BEYOND THA BASICS

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Wow....Over 30 List of Hip Hop Artist

As per Bossip.com:
Ice Cube (June 15, 1969) – 39
Jay-Z (December 4, 1969) – 39
Raekwon (January 12, 1970) – 39
Q-Tip (April 10, 1970) – 39
Redman (April 17, 1970) – 39
Ghostface Killah (May 9, 1970) – 39
Fat Joe (August 19, 1970) – 38
Scarface (November 9, 1970) – 38
DMX (December 18, 1970) – 38
Method Man (April 1, 1971) – 38
Snoop Dogg (October 20, 1971) – 37
Common (March 13, 1972) – 37
Busta Rhymes (May 20, 1972) – 37
Black Thought (October 3, 1972) – 36
Eminem (October 17, 1972) – 36
Bun B (March 19, 1973) – 36
Nas (September 14, 1973) – 35
Mos Def (December 11, 1973) – 35
Beanie Sigel (March 6, 1974) – 35
Andre 3000 (May 27, 1974) – 35
Styles P (November 28, 1974) – 34
Big Boi (February 1, 1975) – 34
Jadakiss (May 27, 1975) – 34
50 Cent (July 6, 1975) – 33
Talib Kweli (October 3, 1975) – 33
Rick Ross (January 28, 1976) – 33
Cam’ron (February 4, 1976) – 33
Kanye West (June 8, 1977) – 31
Ludacris (September 11, 1977) – 31
Young Jeezy (October 12, 1977)- 31

Forbes top 100 Celebrity Issue on Stands..

The Forbes top 100 Celebrity list is out and Beyonce ranked at #4 making an est. 87 million last year. Jay- Z is ranked at #37 bring an est. 35million, not bad for the power duo... Obviously the list is based on start power and income not just income alone or else Oprah would have been number 1 instead of Angelina Jolie..

The top 10 :

Angelina Jolie #1
Oprah Winfrey #2
Madonna #3
Beyoncé Knowles #4
Tiger Woods #5
Bruce Springsteen #6
Steven Spielberg #7
Jennifer Aniston #8
Brad Pitt #9
Kobe Bryant #10

Daddy's Girls are Back..

The Simmons girls are filming in LA for their upcoming season of Daddy's Girls on MTV

Its About Time ..Whitney!

The voice will release her 7th album in September of this year..I am really looking forward to it...

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

The YBF.com Reports:

Kimora & Djimon have announced their brand new baby’s name. Via what else…Twitter:
Welcome Kenzo Lee Hounsou. Kimora’s + Djimon’s baby boy was born on Saturday May, 30th. He was 8 lbs and 20 inches.
We researched the name a bit and found out Kenzo has Japanese origins and is used for boys and means Wise and Three. Baby Kenzo Lee Hounsou is the third baby of the bunch and Kimora is 1/4 Japanese....Congratualtions to the happy couple!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

DJ Hero....Fun Times

Last night Jay-Z and Eminem hit the stage together (and separately) in L.A. to launch the new DJ Hero video game

Taraji & Tyrese came out to enjoy the Fun..

Wedding Season...

Its that time of the year that Brides walk down the aisle towards the eternal bliss (I know ..I know..Let them have their dream)...So I decided to make a tribute post for them...

Pedro GarciaArabella crystal sandals & Anna SuiDiamanté strap dress

Perfect for Bridesmaids..

Jimmy Choo
Clue platform sandals

Alice + OliviaRuffle mini dress

A 2009 Bride should be flirty and youthful & leave it to Vivienne & Jimmy to accomplish that mission!

Jimmy ChooPoem satin sandals

Vivienne Westwood Gold LabelLily wedding gown

She Frenzy!!

Christian LouboutinNew Helmut satin 100 shoes$595

Jimmy ChooBillie lizard-print sandal$775

Pedro GarciaMinnie feather pumps$725

Christian LouboutinNew Decoltissimo 85 pointed pumps$645

Monday, June 1, 2009

Eminem had some balls in his face..

In last night’s MTV Awards, Bruno aka Sacha Cohen aka Borat was presenting an award for Best Male Performance while he was being lowered down on cables into the crowd. Some sort of ‘accident’ happened and his junk ended up in Em’s face for way too long. Em and his crew fought off Bruno and stormed off. Was it real or fiction ??? Only u can be the judge.....

So the MTV's Movie Awards was this weekend..

It looks like a bunch of b-list actors and actresses came out the this year's MTV Movies Awards with the exception of Forrest Whitaker & Taraji P. Henson..

Tyrese came through wit his winning smile..

Bentley and girlfriend Faun

Forrest & Keisha Whitaker

Keke Palmer is growing to be a beautiful young lady..

Rick Fox in the house

Taraji came out in all of her sexy..

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!