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If you are looking for a treadmill but you think you can’t afford it, consider the many payment plan options that are available to you. Treadmills are available to suit every price range these days, with some models selling for between $500 and $1000. But if you are looking for a top of the line treadmill, you shouldn’t have to look far to find a payment plan to suit your needs.

Bad credit? That probably won’t be a problem, because some retailers will charge your credit card instead of running a check on your credit. You can set up a handful of equal payments, charged automatically to your card each month, and you don’t have to worry about sending in a check or making sure you make the payment on time. It is all automatic, and you can spend less time worrying about paying bills and more time enjoying your new treadmill.

Do you have your heart set on a more expensive model? It should not be difficult for you to find financing on any model you may choose, and the monthly payments on your own treadmill are likely to be lower than the fees you currently pay to join and use your gym.

Once you factor in the gas you spend driving to the gym and the time it takes out of your day, buying a treadmill of your own on a payment plan option will probably wind up SAVING you money. And, so long as you are going to the gym, you are not investing in anything. A treadmill is an investment because the equipment eventually pays for itself. Research will guide you to the best payment plan option for the treadmill that you want.

Timothy Gorman is a successful Webmaster and publisher of Treadmill-Solutions.com He provides more treadmill reviews, treadmill ratings and treadmill buying information that you can research in your pajamas on his website.

The statistics are truly mind numbing and continue to get worse each and every year. At the current rate about 1% or one in a hundred families will be forced to declare bankruptcy at some point and over 90% of Americans’ disposable income is spent paying back debts.

Not a happy picture but as bleak as that sounds running won’t change it but knowledge may and so, let’s take a quick snapshot at a few of the current credit card debt statistics facing so many Americans today.

The American Consumer spends over 1 trillion (that’s a 1 with 12 zeros) per year on credit card purchases. Not a big deal in and of itself but the problem lies in that they end up carrying over and paying interest on about half that amount or $500 billion. This translates into a balance of between $5,000 and $8,000 per family, with about $1,000 per year going just to pay the interest.

That’s just the average - many people owe much, much more!

Excessive Debt Costs Everyone Money
Many American receive at least one new credit card offer in the mail every day. The money being spent to service the debt industry is truly immense. Billions are spent administering, calculating and marketing the various aspects of the credit card industry.

Few industries or people escape unscathed, at least in the long run by debt. The burden that bankruptcy puts on the court system or the cost to government of providing subsidized debt counseling, are just a few examples of how debt effects the nation. In addition, consumers with excessive debt have less to spend and when money isn’t flowing, it hurts the economy.

Whatever Happened to Saving?
Debt is becoming increasingly more common. Not long ago, even a little debt was considered to be absolutely unacceptable. When you wanted something, you saved up for it and bought it ONLY after you had enough money to actually pay for it. And, if you had less than perfect credit, you couldn’t even get a credit card. Look at consumer debt figures as little as 50 years ago and they were absurdly low - the way most of the non-Western world is today.

The reasons are many and everyone has an opinion but regardless of the reasons, the art of saving, at least in the “western world” seems to have been lost. Outside of a 401K or similar vehicle offered at your place of employment, virtually nobody is saving enough for retirement. Banks are starting to have to offer ever-higher interest rates to get people to put money anywhere near a savings account. In fact, few people even have a savings account anymore. Most people have a checking account and that’s it. Our society and progressed into a “now” culture and the virtues of patience that help grow this country seem to have been lost. Whatever it takes to live life in the present with little regard for the future, appears to be the prevailing sentiment.

Is Over Spending the Culprit?
Ok, I’ve been a bit harsh up until now but I don’t want to give the impression that the only reason you’re in debt is because you continuously and frivolously overspend. Other factors are involved.

Truth be told, many people get buried in debt because of the loss of a job or an illness and they use credit cards to pay for basic expenses. As a result, they fall into the downward interest trap spiral as their debt grows out of control from just a few thousand dollars initially borrowed to pay for essentials.

Most people do have a reasonable sense of what they can afford and they don’t just go out and use credit cards to buy any and everything. Getting heavily into debt is usually a combination of many factors but the problem lies in people leaving balances on their credit cards for too long and not realizing just how deadly compounding interest really is to their financial well-being.

Amber Knutson is a contributing writer to: www.aneyeondebt.com and www.debtmergeresources.com and www.debtmgmtresources.com. This article may be reproduced only in its entirety.

Einstein put it best when he said, “Compounding interest is the greatest mathematical discovery of all time”. Now the question you need to ask is, “Do I want this force working for me or against me?” If you own a credit card and you carry-over balances from month to month then you’ve got that amazing force called compounding interest working against you.

