Credit Cards Articles

Phew! Thank heavens the iPad is coming. Solving the economic crisis should be a breeze — it has an app for that.

Apple ’s new all-singing, all-dancing hand-held computer is the talk of the moment. Even thousands of miles away in London, when I staggered off the redeye Thursday morning, the front pages showed a gaunt but grinning Steve Jobs clasping his latest creation.

But if we can hack our way through the hype, what are the financial implications of this latest techno marvel — for consumers and for investors?

Look out: The iPad may cost you around $1,000 after all.

Yes, the headlines note the prices will start at the low, low level of $499. Mr.

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As many people have decided to only use one or two credit cards, one of the main questions asked is, “Should I cancel the cards that go unused?” While the answer is different for everyone, knowing whether or not to cancel a card should not be a difficult choice once you know how the account closure will affect for credit scores.

So what is affected most when it comes to an account closure and your credit score? For the most part canceling your card alters your utilization ratio (balance-to-limit ratio). When this happens it looks as though your borrowing much more when it comes to your credit limit, which could affect your score more than any other changes.

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A bad credit score can keep you from doing a lot of things – buying a house, getting a credit card, and yes, it can even keep you from getting a date. I recently discovered a dating website that helps people mate based on their credit score. I can’t help but think the dependency on credit scores has gone too far. What do you think? Does credit matter when you’re choosing a date? Would you date or marry someone with bad credit?

• Yes, credit has nothing to do with love
• I could date, but not marry
• No, I wouldn’t date or marry someone with bad credit
• Something else (leave in comments)

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Shopping is back in vogue as rising confidence encouraged Australians to whip out their plastic in November. Sales made on charge and credit cards that month rose 4.2% from October, from $19.19 billion previously to $20.00 billion, in the largest monthly spending spree since December 2008, according to figures released by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The average amount outstanding on credit cards rose to $3196 in November, from October’s reading of $3141, a gain of 1.8%. The total amount outstanding on all credit cards rose to $46.05 billion from $45.15 billion, a jump of 2.0%. That’s the fastest pace of growth for outstanding credit and charge card loans since February 2008.

Contributing to that jump was a slowing rate of repayments. Tho

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