March 16th, 2010
Dear Credit Karma… More About Credit Karma!
Dear Credit Karma,
Is Credit Karma really a free service?
Absolutely.Credit Karma is free and is available at absolutely no cost to you. Credit Karma has no catch, gimmick, or secret subscription, and will never charge you now or later down the road. Become a Credit Karma member for free, and you can use the site as often as you want, play around with our financial tools, and pull your credit score daily without ever having to worry about getting hit with a subscription fee or any type of charge. We do promote money-saving offers featured by our advertisers that are specifically tailored to your credit profile, but you are never required to click on an ad or participate in an offer.
What’s in it for us? We’re supported by advertisers. The ads on our site enable us to make this service free for you, the consumer. Rest assured Credit Karma is truly a pro-consumer site interested in helping you manage healthy finances and healthy credit at NO COST to you.
March 15th, 2010
Monday Jumpstart to Personal Finance & Credit Report News
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are working on a bill of sweeping regulatory changes to ward off future collapses in our financial system. The much-needed bill to protect consumers and industries is expected to address issues such as mortgages and credit cards, as well as an early warning system to monitor companies that pose a financial crisis with new mechanisms to prevent firms from getting too big that their failure would threaten our financial system, CNNMoney reports. This is definitely a step towards safeguarding the economy from Uncle Sam, but the bill will still have to make it through the Senate and Congress before we see it come into play.
This week’s personal finance and credit score roundup is full of helpful articles and blogs to keep you on track with budgeting, job-hunting, and fixing up less-than-perfect credit scores.
March 9th, 2010
Dear Credit Karma — All About Credit Karma
Dear Credit Karma,
Will checking my credit score on Credit Karma lower my score?
Absolutely not! Credit Karma aims to help you earn and maintain healthy credit without hurting your credit. When you pull your credit score via Credit Karma, it is categorized as a soft inquiry because you are essentially pulling your own score as a type of background check, similar to inquiries done by employers, landlords, banks, and more.
The type of inquiry that will ding your credit score is a hard inquiry. Hard inquiries are done by credit card issuers, mortgage lenders, and other lenders that are pulling your credit report for the purpose of assessing whether or not they should extend credit to you.
March 8th, 2010
Monday Jumpstart to Personal Finance & Credit Report News
The Wall Street Journal’s attention-grabbing headline is a sign of the times: Coupon Clipping Is Newest Extreme Sport. In a recession that’s left Americans struggling with at-risk loans, defaulted credit cards, slashed paychecks, and 8.4 million unemployed, penny-pinching is a practical and ever-more popular way to save money. The number of coupons redeemed rose to 3.3 billion last year, up from 2.6 billion in 2008. Sites like Groupon and RetailMeNot have taken coupon clipping high-tech, adding social networking and online access to offer consumers a fresh take on saving money the old-fashioned way.
Find more ways to make the most of your money with our personal finance roundup, plus articles and blogs to brush up on your credit health.
March 1st, 2010
Monday Jumpstart to Personal Finance & Credit Report News
CNN Money reports that personal income rose a modest 0.1%, equal to 11.4 billion total nationwide, in January. While the number is lower than economists’ expected figure of 0.4%, on the other hand, spending by individuals jumped 0.5% in January, equal to 52.4 billion total nationwide, which is above economists’ expectations. While these figures aren’t through the roof, increased spending and income is still a good sign the economy is slowly gaining momentum towards recovery.
Follow today’s roundup of personal finance and credit score topics for the latest news and advice.
February 22nd, 2010
Monday Jumpstart to Personal Finance & Credit Report News
After months of banks’ preparation and consumer anticipation, the final reforms of the CARD Act take effect today to change the way credit card issuers interact with cardholders.
Hoping to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive industry practices, the provisions in place today include banning double-cycle billing, stricter regulation of under-21-year-old customers, fixed payment due dates, and a 45-day notice before changing terms such as interest rates. While issuers are forced to comply to these laws, it also has the effect of changing credit card terms towards imposed annual fees, increased interest rates, and tighter credit score requirements as issuers scramble to recoup losses caused by the CARD Act reforms.
Keep up with more personal finance news and credit score help with the following roundup.
February 15th, 2010
Monday Jumpstart to Personal Finance & Credit Report News
Associated Press reports consumer credit is down for the 11th consecutive month with a better-than-expected total decrease of $1.5 billion dollars. Americans reduced borrowing on credit cards by $8.5 billion while increasing borrowing for cars and other loans by $6.8 billion. This sustained decrease is a promising outlook that Americans may soon return to spending, but is also a clear sign that consumers are still holding back amid economic uncertainty and a near 10% unemployment rate.The following roundup gives great articles and helpful advice to manage your personal finances and polish up your credit.
February 9th, 2010
Dear Credit Karma – Credit Scores & Getting A Job
Dear Credit Karma,
Why is it hard to get a job if your credit report is bad?
In today’s economic climate, employers are being extremely selective in weeding through job candidates and are looking for candidates that demonstrate financial responsibility and financial stability. Once reserved for jobs dealing with significant money or government-related work, credit checks are becoming commonplace in the hiring process for every work sector. The rationale it is that an applicant’s financial history and the way they manage your money is a valuable tool in assessing their personal character and job performance. In addition, employers can compare the credit report to the resume to look for any discrepancies.
February 8th, 2010
Monday Jumpstart to Personal Finance & Credit Report News
Following last Friday’s report that the national unemployment rate dropped from over 10% to 9.7% in January, recent news explains that the positive signs of a lower unemployment rate doesn’t offset another problem of the distressed job market: the average duration of unemployment reached an all-time high of 30.2 weeks, or 7 1/2 months– the highest since 1948.
CNN Money reports on the difficulty to secure a job as more than six job seekers compete for every single job opening, as well as the risk that the extended unemployment period means unemployment benefits will expire for many after the usual 26 week period (before federal extensions kick in).
February 1st, 2010
Monday Jumpstart to Personal Finance & Credit Report News
“Top Ten Funny Money Saving Tips” from Almost Frugal blog shows consumers ways to save money in unexpected ways, such as borrowing toilet paper from work, snacking on food samples at grocery stores, freezing your credit cards, and raiding lost and found bins. Also, catch up on your investments as stocks bouncing back with better-than-expected earnings.
Check out more financial help and credit advice with the following roundup:
