I think it’s important to check your credit report and credit scores at least once a year. By doing so, you’ll be able to ensure accuracy of the credit report and hopefully mitigate any potential fraud. Credit Sesame is a great company that helps you receive your credit score for free, as well as help you manage your debt better. Here’s how it works:

-Sign up for a free Credit Sesame account. You will have to provide your social security number as well as some other identifying information. Credit Sesame uses Experian to pull your credit score. Credit Sesame uses the same safe encryption methods as financial institutions, so your information is safe.

-Next, you’ll receive an analysis of your debt as collected from your credit report. They will evaluate whether or not you may be able to save money on interest rates, and if you’re receiving the best deals. Credit Sesame will comb through many different scenarios to come up with a solution that may better fit your needs. They take all the leg work out for you!

Free Credit Score

Credit Sesame will provide you with a free credit score. Keep in mind that because the score comes from Experian, it is not a FICO credit score. I think it’s awesome to be provided with a free credit score!

Do you check your credit regularly?

Sign up with Credit Sesame today to get your free credit score.

This past week I spent time up in Michigan with my family.  I drove there, and of course had to stop a few times to get gas.  There were a few things I noticed over the different places I observed gas prices.  For one, it was cheaper to buy gas when I left on Saturday, May 28 in the South versus anywhere else I saw.  While in Michigan over the week, I noticed the gas prices jumping to $4.19 a gallon! Ridiculous.  I thought gas prices were supposed to go down.

Another thing I hate about getting gas in Michigan is that there’s a different price for cash versus credit.  Where I live, this option does not exist, and I am so glad!  I use a gas rewards credit card to earn money back on each gas purchase, so when there’s a difference of ten cents a gallon less when you pay cash, it kills me!  I can’t help but think I could be getting the gas cheaper if I was strictly paying cash.  Of course, if I calculate it, my 4% back on gas purchases at $4.19 a gallon is a 16 cent rebate, so I’m still six cents ahead when I use my credit card.

I understand why merchants give a discount for paying cash (or stick it to the people who pay with credit cards!): credit card processing fees.  Merchants have to pay a credit card processor a certain percentage of each transaction that is charged at their store.  When customers pay cash, the merchant doesn’t have to pay any fees to anyone and the cash is immediately available to them to use.  Sometimes credit card processors wait days to make the funds available to the merchants, making it harder for them to operate their businesses.

While I do hate the fact that there’s a price difference for paying cash versus credit at the pump, I understand the reasoning behind it.  I also think there are many people who are far too lazy to get out of their cars to go pay for their gas.  Plus, if they’re anything like me, they hardly ever have cash on them!  I don’t carry more than $20-$40 on me at all times because if I have cash, I’ll spend it.  I wouldn’t have the $60 on me that it probably would take to fill up my tank.

Another tricky thing I noticed when I went to get gas at one gas station is that they switched the location of the cheapest gas.  I always get whatever grade is the cheapest, and it’s normally the very last one on the left.  When I went to get gas, I grabbed the last pump on the left and then looked at it.  It was actually the middle grade!  Had I not been paying attention, I would have gotten the more expensive gas!  That kind of irked me.

I hate when gas prices fluctuate like they have been.  I wish they would just stay around one price so we wouldn’t have to worry that we won’t be able to afford gas in the near future.

Have you noticed gas stations doing weird things like the cash versus credit discount? What angers you about the gas prices lately?

This is a guest article written by Odysseas Papadimitriou, the founder and CEO of Card Hub, an online marketplace for discounted gift cards and the best credit card deals.

For many people, especially recent college grads, backpacking through Europe is a rite of passage. It’s a time to see the world, to enjoy a life devoid of obligation and to come of age. However, despite all the freedom and growth such a trip can inspire, one of the lasting takeaways is often the impact it has on one’s finances. In fact, this is true whether you’re backpacking or staying in five star hotels, whether your degree is hot off the presses or you have an established career. Foreign travel is unfortunately quite expensive, and if you don’t take a few simple precautions before embarking, it will be even more costly than it truly has to be.

The first thing anyone traveling abroad needs to do is make sure they have debit cards and credit cards with no foreign fees. While such spending vehicles will certainly prove beneficial abroad given that they largely mitigate the hassle of exchanging currency and the threat of pickpockets, you must make sure to get them before even booking a plane ticket, making hostel or hotel accommodations or arranging day trips. According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, 91% of bank cards have fees around 3% for any purchase processed overseas. Thus, these fees could very well be applied to purchases made through foreign companies, even if you are in the U.S. when you make them.