In this article, I’ll attempt to explain how this “force” works against you month after month after month, in the form of interest upon interest. And perhaps, by helping you to gain a better understanding of how this “force” works and how important even a small change in the interest rate you are being charged effects you and families financial future. And hopefully, it will also inspire and motivate you to do whatever it takes to pay off your credit cards and initiate some type of savings plan so you can put this “force” to work for you.

Credit Card Interest Rates are Compounded
The interest you pay on your credit card balances are compounded, which means that you pay interest on the interest from the month before. A simple example would be that if you were being charged an interest rate of 2% per month, you would not be paying 24% per year. In reality, you would be paying 26.82%. A neat little trick that credit card companies use to pick up an additional point or two of interest is to calculate interest on a monthly rather than on a yearly basis. You pay more but you don’t know you’re paying more.

A Brain Teaser
Here’s a little brain teaser based upon what you’ve already learned. Would you rather have $1 million in cash or $10,000 in some form of savings account earning you a compounded interest rate of 20 percent per year?

Hmm, let’s see how that $10,000 would grow after 10 years - $61,917 or 20 years - $383,375 or 30 years - $2,373,763 or 50 years - $563,475,143.

After fifty years, you would have over $500 million. Of course, you would have to take inflation into account and if we used a figure of 5% per year, then that $500 million would have the buying power that $10,732,859 does today. Not a bad return on your investment of $10,000 but on a side note it also exposes another lesson in how the compounding rate of inflation destroys wealth but that’s the subject of another article.

Clearly, that question was a bit tricky because there’s so many variables to take into account that would influence what decision you would ultimately make - but you get my point, the power of compounding interest and by the way… it’s the primary way credit card companies make their money is a powerful “force”. It’s also the way pensions work and the reason the prices of things seem to rise massively as you get older. Be afraid… or at the least very wary of compounding interest.

Compounding Interest Can Really Add Up
Now, let’s look at a more real world example. Let’s say you have an average unpaid balance of $1,000 on a credit card with an APR of 15 percent.

First year interest would be $150. However, this amount is then carried-over and added onto the balance and interest is charged on that. As a result, year two interest would be another $172.50 for a total of $1322.50 and it continues to build year after year. Year three, four and five would look like this - $1,520, $1,749 and $2,011.

As you can clearly see, after just five years at 15%, you would owe double what you borrowed and after 10 years you would owe four times. I know it’s hard to believe but once again this simple “real world” example dramatically demonstrates the power of compounding interest.

If you let something like that carry on long enough, you end up paying on that same amount of debt for years and years and end up paying back many times what you originally borrowed and in some instances you still may not have completely satisfied the original debt. Unfortunately, most people simply don’t take the time to think through this out and they feel that the high and never ending payments are simply their fault for spending too much money to begin with.

The Three Percent Difference
You may feel that there’s not that much difference between a credit card that charges an APR of 15% versus one that charges an APR of 12% but then again after reading this article I’m sure you’ve realized that there is and so - that’s exactly what I’m going to show you. Remember the previous example that showed you would owe over $2,000 after only five years at 15% after borrowing an initial amount of $1,000.

That same example at 12% reveals the following: Year one - $1120, year two - $1254 and years three through five - $1404, $1573 and $1762 respectively. After the same five year period you would have saved nearly $250 or almost 25% in interest from a mere 3% difference in APR. Quite dramatic and hopefully it will help you convince you to make the necessary decisions to pay-off your credit cards and start saving so that you can put, “the greatest mathematical discovery of all time” to work for you… rather than against you.

This article may be reproduced only in its entirety.

Kevin Erickson is a contributing writer to: Consolidate Credit Card Debt | Consolidate Debt | Debt Management

Many credit card holders sign up for a credit account with an 8.9% interest rate and then later realize that their interest rate has been bumped to 27.4%. Why?

You know that your credit score affects the credit card rates that you qualify for. But, did you know that a little clause in the fine print of the credit card terms and agreements, called the “Universal Default Penalty Clause” may mean that you’re already paying a higher interest than when you signed up for the credit card? What does this fine print mean to you?

If your credit score goes down or one of your other credit conditions change, then your interest rate increases significantly. This doesn’t mean any new charges you make to this particular credit card account: the higher rate affects the entire balance. Yes, even items you purchased with the understanding that your interest rate would remain the original rate.

