Are you planning to renovate your home in 2017? There’s a better than 50/50 chance that you are, if a recent poll by LightStream is accurate. The January 2017 LightStream Home Improvement survey found that 59% of homeowners plan to spend money on renovations during this year, with 42% of the planned renovations costing $5,000
Credit Cards
College is not only supposed to give you the skills you need in a particular field of study, but also the general life skills that you need to survive and thrive. Without good habits, your collegiate financial education can come via the school of hard knocks – through incurring fees and interest charges.
According to
Credit is a great convenience, but it’s a convenience that you will pay for — especially if you go over your credit limit.
Traditional over-limit fees were radically changed by the Credit CARD Act of 2009, which switched credit card over-limit fees to an opt-in basis — meaning that consumers have to specifically consent to
We all know the political stereotype – Republicans are supposedly the party of the wealthy, and Democrats are the party of the less economically advantaged (outside of Hollywood). How does this stereotype hold up with respect to credit scores and outstanding credit card balances?
A recent study by LendingTree provides some answers. Using the definition
April is National Financial Literacy Month. Why do we dedicate this calendar page to highlighting financial skills and education? The tax deadline? Sound financial decisions are important all year long, but most Americans never learned how to manage money or save for goals, so financial security is a bigger challenge than it needs to be.
Slower Credit Growth for the New Year Are you using more or less credit these days? If your habits track the latest data released by the Federal Reserve, your rate of consumer credit growth has slowed considerably.
The Fed’s release for January 2017 revealed that outstanding consumer credit rose by $8.8 billion to $3.77 trillion
By Tonya Rapley
Debt is killing us! It’s one of the main reasons I started a community movement to #BanishTheBalance. Over 60 incredible days, more than 4,000 participants paid off more than $200,000 worth of debt. The success of the movement led to a free e-course (you can sign up here) and is open to
Any proper discussion of methods for reducing debt load should begin with the following disclaimer:
Dealing with excessive debt is, in several ways, analogous to losing weight. You did not acquire all that weight/debt quickly, and it may take you even longer to lose it — and without changes in eating/spending habits, the weight/debt will
America may be in a continued economic recovery, but that recovery is not currently translating into more consumers paying their debts on time. At least that is the case with respect to auto loans and credit card debt in the third quarter of 2016, according to the American Bankers Association (ABA).
The ABA tracks delinquency
When checkout clerks ask, “Paper or plastic?” they are referring to the type of bags desired, but they could be asking about your preferred method of payment. In today’s digital society, cash purchases are increasingly rare, but that does not mean it is always preferable to “Charge it.” Many studies have proven that people who
A report issued by the Pew Charitable Trusts in July 2015, stated that 80 percent of consumers in the U.S. have some type of debt. With auto loans and student loans both topping $1 trillion and credit card holders dealing with an average of more than $7,500 in debt, many are looking for ways to
Do you prefer not to do business with banks, even when it comes to your credit card accounts? Your local credit union may be able to help with a credit card that fits your needs perfectly.
Credit union credit cards operate in the same way as those provided by banks. Since credit unions are not-for-profit
A recent survey revealed that the average consumer is unable to fully understand the terms and conditions outlined in their cardholder agreement. The survey looked at a number of different credit card user agreements and rated their reading level using the Flesch-Kincaid readability test. The average reading level for these agreements equates to that of
When travelers use credit cards in other countries, they are generally charged a foreign transaction fee. This covers the extra costs of transferring money from a U.S. credit card company to the business in the other country, including the exchange fee. Many different credit card companies are now dropping this fee.
According to a 2016
Many businesses make use of credit cards for daily purchases, and some new small business owners even finance their entire business on credit cards in the beginning. A business can make use of various reward points and other perks to save money and build up its credit score, but there are some downsides to using
Consumers using their credit card abroad and who then have some kind of financial problem may get help through their card’s travel insurance. While not all credit card companies provide this type of insurance to their consumers, many do. Those who need to use their card’s travel insurance may find that coverage is quite limited,
When making a purchase using a credit card, consumers aren’t simply buying merchandise or paying for services from a merchant; instead, they are involving several third parties in the transaction. These third parties include the company that issued the credit card, the bank used by the merchant, and the network handling the transaction. All of
Love or hate them, you cannot deny that the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) is doing its job with gusto. The CFPB has taken on multiple large companies and financial institutions, levying heavy fines like the nearly $800 million fine against Bank of America. We can now add Citibank to the growing list.
Citigroup will
Banks constantly look to gain the loyalty of new customers. One great place for banks to find these ideal, new customers is at colleges, universities and other post-secondary educational institutions.
Students Make Easy Targets for Excessive Fees Unfortunately, students do not pay much attention to their finances, especially when it comes to the fine print
APR and APY – are they new texting acronyms? IDK, you say – or rather, you text? (For the benefit of the textually-challenged, IDK means “I don’t know.”) If you think they are texting acronyms, or just “DK” what they are, it’s time to learn.
APR and APY are financial acronyms, short for Annual Percentage
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