Category: Best Low Fee Prepaid Cards

Millions of people are turning to prepaid debit cards as a smart alternative to carrying cash and writing checks. Almost anyone can qualify and they don’t require a credit check or a bank account.

Though they carry credit card logos and can be used anywhere a credit card is used, unlike a credit card, they do not offer a line of credit. The user can only spend the amount that has been loaded onto the card or placed into the account associated with the card.

There are dozens of debit cards on the market, many of them issued by the same bank, but fee structures are vastly different. Bestprepaiddebitcards.com has done all the research for you and provides comprehensive reviews to help you decide which card is best for you.

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New Year, New Credit Score

If you’re like millions of other Americans, you began 2015 with at least one resolution to better yourself. Nearly half of us routinely begin January with some sort of commitment to self-improvement, usually to lose weight or perhaps establish a new credit score. Making the resolution is the easy part. Research out of the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, however, shows just how difficult it can be to maintain those good intentions.[pullquote_right] Fully a quarter of Americans don’t last one week with their new habits, and after six months just 46 percent of people maintain committed to their resolutions.[/pullquote_right] Overall, less than 10 percent are able to pull off a permanent change.

Still, just because you haven’t been able to transition from eating burgers to tofu doesn’t mean you can’t take other steps to make 2015 better than 2014. As a start, don’t give up on that resolution to establish a new credit score. Doing so will improve your overall financial health significantly by convincing mortgage and auto loan companies to offer you their best interest rates. Here are a few tips to make 2015 the year of your new and improved credit score.

Don’t run up that balance If you went on a spending spree over the holidays, now is the time to take a sober look at your credit card accounts and get to work paying them down. Thirty percent of the popular and widely-used FICO credit scores are determined by an analysis of how much you owe on those accounts. Ideal is a so-called credit utilization of just ten percent, which means that your balance is ten percent or less of the total credit available to you.

Always be on time Even more important than maintaining a modest credit utilization is simply paying your bills on time. Fully 35 percent of a FICO score is determined by your history of making timely payments on your bills.

Get out the magnifying glass Nobody is perfect, including the companies that compile the credit reports that are used to calculate credit scores. Take advantage of your right to view a free copy of your credit report and take the many hours required to sift through it to find
mistakes that might be harming your score. If you do find mistakes – like accounts that aren’t yours or charges you never made – dispute those errors with the credit reporting companies.

Minimize applying for new standard/prime credit cards Another red flag for credit reporting companies is when people apply for more credit. If you already have pretty good credit and credit cards that you can use, avoid generating any unnessecary credit score dings by holding off applying for any new credit cards.

Now, if your score is currently very low, or if you are trying to build a fresh new score, the tips are a bit different.

Tips for Building Low / New Credit Scores

Apply for store and department store credit cards These are typically easier to get than standard credit cards and do not require as high a credit score for approval. They can offer perks and discounts at your favorite stores and they will report to the credit bureaus.

Apply for a secured credit card These cards are also easier to get, although there are typically fees associated with secured credit cards. But, they can help to establish or build up a low credit score. And when you start using these cards, always pay on time. We offer a list of some of the top secured cards on this site. If you are in the market for one, check them out.

Whether you are in the market for the best mortgage rate you can find or trying to rebuild your credit, knowing your credit score and what is on your credit report is a very healthy exercise that will help improve your overall financial fitness.

January 24, 2015
Nature vs. Nurture Which Affect Your Spending Habits?

This is an interesting item on the topic of nature vs nurture and how they may affect your spending habits. Although the study came out in 2013, it does not appear the information has changed. For those who are curious, read on.

Which affects your spending and borrowing habits more, nature or nurture? Does it matter? Well Dr. Hersh Shefrin, Chair in the Department of Finance at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business seems to think so. In a recent paper for Chase Blueprint’s Resource Center for Mindful Spending, Dr. Shefrin, takes a deeper look into the psychology of why we spend and borrow the way we do.[pullquote_right]…financial education has largely been ineffective in increasing our degree of financial literacy …[/pullquote_right]]

Some would argue it is due to a genetic predisposition, while others would say it is a matter of financial literacy. Well, you would be surprised to find it is actually a little of both. While nature and instincts play a part, a strategic, well-educated thought process (nurture), can override habits and knee-jerk reactions for instant gratification.

According to Dr. Shefrin, Traditional financial education has largely been ineffective in increasing our degree of financial literacy because traditional methods fail to take into consideration the importance of psychology and the knowledge of how our brains make decisions. A recent study showed those with financial literacy training fared no better on tests than those who did not take the class.

Dr. Shefrin suggests the key to better financial literacy would be a two-fold approach. First, identify what motivates us, then design programs aimed at helping develop and maintain strong spending and borrowing patterns. Some ways to do this would be by designing smart, nurturing programs that help people carry out the basics of managing spending and borrowing. Another way would be with the use of modern technology, such as personal financial management tools aimed at providing consumers with their spending data in a straight forward way. Finally, turning finances into fun with the use of games would go a long way to help instill better spending and borrowing habits in children, particularly during the K-12 years.

“There is a high cost to making bad financial decisions,” says Dr. Shefrin. To make real progress, we should harness innovations that can make it possible for people to overcome poor spending and borrowing habits.”

Why do we spend this way?

For more information on the role nature and nurture plays in our spending habits, visit: https://www.chase.com/online/chase_blueprint/document/JPMC_Chase_BornToSpend_FINAL.pdf

For more information on the Resource Center for Mindful Spending, visit: https://www.chase.com/online/chase_blueprint/resource-center.htm

January 22, 2015

Category: Best Low Fee Prepaid Cards

GO2bank Offers Overdraft Protection up to $300. And build your credit with the GO2bank Secured Visa® Credit Card with no annual fee*, no credit check*, and no impact to your credit when you apply. (sponsor link)

New Year, New Credit Score

Nature vs. Nurture Which Affect Your Spending Habits?

GO2bank Offers Overdraft Protection up to $300.

And build your credit with the GO2bank Secured Visa® Credit Card with no annual fee, no credit check, and no impact to your credit when you apply. (sponsor link)