Your credit grantors periodically review your credit report. Almost half of all credit card companies take advantage of you when you are perceived as a delinquent or high-risk borrower. The small print in your account information may include the universal default penalty, which allows the credit card company to increase your interest rate if it uncovers any of these six changes in your credit report:

1. You have a late payment on any credit account. The company doesn’t care if you’ve never made a late payment to them.

2. You go over your available credit line on any credit account. Even if you unknowingly charge a small amount over the credit limit, which many credit card issuers let you do; your interest rate can be raised.

3. Your credit score declines. Just one late payment can hurt your credit score. Experian reports that people with no late or missed payments in the last year had an average credit score of 759; consumers with one or more late payments in the past year had an average score of 598.

4. You charge up too much on one account or many credit cards. If you charge up your credit card near the limit, or even charge up some of your credit cards over the preferred proportional amounts owed, you could pay extra for the privilege. The amount owed on a credit line compared to the available credit is termed the proportional amount owed. With a credit card limit of $5,000, the score will be higher if less than $2,500 is owed. Even better is to owe less than one-third of the available credit or less than $1501. Owing less than ten percent of the available balance gives you the best possible rating. On the other hand, owing over $4,500 on an account with a limit of $5,000 lowers your score considerably, especially if you have too many credit cards and other loans with high balances compared to available balances.

5. Your charge activities indicate a high debt-to-income ratio. If your credit card issuer sees that you’ve made many new charges and believes that you’re getting in over your head, they may raise your interest rate. Even if this is a temporary situation, like many new home owners who make many purchases in a single month, the companies take advantage of the unsuspecting credit card holder.

6. You open new accounts. Opening new credit lines, especially consumer finance accounts, lowers your credit score and adds notations like “Too many consumer accounts” to your credit report. Once again, your credit card company may take advantage of this to raise your interest rate.

Credit cards that start with a low interest rate can jump to interest rates as high as 29.99%, if they find any of these new conditions listed on your credit report.

Check your credit card statements closely; look to see if your credit card grantor raised your interest rates. If you find that you’re paying more than you thought, call your credit card company and ask the reason. Once you determine the cause, you can work on your credit issue. After you’ve fixed the problem, call back and ask for a reduction in your interest rate.

Copyright (c) 2005 Jeanette J. Fisher All Rights Reserved.

Jeanette Fisher teaches real estate investing and interior design college courses. She became a credit expert to help her students buy their dream home and multiple investment properties. Jeanette is the author of “Credit Help! Get the Credit You Need to Buy Real Estate” and other books. For more information on building and maintaining a strong credit score, explore the Real Estate Credit Help Center www.recredithelp.com

Credit questions? Ask Jeanette: recredithelp.blogspot.com

Digital photography brings with it a whole new set of terms and abbreviations that requires getting used to if you’ve been using film cameras in the past. Many of the terms are totally unique to digital cameras and photography, and if you don’t understand them there is a good chance that you won’t be able to get the equipment that you really need for taking digital photographs. So let’s review some of the most important digital photography terms to help you understand them.

* Pixel - everything in digital photography actually begins with the pixel. Simply put, it is the very smallest part of a digitized image. You can think of it as a.dot that when combined with lots of other dots around it, makes up an entire photo image

* Resolution - this usually has to do with the total number of pixels in a photograph, and the higher the resolution, generally the sharper and better quality the picture is.

* Megapixel - this simply stands for one million pixels. The more pixels that make up a photograph, the higher the resolution and better quality the image will be. So a digital camera that takes a one megapixel image will usually not have anywhere near the image quality of a camera that takes a four or five megapixel image. And the differences become even greater when the photograph is enlarged.

* DPI - this stands for dots per inch and often applies to printers or monitors. For instance, most laser printers have a resolution of around 300 dpi, whereas most monitors display only 72 dpi. Photo quality inkjet printers usually come in at least 1200 dpi.

* Megabyte - this stands for an amount of computer memory that is somewhere around one million bytes of file storage.

* JPEG - this acronym stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group and is now a recognized format for the storage of images is in most digital cameras.The JPEG format allows for quite a bit of image and file compression, making files that are in this format much easier to display on the internet and send to others by e-mail. However, the kind of image compression that is used by the JPEG format can also cause some loss of image quality and so is not suitable for high quality prints.

* Memory card - all digital cameras have to store the digital files on some kind of removable media, and most often it involves the use of a small memory card. These cards come in various sizes depending on how much storage space they have available. A few digital cameras are also able to store files directly on CDs instead.

