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In a recent article at MSN Money, a study found that 1 in 7 (14.3%)Americans own 10 or more credit cards! The average American has 4 credit cards and the average credit score is 674.

Where do you stand? What’s your FICO credit score? How many credit cards do you have? How many do you carry in your wallet or purse? Leave your comment here. Personally my FICO score is currently 658; down from a high of about 730 (I’ll explain later). I usually carry one Visa credit card in my wallet and my Washington Mutual MasterCard Debit card. I use the Visa for everday purchases which I pay off every month. The debit card is just for ATM use, although I rarely use this unless I’m depositing a check through the ATM.

Now I’m going to explain why my credit score dropped. I’ve got almost 4 grand in credit card debt! I have a MasterCard with $1500 on it at 0% that I’m going to pay off as soon as the promotion is up. I also recently took out a 0% $2300 balance transfer from Citi to myself and it’s sitting in a savings account earning 5.25%. I’ll pay that off in 12 months. I have no problem using free money and that’s essentially what it is. As long as you’re disciplined, this is a great way to earn a little interest on the bank’s money which they normally do to you. I wouldn’t suggest this, however, if you’re swamped in credit card debt, for obvious reasons.

If your FICO score is high though and your credit card interest is at 15% or higher, I would give your credit card company a quick call and ask them to lower your interest rate. What’s the worst that could happen? They might say no but more often than not, they’ll lower your rate. And if they don’t, tell them you’re going to do a 0% balance transfer (even if you’re not). They’ll send you to a retention specialist and they will most likely lower your interest rate to keep your business. There’s so much competition out there for your debt that they’re willing to do these things. All it takes is five minutes of your time!

Tags: Do you carry 10 or more credit cards

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It’s very refreshing to hear news of a credit card company actually doing something positive once every blue moon. Citigroup, which is the third largest credit card issuer in the U.S., said that it is essentially getting rid of universal default.

Universal default is a clause on credit card agreements where a credit card issuer can raise your credit card interest rate if you default on any other obligations to other lenders. This practice seems to punish you for making mistakes with other lenders. So if you happen to default on a loan that doesn’t even have to be another credit card, all of your credit cards can shoot up to 24% interest and even higher in some states! How fair its that?

Here’s the link to the Reuter’s article.

Even rental property should have an insurance like the life insurance or home insurance, especially when business services exact more attention with conference calls coming in rapidly.

Tags: bank, cards, citi, grup

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Here’s how you can double your warranty on many items that you purchase. Use your credit card. That’s right. I do disagree with Dave Ramsey on some things (although I agree more than I disagree). Credit cards can be a tool if used correctly and this is one example (out of many examples).

Many of the major credit card companies (Visa, MasterCard, American Express) have some form of extended warranty protection. This is available on all Visa Signature cards and many other Visa credit cards (Warranty Manager Service). MasterCard offers Extended Warranty on their World MasterCard and others. American Express offers its Buyer’s Assurance Plan on all their cards. Discover does not currently offer any extended warranty protection.

Qualifying items must be purchased entirely on the credit card. They will usually add one year to the manufacturer’s warranty for free and if it breaks within that extended period, the credit card company will reimburse you or replace/repair the item! So next time you’re offered to purchase an extended warranty plan, just politely decline and charge it to your credit card! Remember to keep all invoices, receipts, manufacturer warranty papers, etc. as you may need it to file a claim. Also the original credit card has to be kept open in order for it to work.

As a credit card holder, it pays to know your benefits! Take advantage of those benefits and you could save money!

As always, check the terms of your actual credit cards to make sure you have this.

Tags: Credit

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Black Friday, the traditional kick-off to the Christmas shopping season, is fast approaching in a couple weeks. I go every year and camp out on Thanksgiving night after dinner. Some of the ads are already out at bfads.net. So far, I’m a little disappointed in the “deals”. But, some ads are not available yet so hopefully someone pulls something out.

Last year I camped out at Best Buy, but I’m not sure this year. I may just decide to stay home and do Black Friday online this year. It really depends on the deals. You would think that with the economy the way it is that retailers would pull out all the stops to get the shoppers out.

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MyFICO is offering a free 30-day trial of their FICO Score Watch which offers 2 free Equifax FICO scores and credit reports! Each FICO score is worth $15.95! This is the real FICO score that most banks and lenders use today.

Your score will be pulled on the day you sign up and you get another one that can be used later on. I would pull the second one towards the end of the trial because it would be more helpful to see the differences further down the road.

Just make sure you cancel before the 30-days ends or you will automatically be charged $89.95 (yikes!). You will get a reminder email from them a week before the trial ends but I would still put it on my Google calendar, sticky notes, bulletin boards, etc. to make sure I don’t forget. In fact, you can cancel immediately after getting your FICO score if you want so you don’t have to worry about canceling later on.

Also, here’s a post about how to pull your free credit report, not your credit score. You get three free credit reports each year from each credit bureau so stagger them every four months and you’ll have them all year-round!

Tags: Get Your Free FICO Score Now!

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