5 rules to pay less tax + MORE Oct 8th

Credit card balances decreased at a 0.3 percent annual rate in August, a first after five straight month of rising card debt, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday

Some credit cards earn you rewards that can be used as an auto down payment, but consider alternatives such as cash-back cards, too

NEW YORK, N.Y. – SolarCity will begin offering loans to homeowners for solar systems, a move that industry analysts say could reshape the market for rooftop solar and propel its rapid adoption.
Most current rooftop solar deals involve a lease or an agreement to buy power over a period of time, but the company owns the panels. SolarCity’s loan will allow customers to own their systems and still pay less for electricity, a simpler and cheaper prospect.
“The value proposition is becoming clearer and less complicated for consumers,” says Patrick Jobin, an analyst at Credit Suisse. “Solar is going mainstream.”
Other solar companies have begun to offer loans in recent months, but SolarCity Corp. is the nation’s biggest installer, and its loan has a twist that may convince reluctant customers to sign up: The customer pays the loan back based only on the electricity that the panels produce.
The growth of rooftop solar has been propelled by financing schemes that allow customers to have solar panels installed for little or no money down…

Selected as Clients Of The Year by the National Foundation of Credit Counseling, the 13-person Unverzagt family payed off their credit card debt in five years

Do you plan to be wealthy? Then it’s time to go to tax school. As your kids head back to the classroom to learn to read and write, you can learn basic taxation principles that will help you build wealth faster.
There’s a reason why those who have more, care more about taxes. They know that what’s truly important is your “real net worth”—the net value of assets after taxes, inflation and accumulation costs such as interest on debt and professional fees. It’s all about what you keep and what it’s worth when you need it. Learn these five important tax principles, and you’ll have a more enlightened view of what wealth is, and how to build it faster.
1. Understand what income is. Make it your business to understand tax jargon. Start by learning the definitions of income: total income, net income, taxable income, earned income for RRSP purposes—they all have different meanings. The most important of these is “net income,” because that’s the figure used in many federal and provincial tax credit calculations…