Successfully Managing Your Credit

The easiest way to fall into the bottomless pit that is debt is by not knowing how to manage your credit successfully. Credit cards are not given to only those with financial savvy and they don’t come with an instruction manual on how to use them. The average American has anywhere from five to eight credit cards and can carry a debt of more than $20,000, and for some the number is even higher. Learning the ins and outs of credit management may save you from a bleak financial future and thrust...

Offer to Switch Citi Dividend to World Mastercard

Today I received a phone call from Citi welcoming me to the new Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards World Mastercard. They stated that my old Dividend card will automatically switch to the new card if I do nothing by June 30, but that I can keep my old card if I want. Others have received the same offer, and I found some good discussion about the topic at Fat Wallet. Many people are rejecting the offer. One of the reasons being that the new card has no credit limit, which can hurt your credit s...

The Truth About Payday Loans

The Kansas City Star recently reported that a single mother used a payday loan to borrow $300 for a trip to the dentist. When she couldn't pay the loan two weeks later, she extended it and paid $50 twice a month for almost four months and still owed the entire principle amount. A woman in North Carolina started with a payday loan of "$50 or $100," and before she knew it, she was getting one loan to pay another and had racked up $700 in high-interest debt. (more…)

FHA Loans

An FHA loan is a mortgage loan in the United States insured by the Federal Housing Administration. The loan may be issued by federally-qualified lenders. FHA loans have been helping people become homeowners since 1934. FHA's mortgage insurance programs help low and moderate income families become homeowners by lowering some of the costs of their mortgage loans. The FHA does not make home loans--it insures them. If a home buyer defaults, the lender is paid from the insurance fund. To get an FHA ...

My Credit Score

Beginning the process of searching for a mortgage, I recently received my credit report. The numbers look pretty good as I received scores of 783, 783, and 778. So, what the heck is a credit score anyway? When you apply for credit – whether for a credit card, a car loan, or a mortgage – lenders want to know what risk they'd take by loaning money to you. FICO® scores are the credit scores most lenders use to determine your credit risk. You have three FICO scores, one for each of the three credit...