According to statistics drawn from the Federal Reserve and other government sources, the average American family has about $7,281 in credit card debt. However, there are many households that do not have credit card debt. If we filter out those, the average credit card debt among families that are in debt is $15,607! So how […]
I have written previously about how you can go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com and get a free copy of your credit report from each of 3 major credit reporting agencies once per year. This is valuable and something you should be doing to make sure there are no errors or unexpected items. This service only provides free […]
According to TransUnion, one of the three primary credit reporting agencies, identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America. Each minute that goes by another 19 people fall victim to identity theft. It is estimated that the average identity theft will cost the victim about $500 and 30 hours of effort to clean up. […]
In his book Money, Possessions, and Eternity, Randy Alcorn talks about the “debt mentality”. He says the problem with the use of debt as it is done so pervasively in our current society is that it is really based on 6 key assumptions: We need more than God has given us. God doesn’t know best […]
The telephone rings. You start to get a knot in your stomach. Is it another debt collector? What will you say this time? You aren’t sure you have the emotional energy to face another day of calls. Have you ever found yourself in this place? No one wants to be in a position where they […]
What debt is in most situations is denial. You have already spent the money, you just aren’t emotionally admitting it. – Dave Ramsey I was listening to The Dave Ramsey Show this week when Dave made this statement. I had never really thought of debt in terms of denial before. I believe this is why […]
According to a CNN Money article, a recent study by the FTC reported that 42 million Americans may have some error on their credit report. As many as 5% of all reports may have errors serious enough to cause them to have credit denied. Check your credit report So what can you do about it? […]
If you have purchased items with a credit card in the last couple weeks you might have gotten a surprise: a 4% surcharge on your credit card purchase! Why this new charge? First a little history. For years card issuers have charged merchants an “interchange fee” on credit card transactions. Essentially, this fee was for […]
I recently listened to a message by Andy Stanley. He noted that shortly after he and his wife were married, they took a personal finance class. The leader of the class made the statement that there are only two kinds of people in the world: People who make interest. People who pay interest. The trick is you […]
I discussed a few weeks ago a Consumer Reports article that highlighted the growing problem of identity theft and what to do if you think someone has stolen your identity. We don’t often think though about the possibility that our children could be the victims of identity theft. Unfortunately, it can and does happen sometimes. […]