Next, and still prior to departure, make sure to notify your card issuer of your travel plans. This both decreases the likelihood that your card will be suspended due to suspicious activity and gives you a chance to ask for a number you can call for free from abroad should you experience any difficulties. After all, the last thing you want is to be stranded in a foreign city, much less a hostel, with a suspended credit card.

This is also one of the primary reasons to bring a debit card that allows you to get cash from an ATM at no extra charge. Besides, cash always comes in handy given that not every store accepts credit cards, particularly in less-developed countries. Even within the European Union, recent regulations have paved the way for restrictions on magnetic stripe credit cards, like the ones used in America, due to security concerns. While having your passport on you should alleviate any fraud concerns foreign merchants have as a result of your mag stripe card, it’s still a good idea to carry some cash.
So, once you have the proper debit card and credit card and you have crossed the “t’s” and dotted the “i’s” with your bank, all that’s left is to throw that pack on your back and hit the tarmac. However, the money-saving tips don’t stop here.

One very important thing to watch out for while abroad is dynamic currency conversion. This is when foreign merchants offer to convert the price of your purchase from the local currency to American dollars. While this might seem like a good idea, always decline this supposed service. Merchants typically use high conversion rates in converting purchase totals in order to make a profit off tourists who are understandably more comfortable with the dollar than they are with native currency. Therefore, all things considered, I think we’d all agree that brushing up on conversion rates or using your phone’s calculator is preferable to getting swindled.

Besides, you decided to travel abroad in order to learn about other cultures, so consider shopping to be part of this learning experience. As long as you use a credit card without foreign transaction fees, make sure to have a debit card that allows for ATM withdrawals abroad, and decline offers for dynamic currency conversion, your lasting memories of your trip can be about the sights you saw and the good times you had, not the toll it took on your bank account.

photo credit: kainr

Well, we did it! I bit the bullet and finally made the last payment on our Home Depot Credit Card.  It made no sense to me to keep making payments each month when we had the money to pay it off, so I just did it.  It was a wash anyway!

I could have kept the money in our ING savings account, but it seems that is not really a high yield savings account right now anyway. I figured that if I left that money in the savings account for 6 months I’d earn under $1.50. Was the hassle of making the payments each month worth it to me? No.

How does it feel to be credit card debt free? Fabulous! To be honest, I feel better than I did when we paid off our student loans. Crazy, right?

Next up: the car loan.  And then we’ll be 100% debt free except for our mortgage.  Woo!

What are you working on paying off right now, if anything?

photo credit: TheTruthAbout…

A few months ago we purchased a new dishwasher from Home Depot to replace the one that stopped working correctly over a year ago.  We picked out a pretty nice model; not too expensive, but much nicer than what we had before.   We got a really good deal on it because we bought it on Black Friday sale, and have been really pleased with its performance so far.  The only downfall about the situation?  We put it on a credit card and haven’t paid it off yet.

Now, before you start throwing stuff at me, I have to explain that we were able to take advantage of 0% interest, no payments for a year from our Home Depot credit card.  We have the money in the bank if we want to pay it off, but I just haven’t brought myself to do so yet.  I don’t want to see our balance go down that much, so I keep making payments on it whenever I get paid.  There’s no question on whether or not our credit cards will be paid off in a year.  It will.

I feel so guilty though.  I feel like I should just take the money out of our account and pay it off.  That would be one less thing to worry about.  At the same time though, I prefer having a larger balance in our account so I can’t bring myself to do it. I know that I’ve got money coming in from my paychecks that will go towards it, so I don’t freak out about it too much.

I got started thinking about it today, and then I wondered if it’s more acceptable to have credit card debt even if it’s at 0%.  I still have credit card debt.  I’m not completely debt free.  Sometimes I look at it like I’m not in credit card debt because I’m not paying any interest.  That seems so backwards to me.  I really do have credit card debt!  Does it make it better that I’m not paying interest on it? Mathematically, yes.  Financially? I don’t know.  I know when you look at it on paper, it’s a wash because we’ve got the debt, but we’ve got the cash to cover it as well.  It’s funny how I can look at this credit card debt and trick myself into thinking that it’s not really credit card debt.  Crazy!

What do you think: is credit card debt ever acceptable?

