Leadpile’s Blog

According to MSNBC today the numbers are in and retailers lost money, even though the 100 billion dollars worth of stimulus checks have been mailed out by the government. So where did all that money go?
A little over 1/4 of the Americans who received these checks used it for paying off some credit card bills. Only 11% used the money on discretionary items such as electronic items and travel.
Grocery stores to retail stores were offering discounts to come into their stores, to spend their stimulus money on THEIR products. Some retailers placed radio and television ads with reference to spending their stimulus checks at their stores. They all have reached for a piece of the pie.
It appears the winners were discount retailers such as Walmart, Target and Costco. The loosers, that were unfortunately not able to benefit, were department stores and clothing stores. So maybe it is a good time to go out there to get some REALLY good deals!!!!!
Another area that felt some negative effects of the stimulus checks was the payday loan industry. If consumers are getting checks from the government, then they don’t necessarily need a payday loan. However, everything seems to be headed back in the right direction for payday lenders/lead generators. Leadpile Lead Exchange focuses a lot of the payday vertical, so our heart goes out to all our affiliates that felt any negative effects of the stimulus checks going out.

The American way is to live beyond our means, however it is not the “right” way to live.
Think back to when you were in college and those credit card companies had tables set up to issue some new credit cards. Who didn’t want to get a NEW credit card to go shopping with. That is the problem, people don’t think past that initial “GREATNESS” about the credit card, and really this mentality helped to create the debt troubles we all face.

According to Investopedia.com there are signs to look for to determine if you are not in an ideal situation financially.
1. Your credit score is below 600.
2. You are currently saving less than 5% of your income.
3. Your credit card balances are just getting larger and larger.
4. More than 28% of your income goes towards paying for your home.
5. Your bills are just out of control (robbing Peter to pay Paul situations).

Overall, there are ways to prevent situations like this, however there are also situations in our lives that are out of our control. There are options out there to help educate consumers, help them get out these situations, and possibly teach consumers how to prevent them from happening again. Leadpile Lead Exchange generates a high volume of debt leads. These consumers are on the internet looking for this help, and want that help NOW!