Repair Credit FactsCREDIT Repair FAQs, Credit Repair Kit, Places to Fix your Credit For Free!

Recently, we took a much-deserved vacation for spring break. While we met many friendly and carefree people on our travels, there were some fellow vacationers who seemed concerned. The feeling of freedom that usually accompanies a week-long getaway was gone, replaced with worries about paying credit card bills once the fun in the sun was over.

We saw people doing lots of things that could ruin their good credit scores, like over-indulging on nautical themed jewelry, neon-colored souvenir t-shirts and spur-of-the-moment dolphin watching excursions, without any plan to repay all those extra charges.

As the Good Score Guys, we found it a little distressing to watch all that frenzied spending. The people we vacationed with had a much greater sense of calm. We still enjoyed luxury dinners on the seashore, and even had a trinket or two to bring back, but all of those expenditures were carefully budgeted.

Read more…

Credit card issuer Chase recently launched the “British Airways Visa Signature® Card,” a fairly aggressive airline rewards credit card that comes with an astonishing 50,000 mile bonus upon your first purchase.

On top of that, it offers an additional 50,000 bonus miles if you spend $2,500 on the credit card during the first three months.

100,000 Mile Bonus

With the 100,000 miles in hand, you’ve got enough for two (2) transatlantic flights.

In other words, you can fly to Europe and back twice if you live in the United States, free of charge, less taxes, fees, and surcharges, which I suppose can add up.

You also earn 1.25 British Airways miles per $1 spent on standard purchases and 2.5 British Airways miles for each $1 in British Airways purchases.

Travel Together Ticket

Additionally, if you spend $30,000 in any single calendar year, you can earn a “Travel Together Ticket,” which is a companion airline ticket used in conjunction with the card member’s award flight.

The British Airways Visa Signature® Card also waives all foreign transaction fees, being one of the few credit cards to do so (Discover and Capital One offer similar credit cards).

And when you apply for the British Airways Visa Signature® Card, you are automatically enrolled in the British Airways Executive Club.

Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malev, Qantas and Royal Jordanian are partner airlines.

Annual Fee and Charges

The downsides to this card, aside from a lack of introductory 0% APR, are the annual membership fee of $95 and any fees and taxes that must be paid on flights, as they’re now fairly hefty.

Beware: A flight to Europe may have fees of a few hundred dollars…

But if you don’t carry balances and love to travel, this card does have the potential to save you quite a bit of money.

So Uncle Sam’s sending a big tax refund your way. Oh, the things you can buy! Will it be a home theatre system? A flat-screen TV? The newest smart phone?

Hold up there, before that phone looks smarter than you. What we’ve been seeing recently is a lot of people with credit scores as healthy as we are, but who are showing early signs of bad credit card debt.

Is your credit exhibiting symptoms of poor health? If it is, put that big tax refund to work making it well again.

It’s easy to self-diagnose the onset of bad credit card debt if you know where to look. Are all your credit cards at or near their limits? If so, your credit may be starting to feel weak. Credit agencies — and credit issuers — like to see that you still have some credit left, after all. And if you’re having problems making the minimum payments — especially if you find yourself paying for one card with another card — your credit could be calling in sick very soon.

Your credit may also be under the weather if you use your cash to pay your minimum payment, then have to go right back to the card to pay for necessities. And what about

Read more…

Education Loans Surpass Credit Card Debt as Top Financial Burden

Are you struggling to pay off student loans? Well, you’re not alone.

Student loan debt has surpassed credit card debt for the first time, as a growing number of Americans take out loans to go to school. According to the New York Times, the amount of student loan debt is well on its way to over one trillion dollars.

Student loans have often been described as good debt by some educators and economists. “When you think about what’s good debt and what’s bad debt, student loans fall into the realm of good debt, like mortgages,” Professor Sandy Dynarski, an education and public policy professor at the University of Michigan, told the Times. “It’s an investment that pays off over the whole life cycle.”

But with education costs rising every year and student aid cuts in the federal and state budgets, graduates are leaving school with drastically more debt than they did just ten years ago. In 2000, total

Read more…

Debt collection agencies stoop to low levels at times to get their money. Many of these practices are illegal, not to mention immoral. Consumers are not always aware of their rights, and need to know that there is help and punishment for agencies that operate under these practices. Allied Interstate, a Minnesota based agency, has been caught in the act again. Apparently the first settlement the firm had to pay was not enough to make them stop their shady tactics.

For debtors contacting a debt lawyer is often their saving grace from companies who harass and abuse the person’s rights. Allied Interstate reportedly called people’s homes over and over again, even if they had the wrong number. Harassment apparently was not a word in their vocabulary. They called family and friends and released information about people’s debts. This is a highly illegal practice. A debt collection agency is never allowed to release this information to third parties. This

Read more…

If you’re hoping to take a spring-break trip or, really, any kind of vacation that requires travel, one of the most important things to remember is financial responsibility. While the hassles of everyday life can often cause vacationers to try to make up for lost fun, over-indulging while on break can lead to even more stress when the trip ends and reality kicks back in — especially if you go way over your budget.

To help you avoid spending what you don’t have, here are three tips to remember:

1.    Make a budget — and stick with it. Before you leave for your trip, go online to familiarize yourself with area restaurants and attractions. This will help you set daily budget limits for meals and entertainment. Keep track of your receipts throughout the day for everything from coffee to souvenir t-shirts. Be sure you’re sticking with your budget, and make daily adjustments as needed to stay within your total trip limit.

2.    Go mobile. With all of the apps available for your smartphone, finding deals while on vacation is easier than ever. From cheap dini

Read more…