* LCD - this stands for Liquid Crystal Display, and these are usually found on most digital cameras to help the photographer preview the scene before taking the photograph, and then review that image later on after the photo was taken.

These are the digital photography terms that are most commonly used today, and understanding them will help you better select and use the digital equipment that you buy.

Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including digital photography. You can find a digital photography tutorial and the digital photography basics by visiting our Digital Photography website.

Today very many people prefer to acquire their swimwear on the Internet; buying online is an effortless & apt way to shop in the comfort of your own house.

It’s important to guarantee while buying swimwear on the World Wide Web that it defiantly fits you precisely. When you buy swimwear on the World Wide Web always be sure that the store offers a good quality sizing diagram that presents all of the sizes you may require. With the aid of a sizing diagram one can guarantee to obtain a swimsuit or bikini that fits perfectly, so reducing the need to switch for a different size. By and large most of the swimwear shops do not permit an exchange of goods so it is generally always better to pick a shop where exchanges are permitted. Some retail shops will allow the returns of swimwear if the tags & the original wrapping are also returned along with it. Find eye-catching and sexy thongs at great prices from designers such as Lola Luna, Bracli, Sensualle, Atlantis, Spoylt and Luxxa.

Swimwear is a usual part of the summertime; however a significant majority of full-figured females feel fearful at the thought of shopping for swimsuits and bikinis that fit properly. These women even contemplate about wearing caftans by the swimming pool or at the beach instead of looking unpleasant. Designers and shopkeepers have indentified the fashion issues of the overweight woman, & are at last beginning to feature a wide selection of stylish bathing suit designs in bigger sizes, & one of the best places to unearth such swimwear is to purchase swimwear on the Internet.

Since you are the customer, there must be a glut of credit card agents constantly hounding you day-in, day-out. They may try to cram all their pitches in hour long phone call marathons or minute long infomercials and may run the gamut of personalities from friendly to annoying, smart to eccentric. But how do you choose the right credit agent?

Credit card agents are not just supposed to hawk credits cards. They are supposed to act as the middle persons between you and the bank. In effect, they should extend the services and care of the bank itself. You can tell if you credit card agent is good if he exhibits the following characteristics.

1. Agent Has Intimate Knowledge of the Card Company - Your credit card agent should know the ins and outs of the company he or she is promoting. Agents who are only looking for a quick commission won’t help you much when you have inquiries about their cards. If your agent has an intimate knowledge of the company, you can rest easier since he or she is in a good position to guide you in your decisions.

2. Honesty - After talking with your agent, investigate the veracity of his claims. There are some agents who will lie and fib just to get a sale. If you catch one of your agents giving you the glib tongue, drop communications with him or her immediately.

3. Has Much Experience - Established credit card agents have a better chance of helping you with your particular needs. They have had extensive experience in dealing with their clients and are in a better position to help you out. You should not dismiss agents who are new to the business, though. Just make sure they are sensitive to your needs.

4. Tells Pros and Cons- Find an agent who tells you like it is. They usually find a way to tell you the advantages and disadvantages of their product without diminishing your enthusiasm for their card. These people will give you more information on which to base your decisions. Thoughtful clients will want to stick to this kind of agent.

5. Does Not Force - Have you ever had a pushy agent hound you all day long. This is the mark of one whose only concern is his or her commission per card. If these individuals do not look after your interests, how can you trust them to help facilitate a good relationship with the company? If you are really interested in their company, you may want to have that company send a different agent.

David Riewe is a Publisher and Online Marketer. Visit his Credit Resources Blog Below: www.push-button-online-income.com/creditcards/

1. Baby picture books and picture frames. Although it is a great thought, money would be definitely spent in other places (like diapers and wipes!).

2. Cute Baby Hats Pass on these little accessories. The baby will likely tear it off as soon as you put it on!

3. Baby Shoes. Babies typically walk around a year or so. Therefore, shoes made for ages 0 - 1 year are usually a waste, until they start walking.

4. Baby Wipes Warmer. Most of the time, they dry the wipes out. Rubbing them in your hands and blowing on them will warm them up enough to make baby feel comfortable.

5. Baby Bottle Warmer. Most of the time, you pop the bottle in the microwave, because the baby usually wants to eat NOW! There usually isn’t time for you to wait to gradually warm up a bottle. In addition, it is just something else that takes up counter space. When heating bottles in the microwave, do so responsibly to avoid “hot spots.” In addition, you should never microwave breast milk, as it harms natural vitamins and minerals.

