Credit Card Now

You can save money – impressive amounts, actually – when using your credit card. Since this weekend marked a sudden surge of everything related to holidays, we thought the timing would be great to remind you of some of the tried and true ways of saving money as you go about your shopping this time of year. Take a look:

Its only logical that we look for ways to spend money without it costing us money in the process. Many retailers, including Toys R Us, Wal Mart, Kmart and Sears, are introducing lay-away plans again. This used to be the popular way of buying pricier goods until the credit card industry was off and running. Now, though, with the tough financial times Americans have been experiencing, lay-away has made a strong comeback and the retailers that employ it are reporting brisk sales.

What you might not know, however, is you might can serve your purpose while bypassing the down payments and holding fees most retailers require for their lay-away programs. If

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Tags: Credit, Credit Cards

With competition from so many providers it can often be hard to narrow down credit card deals to the best of the best.

While most new cards will offer some kind of introductory deal or signup bonus, not all of them will appeal or apply to everyone.

So how do you know if you are looking at the top credit card deals for new cards?

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Tags: Card Deals, Credit Card, Credit Card Deals, Deals

NEW YORK – After falling for the previous twenty months, the rate at which customers made late payments to JPMorgan Chase increased during the month of September to 2.53 percent, up from 2.48 percent during the previous month. Many economists find the rate of late payments, also called delinquencies, the metric to watch when it comes to the possibility of future defaults.

While the new rate is still well below the peak rate of 4.91 percent initially reported in April of 2009, it’s still a concerning metric for Chase.

The default rate, however, fell to 4.13 percent, down from 4.67 percent the previous month, which hits another new low for the industry. The

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Tags: Months, Time Months

Q Our mortgage finishes in 18 months, but it is an endowment with a shortfall of about £12,000. I do not work as I care for my elderly mother, and my partner is self-employed and earns very little.

We live in a two-bed house with an 11-year-old boy and a nine-year old-girl who share a bedroom. We cannot afford to move and have decided the only solution is to turn our loft into a room for our son. We expect this to cost about £10,000.

My partner will ask the bank regarding a loan, but do you think we would be better off putting the extra borrowing on the mortgage? Of course, we also have the added problem of how we are going to repay the £12,000 when the mortgage finishes. LS

A Yes, I do think you would be better off increasing your mortgage by £10,000 to pay for the loft conversion. Upp

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Tags: Mortgage, Mortgage Loft

Most of the time, a do-it-yourself ethic is all you need to keep your finances in line. But even the smartest amateurs can use some expert advice from time to time. One of these four personal finance pros may be just the person to help you master your money issues.

1. Credit counselor

Who needs one: People in stressful financial situations. At one end of the spectrum is “the person who has some debt but no clear plan to pay it off,” says Bill Druliner, a financial counselor for GreenPath Debt Solutions, a national nonprofit credit counseling agency with headquarters in Michigan. “At the other extreme is the person who can’t pay their bills and is considering bankruptcy or walking away from their house.”

What they’ll do: Expect a long conversation about your financial situation, so your credit counselor can lay out all your options — from asking for an extension on a student loan to filing for bankruptcy — and negotiate with your creditors to set up a manageable debt payment plan.

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