Increase Your Citibank Card Limit Automatically Without a Hard Credit Pull

By MoneyBlueBook

I'm a big fan of Citibank and I really like the variety of financial products they offer. I like the fact that they have a national banking presence and that's one of the reasons why I have my primary checking and savings account with them. I especially like their credit cards since many of them provide unique credit card offers not available with any other company. Citibank also has a nice website that offers many convenient features for its customers. One of the nice functions is the option to request an automatic credit limit increase online without the need for a hard credit pull. When you request automatic limit increase through your Citibank online account, only a soft inquiry is made of your credit report.

This a wonderful feature since not all credit card companies offer this automatically. Other issuers will increase your limit upon request, but the manual request usually involves a hard credit inquiry.

Why Would I Want to Increase My Credit Limit?

The most obvious reason you would want to increase your credit limit is to enhance your ability to make more monthly purchases or to purchase more expensive items using your card. If you started out with a low credit limit and find yourself frequently nearing or reaching your maximum limit, a credit increase would likely be beneficial. Another reason would be to improve your FICO credit score by lowering your overall credit utilization ratio. Credit utilization ratio is a major component used to compute your FICO credit score, and you

By MoneyBlueBook

I was listening to the radio this morning and came upon an interesting discussion about the upcoming U.S. elections. The question proposed was this - If you could give up your right to ever vote again in an election for a million dollars-tax free, would you do it?

The seemingly innocuous question brought up certain fascinating issues. Just how much do we value our constitutionally protected right to choose our own leaders? With the U.S. election coming next November in 2008, I have already sort of decided who I plan to cast my vote for to become the next president of the United States. But would I be willing to give up that right forever for a million dollars?

The radio show fielded numerous answers from callers and the overwhelming response was an emphatic - yes. The majority of callers indicated they would be willing to give up their right to vote for the money. About 70 percent said they would take the money and only 30 percent refused to give up their voting rights.

Just Show Me The Money

As an American, as much as I'd love to think or say that I cherish and value my right to vote so much that no amount of money could ever make me give up that right, I have to say that the reality is that we live in a "show me the money" society. I think, a million dollars would probably do more for my own personal life than the results of any election ever could. With a

By MoneyBlueBook

I live in the suburbs and commute into Washington D.C. for work every day. I actually have it comparatively easy since I don't have to commute through the notoriously jammed packed Beltway every morning. I tried driving to work for a while, but the frustration of dealing with daily rush hour traffic finally broke me down. With gas prices soaring and with more cars piling onto the roads than the day before, it just didn't make sense for me to commute by car anymore. So that's why I decided a few years ago to commute solely by subway, and I've never looked back since.

In the D.C. area we have an extensively used subway system, called Metro. Many commuters, particularly federal government workers who live in the Maryland and North Virginia suburbs commute into D.C. using the Metrorail system. Over the years I've learned a few cost and time saving tips for commuting to work via subway:

1) Know the weekday times for regular and reduced fare. The rules may be different in other major cities like New York, Philadelphia, or Boston, but the D.C. Metro charges a reduced fare when you ride during off peak times. The D.C. Metro regular fare is in effect on weekdays from opening to 9:30 a.m., 3:00-7:00 p.m., and 2 a.m. to closing). All other times are reduced fares.

The fare that you are charged depends on the time that you cross the gate. I always keep the peak hour times in my mind when I plan my

By MoneyBlueBook

I debated about whether I should share this story, but at the end I decided that my experience might help prevent someone from falling into the same scam as I did. At the time I was young, inexperienced and financially naive. Since then, I've learned and improved based on my past failures and eventually went on to run a small but profitable home business by making money online with ebay, at least for a modest period of time.

It All Started With Too Much Greed

Shortly after college I decided I wanted to start a part time side business selling merchandise on eBay. But first I needed to find a wholesale supplier. After some research I decided I wanted to focus on consumer electronics such as GPS navigation devices and Apple iPods, and concluded my best bet at finding a supplier would be through a free network site like Alibaba, that helps connect sellers with buyers of goods. Little did I know at the time, but sites like Alibaba are crawling with scammers and evil doers.

I ultimately decided to focus on selling Garmin and Tom Tom branded GPS units. After a few searches, I was amazed to find numerous sellers offering brand new Garmin GPS units for very little money. The Garmin GPS model I was interested in buying in bulk retailed for more than $1200 on eBay at the time. The sellers I found on Alibaba were offering each unit for only $700 each. The asking prices were exceedingly low,

By MoneyBlueBook

I love looking at numbers. I also love looking at charts, graphs, and balance sheets that organize numerical data into quantifiable displays. I think I spend way too much time looking at my numbers, but a glance at what my other fellow personal finance bloggers frequently write about and discuss, I get the feeling I'm not alone on this.

I Like Having Access to My Numbers At All Times

Seriously, it doesn't matter where I am - I could be sitting at my desk at work or relaxing in front of the television set at home, but at some point, I'm going to want to take a look at my numbers. I use the term numbers loosely, but it's an all encompassing term to include everything related to statistics - from my blog's Sitemeter traffic counter to my investment brokerage account's numerical fluctuations. I don't want to say I'm addicted to statistical trends, but I get a lot of personal satisfaction out of it. It's hard to point my finger on exactly what is it that I find so fascinating about statistics, but I've found that many personal finance bloggers also seem to share the same type of mathematical obsession.

Statistic Bloggers Like To Have Things Numerically Organized

Having talked to other fellow bloggers and read their articles over the years, I've come to realize that many of us are quite similar. We all seem to enjoy watching the numbers go up and down as it gives us a sense of where we stand in the

By MoneyBlueBook

I enjoy reading and following the personal financial journeys of individuals. It's the individual that puts the "personal" in personal finance and makes the subjects of money and investing so human and genuine. There is no denying that money is a very essential and pervasive element of our lives. Some people just don't have enough. For others, money is sufficient but the difficulty comes when deciding how to best protect and manage it. Lack of money can cause people to fall into debt, while at the same time it can be the liberating savior to some of life's problems.

CNN's Family Profiles

One of my favorite reads is CNN's Millionaires in the Making series. Every few weeks they provide the profile of a new family or couple, complete with all pertinent and interesting demographic information such as their individual ages, occupations, salaries, and a complete listing of their financial assets and liabilities. The articles even provide a picture of the family or couple being profiled that also frequently includes them with their children.

Maybe I have a natural voyeuristic fascination, but I like to read their profiles and see how I match up. I must commend the couples and families for being so willing to provide their photos and reveal so much personal information about their finances that most people, including myself would normally be sort of reluctant to provide in its complete entirety. Although most personal finance bloggers like to include profile snapshots of their financial situation, many are reluctant to provide photos