Hi, this is Mr Credit Card from www.askmrcreditcard.com. I’ve read about Mr. and Mrs. Money’s credit card stories and today, I would like to talk a bit about how I actually use credit cards as a budgeting and convenience tool and also how I use it to save money. If you are looking for a better credit card, please check out my best credit card offers and deals section.

There are two camps and schools of thoughts with regards to the use of credit cards. One school believes credit cards are “evil” and they lead folks to overspend. If it were in the wrong hands, that is certainly true. Then there are obviously those like myself who pay off the bills in full every month and take advantage of reward programs. For folks like us, credit cards are simply a tool to be taken advantage of. But to me, there is more to that than getting rewards, I use credit cards as a way to budget, keep track of expenses, run my business and also make use of their various perks to help me save money. I’m going to list some features and show you how I do it.

Downloading statements to Quicken – My credit card details are downloaded into Quicken every month, which let’s me categorize my expenses the way I want it. Most credit card issuers allow you to download your statements into Quicken (which is the software most folks use). I guess you could do the same with your bank statements with your debit or check card. But either way, by avoiding the use of cash as much as possible, I find it much easier to keep track of where my money goes even if I do not keep the receipt.

Annual expense summary – Every year, Amex sends me a statement that highlights and breaks down all my expenses by various categories. While that data is available in Quicken, for those who do not use Quicken, that year end statement gives me a very good idea on what I’m spending on.

Auto Collision Insurance – Most credit card companies provide you with a free auto collision damage so you do not have to pay for that insurance when you rent a car. I find myself renting a car once or twice a year on our vacation. The fact that I do not have to pay for auto collision damages probably saves me a few hundred dollars a year.

Extended Warranty – Most credit card these days also offer extended warranty feature where you get additional warranty for products you paid with your credit card. I’ve been able to avoid a lot of “upsells” by stores like Best Buy etc when I buy electronics (where they try to hit you with extended warranty purchases).

Baggage Insurance – Years ago, my baggage was misplaced by the airline I was traveling. It was a real inconvenience. But I got some money (can’t remember the amount) from Amex. That helped me to get some new clothes and in fact, it helped me to replace some old stuff I had!

Cash rebates – The most obvious way to save money and help your budget process is to actually earn cash rebates. I’ve been using a cash back credit card the last four years (since I stopped traveling a lot four years ago). Every year, I have gotten over $1000+ from my Amex card. When I worked out the math, that is over 2% cash rebates. Before that, I was always constantly earning frequent flyer miles and getting free tickets. All this went into our holiday budget because I knew how much I was putting on the card, how much air miles I was earning and what sort of tickets I could get with it.

Organize business expense – With the exception of wages, and health insurance, all our business expenses go through our business credit card. This helps to separate our personal and business expense. We have use a business credit card that earns cash rebates and that is one way that we are saving on our business expenses. Once again, I can check my monthly non-wage business expense on my credit card and do some analysis with it.

Automatic Payment – The other big thing that a business credit card helps me in my finances is that I can set up automatic payments. I pay my utility bills and phone bills with my credit card. And I set up an automatic payment plan that takes money out of my bank account every month. I’m the sort of person that hates looking at bills and manually paying them, so this system helps me in making sure all my bills are paid on time. The only thing I have to make sure is that there is enough money in the checking account.

I’m sure there are other ways you can use credit cards – These days, many credit cards have features like email alerts etc, that will help you stay on top of what you are spending on your credit card. I’m sure there are other features that are around but I’m not using. For me credit cards have helped me in my finances in terms of saving money and also helping me be organized. For this to work, you do have to pay your bills in full every month. Once you get into the habit, I think it is a useful tool to have.

Only 43% of consumers will cut back on holiday spending this year, compared to 55% in 2008, according to a Consumer Federation of America survey. While increased consumer optimism spells good news for retailers, for Americans planning to “stretch” the budget, the New Year could bring falling credit scores, and with it, serious consequences.

Here are some fail-safe tips from FICO Credit Guru Shon Dellinger to help enthusiastic shoppers stay financially sound:

1. Be Smart with Credit. Using a credit card is ok – experts agree having 3-5 credit cards helps your credit, if used responsibly. But carrying a balance on your credit card leaves you (1) stuck paying interest that could cost you, in some cases, double or triple the cost of those gifts in the long run and (2) with a much lower credit score, which could jack up interest rates on your credit cards and jeopardize your chance of getting lines of credit elsewhere (buying a house, a car, etc.). Services like FICO Score Watch combat this by providing emails or texts alerting you to any changes in your FICO score (either positive or negative), and notifying you when you’ve qualified for a better interest rate. A credit score increase of 30 points will save the average consumer $105 per year.

