How to Refinance a Home Loan If You Have Bad Credit
A low credit score isn’t a roadblock to refinancing a mortgage, but it may be enough to stop homeowners from considering a refi at all. After all, a credit score is an important factor lenders consider. For the biggest purchase in most of our lives, why even try if you know going in that you […]
What is the average American credit score?
Most people have heard the term “credit score” and know it has something to do with their personal finances. But what is it? How do you get one? And how does yours compare with people like you? The credit score is a three-digit number based on your credit report. Lenders report your debts and payments […]
Credit Sesame’s Ultimate Tax Filing Guide for Beginners
Tax season is underway and if it’s your first time filing, don’t panic. Taxes don’t have to be intimidating. Just take a little time to understanding the basics. If you’re not sure where to get started, this guide breaks down the basics from start to finish. Dive in to learn more. Getting Ready to File […]
Investing in Stocks Isn’t Always a Losing Game: One Woman’s Story of Success & Early Retirement
When you think of an artist, you probably think starving and broke. That’s not the case for Katherine Kean. This fine artist managed to achieve financial independence in her 40s with a successful business and savvy investments. These days she spends most of her time in her home studio in Los Angeles, painting beautiful works […]
Foreclosure And Deed In Lieu Of Foreclosure: My Credit Score Took A Huge Hit. Now What?
2008 was years ago. The housing market is supposed to be better now, right? That may be true for the U.S. as a whole, but not for many individual Americans. The 2016 U.S. foreclosure rate was at a 10-year low, but nonetheless, about one million homes were in foreclosure according to RealtyTrac. My husband and […]
Credit Sesame Addresses the Confusion: What Credit Score We Use
Interested consumers ask a few common questions about who we are and what we do. Here are the answers you need. Credit Sesame, a financial wellness company, is a consumer advocate. We provide credit scores, updated monthly, absolutely free to any U.S. consumer who has a credit file. Credit Sesame also provides services to help […]
Why Do Companies Give Away Free Credit Scores?
There is no law that entitles consumers to free credit scores. But in 2013 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) – the nation’s financial watchdog tasked with protecting consumers – began urging banks and other institutions to provide credit scores and other educational information to consumers. Credit Sesame beat them to the punch when it […]
Stop the Confusion: When to Choose Debit or Credit for Your Purchases
Now is a great time to look at your finances for 2017, reevaluate your budget and choose your financial strategies for the coming year. One question to ask is whether to use debit or credit. The Case for Credit Cards Credit cards offer many advantages. The first is that credit cards offer greater fraud protection […]
Credit Sesame’s Most Frequently Asked Questions on Facebook, Finally!
We get a lot of questions from consumers about the free services we offer, and how to improve one’s credit score. Credit health and education is an important part of life, so to help you better navigate through your credit journey, we’ve gathered a list of the most frequently asked questions from our Facebook page. […]
Survey: Love Conquers All? 1 in 5 Would Marry Someone With an Extremely Low Credit Score
How important is it that your significant other has a good credit score or is savvy with money? It’s no secret that roughly half of U.S. marriages end in divorce, and that money is commonly cited as the cause for the split. With this in mind, Credit Sesame polled 2,000 consumers with the goal of […]
How She Bounced Back Gracefully From Bankruptcy at 24
At just 24, Latoya Scott faced nearly $100,000 in debt. She owed $30,000 on credit cards, $7,000 for a car loan, $8,000 for medical bills, and $50,000 in student loans. “At 24 years old, having that amount of consumer debt was debilitating,” Latoya says. She even stayed in school, at least in part, to avoid […]
Pay Inequality in the Ridesharing World: Which Drivers Aren’t Making As Much Money?
Ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft, enable almost anyone to make money as a personal taxi service. Uber has 40 million active monthly riders and Lyft has 3 million, clearly illustrating that drivers across America find profitability in rideshare driver work. Income discrepancies are real across the United States. Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at GlassDoor, […]
We Ditched Our House and Moved Into a Bus! How Much Does That Cost?
A new year is time for many people to take stock of what they want from life and make new plans. Kayla, of lifestyle blog This Little Wandering, is on the cusp of a particularly dramatic change. She and her husband, Ben, sold their house last year and renovated an old school bus. They’ll be […]
Top 10 Cities Where Millennials Have the Lowest Credit Scores
Millennials are sometimes perceived as entitled and lazy, shirking responsibilities in favor of life in the here and now. Digging a little deeper, we see what a large role economic realities play in the lives of Millennials. This demographic entered the workforce during the Great Recession with high student debt loads, facing stagnant wages. Millennials […]
Is the Gender Wage Gap Getting Worse? Women Struggle With 21% More in Student Loans Than Men
You’ve heard of the gender wage gap. Women as a collective tend to earn much less than men (about 75 to 80 cents on the dollar). One way that women can close the gender wage gap is by investing in themselves through higher education. It seems women have really taken this bit of advice to […]
