Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/652314
Thesignsareevery- where: "Same As Cash," "Nothing Down, No Inter- est, No Pay- ments Until Next Sum- mer" or a very popu- lar one these days, "0 Per- cent Inter- est on Bal- ance Trans- fers until 2017." Maybe you've fallen for these promises in the past or are tempted to fall for them now. Retailers and banks are so anxious to in- crease their bottom line that deals are everywhere. The only way it might be smart to take advan- tage of no-interest fi- nancing or a no-pay- ment period is if you are 100 percent certain that you'll be able to pay off the purchase or credit card balance in full be- fore the period ends. Otherwise, you might as well stuff pennies in your nostrils now, be- cause you'll end up pay- ing through the nose. Tell me something: What is 100 percent cer- tain in life? Come on; dig deep. You know the an- swer: Nothing. That's right. Nothing. You have no idea what will happen between now, when you fall for the unbelievable deal, and six months or a year from now when that gigantic balance is due. If you are unable to come up with the cash before the dead- line, the company will be more than happy to con- vert your balance into payments — under the terms buried in the pa- perwork that you will have to sign to close the deal. Financing options of- fered through retail stores vary. But you may be re- quired to sign up for a store credit card in order to have access to those op- tions. You may not receive a monthly statement for that month, which can fos- ter forgetfulness in even the most careful con- sumer. Beware that interest rates on store credit cards tend to be a lot higher than national cards. An entertainment center may not seem so entertain- ing after 29.99 percent in- terest is tacked on. And if that's not enough, financ- ing a purchase like this — adding a new account with a big balance equal to the credit limit — could hurt your credit rating. Remember that the in- terest and payments in no- interest deals are only de- ferred — not waived. If you don't adhere to the terms of the deal, you'll lose your deferment and the deal will immediately convert to terms that are not in your favor — retroactively from the day you walked out with your fancy new (fill in the blank). So how can stores afford to make these outrageous deals that appear to be so favorable to the consumer? Well, only those with ex- cellent credit scores qual- ity for these deals. And even then, statistics show that more than 75 percent of consumers are unable to pay off the full balance before it converts into very large monthly payments because, well, stuff hap- pens. News flash: Retailers and lenders aren't in busi- ness to make your life less costly. They don't care about you. Their only goal is to make money. That's not a bad thing, but some- thing you need to keep in mind. So ask yourself this question when you're tempted to fall prey to free financing: "If I can't pay for it now, how will I pay for it in six months or one year?" If you're certain you'll be able to save enough money every month to pay off the balance, do your- self a favor and start sav- ing now. Take cash to the store and you won't have to fiddle with annoying credit card applications and complicated paper- work. Would you like to send a tip to Mary? You can email her at mary@ everydaycheapskate. com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, 12340 Seal Beach Blvd., Ste. B-416, Seal Beach, CA 90740. EVERYDAYCHEAPSKATE Nothing down can mean big trouble Time is running out for people who missed their initial enrollment period into Medicare's Parts A and B. Now is the time to call and make an appointment with the Social Security Administration to enroll in Medicare's hospital insur- ance, known as Part A, or Medicare's Part B coverage, or "medical" coverage. This enrollment period does not apply to Medicare's prescription drug coverage known as Part D. The Health Insurance Counseling Program at Passages can help benefi- ciaries find out if they are eligible for help to reduce their Medicare costs in- cluding those for prescrip- tion drugs. For more informa- tion, call HICAP at Pas- sages at 1-800-434-0222. If your group or agency would like a workshop, call Tatiana Fassieux at 898-6717. HICAP does not sell or endorse any insurance products. Passages helps older adults and family caregiv- ers with important services to empower them to remain confident in their ability to sustain and enjoy indepen- dent lives. For more information about Passages services go to www.passagescen- ter.org. MEDICARE General enrollment period ends March 31 Mary Hunt Scammers are targeting college students with fake jobs. They blast solicitations to