Archive for April, 2011

Whether it’s Starbucks or some other coffee shop, a lot of consumers have a big hole in their budget in the form of their daily coffee habit.

Many tough-love “self-help” gurus would inveigh against these coffee purchases and demand that you quit cold turkey. We’ve certainly counseled many consumers to stop spending so much at Starbucks.

When it comes to your credit report, you have the right to add a personal statement. This statement can be up to 100 words long and gives you the opportunity to explain information in your file.

Here at Springboard, a former client was excited to tell us that her credit score was 723. That’s a respectable score, and much higher than she expected given her credit history. Another consumer who had recently been the victim of identity theft checked her credit and was ecstatic to learn that her score was right at 800, which is as high a score as anyone needs.

Unfortunately, they had both been misled. Their scores weren’t nearly as good as they thought.

According to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling’s (NFCC) annual Consumer Financial Literacy Survey, many Americans need to put themselves into “time-out.” When we were in school, a grade of… read more →

Because of the CARD Act, creditors must print on credit card statement the amount of time to pay off the card’s balance (and interest paid) if you just made minimum payment required. I’ve spoken with many consumers and I can tell you that a lot of people think the information is a misprint.

Parents across the country are having the talk with their young adult as he or she heads out the door to college. This year, however, the talk isn’t about sex,… read more →

Two important sections of your credit report are the “Public Records” and “Inquiries” sections. Knowing what personal and public information that is on your report is an important factor to taking control of your finances. It is also important to know what companies have requested a copy of your report.

The third step in this series is to review all of the information contained within the public record section of your annual credit report. Public information and inquiries are usually the last sections to appear in your credit report, though each credit report company does things a bit differently.