Archive for the ‘Credit Cards’ Category

My Fall Spending Relapse

Ok, so I have to admit that I’ve had a minor spending relapse over the past couple weeks.  I woke up bored on Labor Day, so I decided to go shopping with my sister.  We ended up making it an all day event with a break for lunch.  I think we hit up about four [...]

September 16, 2009  Tags: , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: Credit Cards, My Progress, New Spending Habits, Want vs. Need  No Comments

What If Something Bad Happens? Part Three

So let’s assume the worst, because it’s fun.  If I lose my job tomorrow, I wouldn’t be able to pay down my debt, pay my monthly bills, or even afford food.  And I might not even see any unemployment checks from the state any time soon.  Basically, I would go completely broke pretty quickly.  But [...]

August 10, 2009  Tags: , , , , , , ,   Posted in: Banking Accounts, Credit Cards, Money News  No Comments

Spending Then and Now

Now that my yearly vacation is over, let’s compare my spending then and now.  I take the same vacation every year.  Same area, same people, same events, same cost?  Perhaps not.  This month, vacation included, I only spent $624, while last July I spent $2,477.  I’m kind of impressed with myself right now.  Check it [...]

July 21, 2009  Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in: Credit Cards, My Progress, New Spending Habits  No Comments

I’m Halfway Out of Debt

I started this blog a month ago with a mission: Get out of debt (roughly $4,700) in within 4 months and save up $10,000 within a year.  It’s been about 6 weeks now, and I’m halfway out of debt!  This puts me right on track to be completely out of debt by September, and then [...]

July 14, 2009  Tags: , , , , , ,   Posted in: Credit Cards, My Progress, New Spending Habits  No Comments

Money-Saving Advice

Ever since Simon & Garfunkel sang “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”, I have hated how-to lists.  I’m still waiting for the other 45 ways to leave your lover, Paul Simon.  How-to lists, especially those related to finances and saving money, are always obvious, generic, and completely useless.  Here’s an example that I ran across [...]

June 25, 2009  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: Banking Accounts, Credit Cards, Money News, Spending Zero Dollars  No Comments

A Bailout For Your Credit Card?

One of my co-workers came to work the other day and she was very excited.  Thinking she was suffering from a brain injury (who gets excited about coming to work?) I asked what happened to her.  She explained that she got a call from one of her credit card companies- CitiCard- and they wanted to [...]

June 25, 2009  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: Credit Cards, Money News  No Comments

Spending, the American Way

Well, this news is frightening.  We as a society are spending more than ever and saving next to nothing.  Check out The Debt Trap feature in the New York Times.  There are videos and stories from people trapped under a mountain of debt.  It is scary to think that I am just a job loss [...]

June 24, 2009  Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: Banking Accounts, Credit Cards, Money News  No Comments

How a Credit Score is Made

And all this time I thought they just made credit scores up!  Here’s the breakdown on how your credit score is calculated:

35% is determined by your payment history
30% is determined by the amount you owe creditors vs. your total amount of credit available
15% is determined by length of credit history, meaning how long you have [...]

June 23, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Credit Cards, Money News  No Comments