college email accounts promising positions with flexible hours and good pay. If you are in college or know a student, be sure to watch out for these phony job offers. Howthescamworks You receive a message to your college email account. It is encouraging you to ap- ply for a job, and the posi- tion sounds great for stu- dents. One scam message read: "The position offers flexibility that allows you to choose your hours dur- ing the day to avoid con- flicts between classes or other business." Don't bother sending your resume, though. It's a scam. If you reply to the e- mail, the con artists will of- fer you the position. (First, they may do a short inter- view over e-mail or an on- line chat.) Then, they will send a check for your first "assignment." You will be instructedtokeepaportion of the money and send the rest to other scam agents. Unfortunately, the check is fake, and you will be re- sponsible for any money withdrawn against it. Job scams often use the names of legitimate busi- nesses. But in this recent wave, targets reported be- ing contacted by fake com- panies as well. However, in one instance, only the job position was provided: ad- ministrative assistant. How to spot an employment scam S ome p o sit ion s are more likely to be scams. Always be wary of work from home, secret shopper positions or any job with a generic title, such as caregiver or cus- tomer service representa- tive. These positions of- ten don't require special training or licensing, so they appeal to a wide range of applicants. Scammers take advantage of this. If a job looks suspicious, search for it online. If the result comes up in other cities with the exact same job post, it is likely a scam. Also, check the real com- pany's job page to make sure the position is posted there. Watch out for on-the- spot job offers. You may be an excellent candidate for the job, but beware of of- fers made without an inter- view. A real company will want to talk to a candidate before hiring him or her. Don't fall for an over- payment scam. No legiti- mate job would ever over- pay an employee and ask him or her wire the money elsewhere. This is a com- mon trick used by scam- mers. Be very cautious of any job that asks you to share personal information or hand over money. Scam- mers will often use the guise of running a credit check, setting up direct de- posit or paying for train- ing. This information can then be used for identity theft, so be absolutely certain before you share. SCAM ALERT Scammers blast students with job con emails CONTRIBUTEDPHOTO Students from Red Bluff FFA competed in the Shasta Sectional Speaking Competition on Feb. 26. Ten outstanding mem- bers of the Red Bluff FFA competed Feb. 26 in the annual Shasta Sectional Speaking Competition, held at Shasta College. The competitions avail- able were Creed, Im- promptu, Extemporane- ous and Prepared Public Speaking along with the Job Interview Contest. The reciting of the well known, and beloved FFA Creed is exclusively a fresh- man competition that Joey Cooke and Isais Martinez participated. Emyli Palmer and Dan- iel Crispino competed in Impromptu Public Speak- ing, a competition strictly for sophomores. The contestants draw a random agricultural topic, then are given one minute to prepare a 30-second to two-minute speech. In Extemporaneous Speaking participants ran- domly draw an agricul- tural topic, and have 30 minutes to draft a four- to six-minute speech. Brit- tany Wright and Emily Paz competed in this category for Red Bluff FFA. Rhylee Garrison and Ga- briel Fregoso participated in Prepared Public Speak- ing, a competition that in- cludes writing a six- to eight-minute speech on an agricultural topic be- fore the contest. The prepared speech is judged on the manuscript and memorization. Finally Job Interview Contest, Beatrice Guti- errez and Miranda Iver- son completed the appli- cation and interview pro- cess needed for applying to job. To attend the sectional contest, students had to compete at a local level in order to advance. Congratulations to the students who competed, their hard work and ded- ication is definitely recog- nized. Students compete at speaking contest RED BLUFF FFA PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. (530) 529-1220 100 Jackson St. Red Bluff $ 25 .00 No Enrollment Fee month Rates as low as 525AntelopeBlvd,RedBluff (530) 527-5272 Mon.–Fri.8am-5pm Saturday by appointment Locally owned & operated THE MICHELIN ® PILOT ® SPORT A/S 3+ Command the road. Sumit to no season. SHIFTINTOSAVINGS Get a $70 MasterCard ® Reward Card after submission* with purchase of four new MICHELIN ® passenger or light truck tires. OFFER VALID 3/16/16 - 4/10/16. 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