6 Most Common Credit Card Traps

To some extent, it is great news that President Obama has recently signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009. Among the many stipulations accommodated by this law are the prohibitions of:

1) retroactive rate increases;
2) card charges for pay-by-phone payments unless it is 60 days overdue; and
3) double-cycle billing or the imposition of card charges for previous and current balances. Read more

Store Credit Cards: Must-Haves???

You are dying to get those hip knee-high boots and adorable pair of Jimmy Choo sling backs but are unsure if you can afford them.  You are thinking:  Do I buy now or do I wait for a bargain?  While you are mulling over this decision, a sales assistant approaches you and cheerfully informs you that you’re entitled to a 10% discount if you sign-up for their versatile credit card.  The application takes only minutes.

Should you or shouldn’t you? Read more

D.I.Y. Credit Repair

Does the following ring a bell?

“What’s in your wallet?”
“There are some things money can’t buy.  For everything else, there’s MasterCard.”
“It’s Everywhere You Want to Be.”

Yes you guessed right, these are the ad slogans of leading credit card companies.  Swipe here, swipe there; swipe it anywhere!  It is convenient to have credit cards but gruesome to pay accrued credit card bills.  The result:  bad credit.  If your credit is ruined, how do you repair it? Read more

Divorced – But Your Credit Still Shares a Bed

“To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part.”  Most of us will recognize this at the traditional Marriage Vow.

“Tell me the words I never said; show me the tears you never shed.  Give me the touch, that one you promised to be mine. Or has it vanished for all time?  I let you go, I let you fly.  Why do I keep on asking why?”  This is the Broken Vow sung by Josh Groban.

Divorce is a tough life event to go through.  It is the end-all for marriage but is it the end-all for everything?  It may signal the end of romance but it will probably not signal the end for credit ties.  It causes emotional distress and worse, financial anxiety.  Where marriage ends, financial and credit setbacks begin! Read more

“Charge” It to Experience – How to Ruin Your Credit

Checkmate!  One false move and you’re doomed!  It takes a million acts of kindness to build a good reputation but only one mistake to wreck it.  Better ask Michael Jackson about that.

Let the rule of thumb on credit be known.  “A bad credit rating means higher interest rates and ultimately less money saved for you.” Read more

FICO: Learn How to Score High

Back in your school days, if you score high in every exam as well as in extra curricular activities, you may be hailed as the “class valedictorian.”  If you fail the exams, you may be labeled an “idiot” and may have to repeat a grade.  In the game of Scrabble, whoever gets the highest score wins the game, and whoever gets the least is out of fame.  In a sitting for a professional exam, score the highest and you will be granted your professional license.  Score the lowest, and you will be re-taking the test till you pass it. Read more

There’s No Such Thing as a Free Lunch BUT There Is Free Credit Report

What is one word that everyone wants?  We’ll give you a hint:  it begins with the letter F (No, it’s not that F word.  Get your mind out of the gutter.).  Actually, it’s the word “free.”

Face it:  people will jump at almost anything that’s offered gratis.  Extra, specialized knowledge is no exception.  And while the best things in life are free, the really good stuff seems to be few and far between.  That is, unless you know where to look. Read more