BEYOND THA BASICS

Friday, January 9, 2009

Thursday, January 8, 2009

When will this ever end?????

"Protests erupted shortly after a young man killed by a subway police
officer was laid to rest in Oakland on Wednesday night, according to local media
and iReporters. The Oakland Police Department made 105 arrests, including a mass arrest of about 80 people at 11 p.m., said Officer Jeff Thomason. The charges include inciting a riot, vandalism, assault on a police officer and unlawful assembly, he said".
This is just a tragedy on so many levels, as we are about to have the first African American President. We still have racist people who look at the African American males as criminals and their lives not worthy. At some point people are going to say enough is enough and there will be pure mayhem. But as longs as the cops keep getting off then you will have these kinds of responses....
Link: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/08/BART.shooting/index.html

Premier: Notorious

Jamal “Gravy” Woolard (Biggie) w/ co-star Naturi Naughton (Lil Kim).

Faith Evans with son CJ (who is the spitting image of BIG)

Jay-Z came out to support his fallen friend

Big son CJ, who appears in the movie as the young Christopher Wallace

Mrs Carter came out to support the film

Violetta Wallace and Sean Combs

Derek Luke (played Puffy) and Wife

Ja-Rule and Irv Gotti was there...

Jay and Ms Wallace

Mary was in the house

Angela Bassett play Ms Wallace in the biopic film

Courtney B. Vance came out to support his wife Angela

Oh Really Sheree????

On the show “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” Sheree Whitfield expressed a
desire for a “seven figure” settlement from her ex-husband and former Falcon
player Bob Whitfield. She has since said very little about the case because of
legal wranglings.
She received a settlement last year but wasn’t happy with
it. So she has appealed it all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court. The case is
scheduled to be heard Monday, January 12.
Her attorneys painted her a high
school graduate with limited skills to earn income, arguments for alimony she
did not receive. This agreement meant she wouldn’t be able to stay at her $2.6
million home. She receives $113,422 a year from the divorce, not enough for her
live the lifestyle she’s used to and clearly not at the level of what the hit
Bravo show conveys. Sheree also received a lump sum of $775,000, shares of
Whitfield’s retirement pension, nearly half of the marital property and child
support.

Link: http://www.accessatlanta.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/accessatlanta/radiotalk/entries/2009/01/07/17_sheree_whitf.html#postcomment

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Happy Birthday Jill Marie Jones

Jill Marie celebrated her B-Day over the weekend with her friends, Tarji came out to show love..

The YBF.com has totally outed MTV! I watched Daddy's Girls and I remember thinking that thier apartment sure does look familiar. And looky here its the same apartment used on the HILLS. I don't believe for one minute that these shows are really REAL. And thanks to the good people at theybf.com on some level MTV have been exposed! We don't believe you, you need more people MTV!!!!

Monday, January 5, 2009

Obama Arrives in Presidental Style

Obama arrives in DC to get his girls adjusted to a new school this week.

Spotted: Kim P @ LAX

Hip Hops most famous baby momma looks like she had a ruff flight!

Spotted: Whoopi Goldberg @ Knicks Game

We see you Ms Goldberg, I don't know if that is your boo or not but you sure do look happy!

HORRIFIC

This sorry excuse of an human being decided it would make much more sense to murder his 2 1/2 yr old son rather than pay child support. Danny Platt of New Orleans first reported to the police that his son was kidnapped but later confessed to the crime.

Finance Tips by G. Hogan

Don’t Lose Your Home; It’s one of the MOST Important Assets you can OWN
1. Do NOT Ignore the PROBLEM: Contact your lender IMMEDIATELY
2. PRIORITIZE your Debts:
Is your LUXUXRY CAR more important than your home?
Down Grade your CAR! Instead of having a $700 car note, TRADE and get something with a $350 car note! You can always get that STATUS QUO car back LATER!
3. Have you thought about taking a SECOND JOB?
Let the PRIDE GO! A few extra dollars a month can help you save your HOME!
IT”S ALL ABOUT SACRAFICE! This will all blow over soon!

Speak with a HUD Approved Counselor
HUD Approved Housing Counseling Agencies
Call – 1-800-569-4287 or click link below to search for counselors in your state:
http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm.

Credit: When was the last time you checked your credit? Did you know you can do it for FREE?
Most States allow you a free report from all 3 major credit agencies;
Equifax, Experian and Trans Union
Click on link below for Annual Credit Report. You will have to put in personal information, it will also ask for a credit or debit card, YOU WILL NOT BE CHARGED if you are in a state that allows free annual reports. You will be asked several security questions related to past employment, past addresses, past or current debts.
AnnualCreditReport.com - https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

You are also entitled to a free credit report if you are denied credit from someone. So if you apply for a credit card, car or loan and you are declined, you are entitled to a free credit report.

