These days, everyone from prospective employers to cell phone service providers are looking at your credit report. But not all credit report inquiries are created equal. As reported on Mainstreet.com, a “soft inquiry” is made when you request your free credit report or a company where you’ve applied for a job pulls your report. Such […]
Archive | Credit/Debt
New Ways to Pay Off Student Loans
For those struggling under the weight of too much student loan debt, some new forms of relief are now available. Those working in low-income fields may be eligible for an Income-Based Repayment Plan, which became available the first of this month. An article on Kiplinger.com used an example of someone making $20,000 per year with […]
An Unsettling Approach to Debt
The New York Attorney General’s office has announced an investigation into 14 debt settlement companies across the country, which it says “often prey upon consumers who find themselves unable to keep up with credit card payments in these difficult economic times.” In a recent press release, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo described debt settlement as a […]
Home Improvement
By Matt Bell on May 1, 2009 in Faith & Finances, Budgeting/Planning, Generosity, Saving, Credit/Debt
“I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.” – Psalm 119:16 In the mid 1990s, Kevin Bauman began photographing abandoned houses in his hometown of Detroit. It was a creative outlet, a way to express his amazement and concern that “a once great city could find itself in such great distress.” Viewing […]
Irrational Money Moves
Some of the most interesting (and odd!) research about money comes from behavioral economists and psychologists. As noted in a recent Economist article, one study found that diners tend to spend more in a restaurant named “Cafe 97” than one named “Cafe 17.” Another study looked the behavior of people who carry a balance on […]
The Gift of a Debt-Free Holiday
An estimated 12 million people are still paying off debts they racked up buying holiday gifts last year. That’s among the more sobering findings from a new holiday survey conducted by Consumer Reports. The lingering debts may be one reason why nearly 60 percent of people plan to use a gift budget this year–a much […]
A Credit Score Game Changer
Even if you make no changes in how you use credit, your credit score could change for the worse in the near future, according to a story on MarketWatch.com. The issue is that credit card companies are lowering some people’s credit limits because more people are falling behind on their payments. With a lower credit […]
Never Forget Who You Are
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. – […]
Building On a Solid Foundation
Much of the financial crisis gripping our country can be blamed on bad mortgages. Some say the mortgage mess is due to a lack of regulation or corporate oversight. Others say borrowers simply bit off more than they could chew. While the blame game intensifies, the Associated Press just reported on new Census Bureau data […]
Staying the Course
“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power […]