Credit and Debt
Protecting Yourself Against Identity Theft
May 16, 2008 :: Credit and Debt :: 10 Comments
One of the hot financial topic today is identity theft. And if you think it can never happen to you, you are wrong. Here are some examples of identity theft that I have first and second-hand experience with: I had two separate incidents of account takeover where the thieves ...
Why Borrowers With Bad Credit Pay A Higher Interest Rates
May 12, 2008 :: Credit and Debt, Money :: 10 Comments
As of yesterday, one of my loans at Lending Club became "31-120 days late" -- this means the borrower is not making his monthly payment and I could end up losing that money. Since I have 20 active loans, this represents a 5% loss if the loan should default. ...
Credit Card Arbitrage, Is It Worth It?
April 11, 2008 :: Credit and Debt, Investing :: 43 Comments
This article is not meant to convince you to try credit card arbitrage -- rather, it's meant to start a discussion around it. Ultimately, I would like to hear your thought on credit card arbitrage as a money making strategy. First, we start off with a little background information. What Is ...
Don’t Buy Credit Card Life and Disability Insurance (GP)
March 26, 2008 :: Credit and Debt :: 1 Comment
You would never take out an insurance policy on behalf of your bank and pay its premiums, would you? But that's exactly what you're doing when your credit card company convinces you to buy life and disability insurance. The sales pitch plays upon fears of the unknown: What if you ...
Are You Selling Your Credit Score?
March 20, 2008 :: Credit and Debt :: 14 Comments
I knew that applying for too many credit cards could adversely effect on my credit score. However, the concept wasn't picture perfect until I read Rocket Finance's story where he said, "we traded our credit score of 748 at it's highest point in exchange for favor from credit card ...
Credit Safety On The College Campus (GP)
February 15, 2008 :: Credit and Debt :: 6 Comments
Students going off to college are in for a lot of new experiences. With a little common sense and by practicing good habits, stolen credit cards and identity theft will not be one of them. College students have many options when it comes to credit cards. There are many that ...
What is Debt-To-Income Ratio (DTI) and Why Does It Matter?
January 29, 2008 :: Credit and Debt :: 31 Comments
For someone who doesn't carry a lot of debt, I didn't give Debt-to-Income Ratio a serious thought until I start lending money on peer-to-peer lending networks -- i.e., Prosper and Lending Club. The truth is, DTI is important; especially in the business of borrowing and lending money. Two Kinds ...
10 Ways to Completely Ruin Your Credit (Reprint)
January 18, 2008 :: Credit and Debt :: 10 Comments
This post is inspired by one of my readers, whom I will call Mr. M. This is not the usual improvement tips, so don't follow these. If anything, please do the opposite. Here are 10 ways to completely ruin your credit score, waste a lot of money, ...
Lending Club and Prosper Rate Differential: Opportunity or Not?
January 14, 2008 :: Credit and Debt, Investing :: 9 Comments
In my post, "My Foray into Prosper as a P2P Lender," one of my readers (PeerLend.com) introduced me to Lending Club: "In early December [2007], Lending Club opened their (formerly FaceBook users only) lending application to the wider public. They do things a bit differently than Prosper, as they underwrite the ...
7 Steps Debt Reduction Illustrated
November 28, 2007 :: Credit and Debt :: 41 Comments
The following post illustrate how to eliminate credit card debt on your own without using credit card debt consolidation services. Personally, I think these credit card debt consolidation companies could be helpful to some, but for the most part, they are charging you money for something that you could ...
Putting Credit Cards to Work for You (GP)
November 16, 2007 :: Credit and Debt :: 14 Comments
Credit cards can be extremely beneficial to individuals and even small business owners. Then again, many can tell or have at least heard of one credit card horror story. Either way you look at it, a responsible and well disciplined person can use credit cards and their perks to their ...
What My School Didn’t Teach Me About Credit Cards (GP)
November 2, 2007 :: Credit and Debt :: 14 Comments
Many people see credit cards as one of the primary keys to financial imprisonment, and this has proven to be the case for many people. However, the problem isn't the credit card itself, but how they are used. Photo by Ian Britton via FreeFoto.com When I was in school I received a ...
The Key to Financial Imprisonment
September 12, 2007 :: Credit and Debt :: 12 Comments
In my post "My first credit card and the fallacies," I mentioned the term financial imprisonment. It is the opposite of financial independence, and I defined it as the state of having to work for money, living from paycheck to paycheck, and never having enough. Photo from Wikimedia Commons So, how ...
My First Credit Card and the Fallacies
September 6, 2007 :: Credit and Debt :: 10 Comments
I was reading "Hooked On Credit! 5 Ways The Credit Card Companies Get Our Kids To Sign Up" at The Digerati Life, and the post brought back memories about my first credit card. Photo by Ian Britton via FreeFoto.com During my orientation week, Citibank had several booths throughout the campus. Being ...
No Such Thing As Good Debt?
August 23, 2007 :: Credit and Debt :: 15 Comments
Yesterday, I read "Good Debt?? There is No Such Thing" on Gather Little By Little. First, let me say that I consider Glblguy a friend and a very respectable blogger; but when I read the title I thought what the heck is he talking about? This prompted ...
