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    <title>SmartyPig® Tag Feed for 'credit card act'</title>
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      <title>SmartyPig® Tag Feed for 'credit card act'</title>
      <link>http://blog.smartypig.com</link>
      <description>SmartyPig is the fist online savings account that helps you save for a specific goal and is a high interest savings account. SmartyPig wants to provide consumers with a simple, smart, secure and highly rewarding way to save through free savings accounts.</description>
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      <title>Card Companies Pig Out</title>
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      <category>Business</category>
      <description>Credit card companies are realizing tremendous profit as they punish customers by increasing credit card rates at the worst possible time. Customers struggling to pay interest rates in the single digits are now seeing rates of 20%+ when they open up...</description>
      <dc:creator>Erica Adams
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      <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>Credit card companies are realizing tremendous profit as they punish customers by increasing credit card rates at the worst possible time. Customers struggling to pay interest rates in the single digits are now seeing rates of 20%+ when they open up their card statements. According to David Ellis in a recent <em><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/03/news/companies/credit_cards/index.htm?postversion=2009110310" target="_blank">CNNMoney</a></em><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/03/news/companies/credit_cards/index.htm?postversion=2009110310" target="_blank"> article</a>, "Looks can be deceiving, especially in the credit card business."</p>
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<p>No matter if the relationship is in good standing or even if you pay your entire bill off every month, it's a <span>cash grab</span> for Wall Street at the expense of Main Street, as congress moves to <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aOdUExs1VqMI" target="_blank">speed legislation</a> to protect those who need it most. And with the holidays coming, and recent statistics from Consumer Reports indicating that 13.5 million Americans are still carrying debt incurred from last year's holiday season, our leaders in Washington cannot move fast enough.</p>
<p><img title="smartypig msnbc" src="http://www.smartypig.com/ImageDisplay.aspx?ImageId=fe53b6da-aea8-4839-84c4-9cd8d8750cde&isthumb=N&type=Generic" alt="smartypig msnbc" width="420" height="239" /></p>
<p><a href="http://msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/33478122#33478122" target="_blank">Watch video</a></p>
<p>Financial expert and "Today Show" contributor Jean Chatzky has recommended socking away $100 each week starting now until December to ease the eventual pain caused by seasonal spending. Chatzky smartly points out that, by setting a goal like this and sticking to it, by the time the holidays roll around, credit cards might not be the necessary evil they have been in the past.</p>
<p>We could not agree more, and, in fact, this sentiment is exactly what we here at SmartyPig stand for. With expenses like gifts and travel piling up, there has never been a better time to take back control. Credit cards are <a href="http://www.daveramsey.com/the_truth_about/credit_card_debt_3478.html.cfm" target="_blank">doing more harm than good</a>, even to the most loyal and responsible customers. Thus, there's no time like the present to stand up for yourself, get back to the basics and finally own the holidays. A little bit at a time can definitely make a whole lot of difference.</p>
<p> </p><br/><div style="clear:both"></div><a href="http://blog.smartypig.com/tag/smartypig">smartypig</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/smartypig"><img src="http://blog.smartypig.com/template/smarty/images/technorati.gif" border="0"></a><a href="http://blog.smartypig.com/tag/smartypig.rss"><img src="http://blog.smartypig.com/template/smarty/images/tiny-rss.gif" border="0"/></a>  <a href="http://blog.smartypig.com/tag/saving money">saving money</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/saving money"><img src="http://blog.smartypig.com/template/smarty/images/technorati.gif" border="0"></a><a href="http://blog.smartypig.com/tag/saving money.rss"><img src="http://blog.smartypig.com/template/smarty/images/tiny-rss.gif" border="0"/></a>  <a href="http://blog.smartypig.com/tag/holidays">holidays</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/holidays"><img src="http://blog.smartypig.com/template/smarty/images/technorati.gif" border="0"></a><a href="http://blog.smartypig.com/tag/holidays.rss"><img src="http://blog.smartypig.com/template/smarty/images/tiny-rss.gif" border="0"/></a>  <a href="http://blog.smartypig.com/tag/credit card act">credit card act</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/credit card act"><img src="http://blog.smartypig.com/template/smarty/images/technorati.gif" border="0"></a><a href="http://blog.smartypig.com/tag/credit card act.rss"><img src="http://blog.smartypig.com/template/smarty/images/tiny-rss.gif" border="0"/></a> ]]></content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
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