DON’T be surprised about your credit, know what is on there. You should check your credit at least once per year (for free), if not every six months.
You can also request a report by mail:
Equifax
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, GA 30374

Experien
P.O. Box 9532
Allen, TX 75013

TransUnion
P.O.Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834

If you are a victim of FRAUD, you can place a fraud alert on your credit file:
Lenders will be required to contact you to verify if you have applied for a loan before the loan or account is opened.
Equifax: 1-877-576-5734; http://www.equifax.com/
Experian: 1-888-397-3742; www.experian.com/fraud
TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; http://www.transunion.com/

Your credit will allow to get almost anything you want! Buy a home, start a business

Career Advice by G. Hogan

JOB SEEKERS
Times are TOUGH, people are losing their jobs left and right.
There are many online job sites like MONSTER, CAREER BUILBER, etc. these sites have resume filters that looks for certain key words contained in your resume. Another GOOD source for Job Seekers is your State Department of Labor.
I just did a search for my state and found PLENTY of available jobs ranging from minimum wage to $50.00 per hour!
Jobs requiring little to no experience – professional jobs requiring College Degrees.
Keep an open mind, when you don’t have a job almost anything beats a BLANK. Sometime you have to START OVER and WORK your way UP AGAIN. Get your foot in the DOOR. Times and jobs are too hard to come by now in the CRAZY, UNCERYTAIN ECONOMY!

Here is the link for you to find your state office.
http://www.dol.gov/esa/contacts/state_of.htm
Once your there then you click find a job or search jobs.
Also, many state department of labor agencies have job fairs once a month. You can find that information on your states department of labor site.

Here are some other job searching websites:
http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/

http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites.html - YES, Craigs List has jobs posted on there as well.

Personal Finance by G. Hogan

Another One Bites The Dust – How this affects your 401K Another Bank goes under; MEGA Bank Wachovia acquired by CITI GROUP. Now why is this important, many employees are now BROKE since many have a large portions of their 401K in company stock. This is not a good idea whether you work for a financial institution or not. If you have most of your allocations in the company stock and the company goes under then you lose most of your hard earned retirement money. You shouldn’t have any more than 10% – 15% in your company stock. You should also review your 401k allocations at lest once a year. Most of us don’t even pay it any attention or even know what we are looking at in our 401K. If you work for a financial institution you have a many advisors at your leisure to call and ask them to review it with you. You can also ask someone in your human resources; benefits plan administrator for the company that manages your 401k and they can go over your accounts with you for FREE. If you do not participate in your 401k at all, you are losing money since most companies match a percentage of your contributions dollar for dollar. FREE Money but don’t have it all in one basket!

Credit Advice By G. Hogan

Re-Establishing Credit after a BANKRUPTCY:
No matter what the reason was for filling bankruptcy, you got a PASS and need to START OVER and re-establish your credit.
It seems like before the ink is dry credit card companies and auto dealers start sending you applications and pre-approved notices in the mail. This is NOT a Bad thing. You have to get back into managing your debt and credit responsibly and one of the ways to do it is by getting 2 new credit accounts, typically 2 credit cards or 1 credit card and one car loan. Now, the rates on some of those offers may be EXTREMLY HIGH anywhere from 18% -24%, you may even get some lower. The key is to read the FINE PRINT. These types of offers will also have an annual fee. You will have to pay a little bit more to get back in the CREDIT GAME. You may also get a low limit $200-$500, AGAIN its ok. BABY STEPS! You have to build TRUST again. Review all offers, interest rate vs. annual fees and pick the one with the lowest rate and or annual fee. If you find that you applied for 2 credit cards even though they say pre-approved for bad credit and previous bankruptcy and get DECLINED, you may have to apply for a Secured Credit Card. This is where you send the company a check say for $500, then they issue you a credit card with a $500 limit. They will hold onto your deposit until they feel that you have used and paid back the account in a responsible manner. Most companies will send back your money anywhere from 18 – 24 months.
If you decide to re-establish your credit and you should, you have to make sure you don’t fall into a lot of debt again. You should only charge small amounts, maybe for some gas, dinner, rental car, etc BUT make sure you can pay if off when your statement arrives. You want to only use about 30% of your available credit. So this means if you have a limit of $1000, you should only have a balance of $300. Banks and lenders consider this an acceptable amount of usage. You are penalized for carrying large balances on your credit cards. It HURTS your Credit Score!
As far as the car offers, if you need a car and can get a loan get one BUT make sure the finance company or any company you borrow money from, report monthly to one of, if not all the credit agencies. Stay away from BUY HERE, PAY HERE places. They typically have shotty cars, excessively high interest rates and do not report to any of the 3 major credit agencies.
If you can get 2 credit cards and use them responsibly, this can increase your credit score dramatically over the next 12 months. You will be working your way up to getting back in the GAME and will soon be able to get credit from a traditional source (like your bank) after 2 – 3 years following a bankruptcy. Remember BABY STEPS!

BEYOND THA BASICS

The Atlanta Housewives are Coming...

Friday, January 9, 2009

Fashion: New Chole Bag

Thursday, January 8, 2009

When will this ever end?????

Premier: Notorious

Oh Really Sheree????

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Happy Birthday Jill Marie Jones

MTV Recycles?

Monday, January 5, 2009

Obama Arrives in Presidental Style

Spotted: Kim P @ LAX

Spotted: Whoopi Goldberg @ Knicks Game

HORRIFIC

MJ Ghost Real or Fiction?????

New Jay-Z " D.O.A. -Death of Auto-Tune"

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