Financial Schools Reviews

() - Consumer prices in New Zealand were up 4.5 percent on year in the first quarter of 2011, Statistics New Zealand said on Monday.

That was slightly better than forecasts for an increase of 4.6 percent after the inflation rate had come in at 4.0 percent in the previous three months.

On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, consumer prices rose 0.8 percent – again exceeding expectations for a 1.0 percent increase following the 2.3 percent jump in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Having a business credit card is a must today as it helps a company to obtain a payment history and eventually a credit report. With time the business credit card will offer a good credit score, if handled properly. However, the recent trend is to acquire as many cards as possible can be a potentially harmful for a business. Business owners are driven by several myths regarding improving their company credit score by possessing several credit cards. And the lure from the credit car companies is immense to make business owners fall into the trap.

A business gets damaged by too many business credit cards since having many cards gives a wrong signal to the credit agencies and banks.

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There were 681,153 separate foreclosure filings in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2011, a 15 percent drop from the fourth quarter of 2010, according to the latest statistics from RealtyTrac. This was also a 27 percent drop from the first quarter of 2010.

[Related Article: FHA’s Foreclosure Backlog an All-Time High]

Foreclosure filings counted in the survey include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, the report said. In all, one in every 191 homes across the country was in some stage of foreclosure.

“The nation’s housing market continued to languish in the first quarter, even as foreclosure activity fell to a three-year low,” said James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Weak d

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You may consider getting your mortgage refinanced when interest rates are lower. This is because the interest which a homeowner pays off on a mortgage is one of the largest expenses for them. It is sensible to search for ways by which you can reduce this expense. However, there are certain positive and negative aspects of refinancing a mortgage at the time when interest rates are lower.

Should You Consider Refinancing?

Lower interest rates can blow the refinancing in the market, but you should only consider whether refinancing would help you in your particular situation.

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Someone calling you on the phone is urgent, but is it important?

Giving your mom a long phone call is important, but is it urgent?

Finding that “perfect” pair of pants in your closet is urgent, but is it important?

Spending quality time with your daughter is important, but is it urgent?

If you really look at that list above and ask yourself which things genuinely matter in your life, you’ll quickly realize that the important things universally trump the urgent things. However, when we’re stuck in a key moment, we often give the urgent thing priority.

When we’re sitting at a candelit dinner with our partner, our cell phone buzzes and we check the (most likely unimportant) text just because it’s urgent.

When we’re already running late for our daughter’s dance recital, we’re still stuck in the closet looking for that perfect shirt to wear.

When we’re coming up with a debt repayment plan for our $300,000 in debt, we’re panicking and making angry phone calls about a $5 late fee.

When we’re trying to focus on a major project at work, we switch screens excitedly each time that email “ding” happens.

It’s easy to see how the urgent (and relatively unimportant) keeps us from hitting a home run on the important things in our lives. Here are five simple things I

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