Your auto insurance credit score is a little-known tool insurers use to increase your premiums With car insurance mandatory in almost every state, you would hope that fairness in insurance pricing would be a given. You’d be surprised and a 2007 law made it legal for insurance companies to increase your premiums based on something completely unrelated to your driving record. If you haven’t … [Read more...]
Guide to Credit Cards: 5 Sneaky Ways Credit Cards Get You to Overspend
Credit card companies have $25 billion reasons to get you to overspend. Use this guide to credit cards to understand all the sneaky ways they do it. Visa and Mastercard booked $25.9 billion in revenue last year. That’s money moved from your pocket to theirs through interest, annual fees and other charges. And that’s just the top two credit card companies. The industry books hundreds of … [Read more...]
3 Key Facts about Your Credit Utilization Ratio
Understanding your credit utilization ratio is critical to your credit score and getting the money you need It may seem like lenders create your credit score out of thin air to decide whether to approve or deny you credit. The reality is there are a mix of factors that go into the number, some of which you can control and some you cannot. One of the most important credit score factors, and one … [Read more...]
3 Ways Paying Late Can Ruin Your Finances
Stop paying late from ruining your life with these tips and tricks We’ve all been there. You wake in the middle of the night screaming, “Crap, I forgot to pay the credit card bill!” Whether it’s the credit card bill, the cable bill or any of the dozen or so recurring monthly debts we all have, everyone has missed a payment or two…or three. Paying late might not be a big deal once in a while … [Read more...]
Ultimate Financial Dictionary of Loan Terms
Use this financial dictionary of loan terms to make sure you get the best deal on your loan and use debt responsibly Our financial dictionary of loan terms includes over 50 terms and counting. I surveyed loan officers, lenders and other financial bloggers to put together the most comprehensive list of financial terms around lending. Use the index below to jump to a letter within the financial … [Read more...]