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The Financial Counseling Association of America

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How to Understand Your Credit Score

By Tracy East, Consumer Education Services Inc.

Does My Credit Score Really Matter?

Did you know you have not one credit score, but multiple credit scores? And here’s another surprise: Credit scores don’t just impact your financial world — they actually affect much more in your life. If you are looking to understand your credit score, we’ve got the scoop.

Your credit score is calculated based on the information contained in your credit report. You actually have 3 credit reports — one from each of the credit scoring bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. [Read more…] about How to Understand Your Credit Score

Is Eating Out Hindering Your Financial Success?

By Sarah Hall, Consumer Education Services Inc.

If you want to cut your expenses, one obvious place to start is evaluating whether you spend too much eating out.

Whether it’s ordering a pizza on a Friday night or picking up a burger for lunch on a Wednesday, the average American household spends more than 40 percent of their food budget on food away from home. And it’s far too easy to fall into bad habits that leave you reaching for a delivery menu at certain times of the week when you’re too tired to cook.

But, when you start relying on restaurant kitchens — and not your own — on a regular basis, those food costs start adding up quickly, using cash that might be better spent paying off debt, building your emergency fund or saving for retirement. [Read more…] about Is Eating Out Hindering Your Financial Success?

5 Tips to Help You Keep Track of Your Finances This Year

By Sarah Hall, Consumer Education Services Inc.

It can be pretty difficult to keep track of your finances when you don’t know the basics — how much you’re really earning and how much you’re really spending.

Sure, you may be aware of the number that should be on your paycheck, but is that the number that’s actually getting deposited into your bank account? Or, could your employer be deducting too much for health insurance or tax withholdings?

And, sure, you may know that you went out to eat a couple of times last week, but are you really being truthful with yourself about how much those dinners out cost you (and how often you grab a latte or burger on the run)? [Read more…] about 5 Tips to Help You Keep Track of Your Finances This Year

How to Feed a Family of 4 on $50 a Week

from FCAA member, Take Charge America

Despite reports of a falling unemployment rate in the U.S., there are still millions of Americans that are either out of work, working part-time (when they want to work full-time), under-employed or have just given up on finding work. Many who are working have seen their wages remain stagnant, without a cost of living increase or suffered a reduction in pay or hours worked. [Read more…] about How to Feed a Family of 4 on $50 a Week