Let me ask you a probing question. How often to pay with cash? Of course I am not talking about always carrying a wad of greenbacks around in my pocket. I almost never carry cash. I do you a debit card, or if I am serious about building some air miles, I will use a […]

I felt rich! I had a wallet full of credit cards at my disposal! Yep, that was me for sure. In my early 20’s, with gas companies, department stores and banks sending me credit cards. As I recall, back then I would often carry 10-15 shiny, brightly colored plastic cards in my pocket. They gave […]

Now you probably know that your credit report is essentially your credit history. It details what sort of loans you have outstanding, how long you’ve had them, whether you pay your bills on time and so on. (The information is not just from credit card companies, but all your creditors including utilities, landlords, hospitals, banks, […]

How much debt is just too much? A call to a consumer credit counseling service yielded this advice. Spending more than 15 percent to 20 percent of net income on monthly debt payments, not including your payments on a home mortgage, is just too much. Easy availability of credit is partly to blame for many […]

In the process of building our financial future, there are times when we ask another person or a financial institution to use their money for a limited period of time. This is borrowing or taking out a loan. Usually, the lender allows us to use their money in exchange for a percentage fee called interest. […]