Yesterday, President Obama spoke at the Brookings Institute about his administration’s plan for spurring job growth in our not-quite-a-recession-anymore-but-still-pretty-much-a-recession. Now they’ve invited Consumerist to bring our readers’ questions about the program to Austan Goolsbee, the staff director and chief economist on the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. [More]
credit
6 Credit Card Fee Traps To Avoid
By 12.8.09
Despite the passage of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (“Credit CARD Act”), there are still fee traps out there waiting to snare you. [More]
Denied A Credit Card? Try A Reconsideration Letter
By 11.9.09
Frugal Travel Guy has a story of how he was able to get a credit card for his son after the company first denied him. The magic bullet was a well-crafted “reconsideration letter.” What’s that?
Taking Credit Card Offers Hurts Your Credit
By 11.7.09
Last week, I wrote about how to turn your good credit into cash. I purposely excluded credit card offers from the list because I wanted things that, should you implement them, wouldn’t hurt your credit. Today, I want to warn to the overzealous.
How to Cash in on Your Good Credit
By 10.31.09
Now that we know all the unexpected places our credit score is being used, is there anyway to turn this to our advantage? How do you cash in on your good name?
Legal Uses of Your Credit Report
By 10.17.09
Once upon a time, credit reports were used only for credit. Now, companies use it for a lot of decisions. Find out what is legal and what is not.
Where to Get Credit Report & Credit Scores
By 10.10.09
Don’t buy a credit score from anyone other than the credit bureaus or Fair Isaac, makers of the FICO score equation, and don’t buy a credit report from anyone, you can get your credit report for free by law.
Help! My Credit Card Is Adding An Annual Fee!
By 10.9.09
Michael is in a situation that we anticipate will become very, very common in the coming months. His credit card company has imposed a $99 annual fee. He can accept the fee, or close his account. Not only is this his only credit card, but it’s the oldest credit line he has, so closing it would hurt his credit score. What would you do?
Prepaid Debit Cards Are Money Sucking Black Holes In Your Pocket
By 10.8.09
Be very careful about activating any sort of over-the-counter prepaid debit card, reports the New York Times. They looked at a handful of prepaids currently on the market and discovered ridiculously high hidden fees—the first two months of use can cost you up to $80.
You Paid Your Bill 3 Hours Early? Then It's 30 Days Late
By 10.2.09
John’s fiancee bought an Apple computer earlier this year, financing it with a Juniper Visa account, then paying the account off early. That’s the responsible thing to do, right? Not according to Juniper, which branded her as a filthy, filthy deadbeat. The bank marked the payment she sent in as “late” for arriving three hours before the end of the billing cycle.
FICO and FAKO Credit Scores
By 9.26.09
Have you ever heard the term FAKO score? What about FICO score? Seasoned Consumerist readers will know the difference but if you’re new to the whirlwind credit industry, you may not.
Fed Keeps Interest Rates At .25%
By 9.24.09
Interest rates will stay at at a low low .25%, the Fed announced today. For you this means…
Credit Card Traps
By 9.24.09
As if a global meltdown, precipitous drop in investment value, and widespread unemployment isn’t bad enough, now the economic recession is now making credit cards a bad thing. Will the travesty never end?
Does Living In California Make You A Higher Credit Risk?
By 9.21.09
Paul Smith, who lives in San Diego and has a credit score of 751, had his HSBC credit card limit lowered from $7,000 to $1,400 recently for mysterious reasons. He called HSBC to find out why.
Seven Free Sites To Track Your Personal Information
By 9.14.09
The Consumer Reports Money Adviser has compiled a great list of sites that store your personal information and will provide free copies of their reports to you if you ask.
A Guide To The Bull#$@% They Say In Car Commercials
By 8.31.09
The folks at Bankrate and Yahoo! Finance have put together a guide that translates the silly things that are often said in car commercials.
Michael Jackson Had Bad Credit
By 8.28.09
It was apparently the least of his problems, but the late King of Pop had less than stellar credit, says TMZ.
