Dealing with financial problems can be tough, especially when it comes to credit card. Monthly payments, balances, due dates, past due balances, and collection calls can be very stressful. It’s hard not to worry about credit cards, but the key to relieving your stress is to figure out how you can start solving your problems. Don’t ignore your credit cards. If you just neglect your credit cards, the problems will only get worse. Right now you...
If you’ve ever ordered a “free” credit report or credit score, you’re likely already familiar with trial subscriptions. But, the credit reporting industry isn’t the only place where this scheme is used. Numerous companies bait you into subscribing to their service by offering a free trial. The hope is that you’ll either like the service and continue using it (and of course, paying) or you’ll forget to cancel your trial and still end up paying. Here’s...
The IRS tax refund tracker tool has become so popular for people expecting a tax refund that the IRS has put out a notice asking taxpayers to limit their inquiries to no more than once per day. As more returns come in, the IRS said it is experiencing high traffic on “Where’s My Refund?” at irs.gov. The large large traffic volume is expected to limit the availability of the tool on both the website and the...
In this week’s State of the Union address, President Barack Obama recommended the minimum wage be incrementally increased to $9.00 per hour and be tied to the inflation rate after that. Having the Federal minimum wage indexed to inflation would help make sure that employees are paid a wage that keeps up with increased cost of living. All workers can benefit from increased minimum wage. Generally, other wages move up when the Federal minimum wage goes...
If you find an erroneous charge on your credit card or bank statement, you have the right to dispute it with your credit or debit card issuer, as long as you do it within 60 days. There’s no charge for you to dispute and you can even avoid paying interest on disputed credit card charges while the issue is being investigated. Banks, however, have to spend time investigating the dispute, contacting the merchant, deciding if the...
American Tax Relief, a company who purported to reduce consumer’s tax debt, has been ordered to pay more than $15 million to the FTC for deceiving consumers. As their name implies, American Tax Relief sold tax debt relief services to consumers. The FTC filed charges against the company for making false claims about significant reductions in previous customers’ tax debts and also for falsely telling consumers they qualified for programs that would lower their tax debt....
The U.S. Postal Service announced on Wednesday its plans to drop Saturday letter delivery to street addresses beginning in August. The move is expected to save the financially ailing agency an estimated $2 billion per year. “The Postal Service is advancing an important new approach to delivery that reflects the strong growth of our package business and responds to the financial realities resulting from America’s changing mailing habits,” said Patrick R. Donahoe, Postmaster General and CEO....
We know that paying bills on time is one of the most important aspects of being financially responsible. If you pay late, you’ll get charged a late fee, you risk having your services terminated (no one wants to be in the dark!), and your credit could be impacted. While payment history is generally the most important factor influencing your credit score, it’s not the only thing that matters. In fact, you could pay on time every...
It’s widely known that the FICO score is the score most used by creditors and lenders to approve your credit card, loan, or application. There are possibly hundreds of credit scores out there, so when you check your credit score, especially if you get a free credit score, chances are you’re not getting the FICO score. While, you want to see a credit score nearest to the one a lender’s going to see, it’s not the...
People who expect to get a tax refund this year have probably already started daydreaming and planning on what they’ll do with the extra money. Last year, the average tax refund was around $3,000. While you may be tempted to use the money on a vacation, shopping spree, new furniture, or electronics, there may be a better way to spend your tax refund – on your credit card debt. The average credit card debt per borrower...
