8 Tips for Smart Holiday Spending

December 10, 2012 By 2 Comments
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As the economy continues to sluggishly recover, each year around Black Friday retailers fret that shoppers will forgo holiday gift shopping, or drastically cut back on spending. However, a recent myFICO survey  indicated that while folks plan to flex their credit cards this holiday season, most are planning a modest budget — 65% of respondents said they’d expect to charge less than $500 on their credit cards this year. That’s good news for retailers and for shoppers’ credit health. But it’s one thing to plan not to overspend, and another thing to successfully execute said plan. How many of us plan not to overindulge on treats at holiday parties, but inadvertently wind up with a belly ache, a scattering of red & green crumbs around our shirt, wondering how we managed to pack … [Read more...]

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Will the Fiscal Cliff Impact your FICO Score?

December 6, 2012 By 1 Comment
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Right now, everyone is talking about the “fiscal cliff” - the potential crisis that will occur if our elected lawmakers are unable to extend tax cuts and avert millions of dollars in spending cuts that will take effect in the New Year.   As the deadline approaches, you may be wondering what impact, if any, would the fiscal cliff have on your FICO Score?   The good news is that there is no direct effect on the score associated with the main factors driving the potential fiscal cliff.  Your income and the amount of taxes you pay are not considered in the calculation of your FICO Score.   However, the failure to extend the tax cuts and/or avert spending cuts could have a negative indirect effect on credit scores.  Most experts agree that just about every … [Read more...]

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Debt Concerns Shape Holiday Spending Plans

December 3, 2012 By 2 Comments
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According to a study conducted by myFICO, credit card debt continues to be consumers’ biggest financial worry as the new year approaches. Nearly one third of respondents are cutting back on holiday spending and plan to practice conservative credit behaviors this year. Only 20 percent will consider opening new credit card accounts, and approximately 65 percent expect to charge less than $500 on their credit cards – a figure that most consider moderate and within their budget.   … [Read more...]

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Cyber Theft Meets Cyber Monday

November 27, 2012 By 1 Comment
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The Monday following Thanksgiving, now known as Cyber Monday, has become one of the bumper sales days across electronic commerce sites.   Every year the absolute volumes of online sales increases, as does the proportion of electronic commerce spend compared to traditional spend at physical retailers. This shift in consumer behavior has also attracted those from the criminal fraternity, who are seeking to capitalize on consumer’s lack of knowledge about safe online shopping.   The continued strength of "card not present" fraud losses shows that people continue to be duped into providing their credit or debit card credentials in an insecure manner or to unauthorized sources, particularly when online. Customer education and awareness is … [Read more...]

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Don’t Let Black Friday Darken Your FICO Score

November 21, 2012 By 1 Comment
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Rev up your wallet! The holiday shopping season kicks off this Friday after Thanksgiving, and retailers hope to attract us with big sales events and special operating hours so we’ll buy, buy, buy.   In addition, many retailers will work hard to persuade you to open new credit card accounts. They may offer sweet enticements such as an extra 10% discount on all purchases you make that day - or they might give you a special gift just for applying.   It's easy to get caught up, as retailers make applying for store credit so convenient and easy.  Just give the sales clerk your name and address, and within seconds you’ll know if you've been approved for instant credit at your fingertips.   Unfortunately, many of us don’t understand that applying for … [Read more...]

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Trim Your Budget and Pay Down Credit Debt

November 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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Recent reports confirm that credit card debt among Americans remains on the rise. Not only are more of us dipping into debt, but we're also falling further behind than ever, with the average debtor owing nearly $15,000.   Concerns are real and there's a growing sense of urgency to tackle the problem, with the best solutions revolving around getting organized, making a personal budget, and paying down those bloated balances.   The only problem is: Where does the extra money come from month after month?   By taking a thorough approach, committing to change, and staying true, it's possible for the majority of us to trim our budgets and erase debt. If you're struggling to get started, you may not realize that there are a number of solutions that may work for … [Read more...]

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Turn Extra Halloween Candy Into Cash

October 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Turn Extra Halloween Candy Into Cash

Happy Halloween! If you’re like most Americans, you have a stockpile of candy ready for the trick or treaters who’ll be knocking on your door tonight.   However, whether you have kids of your own or you’re just passing out the goodies, the prospect of extra candy lying around the house can be daunting. In addition to potentially sabotaging your own diet, most parents don't want their kids feasting on sugary empty calories for weeks on end. But what’s the alternative - taking the excess candy and throwing it away? It's wasteful, and you have to play the Bad Guy.   Fear not! There's an alternative solution that not only rids your house of excess candy, it puts extra cash in your pocket: the Halloween Candy Buyback program.   The program works in … [Read more...]

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Secrets of FICO High Achievers

October 25, 2012 By 2 Comments
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More than 50 million people have the bragging rights of being FICO "High Achiever" (a FICO Score of 785 and above) which can save them thousands of dollars over the lifetime of a loan. A recent myFICO study reveals that these "High Achievers" exhibit strikingly similar credit habits.     … [Read more...]

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Student Loan Debt and FICO Score Trends

September 26, 2012 By 2 Comments

  As students incur more student loan debt, lenders and investors in student loans are asking how this is affecting US consumers’ FICO Scores. New FICO research provides interesting insights.   With education costs rapidly outpacing inflation, more consumers are taking out student loans to pay for their education. Looking at a large data sample from a credit reporting agency, we found that 6.2% of US consumers had two or more open student loans on their credit report in 2005. By 2012, that number grew to roughly 11.8%.   Consumers also have a greater amount of student loan debt today. In 2005, consumers with an open student loan on file had an average student loan debt of $17,236. In 2012, that number increased 54% to $26,549. This has outpaced growth for … [Read more...]

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FICO Scores Reveal Slow Economic Recovery

September 19, 2012 By 1 Comment
FICO Scores Reflect Slow Economic Recovery

Our FICO Labs team has taken a fresh look at national distribution of FICO Scores. With a couple of interesting exceptions, we found that consumer scores are continuing their slow return to a pre-recession pattern.       The first two years of the recession (2008-2009) moved the scores for millions of people into the lowest (300-499) and the highest (800-850) segments of the FICO Score range. Correspondingly fewer people had scores in the middle range (600-749). In an earlier post, I explained why these separate shifts happened.   This flattening of the distribution curve peaked in 2009-2010 and has since slowly been reversing. However, the latest numbers suggest two unusual patterns in this recovery. First, the quantity of people with very low … [Read more...]

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