Well, following are some useful (and free) apps for your iPhone, Droid, pad and other devices; and no, we do not get any sort of kick-back or remuneration from any of these vendors. These come from a Chicago Tribune article by Courtney Rubin who writes for U.S. News & World Report.
•    CalcMoolator – provides some 200 financial calculations “that can help you figure out your hourly wage from your salary…or compare renting versus buying a particular home. You can also road-test debt reduction scenarios based on the factors that matter most to you”. www.tinyurl.com/7qxajy9.  iPhone, iPad
•    GasBuddy – helps you find the cheapest gasoline in your neighborhood (U.S. and Canada) based on user-information that continually updates prices. This app also gives reward points for providing info that can be used for tickets for a weekly drawing for a $250 gas prepaid gas card. With a fill-up costing upward of $60, this sounds like a great use of a phone (better than playing Words with Friends). www.gasbuddy.com. Android, iPhone, Blackberry, Windows
•    Key Ring – Instead of adding another plastic tag to your key ring or slipping yet another card into your already overstuffed wallet, this app lets you simply take a photo of the barcode of store loyalty cards with your smartphone. When ready to make a purchase, log onto the site and the cashier will scan it from your phone. Pretty cool & eco-friendly. www.keyringapp.com. iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows
•    Pageonce – This app lets you access most of your financial data and get reminders about billing dates. According to the article, “You can track cellphone minutes, monitor frequent-flier miles and get flight information…Pageonce creators are designing a feature that will even let you pay bills directly from the app. Sounds convenient to us. www.pageonce.com. iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry, Windows
•    ShopSavvy – You can scan a product’s barcode with your smartphone and this app will reportedly find the lowest price for it in the stores and on the Internet. This app will also inform you as to shipping promotions, coupon codes and other money-saving deals. www.shopsavvy.mobi. iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows

For experienced and knowledgeable Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 personal bankruptcy assistance, trust the attorneys from Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law who have helped tens of thousands of consumers in the last three years discharge their debt. For your free initial consultation, please call 800-260-1402 or log onto www.jacobymeyersbankruptcy.com for vital and timely bankruptcy information.

Eleets (an anagram of the founder’s last name) started six years ago and had expanded to employ some 400 workers, including about 260 of their own drivers as well as independent operators. At one time, the company had $120 million in annual revenue and had leased a 4-acre compound for its tractor-trailer rigs.

According to an article in The Florida Times-Union by Drew Dixon, there are many creditors who are attempting to collect outstanding debts. The company’s largest creditor is Wells-Fargo Bank, which filed a lawsuit seeking repayment of a $5.72 million loan. The bank had originally offered a $12 million credit line to Eleets and, when that was frozen, Steele said, it led to the collapse of the business, the newspaper report continued.

Other creditors include trucking companies and contractors that did business with Eleets. There may be as many as 4,000 carriers that carried freight for Eleets and that are seeking some money, avers the attorney for the bankruptcy trustee.

Steele, however, stated that most of the companies were repaid the debts owed to them.

The Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law attorneys are among the most knowledgeable consumer bankruptcy lawyers in the United States, representing tens of thousands of new clients annually in consumer bankruptcy matters. Since Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law attorneys answer their phones six days a week plus evenings, you can get your initial complimentary consultation at a time that is convenient for you. Our aggressive representation and extensive experience have earned Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law a national reputation for excellence in the representation of debtors in financial distress. Call us toll-free at 1-800-260-2402 and log onto our easy-to-navigate website at www.jacobymeyersbankruptcy.com.

Job growth was mainly noted in the professional and business-services sector, which added some 15,800 jobs as well as in the leisure and hospitality sector, which added about 7,600 new jobs. Construction, with an increasing demand for new residential housing, gained 3,800 positions. Government and education and health services added some 800 jobs, reports Shan Li for the Los Angeles Times.

