Managing Your Finances Part I
J. D. of Get Rich Slowly posted recently about his aversion to credit cards in general. As I mentioned in his comments, I really do not understand this. While I'm no stranger to money worries, I don't...
View ArticleNew URL
Sorry for the confusion. I accidentally wrote the wrong thing a couple of times in some other blogs' comments, and I decided to just go ahead and move the URL. Blogger made it really easy. When I first...
View ArticleManaging Your Finances Part II
Management Tip #2: Use Your Credit Cards (Specifically!) For Almost Everything As I mentioned a couple of times in the previous post on the topic, I use my credit cards for most purchases. Only on rare...
View ArticleManaging Your Finances Part III
Management Tip #3: Buy Stuff When It's A Good Deal; or, Buy Below Ebay I admit it: I am a consumer at heart. I like to buy stuff. My acquisition gene is dominant (if that makes sense, to you...
View ArticleCar Buying: GM Card, "Good Deals" and Financing
As I've mentioned before, I've got a GM Card. This card gives a 5% rebate on all purchases, with the caveat that this 5% must go towards the purchase of a new GM vehicle. There are varying amounts that...
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The Penny Problem
Rising metal prices have caused pennies and nickels to be worth more as scrap metal than their face value. Therefore, the US Mint has banned melting of pennies and nickels. And now, Fed Economist...
View ArticleIntro to Credit Gaming - Part V
See previous parts I, II, III, IV. We finally get to the last component of your credit score, "recent credit requests and recently obtained credit", which comprises 10% of your credit score. This is...
View ArticleAnnualCreditReport.com Timing Issues
As you probably know, you can get a free credit report yearly at AnnualCreditReport.com. This is mandated by the federal government. You can get one per year per each of the 3 credit agencies. Note the...
View ArticleWhat's Not On Your Credit Score: Income
When applying for any type of loan or credit, you will have to include your income. Something to keep in mind is that your income will never go "on your credit report" or affect your credit score. You...
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How I Keep Track of my Credit Score
I have a credit card with Washington Mutual (aka WaMu, formerly Providian) which provides a free monthly credit score. I have not charged anything to the card in about a year now. I use it solely for...
View ArticleCredit Score and Payment/Balance Timing
Given that your credit score depends highly on your balance to limit ratio, you will want to do some planning before applying for something big like a mortgage or a car loan (although I recommend...
View ArticleA Simple Life Hack: Sort Coins in your Car
If you're like me, you accumulate spare change. I don't get a whole lot of it, but it's enough to overwhelm the little coin-holder tray in my car a couple of times a year. Once it gets full enough that...
View ArticleEasy First Credit Source: Checking Overdraft Protection
This is a quickie tip that I've mentioned in passing before. If you're young and credit-less, getting your first credit card may be difficult. One alternative is to get a line of credit at your bank....
View ArticleCredit Cards for People without SS numbers?
Unbelievable, but that's what Bank of America is going to offer soon. I'll refrain from getting into a political discussion here, but I'll just cite this as more evidence that banks are bending over...
View ArticleInsurance: Never a Good Deal
Insurance. It's one of those things that most of us just see as necessary. In fact, in many cases, carrying sufficient insurance is mandated by law. You can't legally drive a vehicle without insurance,...
View ArticleWhy I Disagree with Dave Ramsey
The other day, I was driving a lot and happened to catch a couple hours of Dave Ramsey's show. I think I've got a bit better read on him, and I know now that I disagree with him on a super-fundamental...
View ArticleFollow-up to earlier posts
I got the following questions from sm in response to Part V of the Intro to Credit Gaming series, which covered credit inquiries and new credit: Do you know a general rule of thumb for how long one...
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Risk, Freedom, Security, and the Majority
Over at All Financial Matters, JLP has made a couple of heavily-commented posts about paying off a mortgage early vs. letting it run for its full term. (If you haven't read these posts along with all...
View ArticleA Question and an Example
First off, the example: golbguru has documented the effect of credit utilization (what I usually call debt (or balance) to credit ratio) on his FICO score. To sum up, his score went from 771 to 737...
View ArticleRe: JLP's Subprime Lender Mess Question
In QotD: Subprime Mortgage Mess - Who's to Blame?, JLP at All Financial Matters poses the question: "Who’s to blame for the subprime mortgage mess? The lenders or the borrowers? Or, should the blame be...
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Who just wants to be a millionaire?
A popular article on CNN.com talks about modern-day millionaires. And to that, I say: Who just wants to be a millionaire? The term has lost all of its cachet. Not to say that millionaires are losers;...
View ArticleThe "Inverse Rule of 72" for Mortgages
Golbguru of The Tao of Making Money recently posted about the common "Rule of 72" for figuring out when your money will double, based on making an investment that makes a particular interest rate. If...
View ArticleGCS Required Reading
If you're a new reader, you should be sure to read through these "Intro to Credit Gaming" articles: Part I, II, III, IV, V. These articles cover the components of the FICO score, which forms the basis...
View ArticleApologies and a Break
I apologize for the lack of posts lately. On top of being particularly busy (just bought my first real estate, which I may write up later), I also have started to feel symptoms of either carpal tunnel...
View ArticleWelcome clickers from Train Wreck Central
aka IAmFacingForeclosure. I've decided to do this post backwards. The meat is up front. Introductory/explanatory stuff is at the end. Since you're here, read these "Intro to Credit Score Gaming"...
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