Credit cards are like a third hand to majority of Americans. If you are amongst them, then you should think carefully before becoming so dependent on credit cards. What you often forget while enjoying the advantage of having multiple credit cards is that using these credit cards for every purchase you make can have grave consequences in future. Thus it is important that you should remember that basic functioning of a credit card. A credit card should be used only to buy things that you need as the money that you use as credit needs to be returned. If you don’t do that on time you start accruing interest on your card and thereby fall in debt.

How can you escape from credit card debts?

Once you are in credit card debt, it is very difficult to escape. The only way available to you is credit card consolidation which can facilitate the process of paying back your debts. Read more…

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I just read an article that President Obama is considering another refinance plan for federally insured mortgages as one solution to the mortgage crisis. Unfortunately it will not address the real problem of underwater properties throughout the country and any program administered thru banks will have so many requirements and government mandates like the failed HAMP program it will not solve the crisis. The NACBA proposed Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Principal Pay Down Plan is a real solution that President Obama can implement for these Federally insured mortgages without an act of Congress and will  unleash an untapped resource so far the talented and devoted Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorneys in this country to devise plans for homeowners that will save their homes by reducing the principal balances of their loans, removing fully unsecured second mortgages and other liens on their homes and eliminating or reducing unsecured debt.

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Colleges and universities may suspend financial aid eligibility when your GPA falls below a certain level, usually below a 2.0 GPA. To continue taking college classes, you have to pay for classes without the help of any government-backed loans or grants. To regain financial eligibility, you must pull up your GPA by getting A’s and B’s in future classes. You may complete the financial aid suspension appeal process required by your college or university to reinstate financial aid after you’ve demonstrated your ability to obtain satisfactory grades.

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Do you have a question about consumer credit? You may find an immediate answer by using the search engine. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, please fill out the form, being as specific as possible.

Please note: The Ask Experian team cannot respond to each question individually. However, if your question is of interest to a wide audience of consumers, the Experian team will include it in a future column.

Can I dispute the score? I have a creditor that hasn’t reported me current on several opened accounts. I show current with Experian and one of the other credit agencies but there is no account data with the third. I show the lowest score from them.

You cannot dispute a credit score. Credit scores simply represent the information in your credit report, so you must change the information in the report in order to change your credit scores.

Disputing information you believe to be inaccurate in your credit report can result in changes to the report.

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While all Capital One credit cards charge no international transaction fees, the Capital One Venture Card is their stand-out offer, as it provides 2 miles for every dollar spent year round. On a recent trip to the Caribbean, my husband and I brought the Venture card along. The trip turned out to be a little more expensive than we planned, but it could have cost more were it not for the Venture card.

Overall, our international expenses came to $1928 ($600 to replace a broken camera elevated this cost). If we had used American Express Blue Cash Preferred, we would have paid $52.06 in international transaction fees, while earning 1% cash back, bringing our fees less rewards expense to $32.78. If we had used our standard Chase Sapphire card, which unlike Chase Sapphire Preferred charges a 3% fee, our international fee expense would have been $57.84 while our net expense less 1% rewards would have brought the total down to $38.56.

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