6. Baby Powder/Baby Oil - Baby powder usually just makes paste in the diaper (think about it, basically, flour and water!). In addition, they come in such large bottles; you will keep them forever, rarely using them. Save the space and money for something else. In addition, baby oil is also toxic if ingested. That is just one more thing to keep away from baby.

7. Cute, Tiny Outfits. Since you have no idea how big your baby is, it is possible that they may have already outgrown them when they are born! In addition, when they are really young, they sleep all day anyway and mostly are in comfy jammies. Keep the “cute” stuff for when they are actually awake!

8. Cheap Diaper Bags/Bottle Bags - You are going to lug the diaper bag and bottle bags around the world and back! Make sure they are durable! Get a diaper bag that’s not too big, but just big enough for the necessities you need while running to the store.

9. Cute Decorative Bottles - Your baby will develop a preference for a specific bottle and nipple (if they aren’t nursing). Once they have found their preference, you might as well throw all the “cute” baby bottles away.

10. Decorative Items for the Baby Room - Here we are talking about little “trinkets.” Doing the babies room in Noah’s Ark doesn’t mean you have to buy figurines of each of the animals! This is stuff that takes up space and will have to be removed when baby can walk.

Amy Cummings is currently a stay at home mom who takes care of her two daughters. Amy is a special education teacher by trade. She created the “pregnancy survival kit” which blossomed into a basket business based on the needs of mothers. In addition, Amy sells the “knot me,” that eliminates the knots and bald spots in infants hair due to riding in the car seat or stroller. Go to http://www.theknotme.com to view her products.

Citibank has partnered with Upromise, Inc. to produce a card that awards cardholders with fabulous rebates that will contribute towards a tax-advantage college savings program.

Through this reward program, cardholders get to earn a 1% rebate on general purchases, a 2% rebate on purchases from selected Exxon and Mobil stations, and a massive 10% rebate on selected grocery and drugstore items. Which parent would be able resist this offer? The minor downside is that each card is limited to a maximum of $300 rebates per year for the 1% rebate on general purchases. However, cardholders are allowed to earn unlimited rebates from the 2% savings at Exxon-Mobil and 10% savings from more than 7,000 selected items from grocery stores and drugstores.

The Citi Upromise Card has no annual fees but instead comes with a long-term introductory period of twelve-months where no interest is charged for purchases and balance transfers. Once this period is over, the still reasonably low regular APR kicks in. Nonetheless, this card imposes a minimum interest rate of 19.99% for cash advances regardless of how low the Prime Rate may drop.

Additionally, cardholders are also entitled to common platinum card benefits such as $1,000,000 in travel accident insurance, auto rental insurance and various other benefits that are usually associated with a platinum card. Moreover, there are also many other discounts offered to students for various products and services at participating merchants and retailers. On top of that, cardholders are eligible for more savings if they make purchases with other participating companies of the Upromise college savings program.

With the exception of the APR minimum rate on cash advances, the Citi Upromise Card is a well-designed card. Individuals, who plan to participate in the college savings plan and simultaneously take advantage of the long introductory period, shall benefit the most from utilizing the Citi Upromise Card.

Let’s be honest; when going to any sort of party, including baby showers, one of the things looked forward to is the food. Well, if you’re the hostess of a baby shower, there is no reason you can’t have people begging you for the recipe of the baby shower cake you made and asking how you so charmingly decorated it to fit the chosen theme.

Baby shower cake recipes can found online. Look in the sites you are scanning for other baby shower ideas and you’ll find that some of them have baby shower cake recipes. Alternately, go to any online recipe site; recipezaar is one where the recipes are rated by cooks who have made them helping you narrow your search to the best. After making the cake, decorate it according to your theme thus creating a free baby shower cake recipe that you can pass on.

A cute idea for a baby shower cake recipe is the belly cake using a rectangular cake above a round one, frosting and decorating them to resemble a pregnant belly, complete with belly button frosting and the outline of hands folded over the belly.

Free baby shower cake ideas are limited only by your imagination. If a lighter cake is what you want, make a baby shower cake from an angel food cake. It will inspire bad puns about babies being angelic giving everyone a chuckle. With some food coloring, it also fits the future babies’ gender.

Baby shower cakes aren’t just the focus of the menu. They’re usually the centerpiece of the table so decorate accordingly. Surround it with babies’ breath and baby toys. The amateur photographers’ at the baby shower will be snapping away so get creative and give them a photo to drool over.

Kelly Jezek is a successful Webmaster and publisher of mybabyshowerhelper.com. She provides more helpful tips on planning the perfect baby shower at her site. Visit my baby shower helper today!