One of the biggest financial worries parents have regarding their teenagers is whether or not they will be able to manage their finances once they go out into "the real world". While certain provisions help limit the amount of damage teenagers and young adults can do with credit cards, it is still vital that you educate your children on proper use of credit and maintain a proactive involvement in their finances for as long as possible. The following tips outline how to teach your children...
Continue readingCredit card companies, it seems, go out of their way to make their practices as obfuscated as possible. For instance, have you every run across these credit cards that offer 0% interest rates?
At first glance, the offer seems awesome. That is actually what the credit card companies are banking on, that you, as a consumer, will buy into their product based mainly on your “first glance” judgment. Of course, if you were really to take a step back and think about it more, you'd realize that...
In these days of financial insecurity, American consumers are doing their best to balance out their finances. They are trying to make sure that they have enough savings or credit to their name in case a serious emergency should come up. Unfortunately, with the economic crisis hardly slowing pace, massive layoffs, rising unemployment and debt interest rates soaring to record levels, that is proving to be very difficult. What makes it even more difficult is that many of these American consumers...
Continue readingYour chances of securing a loan relies heavily on the kind of credit score you have. The better the score, the higher your chances of getting that loan will be. A good credit score can also get you a relatively painless set of terms for your loan. So when you plan on getting a loan, make sure your credit score looks good first.
Here are a few tips to get your credit score up to muster.
1. Credit Score Review. To determine how things stand with your credit score, make a review of it. See...
The credit bill is going to get passed soon enough, but is it really enough to get Americans off debt in the long term? Some say that legislation will take care of that by limiting and reigning in the credit card industry, which seems to have been running wild the last few years. Others argue that the problem is actually the American people themselves, specifically their spending habits.
So, where does the problem lie? If you really take the time to look at it, you'll see that the problem is...
Credit card debt is a fact of life. That needs to change as soon as possible, especially if you want to survive the economic crisis. To do just that, read on.
Don't Spend What You Don't Have
Credit cards are very convenient, no argument. With credit cards, you don't have to carry a wad of cash every time you go out, you only use a small, thin card to pay for your purchases and you get to shop even if you don't actually have the money to pay for it. That last one is the problem.
Credit...
With the state the economy is in now, it is of no surprise that credit cardholders are changing their spending habits, avoiding unplanned buying, and generally preferring to use cash instead of their credit cards whenever they have to buy. Credit card companies are getting hit hard by this complete reversal of American buyers' consumer habits, which used to follow the mantra "buy, buy, buy".
With the decrease of credit card use among credit cardholders, credit card companies are losing one...
The economic recession, the rise of unemployment, and the fall of the property markets have hit the country quite hard. For the average American, the reality has been rising loan rates, the risk of losing homes, and the threat of unemployment. As a result, every American has had to rethink the way they spend their earnings.
Today, Americans around the country are moving away from their old, consumer-driven spending habits. The order of the day for most Americans is now spending smart. It...
The United States recognizes April as National Financial Literacy Month. This is in an effort to highlight the importance of financial literacy and educate consumers on the importance of developing healthy financial habits.
Capital One, in recognition of Financial Literacy Month surveyed over 1000 American consumers to learn more about their spending and saving habits. The results indicate consumers are definitely making efforts to better manage their finances and save more money. The...