Credit Cards

Economic Sexism Lives On… and On

Thumbnail image for Economic Sexism Lives On… and On by Janice Conard May 7, 2012

When I entered the workforce full time in the early 1980s, I was shocked to learn that I could expect to earn only a little over 60 cents for every dollar brought in by men with my qualifications. It’s called the gender pay gap, and anyone who says it no longer exists has his head [...]

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Don’t Blame Victims for Student Debt Run Amok!

Thumbnail image for Don’t Blame Victims for Student Debt Run Amok! by Janice Conard April 13, 2012

Yesterday’s Time Moneyland article, College Students Are Credit Card Dunces, by Martha C. White, ticked me off.  Talk about blaming the victim! Her angle:  “So, just how dumb are kids these days?” White cites Financial Literacy and Credit Cards: A Multi Campus Survey, which found that only 14.6 percent of students knew their credit card [...]

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Two Ideas to Relieve Unemployment Pressure

Thumbnail image for Two Ideas to Relieve Unemployment Pressure by Janice Conard March 5, 2012

Ever since I read “An Idea for Changing Unemployment Benefits” by my colleague, Kasey Steinbrinck, I’ve been trying to think more creatively about what can be done to help the unemployed. Having only recently returned to work myself after being unemployed for two and a half years, I think I’m as qualified as anyone to [...]

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Understanding Fair Isaac and the Fair Credit Reporting Act

Thumbnail image for Understanding Fair Isaac and the Fair Credit Reporting Act by Karen Stewart February 3, 2012

Back in grade school, teachers routinely terrorized misbehaving students with the threat that their misconduct would “go down on your permanent record.”  I envisioned my “permanent record” as something of a huge book, where entries were printed neatly by vindictive teachers wielding their bloody red fountain pens, later to be pored over by some Big [...]

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Know Your Rights Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Thumbnail image for Know Your Rights Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by Karen Stewart February 2, 2012

The cash-strapped consumer is one of the most notable products of high unemployment, low wages and grocery prices approaching the stratosphere. With little or nothing remaining from the shrinking weekly paychecks of more and more Americans, some debts slip into default. Sometimes the cause is simple oversight, but usually it’s because funds are scarce. And [...]

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Convenience Checks – The ‘Inconvenient Truth’

Thumbnail image for Convenience Checks – The ‘Inconvenient Truth’ by Kasey Steinbrinck January 27, 2012

No, credit cards and the junk mail with so-called convenience checks inside are not melting the polar ice caps. So those of you who stuck your credit cards in the freezer to avoid irresponsible spending can relax. However, convenience checks are a major threat to your personal finances for more than one reason, and they [...]

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Suze Orman vs The Personal Finance Blogosphere

Thumbnail image for Suze Orman vs The Personal Finance Blogosphere by Kasey Steinbrinck January 16, 2012

When you think of the most famous personal finance gurus, two personalities will likely come to mind – Dave Ramsey and  Suze Orman. Davey Ramsey is known for promoting the so-called Debt Snowball method and recently gained the attention and support of many personal finance bloggers when he launched Financial Peace University. Suze Orman, on [...]

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What to Do When a Collector Calls (and Won’t Stop Calling)

Thumbnail image for What to Do When a Collector Calls (and Won’t Stop Calling) by Janice Conard January 12, 2012

If you’re being harassed by a bill collector, you’re not alone. According to Gary Rivlin, author of the Daily Beast/Newsweek article “America’s Abusive Debt Collectors,” the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received more than 50,000 complaints about severe harassment in 2010. That’s a 25 percent increase over 2009 and three times as many complaints as the [...]

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Yes, Virginia, There Is a Financial Literacy Clause!

Thumbnail image for Yes, Virginia, There Is a Financial Literacy Clause! by Janice Conard January 10, 2012

Just last week I complained in Get Out of Debt While You’re Still Young that the U.S. education system doesn’t teach students the art of  money management. That’s why I was so heartened to read McDonnell announces personal-finance initiative in the Augusta Free Press.

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Get Out of Debt While You’re Still Young

Thumbnail image for Get Out of Debt While You’re Still Young by Janice Conard January 4, 2012

Generation Y.  Echo Boomers. Millennials. No matter what you call them, today’s young people are struggling to make it in this crappy economy. According to The Project on Student Debt, two-thirds of undergraduates came out of college in 2010 carrying an average of $25,250 in debt, an increase of 5 percent over 2009 and the [...]

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