It’s that time of the year!…the International Children’s Theater Festival (FITI) opens this Friday…Woo-hoo!…
I’ve identified 5 shows we could attend…
the opening piece will be The Sand Boy…the story of a sand boy in love with a mermaid…
Ale’s pretty excited, too!

A ThinkGlink reader bought a home with his fiance and they eventually broke up. He would now like to get his name off of the mortgage and is asking Ilyce if a quit claim deed will work. Ilyce explains the difference between the deed and mortgage.

more translations!!! woo-hoo!!!
keep them coming!!!

By Justin McHenry

RevolutionCard, a new credit card that aims to cut credit card fees and increase card security, launched today. Backed by a gaggle of financial and technology heavyweights, including America Online founder Steve Case at the helm of its parent company, the RevolutionCard comes with no name or account number listed on the outside of the card, instead using a PIN code system to verify a cardholder’s identity. It also offers merchants a much lower interchange fee—the fee merchants pay to banks and credit card processors for accepting credit cards—which might be the key to its success in the marketplace.

The RevolutionCard is one of the products from Revolution, LLC, the company formed by Steve Case. In addition to Case, investors include former AOLer Ted Leonsis, former United States Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, former Charles Schwab CEO David Pottruck, and former MasterCard International President and CEO Russell Hogg. It is also partnering with traditional credit card issuers including Citi and CompuCredit to issue its cards.

According to an article in USA Today, the card can already be accepted at 100,000 merchants, and will ramp up to levels equal to MasterCard and Visa over the next three years.

While the RevolutionCard’s security features may entice some, its ultimate success may be predicated on how hard it is pushed by merchants—and it may be promoted very highly.  Revolution claims that traditional credit card purchases cost merchants 1.9% of a purchase, while RevolutionCard transactions will cost just 0.5%. With many merchants either grumbling or outright suing credit card companies over the size of these fees, it’s likely that many will embrace the RevolutionCard. Despite Revolution’s claims that merchants will pass these savings on to consumers, that of course remains to be seen.

More information on RevolutionCard and an online application can be found at revolutioncard.com.

By Justin McHenry

Last year Chase launched its Freedom Card with much fanfare, touting the ability to easily move between cash back rebates and reward points programs, as well as offering 3% back/3 points per dollar on gas, supermarket and fast food purchases. Chase has now announced “the next generation” of Chase Freedom, with a more flexible rewards formula that offers 3% back on your three biggest spending categories each month. By doing so, Chase eliminates a cardholders’ need to remember which categories pay greater rewards while simultaneously increasing the likelihood of the card being used.

Chase Freedom cardholders will now earn the 3% back/triple points in whichever three categories they do the most spending in. The 3% adjustment is made automatically, and the 3% rebate categories can change each month. The 15 categories of spending established for the rebates include: gas stations/convenience stores; grocery stores; department stores; drug stores; fast food and quick service restaurants; movie theaters; movie rentals; dry cleaners; health clubs & gym memberships; beauty salons and spas; pet supply stores and veterinarians; mass transit and local commuter expenses; telecommunications; utilities; and cable/satellite TV and Internet bills.

One other perk of the Freedom Card that has not changed is of interest to those who choose the cash back option.  For every $200 earned in cash rebates, Chase tacks on another $50 free.

Those tickers that we all love so much…I was introduced to them by Divajen!…

just making sure SHE gets the credit!

(they are very helpful and, so cute!)…

notice mine aren’t moving?….well, I HAVE been making payments, but, since the calculation was done on pending balances,…

I spent $37 stocking up on spices, toilet paper, powdered milk, detergent and other things…it’s ok, I won’t have to spend as much the next 2 or 3 months!…

Funny thing: they had saffron, at $0.25 for a package that normally costs about $2.50…so, I decided to make a paella…

I…

ThinkGlink readers comment on an article about notifying the insurance company after the mortgage is paid off.

A ThinkGlink reader is going to rent a friend’s house that will soon be up for sale. Ilyce helps this reader figure out the capital gains tax that will be incurred by the owner if she rents out the property.

well, one of our toy customers is having a special sale (open only to employees and suppliers!)…so, I bought spices…pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, basil, oregano, cinammon powder, vanilla extract, and other stuff… I really stocked up!…some of this stuff sells for $3.00…