Avoiding Credit Card Fees

Credit card companies…they always try to stay one step ahead of their consumers!  Since new legislation has come into effect limiting credit card fees, credit card companies are thinking up NEW fees!  A good read on how to avoid those fees is contained in RISMedia’s article, 6 Strategies to Help Consumers Avoid New Credit Card Fees.  Definitely some good advice contained in this one!

To keeping an eye on those credit card companies~  Rosemary

Some Worthy Credit Card Tips to Avoid Credit Score Pitfalls

Oh, keeping an eye on applying for and using credit cards.  It can have such an impact on your credit scores, and we all need to be more cautious than ever about keeping our credit scores heading north in this more difficult lending environment.  Cynthia J. Drake, writing for CreditCards.com, provides some sound advice in her article 10 Things Not to Do When Applying for a Credit Card.  A good one to read and heed!

To healthy credit scores and all that they can bring~  Rosemary

Should Credit Be Extended to Everyone?

Should credit, including mortgage loans, be extended to all?  Maybe not, since extending credit to unworthy borrowers contributed considerably to the current economic crisis (as did many other things, trust me!).  Liz Pullman Weston’s article for MSN Money, Some people can’t get credit? Good!, is an excellent article proposing why credit should not be freely extended to all.

Work on those credit scores and get a realistic handle on what you can manage~  Rosemary 

Managing Your Credit Scores

We are all quite aware of the effect credit scores have on our borrowing power, but many consumers don’t know how to “play the game” to get their credit scores where they would like them to be.  Click here for a tidbit of advice from Jeremy M. Simon in his article High Balance on One Card Can Hurt Overall Credit Score for CreditCards.com via Yahoo!Finance.  Having been a loan officer, I promise you that Jeremy’s advice is very good advice! 

Best~  Rosemary

Terrific Credit Scores: Advice From Those That Have Them

How do you achieve great credit scores, scores that will always have you held in high esteem by lenders?  Click here to get some words of wisdom from people that have perfect or almost perfect scores via the Yahoo! Finance article Meet the Credit Score Perfectionists by Erica Sandberg for Financially Fit .  It takes time, but it can be done!  There are also some great links in this article to other credit card and credit score information!

Best~  Rosemary

Keep An Eye On Your New Credit Card Statements!

New credit card reform legislation went into effect on Monday, February 22.  It would be wise to check your new credit card statements as they come in; in many cases, it isn’t going to be happy news!  Those statements could contain some stomach-turning information, since credit card providers  had plenty of forewarning to change the terms of your credit card usage to protect their profits.  Over the past nine months, credit card providers have increased interest rates, created new fees, cut credit lines, and shut down millions of lines of credit.  Was this what our President intended when he signed legislation designed to protect us all from the whims of credit card companies?  I don’t think so!  Click here to read an in-depth article on credit card reform (and I use that term loosely!) by Eileen A. Connelly for Associated Press via Yahoo! Finance.  Lots of information to be gleaned from this one! 

Best~ Rosemary   

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Credit Card Regulations Changing: Some Advice

With new credit card regulations going into effect in less than a week, it would not be a bad idea to take a good look at your credit card portfolio to determine which cards’ terms are changing to your benefit and which cards will incorporate new terms that you may find less than desirable! 

Click here to read an informative MSN Money article (from Credit Cards.com) on credit card changes occurring after February 22, 2010 with links to other valuable articles addressing the same and related topics.

Best~ Rosemary