Hotel Rewards Program Review

Many hotel chains offer their own rewards programs, and some of them are fairly complicated as far as how points are earned and redeemed. If you are looking for a straight forward hotel reward program where you can choose to earn hotel points or airline miles, La Quinta Returns Member Rewards may be just the program for you.

La Quinta Returns Member Rewards are earned at 10 points per dollar spent.  If you prefer to earn airline miles, La Quinta has partnered with American Airlines Advantage, Continental Airlines One Pass, Delta Sky Miles, MexicanaGo, and Southwest.com Rapid Rewards.  For all of the airlines except the latter, you can earn 250 airline miles per night at La Quinta Inns.  For Southwest.com Rapid Rewards, you can earn 600 points per stay.

Signing up for La Quinta Returns Member Rewards is quite simple; you are required to give basic information such as your name, address, e-mail address, and phone number .Continue Reading

When Should You Borrow Using P2P Lending?

Written by 6 Comments

Peer to peer (P2P) lending has been gaining in popularity — especially since the recession began. Part of the reason for this is due to the difficulty associated with getting loans from banks.  Another issue is that traditional banks, in some cases, charge higher interest rates.  If you are looking for a way to get a loan, in some circumstances it might make sense to turn to P2P lending.

Consolidate Debt

Continue Reading

Paying Taxes with a Credit Card: Pros and Cons

Written by 8 Comments
credit card on computer keyboard

Are you thinking of paying taxes with a credit card?

The thought of clearing a debt with the IRS in one fell swoop is certainly appealing, and if your credit rating is not in good standing in order to obtain a bank loan, that credit card can sure look good.

But is using a credit card to pay taxes a wise decision?

Before we explore the pros and cons of paying taxes with a credit card, let’s examine paying taxes through an installment agreement with the IRS.

First things first, contacting the IRS and working out an installment agreement is one possible option to manage your debt.  Complete the IRS Installment Agreement Request Form 9465.  If you owe $25,000 or less this process can be completed online.  The IRS may allow you up to 60 months to pay your tax debt.  Within 30 days the IRS should let you know if your request has been approved and what you will be required to pay.
Continue Reading

Credit Karma Review – Get Your Credit Score and More

Written by 8 Comments

If you take advantage of AnnualCreditReport.com you can pull your credit report once a year from each of the three credit bureaus for free.

Your credit report is important to see what accounts you have open, to check the status of your accounts, and to make sure there are no mistakes on your reports.

But your credit report is different from your credit score.

For the most part, you have to pay to get the score that lenders use to determine your creditworthiness.  If you intend to pull your score frequently, perhaps because you are in the market for a house and would like the highest possible credit score to get the best interest rate on your home loan, then give Credit Karma a look, where you can get a credit score and track your score over time with no fees or obligations.

Let’s take a look at what it’s all about in this Credit Karma review.

Continue Reading

What Are You Doing with Your Payroll Tax Cut?

Written by 15 Comments

At the end of last year, Congress hurried through a tax package.

One of the credits that was allowed to expire was the Making Work Pay tax credit.  However, our representatives replaced the Making Work Pay tax credit with a reduction in the payroll tax paid by employees. This means that you should be seeing a paycheck that is a little bit bigger.

Our leaders, of course, want you to go out and spend that money, pumping it back into the economy.  The whole point of tax cuts is to encourage you to spend so that we can keep the economy, which relies a great deal on consumer spending, moving in a direction of positive growth.  However tempting it might be to spend that extra money, though, it is a good idea to consider how that money can help you down the road.
Continue Reading

How We Manage Our Finances on the Road

Written by 2 Comments
On Plane Over My Fuji

This guest post is from Wifey of a Roadie, where M shares her tips and tricks as she and her husband travel the world.

Hi Everyone! Wifey of a Roadie here!

I’m reading all these informative and entertaining blogs on debt control and travel and therefore have been inspired to write this post.

Juggling Love and Careers

Some people have asked how in the world my husband and I have managed to stay together and travel so much.  When my husband got offered his first job to tour with Queen Latifah, he was told to ask my permission to accept because marriages don’t last in this business.
Continue Reading

Interview with Philip Taylor – Organizer of Financial Blogger Conference 2011

Written by 15 Comments

Have you heard about Financial Blogger Conference 2011? It’s happening October 1-2 in Chicago, where personal finance bloggers from all over will be coming together to talk about their trade – everything from trends in personal finance to how to better connect with readers to making a living with a blog.  For me, the biggest thrill is meeting, in person, those people I’ve been “talking” to online all these years.  I’m also excited to meet those bloggers who have influenced me (one being J.D. Roth, whose Get Rich Slowly was one of the first personal finance blogs I found and a primary influence for me starting Free From Broke).  Seriously, check out who’s coming so far over at the Financial Blogger Conference Who’s Coming page.

I had the fortune of interviewing Philip Taylor, the organizer of Financial Blogger Conference 2011 (or for those cool kids, FinCon ’11). You may know Philip as he also runs the incredibly informative PT Money.
Continue Reading