Two sectors showed losses; the combined trade, transportation and utilities sector lost 8,400 jobs and manufacturing lost 3,300 positions.

California has seen steady job growth during most of 2012. Year-over-year payroll growth was 2%, which is stronger than the U.S. as a whole.

However (that word continues to pop up), March employment numbers revealed California’s labor force fell by 14,900, showing, perhaps, that people may have gotten discouraged and left the job market. That would mirror the U.S. as a whole last month when hundreds of thousands of people left the labor force.

If you are facing piles of unpaid credit card bills, medical bills and deficiencies on foreclosed mortgages or repossessed cars due to long-term unemployment, filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 personal bankruptcy with a Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law attorney at your side may be the key to your financial freedom. For your free initial consultation, call 800-260-1402 Monday-Saturday and log onto www.jacobymeyersbankruptcy.com for up-to-date information on filing your personal bankruptcy. We have helped tens of thousands of clients discharge their debt since 1996.

Some of the former employees who were owed back-pay have been paid from a state fund designated for such circumstances, reports Greg Stiles on www.mailtribune.com.

Reports from the Bureau of Labor and Industries show that 14 of 18 employees who have filed wage claims have received payment of over $10,600. A spokesman for the bureau opined that additional claims would be filed as other former employees become aware of the program, which is funded through a payroll tax equivalent to 3 cents per $100. From the same article, “There is a cap of $4,000 for an individual worker from the Wage Security Fund, said Labor and Industries spokesman Charlie Burr. But all the workers whose claims have been paid to date have been paid dollar for dollar”.

Burr continued, “’We always try to collect from the responsible party, but we’re set up for the reality that some business owners become insolvent. It’s not that they don’t want to pay, they simply aren’t able to.’”

If the company that you worked for has closed due to bankruptcy, you are probably experiencing serious financial problems. If you are contemplating filing for a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 personal bankruptcy, do not proceed without an experienced and knowledgeable bankruptcy attorney from Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law at your side. For your free initial consultation, please call 800-260-1402 or log onto www.jacobymeyersbankruptcy.com. It could be the key to your financial freedom.

His debts include $9.6 million in delinquent loans made by 37 banks in five states, $2.5 million owed to the IRS, $1 million owed to four Las Vegas casinos and tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt. His assets include property valued at $10,000, as well as household goods, furs, jewelry, clothing, a rifle and two pistols valued collectively at $5,500.

According to court records Taylor, who is now 71-years-old, is living modestly in Oklahoma. Tax and debt not dismissed by the bankruptcy totals as much as $2.6 million; his monthly income, according to court filings, is $2,750.

According to an article on www.al.com by Stan Diel, Taylor’s bankruptcy discredits the former college basketball coach who left the athletic arena “to build a small banking empire that made him a millionaire in the 1990s”.

In 1970, at the age of 28, Taylor was hired as head coach at the University of South Alabama, becoming the youngest head basketball coach at the collegiate level. He left coaching in the early 1980s and, with a group of investors, acquired First National Bank of Ashland. He and investors then acquired Wiregrass B&T, Bank of Alabama and other institutions. In 1986 he merged four banks he had acquired, creating Alabama National BanCorp.

In 1997 Taylor and a group of investors, which may have included Richard Scrushy, renovated downtown Birmingham’s historic John Hand building. The renovation included the addition of condos and a males-only athletic club that counted Charles Barkley among its members. Built in 1912, the building was one of a quartet of skyscrapers that earned the intersection of 20th Street North and First Avenue North the early 20th Century nickname ‘the heaviest corner on Earth’.

In 1998 Taylor founded Banc Corp. and quickly used acquisitions to expand its reach. By 2004 the bank had $1.4 billion in assets.

For experienced and knowledgeable Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 personal bankruptcy assistance, trust the attorneys from Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law who have helped over 56,000 consumers in the last three years discharge their debt. For your free initial consultation, please call 800-260-1402 or log onto www.jacobymeyersbankruptcy.com for vital and timely bankruptcy information.

