Consumer Credit – What Good News?

February 7, 2010 – 12:06 pm

Bloomberg said:

Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, rebounding from the biggest losses since March, as investors speculated the European Union may come up with a solution for budget deficits in Greece and Spain and consumer credit dropped less than forecast.

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Auto Insurance in Southern California – What You Need Now & Savings Coming Up

February 6, 2010 – 3:17 pm

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As with most states, {California auto insurance} law requires all motorists to carry three fundamental liability components.

Bodily Injury Liability (BIL) of $ 15,000 per person injured

Total Bodily Injury Liability (Total BIL) of $ 30,000 for each accident

Property Damage Liability or PDL of $ 15,000 per accident

Your insurance agent calls this 15k/30k/15k.

But to rely on this coverage alone, would be sheer foolishness.

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3 Free Credit Reports – The Agencies and Credit Monitoring

February 6, 2010 – 3:11 am

See What You Need To Know About Your 3 Free Credit Reports. The main 3 Free Credit Reports as you all know come from Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. You are entitled to one Free Credit Report per year from each agency if you visit the government mandated site at annualcreditreport.com. However, if you want to monitor your Consumer Credit more closely you may want to get monitoring service from one or more of the bureaus.

Equifax is one of the big Three Consumer Credit bureaus that has authorized giving away annual Free Reports.

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Understanding Credit Card Cancellations

February 5, 2010 – 11:25 pm

Finding out your credit card has been canceled can be frustrating, embarrassing and worrisome.

Unfortunately, tough economic times may mean card cancellations become more common and more likely in the coming months.

Why Credit Cards Matter

Hopefully, you already know that your credit score is a number calculated through a formula developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) and determines what kind of interest rates you’re likely to receive from lenders.

But what you may not have realized is that your credit card usage plays an important role in your credit score:

    Age of accounts: The longevity of various credit accounts, including loans and lines of credit, is a factor in your credit score. S

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Will your Toyota’s insurance go up?

February 5, 2010 – 9:52 am

When a major car manufacturer like Toyota announces a recall on your vehicle, you’re likely to be concerned about your car’s safety. But you may also wonder what the recall will mean for your car insurance rate.

Toyota recently announced recalls of roughly 5.2 million vehicles for a pedal entrapment and floor mat problem and an additional 2.3 million vehicles for a gas pedal problem. Product liability lawsuits and wrongful death lawsuits against Toyota are beginning to mount.

  • How good is your car insurance rate?

But car insurance companies do not base rates on recalls or lawsuits — they use a car’s claims history.

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Selling Back Really Old Textbooks Online

February 4, 2010 – 9:12 pm

In the process of trying to minimize junk, I sold off some pretty old textbooks this week. It’s been over ten years since I first bought any of these books, and the last time I used them was probably about 7 years ago. I had saved them initially for the qualifying exams that PhD students must take early on in graduate school, and then later thought I might go back to school or use them as references at work. They also looked nice on my bookshelf and made me feel smart. <

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