2. Resist “Short Savings.” The salesperson at your favorite department store offers you an instant 20% savings just for opening up a credit card in their name. While that $20 seems tempting at the time, it can quickly put you in debt if you’re not careful. The temptation of the deal is also one reason why the average consumer has a total of 13 credit cards. Opening new lines of credit can also hurt your credit score, so make sure the card meets your overall needs and not just your desire for quick savings.

3. Don’t Wait Till April! Many holiday shoppers use their Tax refund to pay off credit card balances left over from the holidays, which can be incredibly expensive, not to mention detrimental to your credit standing. A credit card balance of $500 dollars from January until April will cost you $237 dollars based on today’s average credit card interest rate.

FICO is also offering a holiday coupon: MYFICO HOLIDAY is the code and it will be good for a discount of 30% off any product. The code will expire on January 30th.

A few months ago, Mr. Money had issues with his Capital One credit card where they kept charging him a $39 annual fee. While we’re thankful to be done with them because of the horrible customer service we’ve received, we are also facing a problem. Mr. Money doesn’t have any credit cards on his credit report now.

The only credit cards we have are our National City Everyday Rewards and a Home Depot credit card that we used to purchase our appliances. I have a card and Mr. Money is an authorized user as well on both accounts. He’s got his own card so he can access the accounts, but the payments are not showing up on his credit report. I’m a little concerned about his credit score being negatively affected because he has no revolving lines of credit on his credit report. These are the options we’re considering: opening up a credit card in just Mr. Money’s name, or closing out my National City credit card and applying for a joint one.

If we open a credit card in Mr. Money’s name, that’s one more credit card we have to keep an eye on. His credit score will likely go down a few points as a result of an inquiry for credit. We’ll have to make sure we are using the card every once in awhile to make sure that it stays active and doesn’t get closed. Do I really want another account to take care of? I’m not so sure.

If we close out my National City card, then my credit score will probably take a hit for the inquiry, not to mention that card has been open since 2004 and that’s a positive reflection on my credit report. Since I still am so young, it’s a good idea to have that on there. Also, showing a new credit card open may not be the best thing either. Decisions, decisions.

What would you do? Don’t worry about it, open one in Mr. Money’s name, or close out my personal one and apply for a joint?

I received an email the other day from Wamu/Chase informing me that my FICO credit score had changed 20 points.  I logged in to their website to see what had happened. It is down 25 points! The only things that I can think of are that I applied for that auto loan a couple months ago. It’s either that or because Wamu closed my card the other day. I have no idea. Those are the only two things I can think of.

I’m not that upset about it because it’s still 809, but the point is it was 834 and I worked my butt off to get it there! I’m just bummed.  Just for the records, here’s the history of my credit score (keep in mind I’m 25):

12/07- 781

1/08- 781

2/08-810

3/08-801

4/08-801

5/08-801

6/08-803

7/08-814

8/08-834

9/08-820

10/08-834

11/08-809

Am I being too crazy about my credit score?  

As I’ve previously mentioned, I love my Wamu card. I guess I should say loved. They canceled my card! I received a letter in the mail the other day telling me that since I hadn’t used the card in over a year that they were canceling it. I was fuming! Not only did I enjoy the benefits of the card, but now it’s going to hit my credit report as a closed account and make it go down!  I am not a happy camper.

I have had this card open for five or six years.  I’ve always paid on time, I had a $15,000 limit, and I loved having a card that was as flexible as Wamu.  I couldn’t believe that they would close a customer’s card without asking them first if they intended on using it.  If they had sent me a letter that said that they noticed I hadn’t used it in awhile and asked me if I would like to keep it open, I would feel a lot better about this.  I am just so mad that they took it upon themselves to close my credit card!

Although I think it’s a bad idea to use a credit card as an emergency fund, it was still nice to know that I had that money available in case I absolutely needed it. Now I am down to one credit card (well, two if you count our Home Depot card). It just ticks me off.  I was looking forward to keeping my Wamu credit card because of the free credit score tracking.  I also figured that if they switched me over to a Chase card, that was okay too since they have good credit cards.  I guess the lesson learned here is to use your credit cards at least once every six months to keep them active.