The new store

Guest post from: Constance Rodgers

My new store did really well the first three years we were open, and then the recession hit. Since we were mostly a referral outfit things were great without much marketing at all but when the economy dried up, so did our business. We had to pour thousands of dollars into an advertising company so they could get things back on track and it turns out all we did was waste our money. I wish I had listened when my mother told me to save for something like this! Anyway, we’re still doing okay with the loyal clients we have but I’ve recently had to let two employees go and go to BANK-CARD-Processing.com to start taking credit cards for the first time. I know this market has been tough on everyone but I can’t help feeling like we got it worse than most. Wish me luck in the coming months since only time will tell if our little business is able to survive this awful, awful time in American history.

Safeguarding Against Identity Theft

Because our world is so digitized, with everything from banking to credit cards to stocks and futures trading taking place over the internet, hackers have found a gold mine in digging up and exploiting personal data.

Everything from your social security number to automobile registration and brokerage account data is online, and it's only a few clicks or an inadvertent error away from falling into the hands of unscrupulous types who would do harm to one's financial and personal life.

In the increasingly complex world of internet security a few simple tasks can help one steer clear of the villain hackers who steal everything from credit scores and bank accounts to one's personal identity, and the outcomes of having insufficient identity theft protection can be consequential and painful.

Most online accounts, like banking and credit cards offer a level of encryption and security as a first line of defense. Some offer additional information to be imputed before access is granted to an account. The easiest ways to avoid being hacked is to use difficult passwords, especially using characters and numbers, and to use any secondary security - like additional questions to grant access - as a further safeguard.

Even more effective are online identity security companies, which monitor and scrutinize data flows to guard against unlawful intrusions. One such company is IdentityHawk, which offers a comprehensive solution including social security number monitoring, 24/7 identity security scanning, risk assessment via an identity health score and $1 million in identity theft insurance.

The company offers a 30-day, no-obligation free trial and also provides credit score monitoring and even can help in recovering one's identity if it's already fallen victim to identity theft.

While it pays to be thrifty and frugal in these turbulent economic times, a few dollars spent protecting ones identity and valuable assets should be money well spent.

Switching Credit Cards May Prove Fruitful

Despite the downturn in the economy, most Americans are still using credit cards due to their versatility, worldwide acceptance, loyalty rewards and overall ease of use.

A handful of issuers have upped the ante on the competition, offering more competitive rates, better points systems or other inducements to get people to apply for a credit card. Balance transfers have also become important in deciding which card is the right choice.

Many people have turned to popular credit card ratings web sites to sort through the various offers, discounts and online availability. Some sites offer very basic advertisements, while others provide deeper detail, including the ability to search by FICO score, check application status and even calculate the amount of savings provided by a balance transfer.

Tools such as these can help consumers save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars over just a few years by finding the right card with the best interest rate to suit their needs.

While it's true that American consumers are paying down debt at a very rapid rate, it hasn't taken the issuers long to adjust to this shift in sentiment and respond with more competitive rates for serious savers. Naturally, one's credit score always plays a crucial role in acceptance, and lowering one's balance owed is now more important than ever. With finances in flux, however, now might be a very good time to consider switching cards or consolidating debt into one card at a lower rate.

The savings could be substantial.