February 24, 2010 – 3:23 pm
This week, the Credit CARD Act of 2009 finally goes into effect. Some parts of the law were phased in as early as August of last year, but consumers had to wait until now for most of the biggest changes.
For the most part, the new rules will just stop problems before they start – like [...]
January 15, 2010 – 5:48 pm
Booking your spring break trip to Cancun soon? Here’s something to keep in mind: Almost every major credit card carries an “international conversion surcharge” of up to 5 percent on every purchase you charge in a foreign country. The fee isn’t listed separately on your bill so you wouldn’t even know anything fishy was afoot [...]
December 23, 2009 – 3:38 pm
Hannah’s post yesterday on how to get out of credit-card debt referenced the Federal Reserve’s most recent Survey of Consumer Finances, which is full of fascinating data about which households are the most likely to be in debt.
Overall, 46.1 percent of American households reported holding debt on credit cards. But a look at who is [...]
December 22, 2009 – 4:20 pm
Welcome to this week’s edition of our Tuesday Top 5, Econ4U’s weekly tips post to help you manage your money in five easy steps.
I was recently reviewing the Survey of Consumer Finances, published earlier this year using data from 2007. I thought it was interesting that only 46.2 percent of American households reported having credit-card debt, [...]
December 16, 2009 – 4:13 pm
We’ve written recently about credit reports, credit scores, and how you can go about improving both.
These topics are on the minds of many Americans as they balance their gift lists with their bank accounts during the Christmas season. But buyers beware – those good sales that stores offer through their brand-name credit cards could leave [...]
November 24, 2009 – 7:05 pm
Welcome to this week’s edition of Tuesday Top 5, our weekly tips post to help you manage your money in five easy steps.
While $1,000 may seem like a genuine chunk of change, in reality it’s not hard to save up that much with a little discipline. You’d save that much by giving up your daily $4 [...]
November 17, 2009 – 6:40 pm
Welcome to this week’s edition of Tuesday Top 5, our weekly tips post to help you manage your money in five easy steps.
Today we walk you through the all-important credit report, and what to do if you find inaccurate information on it. Your credit report plays a major role in determining your credit score, so it’s [...]
September 15, 2009 – 3:41 pm
No doubt about it, retailers have been hit hard by the reduction in consumer spending. But a few new trends in retail marketing could lead even the savviest shoppers into a financial trap.
MSN Money columnist M.P. Dunleavey wrote last week about the way outlet malls use psychology to seduce consumers into paying more for lower-quality [...]
September 10, 2009 – 5:13 pm
New numbers released by the Federal Reserve on Tuesday show that consumer borrowing decreased for the sixth consecutive month in July. A Wall Street Journal article notes that consumers are distancing themselves from debt both “by choice and by force, reflecting a combination of the thrifty attitude and tighter lending conditions that have defined the [...]
August 18, 2009 – 1:09 pm
At the risk of sounding smug, sometimes I feel like I’ve mastered the credit card game.
I get 1 percent cash back on my rewards card. And because I pay it off in full every month and it has no annual fee, my credit card bank is essentially paying me a dividend on top of giving [...]
