Cape or Colonial? Three bedrooms or four? Hardwood floors or wall-to-wall carpet? Use a realtor or handle the negotiations yourself? Make a 20 percent down payment or not? To say that there a ton of decisions to make when buying a house is certainly an understatement. The most important decision to make, however, is choosing

In a moment, identity theft can cause you huge expense and massive headaches. What an identity thief accomplishes in an hour or day can take years to unravel. It can happen to anyone, and the perpetrators are not always strangers. Take a few simple, basic precautions to protect yourself. Shred everything. Not just last month’s

The discovery of identity theft is bound to be one of the most anxious and stressful moments a person can experience. When an identity thief gets his (or her) hands on your personal information, they gain the power to wreak havoc on your finances, credit and reputation. Minimize the chance that you will fall victim

When you’re shopping for a vehicle, the last thing you want to do is spend more than you have to. Car dealerships in the U.S. long ago created a reputation for themselves as shady, slick negotiators — eager to squeeze every dollar they could get out of naive or unsuspecting customers. They’re just waiting for an

A new rule allows stay-at-home spouses and other nonworking household members over the age of 21 to more easily obtain credit in their own names. In 2009, the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act was passed. One part of the CARD Act, the “independent ability to pay” rule, restricted consumers from obtaining credit

We asked our Facebook fans and Twitter followers to share their most pressing personal finance questions, and this week we’re talking mortgage payments — or more specifically, unintentional partial mortgage payments that end up being reported as a 30-day late payments. John Ulzheimer, Credit Expert for Credit Sesame, weighs-in. “John, I received a notice of

Every single day couples across America find love, get engaged, move in together and get married. After couples decide to spend their lives together they have to make another very important decision; they have to decide if they are really going to share everything in their lives.  If you’re in a committed relationship you now

I’ve often been asked what is considered a bad credit score and exactly how much a bad credit score will cost you over your lifetime. And while that question is hard to answer definitively for every person reading this, it is a fact that poor credit score will make your life more expensive across a variety of

If you are struggling to pay off your debt or want to build your credit, or even if you just need some help understanding how to improve your credit score, you may want to seek credit repair services. Not sure where to begin? Here’s a quick overview of the services that are offered, what to

Not too long ago, brokers and agents alike convinced many a financially naïve home buyer to buy a home he or she couldn’t afford on an interest-only ARM (adjustable rate mortgage). The idea was that in a short time, the property value would rise and the owner would thus magically acquire sufficient equity to qualify