Credit Cards
« Previous EntriesIgnoring Your FICO Score Can Cost You Dearly
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009Check out this graphic I found on the myFICO website:
I took the information found in that chart and made another graphic showing just how much interest a person would pay over a 30-year mortgage depending on their credit score:
As you can see, the difference is significant. Just moving from the second highest to the [...]
Money’s Tips For Raising Your FICO Credit Score
Friday, August 21st, 2009Here’s a couple pointers from the latest issue of Money Magazine on how to improve your credit score:
• Remember your credit card utilization rate, which is your total card balances compared to your total credit limits. To calculate this, divide your credit card balances by the total available credit. Money recommends trying [...]
My FICO Score is 794. What’s Your Credit Score?
Thursday, August 20th, 2009After reading an article in the latest Money magazine about credit scores, I decided to check my wife’s and my score. I used myFICO.com found out my score was 794. Pretty good. It said that the only thing hurting my score was that I had 4 accounts with balances. One of [...]
Are Your Credit Cards’ Minimum Payments Going Up?
Friday, August 7th, 2009My post a while back about Discover closing my account, prompted an AFM reader to send me an email earlier this week, detailing some of his recent experiences with credit card companies. One of them involved his minimum payment going up from 2% to 5% of the closing balance. From his email (edited [...]
Watch Those Expiration Dates on Rebate Cards!
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009I made a boo boo.
AT&T mailed me one of those Visa Rebate Cards for my BlackBerry Curve. I think it was originally for $99 or so. I used the card a couple of months ago but still had a balance of $8.19. I tried using it again but got the remaining balance [...]
Darn. Discover’s Closing My Account Due to Inactivity
Saturday, June 6th, 2009From Discover:
Dear JLP:
At Discover® Card, we are committed to working with you to manage your credit needs. This includes periodic account reviews.
Our latest review of your account shows that it is not currently active. we are sorry to see tha tyou have not taken advantage of what Discover Card has to offer.
Due to [...]
Consider This Before You Sign Up for Credit Card Insurance
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009I read a short article about credit card insurance in today’s Wall Street Journal and thought it would be fun to run some numbers to find out how much such a program would cost.
For those of you who aren’t familiar, credit card insurance is an insurance that supposedly makes your credit card payments in the [...]
I Feel Special…I Got a Black Card Invitation
Monday, May 18th, 2009In today’s mail came a Visa Black Card invitation. I feel so special! (Please note the sarcasm in that statement.)
Here is what the letter said:
Dear Mr. JLP,
It is my pleasure to invite you to apply for the exclusive Black Card. Limited to only 1% of the U.S. residents, Black Card members are ensured [...]
Liz Pulliam Weston vs. Suze Orman – Who’s Right?
Friday, May 1st, 2009I saw Liz Pulliam Weston’s disagreement with Suze Orman’s advice that people who have no emergency fund (but have credit card debt) should pay minimums on their credit cards while they build up an e-fund.
Who’s right?
This is a very tricky situation for a couple of reasons:
1. People who have lots of credit card debt [...]
The Regulations Are Reasonable…The Thoughts That Go Along With Them Aren’t
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009Saw this in today’s Wall Street Journal and just had to mention it:
Policy Makers Take Aim at Credit-Card Practices
Credit-card companies are going to have to start adhering to the followin rules, which take effect in July 2010:
• Banks can’t treat payments as late unless consumers have a “reasonable amount of time” to make the payment; [...]