It’s that time of year again with the holiday shopping season’s official “kickoff” upon us, the day after Thanksgiving, appropriately dubbed “Black Friday”. And while Black Friday is generally known as the day shoppers migrate in hordes to stores in person with credit cards flashing, this shopping frenzy is closely followed by Cyber Monday, the […]

Popularity: 15% [?]

[Read more →]

In these times along with mortgages and credit cards, many people are not able to afford student loan payments. SLM Corp., or Sallie Mae, the largest private student lender, reported a delinquency rate of 9.4% in September, up from 8.5% a year earlier. “It’s clearly because of economic conditions,” says spokesman Tom Joyce. “The […]

Popularity: 18% [?]

[Read more →]

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently announced that from November 26, 2008 to January 9, 2009, there will be a “stay of execution” for borrowers in jeopardy of foreclosure. In other words, they have provided an initiative to their servicer network requiring that all foreclosure and eviction proceedings shall be suspended during this time period, […]

Popularity: 15% [?]

[Read more →]

Most of us are concerned enough about our physical health that we would most certainly heed a warning sign such as an unusual pain or lump on our body that slowly appeared over time. Similarly, our financial health should be handled with the same sort of care and caution. And just as there are both […]

Popularity: 15% [?]

[Read more →]

Spam, spam, spam, spam, wonderful SPAM!!
Now if you are are younger than a baby boomer you most likely think of Spam as those annoying “unsolicited bulk junk emails” that grace our cyberspace in-boxes daily. The rest of us either hear the lyrics of the 1970’s era Monty-Python created “Spam-a-lot” song running through our heads, or […]

Popularity: 16% [?]

[Read more →]

Sometimes when I am talking to a reader about his or her debt, though he or she may be a stranger, I can hear an enormous amount of stress in their voice. I immediately switch the topic of conversation, and focus on calming them down. I am positive that if the reader […]

Popularity: 15% [?]

[Read more →]

I get asked this question a lot: “If I do X, how many points will my credit score go up?”
The truth is, no one knows EXACTLY, except for the creator of the FICO score, Fair Isaac and the creators of the other scoring system, VantageScore. VantageScore was created by the credit bureaus in an […]

Popularity: 15% [?]

[Read more →]

Having been a corporate slave for a good portion of my life, I am all too aware of the complacent, comfortable feeling that traditionally comes with long-term employment. The daily routine is built in for most Americans, who, on average, spend 70% of their Monday-Friday waking hours on work-related activities. But it seems, with recent […]

Popularity: 14% [?]

[Read more →]

With the latest numbers from the Federal Reserve indicating that Americans are facing $900 billion in credit card debt, the proposed bailout is probably a case of banks simply attempting to cut their losses. Seeing the writing on the wall as consumers deal with record unemployment rates, skyrocketing home foreclosures, inflated prices for goods and […]

Popularity: 20% [?]

[Read more →]

A clear message was sent to payday lenders last week by voters in Arizona, which rejected Proposition 200 by a 3 to 2 margin.  And the payday lenders are most certainly unhappy campers, after spending more than 14.6 million in one of the most expensive advertising campaigns in Arizona’s history.
The ballot proposition that was backed […]

Popularity: 15% [?]

[Read more →]