Archive for the ‘Websites for Debtbeats’ Category

It may sound too good to be true, but a new online service promises to pay your bills when you can’t.

For a nominal fee, BillFloat will help customers avoid late fees, bank overdraft charges, service interruptions and other costs and inconveniences when they can’t pay their bills on time.  The site works with utility companies, cable and telco providers, insurance companies, car lease companies and other creditors to make the service possible.  BillFloat pays the bill, and the customers pays back BillFloat up to 30 days later.

Users need to set up an account with BillFloat and identify the payee, then wait for approval.  BillFloat debits the customer bank account at the agreed-upon time for the money owed.  The amount the customer can be floated (up to $1,000) and the fee (around $5) are determined by the BillFloat algorithm and the client’s history with the company.

This is a great alternative to bouncing checks or hitting up a payday lender with their exorbitant charges.

Since most recurring bills are well within the BillFloat limits, the only real limitation is whether or not a particular service provider participates.  I imagine that some will want to get paid ASAP and rush to join up while others don’t want to miss out on the late charge income.

The service is still in beta, which means that they don’t consider it fully fleshed out yet.  So look for more service enhancements and improvements if it catches on.

The site is supported with funding and capital from PayPal, which should inspire some degree of confidence as PayPal is one of the most trusted and respected financial firms on the web.  But as always, look before you leap.

Ain’t Too Proud to Beg?  If you’re a college student or recent graduate with student loans to pay off you may want to check out a new online service called SponsorMyDegree.com.

The site matches students and recent graduates with individuals and companies willing to help pay for their education.  It’s basically glorified begging, as these contributions ar not loans and the student is not expected to provide any goods or services in exchange for the donations to their college funds.

Student users set up a free profile and tell prospective donors about their studies, hobbies, plans or anything else of potential interest to someone who might slide them some cash.  They can promote their listings to friends and family who can donate to them through the site.  They can withdraw money if they get a minimum of twenty dollars.

People and corporations who donate to students can give as little as five dollars.  Major corporate fundings can be allocated for as little as a dollar.

SponsorMyDegree.com is not a charity, and contributions to students are not tax deductible.  The site makes money by targeted advertising and students are a very attractive target market.  No one wants to bombarded by spammy e-mails, but there’s no such thing as a free lunch and it’s probably worth it if you can get some books paid at the very least.  Just set your e-mail filter to high.

There seems to be a host of new student funding options lately, like peer2peer services and now, the pure handout.

This may be because the government has opted to remove private banks from the student loan origination process, limiting some choice in this process.  The credit crisis also limits students’ options now.

So if you’d like to get some help with your student debt this is a potentially viable source of cash.  But don’t try to game the system if you’re not a student; the service does verify student enrollment through a central clearinghouse.

It’s a well known fact that taller and more attractive people earn more money.  Although technically illegal, bias in hiring and promotions favors those already blessed by nature with symmetrical features, smooth skin and dreamy eyes.

Now equal employment laws be damned, a new website is looking to cut to the chase and link employers with only the most beautifulest job seekers.

BeautifulJobSeekers.com is that site.  It’s free for job seekers, but charges employers up to $299 for access to view resumes and photos of individual members.  Believe it or not, prospective employees have to actually submit their photo to the site for approval. Users can rate members in true HotorNot fashion.

According to the site:

Many researches related to the job market, have concluded that beautiful people have several advantages over those who are less aesthetically pleasing. For instance, beautiful people are more likely to make a positive impression during a job interview and thus have an increased chance of actually getting hired for a job. And once an attractive person is hired, he or she tends to get a job promotion faster. Also, an attractive person (working, for instance, as a sales representative) tends to generate more business for his or her employer. Hence our tagline:

More Beauty! More Business!

The website was started by Dutch Internet entrepreneur Ralph van Troost, who started Date For Trees, a now defunct website that donated trees for every person who signed up on the dating site.

The site currently lists very few jobs, most in the sales arena.

While specialty job boards abound, particularly in fields that require specialized education or certifications, this niche may be too narrow for its own good.  In  the end, the job market is a market, and those function best where the most buyers (employers) and sellers (job seekers) can meet.  Artificially limiting a job board to prospective employees who are this vain and employers who are this shallow doesn’t bode well for success.

Nice gimmick, but even if you’re a “10″ you should stick to established sites like CareerBuilder, Monster.com and my personal favorite, Indeed.com for your job search.