“It didn’t take me six months to get into the financial destruction path. I knew it wouldn’t be a quick fix. To get an excellent credit score that stays, you need a shift in mindset.”
Credit cards don’t just give you a way to borrow money, but also to earn and keep more of it.
Think about the types of regular purchases you make (groceries, gas, travel?) and find a card that caters to that. Some cards, for example, give you double the points every time you buy gas. If you drive a lot, then that’s a great card for you.
(Wall Street Journal) — Credit cards that give cash back prompt consumers to spend more and accrue more debt, according to researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The initiation of a 1% cash rewards program yielded, on average, a $25 reward each month—and an increase in spending by $68 a month and in […]
(Wall Street Journal) — A set of new debit-card restrictions proposed by the Federal Reserve on Thursday was more aggressive than investors feared, potentially causing billions of dollars in lost revenue for U.S. banks and stiffening competition for credit-card providers. The new restrictions, most of which won’t be made final until April 21, aim to […]
(Wall Street Journal) — Mortgage rates, after hitting record lows this summer, are rising. But the rates are still tantalizing for borrowers looking to refinance out of an onerous loan. For the week ended Dec. 9, the average rate for 30-year fixed loans was 4.46%, according to Freddie Mac, up from 4.17% in early November […]
(New York Times) — Credit card offers are surging again after a three-year slowdown, asbanks seek to revive a business that brought them huge profits before the financial crisis wrecked the credit scores of so many Americans. The rise is striking because it includes offers to riskier borrowers who were shunned as recently as six months […]
(AJC) — After her divorce a decade ago, it took Dot Reilley years to adjust to living on one income. She financed that lifestyle change on her four credit cards, she said, eventually reaching their limits of $5,000 to $7,000 apiece. And then 18 months ago, heavily in debt and headed for bankruptcy, Reilley did […]
(New York Times) — If you needed a reason to keep balances low on credit cards without set spending limits, here’s one. The way certain issuers report the cards with no preset spending limit (like Visa Signature and World MasterCard cards) to the credit bureaus could have a negative effect on your credit score if you carry […]
(New York Times) — IF you are like most people, you have probably used a credit card to pay some of your medical bills. With rising health costs and gaps ininsurance coverage, it’s almost unavoidable. Patients pay about $45 billion worth of health care costs with plastic, according to a report from McKinsey & Company. […]
(Crain’s) — First, big-box retailers hyped up Black Friday. Then online sellers touted Cyber Monday. Now the biggest holiday shopping weekend of the year looks to get even crazier, as the first “Small Business Saturday” will take place here on Nov. 27. New York City is the first city in the country to endorse the […]