Perkins owes $195,000 in state and federal income taxes, according to the court documents. He was ordered to pay his wife about $13,000 a month in child and spousal support, although he is appealing that decision.

Other creditors include his divorce attorney; Greensboro Day School; a business partner; the law firm of Brooks Pierce; a credit line with BB&T; American National Bank, which recently sued Perkins for defaulting on a 2011 loan and mortgages held by NewBridge Bank.

According to an article by Amanda Lehmert in the Greensboro News and Record, much of Perkins’ debt is business-related. The mayor reportedly said that his business has struggled in the slow economy. He is also in a legal battle with his estranged wife over post-separation financial issues. Perkins averred that he filed bankruptcy so he can pay the taxes, child support and marital support he owes.

Such debts as alimony or taxes, cannot be discharged through bankruptcy.

When considering filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, it is imperative that you have the best legal advice and representation available. The bankruptcy attorneys at Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law are familiar with all aspects of personal bankruptcy. We have over 100 years of combined bankruptcy law experience and will give you the best possible advice on your personal bankruptcy filing. If you are sick of seeing unpaid credit bills and late car payment notices piling up in your home, call the compassionate and experienced bankruptcy lawyers at Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law. We have been helping people just like you start a new financial life since 1996. Call us toll-free at 800-260-1402 and log onto our timely, interactive website at www.jacobymeyersbankruptcy.com.

Mr. Wigginton stated, “’This is another example of how I will not tolerate fraud and cheating in our court processes. My goal is to keep our processes fair for all Southern Illinoisans.’”

“’Abuse of the bankruptcy system by concealing assets for personal gain threatens the integrity of the bankruptcy system. I am gratified by the actions taken by United States Attorney Wigginton and our law enforcement partners to prosecute those who engage in fraudulent conduct,’” stated Nancy J. Gargula, United States Trustee for Southern Illinois, Central Illinois and Indiana.

Evidence introduced in support of the guilty plea and sentence showed that Woodside had filed a bankruptcy petition in 2009 in which he sought to discharge $49,446 in debts he owed to creditors. Under bankruptcy law, Woodside was required to list all assets, “including any interest he might have in any lawsuit from which he might receive a settlement or award of damages”. He repeatedly failed to disclose on his petition or to the Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee that he thought he would receive a settlement of $10,667.18 from a class action lawsuit related to a 2003 train derailment near his home. However, the bankruptcy trustee independently discovered the existence of the settlement, seized the funds and distributed them to Woodside’s creditors.

“In addition to the three-year term of probation, Woodside was ordered to pay to the United States fines and special assessments totaling $600 and to perform 30 hours of community service. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the United States Trustee for Region 10 and the Peoria Office of the United States Trustee.”

Bankruptcy fraud is a federal crime.  The attorneys at Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law take their obligations seriously.  Our attorneys approach each case with care and precision and we request relevant documentation to be able to protect its clients from allegations like these.  Don’t go to less experienced or less careful attorneys who try to sell you on ‘fast relief’ or ‘speedy filings’.  Haste often leads to bigger problems than those that caused the client to seek representation in the first place.

The Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law attorneys are among the most knowledgeable consumer bankruptcy attorneys in the U.S., representing tens of thousands of new clients annually in consumer bankruptcy cases. Call us toll-free at 800-260-2402 and log onto our easy-to-navigate, interactive website at www.jacobymeyersbankruptcy.com for timely and vital information on filing your Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

However, as home values edge up, most paychecks are not keeping pace. The result, although average monthly mortgage payments have decreased, many purchasers are buying more expensive homes. At the close of 2012, Americans bought houses that were triple their annual income, an increase from 2.6 times before the housing bubble burst.

The Washington Post article states that “the disparity is most evident in such high-priced areas as San Jose, California, where home buyers are purchasing homes at seven times their yearly salary. Conversely, in Detroit, the purchase price is only about 1.5 times a buyer’s salary”.

