This past Thursday was the fourth time in the past year that House of Representative lawmakers discussed the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights, unveiled earlier this year by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. More than half of the 15 witnesses that testified before a panel of the House Financial Services committee endorsed the 9-point legislative plan. The issue has taken on more relevance as more and more Americans are facing rises in unemployment, inflation and have had to increase their reliance on their credit cards to make ends meet.

A statistic from the CNN article, Congress Tackles Credit Card Reform:

Based on the most recent data from the Federal Reserve, the average American family carries an average of $2,200 in credit card debt.

As fallout from the recent housing and credit crises hit the big companies, more everyday folks are now feeling the affects as the companies, in order to preserve their profits, are passing the whole of the costs onto the consumers. This is the point many credit card company critics have argued. Many credit card issuers have been charged with engaging in “unfair” practices such as raising interest rates on debt even when consumers pay on time or imposing excessive fees. Read more…

Teaching your kids about money management is a very important lesson, but that lesson becomes even more necessary when your kids are ready to leave the nest and to go to college. College is usually the first time people are exposed to managing their own finances and the way they deal with them at this important time can be a benchmark on how they will manage their finances throughout their lives. If you’d like to teach your teen about money and credit, keep reading to get some good tips. Read more…

Looking to take an extended vacation overseas? Maybe if you’re a student you have plans to spend Spring Break ‘08 in Cancun this year? There may be something you haven’t thought about. You may not be aware but your credit card could have extra transaction fees associated with every purchase you make. So before you take out the plastic, you should know about your card’s overseas fees.

To the joy of credit card companies everywhere, credit cards are becoming more accepted in a growing number of countries around the world. When once only hot-spot tourist destinations like Paris and Barcelona accepted credit cards, many more places off the beaten path are starting to accept plastic also, such as eastern European countries, the Middle East and India, just to name a few. For those who are wary of carrying gobs of foreign cash or traveler’s checks with them, credit cards provide a useful alternate for travelers. Read more…

As new students start to enter college they will make mistakes. But forgetting to study for the mid-terms is small compared to the horror stories of people that have plummeted into credit card debt during college. These mistakes, if not dealt with properly, can cost thousands. Dealing with mistakes and setbacks is an important part to mastering your personal finances.

The best way to deal with financial setbacks is by being prepared and educating yourself about money. The best defense is a good offense after all. Unexpected medical bills and car repairs are usually the main culprits when it comes to that unexpected slide into debt. An emergency fund can be a lifesaver when those unexpected bills pop up. Make sure to put a little aside every month into a separate savings account. Make your money work for you by opening a high-yield savings account instead of a regular one. Also educate yourself on the ins-and-outs of your loans and personal finance. By reading blogs, magazines and other resources you can get some pretty good ideas on everything from easy ways to save money while in college to tips and tricks to save gas. Read more…

According to credit industry statistics, there were 1.3 billion (yes, billion) credit cards in circulation in the United States in 2004. That’s an average of 4.3 credit cards per person. With those credit cards people have racked up more than $2.2 trillion in purchases and cash advances on in just this last year.

For Americans it has become a habit to spend money that they just don’t have. This problem is made worse by the fact that fewer cardholders are paying their credit cards bills on time. The percentage of people delinquent on their credit cards is the highest it’s been in three years and that statistic shows no sigh of stopping.

A 2004 statistic shows that 39% of Americans, on average, pay their cards off in full each month, which is a great strategy to avoid accruing interest. But this also means that the remainder of the population, roughly 60%, is carrying a credit card balance.

Another interesting statistic is that the average American has access to approximately $19,000 across all credit cards combine. From that stat its easy to see why credit card debt overall has grown by 315 percent from 1989 to 2006. Read more…

Giving a college student advice about money may be like talking to a brick wall but in the long run it will be well worth the effort if that financial advice is followed. The following advice and tips are useful for everyone, especially college students. Some of the following are common sense but others you may not have thought of. Read more…