creditcards

Most people understand that a bankruptcy or foreclosure will tank their credit score, but there are plenty of small mistakes you can make that will turn a good score into a mediocre one. Here are seven of the more common errors, plus tips on how to avoid them.

While many Americans are hoping the fellows running for president will give them a tax cut, President Obama has already given all of us one that saves the average family about $1,000 extra a year. So how can you put that bonus to the best use?

Visa said Wednesday that its fiscal first-quarter profit rose 16 percent, as card use rose both in the U.S. and overseas. The San Francisco-based payments processor posted a notable 10 percent increase in U.S. credit card use. But debit card use rose just 6 percent. That's the slowest debit card growth rate in more than a year, and comes during the first three-month period that new rules were in place to limit the fees retailers pay to accept the cards.

A few weeks ago, we asked DailyFinance readers for their best tips for putting your financial house in order. First, we covered saving, but spending in the right way is just as important. Here are some of your best suggestions for managing how your money flows out.

Banks offer all sorts of credit cards. For the savers, there are cash-back cards. For the indebted, there are balance transfer cards. For the shoppers, there are retail cards. And for travelers like me, there are rewards cards.

After the overindulgence of December, it's no surprise that so many people spend January trying to turn over new leaves. If you're ready to get your financial house in order, consider one of these three websites, each with a different take on helping you better manage your money.

Sometimes it pays to wait; sometimes it doesn't. Just ask the roughly 10 million cardholders who were part of the Foreign Currency Conversion Fee Antitrust class action lawsuit settlement. After a decade of legal wrangling, the settlement funds are finally being disbursed -- but a suit this large can dilute even $336 million.

Remember Bank Transfer Day? Well, mark your calendar: Dec. 11 is being publicized as "Balance Transfer Day," with Americans urged to transfer their credit card balances from high-interest cards to low- or no-interest ones.

Credit cards are making a comeback. At the end of 2008, more consumers were using debit cards than credit cards but now that trend has reversed. It's hard for some consumers to resist: Banks have been ramping up solicitations and boosting incentives for credit cards over the past year in an effort to get them to choose credit over debit. But have the big banks changed their ways?

Now that consumer protection laws have pushed back against some of the methods banks devised to make excessive profits at your expense, the financial institutions are trying new techniques. Here's one that at first glance seems like a benefit: Taking away your credit limit.