Money Minded Learning

When it comes to building your credit, it is important to show that you have experience using credit responsibly.  This often means having a credit card that you use and pay off regularly.  According to http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/WhatsInYourScore.aspx, one of the areas the credit bureaus take a look at is the amount you owe to various lenders. In this category, there are six key factors they look at when determining your score:

In today’s fast paced world, most of us don’t take time to take cash out of the ATM, and writing a check seems like an ancient practice.  Instead, we take one of the plastic cards out of our wallets and give it a swipe often without even thinking about it.  Being an adult with purchasing experience, we know which card is a debit card and which is a credit card.  Unfortunately, our teens only see us paying for things with plastic and don’t realize that these two types of cards work very differently. So how do you explain the difference between a debit and credit card to your teen?  Here are a few key points. 

Be careful of department store credit cards.  Although the initial rewards may seem tempting, the potential costs often out weigh the benefit due to high interest rates. 

The holidays have officially dawned upon us and that can only mean one thing...it is time to shop!  Talk of major sales like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Small Business Saturday have us up and out the door at questionable hours.  The offer of a big sale making it imposible to resist fighting the large crowds.   But the savings don't stop at the discount on the shelves.  Once you get to the register you are often asked that ever-daunting question "Would you like to save an additional 10%? ".  With adrenaline racing from the deals we have just scored many of us are tempted to say "Yes!" often not thinking about the consequences of signing up for yet another department store credit card.  This year, before signing up for that additional discount at the register, consider these reasons why you should not sign up for that department store credit card.