Have I got a story for you, and when I say “you,” I refer primarily to my readers who are having a difficult time understanding why I do not use a debit card. I am careful to always pay with a credit card when making a large purchase, when I order something online or put…
How to Repair Your Credit and Improve Your Credit Score
Your credit score is a three-digit number between 300 and 850, generated by a mathematical algorithm (a mostly secret formula) based on information in your credit report compared with information on tens of millions of other people. The resulting number is said to be a highly accurate prediction of how likely you are to pay…
How Credit Can Beat Buy Now, Pay Later
At first glance, a “buy now, pay later” plan’s promise of no interest or upfront fees can seem more appealing than a credit card’s terms. Dividing a transaction into, say, a pay-in-four installment plan sounds straightforward and manageable. Unlike credit cards, though, these plans lack certain consumer protections and are sometimes unpredictable. In this way,…
Credit Card Tips and Tricks
There’s no doubt that credit cards are convenient. They’re compact, easy to carry and work just about anywhere. And that’s the problem. What seems like no big deal on a daily basis can add up to one whopping surprise at the end of the month. In the event you have fallen into a mind-numbing “coma”…
6 Ways to Boost Your Credit Card Rewards This Holiday Season
Get your wallet ready—it’s that time again with the holidays right around the corner. An estimated 91 percent of Americans will celebrate in some form this holiday season, a November report from the National Retail Federation shows. And for most people, celebration means spending. According to a September study by the Deloitte Center for Industry…
Store-Branded Credit Cards Come With Expensive Catches
By Steve Rosen From Tribune Content Agency You’ve heard the checkout line pitch a million times: “Are you interested in applying for our store credit card? You get half off today’s purchase and earn rewards points for future purchases. Sign up right now at the register.” Sounds enticing this time of year, especially to young…
Do You Really Need a Retail Credit Card with a Very High Interest Rate?
Credit cards make it easy to buy the things you want without carrying cash around. As long as you are in the introductory period, there is no problem. But when the high interest rate kicks in and you have a balance, it can be hard to reduce your debt. New Interest Rates Higher Than Ever…
Hackers Exploit TikTok ‘Invisible Body’ Challenge to Steal User Passwords, Credit Cards: Report
A trending “invisible challenge” on TikTok is being used by hackers to steal users’ passwords, credit card data, and Discord accounts, according to a report. The TikTok challenge sees users film themselves naked while using the video-sharing site’s “Invisible Body” filter to blur out the body, making it appear invisible. The latest trend on TikTok, which is…
The Fine Print: Deal With It!
Just recently, U.S. consumer debt (that’s everything except mortgages) hit $16 trillion. Of course, that fact is often buried in the fine print, where most of us don’t pay attention. Or, if we do, we have no idea what that means. So what is a trillion? It’s a million million, a thousand billion or 1,000,000,000,000….
Credit Card, Personal Loan Balances Hit Record Highs Amid Soaring Inflation, Rising Rates
As consumers grapple with surging inflation and rising interest rates, more Americans are taking on extra debt to mitigate household financial pressures, a new report found. According to TransUnion’s Q3 2022 Quarterly Credit Industry Insights Report (CIIR), credit card balances advanced 19 percent year over year in the third quarter, to an all-time high of…
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