Creating a Budget to Manage Debt

Creating a budget and sticking firmly to that budget will help you dissolve your debts magically. A budget lends discipline and order to the process of eliminating debt and good budget is the basic and most important weapon in a war against debt.Before you create a budget you need to make lists. List what you spend on every day. List what expenses are essential and eliminate all expenses that are not required. A separate list of annual or half yearly payments and a list of possible emergency payments will help you make a good budget for debt repayment. Example:

1. Rent / Mortgage
2. Groceries
3. Utilities
4. Car Payment
5. Car Insurance
6. Car maintenance / Fuel
7. Entertainment
8. Dining out

Calculate your income and how much you need to feed each of these lists and what percent of your income you can use to repay debts in a month. Make a list of debts and make another list of what debts you have to repay as a priority and repayment of which of your debts can be delayed. Keep a spreadsheet with the list of debts and make a note of which debts you have repaid daily. Keep a separate spreadsheet with your household budget and enter a daily account of expenses to make sure that you don’t exceed the budget. Do not use the amount kept aside to repay debts for expenses. However if you have money in excess of your other expenses you should use it to repay your debts. By creating a sensible budget and refusing to spend a cent beyond the boundaries of the budget will help you melt debt away in a matter of months.

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Identity Theft Statistics

Identity theft is a modern crime. It is a crime of assuming a financial identity and misusing the identity for making wrongful gain. With the advent of the electronic age, face to face financial transactions became a thing of the past and it became increasingly easy to steal identity which is now recognized only by a series of digits or names.

The alarming increase in identity theft has made both lawmakers and crime fighters take a serious view of the need to eliminate it with stringent identity security procedures and electronic security devices. The Federal trade Commission uses statistics from the Javelin strategy and research institute and the statistics of complaints recorded by the Better Business Bureau to understand and analyze reform needed to stem the growth if identity theft. In the year 2006 the Javelin and Better Business Bureau reports showed that there were 8.9 million victims of identity theft in the U.S.

The National Crime Prevention Council commissioned the Harris Interactive Survey to learn about the top crimes committed in the U.S. and identity theft topped the list of crimes committed in the US. Among identity theft methods, the Better Business Bureau statistics show that credit card crimes top the list. 25% of the identity thieves misuse credit cards. Credit card frauds are followed by telephone crimes, utility thefts and bank frauds in the list of identity frauds committed.

The good news is that there are many security measures brought by financial institutions and the Government to make financial transactions more secure. These security measures are also introduced for online transactions. The government has passed stringent laws imposing strict punishment of imprisonment for identity thieves. Identity theft is a new age crime and statistics show that though there are many laws and security measures to prevent its commission, the numbers are reducing marginally.

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Chinese Hackers – Your Stolen Identity and Credit Cards

China is quickly emerging as not only a financial superpower but an internet superpower as well. The China Internet Network Information Center (CINIC) releases a report every six months on Chinese internet development. According to the report released June 2008, China has surpassed the number of internet users found in the United States with a quarter of a billion Chinese on the internet.

As you might imagine, a large number of the Chinese internet users are younger (30% +) and in many cases well educated individuals. Apparently a growing number of these young internet aficionados are turning toward the dark arts of the internet or “Black Hat” hacking techniques that  have plagued internet businesses and corporations for years. This is something that isn’t terribly uncommon in the United States but our government and local law enforcement agencies have the ability to hunt and capture these fool hardy individuals.

Why You Should be Concerned

Hacking and the threat of hackers is not a new issue but what is different about China is that they aren't exactly an extradition friendly country nor are they an ally of the United States. What does that mean to you and to US Corporations? The FBI reports that, for the first time ever, revenues from cybercrime have exceeded drug trafficking [1].This means we are a free target and the Chinese government is unlikely to care if a 16 year old steals 20,000 US credit cards. Although he would probably disappear rather quickly if he were caught spreading anti-government propaganda via the internet.

Your Protection

A certain amount of responsibility remains with the US government and local law enforcement. However, we all tend to lock the front door when we leave our home or in some cases we purchase an alarm system. What can you do ? Well, keeping a close eye on your credit is a good preventative step and utilizing identify theft protection services such as Life-lock can really provide significant protection. I would also recommend quality anti-virus software for your computer, a software firewall (built-in on XP and Vista) and enabling windows updates on your computer which can reduce the risk of virus infection or attack. Also avoid opening email attachments, even from friends, unless you know EXACTLY what it is and ensure that you are expecting to receive it.

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