Bankruptcy has a bad reputation for ruining lives. Truth be told, if you're considering bankruptcy, life may not be that great right, especially where your finances are concerned. But, bankruptcy's negative reputation might keep you from filing even though it could be the best solution for your debt. For some consumers, life is actually better after filing bankruptcy. Once you file bankruptcy, you’ll get an automatic stay from most collection activity. That means that many of...
Another bad thing about losing a great job is losing your benefits, especially your health benefits. Medical debt is one of the leading causes of bankruptcy and losing your health insurance puts you at greater risk of problems with medical debt. It’s important that you remain insured, not just because of the risk of major medical bills, but also because a large gap in health insurance could be problematic when you try to get insured at...
A balance transfer can be a tricky transaction. You might start out fully intending to pay off the balance while you still have a great interest rate. But if you’re not careful, you could end up still owing a big balance after your promotional rate has expired. If you want to get rid of your transferred balance quickly and at the lowest cost, you’ll have to be diligent about paying off the balance and avoiding costly...
Few things are more embarrassing than having your credit card declined, but try not to overreact if it happens to you. Keep a cool head and try to figure out what’s going on.What to Do First Make sure you’re using the right card and that’s still valid. For example, if your credit card issuer recently sent you a new credit card, you may have gotten them mixed up. You could be using an expired card by...
Multiple payments, various interest rates, and different balances can make it difficult to pay off credit card debt. Not to mention the nuisance of juggling various due dates and payment amounts. Consolidating credit card balances can make debt repayment easier even if it’s just because you have one monthly payment instead of three or a dozen. How You Could Save With a Personal Loan Let’s say you have five credit cards with a combined balance of...
As a credit card user, having the right understanding of credit cards is necessary to stay out of credit card trouble. The credit card agreement doesn’t spell out responsible credit card use and unfortunately, many people learn these lessons the hard way. It’s not free money. Having available credit feels like you have extra money to spend. With $1,000 in your checking account and $2,000 credit limit, you might think you can spend $3,000. Technically, you...
An emergency fund is the best way to pay for unexpected expenses. But, even if you do have an emergency fund, you may not have enough time to get the money out of your savings account. That’s one of the times that having an emergency credit card can come in handy. You might also have to turn to credit for an emergency expense if you don't have an emergency fund at all. Here are some tips...
Cosigning is generally discouraged because of all the things that could go wrong. For example, the other person might not keep up with the payments. If that happens, the late payments are added to your credit report and the creditor will eventually come after you for payment. If the other cosigner files bankruptcy, you’re left on the hook for the entire debt. Even if things go as planned, cosigned debts can still affect your credit score...
Even though the banks that issue credit cards and loans consider your income when they qualify your application, how much you make isn’t a factor that influences your credit score. In fact, your income isn’t even listed on your credit report (your current employer is listed, but that doesn’t affect your credit score either). Credit scoring calculations don’t use your income to determine your creditworthiness, but your salary and wages can still have an impact on...
Most credit cards let you add another user to the account, an authorized user who receives a separate credit card with their own name on it. This person is able to use their credit card just like you can and, in many cases, the full account history is listed on the other person’s credit report. You might add a spouse, significant other, or child or sibling as an authorized user to your credit card. Perhaps you...
