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The day after Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the busiest shopping season of theyear, Black Friday through year’s end. Many consumers will spend more at retailersbetween Black Friday and the end of the year than they spent during the previous 47weeks. The retailers will see us coming and they’re armed with “20% off” offers if […]

According to a survey released in October 2011 by CreditCards.com the average creditcard interest rate is now close to 15 percent. This is up roughly 1 full percentage pointfrom the average interest rate on new credit card accounts from the same period inOctober 2011. The question is, why are interest rates continuing to increase on

Section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act allows employers to pull credit reports forthe purposes of pre-employment and continued employment screening. The practice,while widely criticized by consumer advocates, is still very popular with some 60 percentof employers either pulling credit reports for all of their applicants or at least some ofthem, this according to

In the world of credit restoration there are a lot of very effective methods for improvingyour credit scores. One of the most effective credit score improvement strategies is topay off your credit card debt. In fact some people would argue that paying off credit carddebt is the most actionable way to quickly improve your credit

When you think about the worst types of debt I think most people will immediately putcredit card debt at the top of the list. And, they’ve got good reason to do so. Credit carddebt is usually the most expensive debt we’ve got. In fact, the average interest rate fornewly issued credit cards is now somewhere

Despite what you may hear, gift cards and other forms of pre-paid cards do absolutelynothing to help you build or rebuild your credit reports and credit scores. So, whatshould you do with unwanted gift cards? The simple answer is…use them or sell them! Over the past few years a slew of websites has popped up

Unless you’ve been hiding in a closet for the past four years you know that propertyvalues have fallen sharply. Add to that the fact that mortgage interest rates are aslow as they’ve been, well, ever. So does this combination of affordable pricing andinexpensive financing mean it’s time for you to buy a home? Here’s my

When it comes to rebuilding your credit (or establishing credit for the first time) one ofthe most effective methods is opening a secured credit card. A bank, just like any othertype of credit card, issues secured credit cards. The consumer is required to makea deposit with the bank and the bank will issue a card

The credit crunch has changed how we view credit and lending. Many borrowers havespent the past three years trying to figure out how convince lenders to loosen up thepurse strings. And, credit scores have dropped below 650 for roughly 35% of the U.Spopulation. It has certainly been a rough stretch. However, one group of companies

One of the more common myths of credit reports and credit scoring is that your incomeplays a key role in determining your credit scores. This is incorrect primarily becauseincome is not on a credit report. And, credit scoring models are based exclusivelyon information from your credit reports. If an item is not on your credit