If you owe credit-card debt, educate yourself with these pointers from Kiplinger about how the whole collections process works and what your rights are. Year after year, debt collection complaints rank among the most-common consumer grievances the Federal Trade Commission receives. In fact, reports of deceptive debt-collection tactics were the second-most common complaint (after identity theft) Read more

We're thrilled to present this smart Bundle story here on Savvy! Struggling under a pile of credit card bills? Reducing your multiple monthly payments to one may seem tempting. Just one payment to keep track of! Just one balance! If you're in the market for decluttering your finances, walk this way. This is for you: If you're juggling multiple credit card payments every month and would rather Read more

When it comes to credit cards, I think we all know we're not always getting what we pay for — or rather, we're paying for a lot more than we get. Factor in interest rates, APR, and how long it takes us to pay off our charges, and we're really looking at spending a whole lot more than we planned on. Still, with item — and card — in hand at the checkout, we're rarely calculating the real Read more

Even if you didn’t make (or stick to) any Savvy resolutions this new year, or didn’t manage to give up a spendy habit for Lent, it’s never too late to clean up your finances and get yourself on the right track. Spring finally arrives this Sunday, so take some time this week to Spring clean your finances and start the season off right. Not sure where to start? Read on for a few ideas. Read more

If you’re like millions of other Americans, one of your resolutions for 2010 is to get on top of your credit card debt. Paying it all off in one fell swoop would be the ideal way to go about it, but unless you also plan to win the lottery this year, that’s probably not an option. Author Bob Sullivan has a completely doable suggestion for wrapping your head around your credit card debt and Read more

Dear Savvy, I've just paid off one of my credit cards that was in the Debt Management Program through a credit counseling service, which is something I'm proud of! It's nice to have accomplished that! The only issue is, I got a letter from that company offering to reopen the credit card line since I paid everything off. I'm not 100 percent sure if it'd be a wise thing to do or not, since using Read more

Times have changed since I was in college, and I'm not just referring to the escalating cost of tuition. Banks hawking everything from free t-shirts and water bottles to free pizza used to set up their tables around the university center attempting to attract unknowing students to sign up for credit cards. As of February 22, 2010, those banks won't be allowed to coerce young adults with free Read more