Stan Humphries, chief economist at Zillow avers that “homes appear more affordable because low mortgage rates are painting a distorted picture of the market”.

 He added that “’We’re in a carnival fun-house mirror. When interest rates return to pre-crisis levels, between 6% and 8%, the illusion of affordability won’t last’”.

“Home buyers able to secure a low interest rate are lucky, but they should be aware of their limits”, said Gabe del Rio, chief operating officer at Community HousingWorks, a nonprofit group in San Diego.

If you are contemplating filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 personal bankruptcy, call the Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law experts. Our experienced bankruptcy attorneys are available for mini-phone consultations Monday through Saturday and evenings to answer your financial debt questions. The skilled Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law experts have over 440 years of combined experience in all aspects of Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy relief.  Since 1996, we have helped hundreds of thousands of clients eliminate over $500,000,000 in debt, including reducing principal balances on underwater second mortgages. Log onto www.jacobymeyersbankruptcy.com for important bankruptcy info. Call us toll-free at 1-800-260-1402 Monday thru Saturday.

More interesting credit card stats from the CNN poll:
•    The average credit card interest rate in this country is 14.95%
•    28% of credit card users confess they often carry a balance, while 37% say they never do
•    The average credit card balance so far this year is $1,688; this is down from $1,952 in 2011
•    80% of credit card purchases are made on some type of ‘rewards card’
•    Length of the usual 0% APR offer is ten months, 2 ½ months longer than in 2010
•    29% of American consumers who are looking for a new credit card state that they want one with additional rewards or other perks.

The Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law attorneys are among the most knowledgeable consumer bankruptcy attorneys in the U.S., representing tens of thousands of new clients each year in consumer bankruptcy matters. Since Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law attorneys answer their phones six days a week and evenings, you can get your initial complimentary consultation at a time that is convenient for you. Our aggressive representation and extensive experience have earned Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law a national reputation for excellence in the representation of debtors in financial distress. If you are contemplating filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 personal bankruptcy due to overwhelming credit card debt, don’t proceed without an experienced and trustworthy bankruptcy attorney from Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law at your side. For your free initial consultation, call 800-260-1402, come into one of our 100 offices nationwide or log onto www.jacobymeyersbankruptcy.com.

According to an article on www.orgeonlive.com by Jeff Mapes, Sizemore “is trying to head off $21 million in potential judgments sought by two unions that have long waged legal battle against him”.

His only other listed debt was $6,900 for a car loan, which he said he was not seeking to have discharged by the bankruptcy. Sizemore also filed for bankruptcy in 1987 when his carpet business was forced to close. That bankruptcy, as well as other business-related debts, became an issue in his 1998 campaign for governor, the article states.

After an unsuccessful bid for the Oregon governor’s office in 1998, Sizemore introduced a number of initiatives but “came under legal fire from the Oregon Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers”.

Eleven year ago, a Multnomah County jury found that “Sizemore had engaged in a pattern of racketeering by using forged signatures and filing of false financial reports while working to put two anti-union initiatives on the 2000 ballot. The unions filed a new $18 million lawsuit against Sizemore in 2009, charging that he and his main financial backer, Nevada businessman Loren Parks, sought to hide and misuse money involved in qualifying four initiatives for the 2008 ballot.”

The Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law attorneys are among the most knowledgeable consumer bankruptcy attorneys in the U.S., representing tens of thousands of new clients annually in consumer bankruptcy cases. Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law attorneys answer their phones six days a week and evenings so you can get your initial complimentary consultation at a time that is convenient for you. Our aggressive representation and extensive experience have earned Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy Law a national reputation for excellence in the representation of debtors in financial distress. Call us toll-free at 800-260-2402 and log onto our easy-to-navigate, interactive website at www.jacobymeyersbankruptcy.com for timely and vital information on filing your Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy.