Blogcritics Author: Scott Plank
A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously.

• Credit Cards Versus Debit Cards
  

  If you're thinking about buying that plasma screen, going on a shopping spree, or even buying a cup of coffee, think credit card - not debit card.

  These days most consumers are issued debit cards from their primary banking institutions, which usually carry a Visa or MasterCard logo. While these debit cards look, feel, and work like credit cards, they often don't carry the same protection or rewards of a traditional credit card. With credit card fraud on the rise, it's best to use a payment option that offers the maximum protection under federal law.

  Just last week The author is an Account Executive with a wholesale mortgage lender, providing insight and clarity in an often confusing and turbulent industry. Educate yourself: Get Building Good Credit by Raising Credit Card Limits
  

  If you currently use credit cards, you need to know how to get the most out of them. One important tip that many credit card holders aren't aware of is the ability to raise their credit limits.

  For every credit card you own, the issuing creditor or bank has set a certain limit based on your spending habits, credit history, and stated household income. While you likely know this, you may not know that you can raise these credit limits, usually after holding the credit card for just six months.

  If you log-on to any one of your given credit card account websites, you'll probably find an account services section which will offer certain credit management tools. In this section you should see a link that says something like "increase your line of credit." If you click on that link, you'll be able to request a larger line of credit for the specified credit card.

  Generally you can choose any credit limit you'd like, although requesting something outrageous will likely get rejected. Let's look at an example:

  Current credit line/limit: $5,000 New requested credit line/limit: $7,500

  You'd be asking for a $2,500 increase, which isn't unheard of, and should typically be approved. Even if it's not, your credit card company will usually counter that offer with something that will still boost your current credit limit. Once you fill in the required information you simply need to click submit and either wait 24-48 hours for an answer, or you may get lucky and get an approved credit line increase right on the spot.

  Why would you need a credit line increase, especially if you don't spend up to your current limit? It's all about increasing your available credit and showing creditors you can support a large amount of debt. A creditor would rather give a loan to a consumer with a $30,000 credit line with only $500 outstanding as opposed to a consumer with a credit line of $5,000 with $500 outstanding.

  Your credit score will also rise over time due to the higher percentage of available credit. Using the example above, the first borrower would have roughly 98.5% available credit, and the second borrower would have 90% available credit.

  Remember that total available credit is an important factor in determining your credit score. The higher that percentage is, the higher your credit score will be. Keep in mind that your credit score may fall in the short term as you make new inquiries for extended credit, but over time it will build a stronger credit profile.

  The author is an Account Executive with a wholesale mortgage lender, providing insight and clarity in an often confusing and turbulent industry. Educate yourself: Get How to Fix Bad Credit
  

  You don’t need to look for credit help. It’ll find you. Usually in your spam e-mail inbox or junk mail in your home mailbox. The problem is most of the so-called credit help will usually do your credit harm if you’re not careful. There are a number of credit services out there that offer credit rebuilding, rapid rescoring, improved Fico scores, and credit counseling.
  
  They all make big promises and seem like a great idea. Who wouldn’t want to boost their credit score 20 points in 48 hours? But most of the time credit scores are an accurate measure of your borrowing history, and little can be done to change them instantly.
  
  Sure you can improve your credit scores over time with a conscious effort and determination, but quick-fix credit repair solutions aren’t the best way to tackle credit issues.
  
  If you really want to fix bad credit you need to analyze the root of your credit woes. Get your hands on a free credit report.
  
  This is the only legitimate free credit report service provided by the government to consumers. Many other credit companies owned by the three bureaus masquerade as free credit report companies, but they will carry a fee or offer a free introductory period with a money-back guarantee. Look closely and you will see that many big name credit report companies are owned by the three credit bureaus, which also happen to be publicly-traded companies.
  
  I’ll admit it. I used one of the pay services years ago to check out my credit score. I did so assuming I would cancel the service after the 30-day trial period. When I purchased my free credit report my Fico score was somewhere around 660. I didn’t know much about Fico scores at the time so I investigated further.
  
  After a bit of exploration I found a medical collection on my account. I knew this had to be an error since I had never used any medical services in the past. Luckily I was able to use a tool included in my free credit report package to challenge the inquiry. Although the process took over 30 days to reach a resolution, it was eventually removed from my credit report and my score jumped up to 700. Of course I ended up paying for a month of the service for about $29.99, but in hindsight it was worth it.
  
  While this story may make me look like an advocate for the paid credit repair services, it must be taken with a grain of salt. The program was really only useful to me because there was an error on my credit report. Had there been any substantiated derogatory accounts and late payments on my credit report I wouldn’t have been able to simply clear them away with credit tools. Sure I could have challenged them, but probably with little success. All I’d really get out of the service would be the credit report itself along with weekly reports of any changes.
  
  The point of my story is that credit repair programs are only useful if you legitimately find something wrong and need it fixed immediately, or if you plan on paying down debt on some credit lines. If time isn’t an issue, and there aren’t any inaccuracies, it’s really pointless to use credit help programs. You might as well just order the official free credit report and analyze ways to organically raise your credit score. This includes lowering outstanding balances, paying off credit cards, raising credit lines, and avoiding late payments and collections. Also avoid opening any new credit accounts if you want your credit score to keep moving up. New credit always brings your score down a bit in the short-term. All of this takes time, but is the most effective way to fix bad credit. And you’ll learn to manage your credit. For free!
  
  Rapid rescore programs are another scrutinized credit service that I’d like to highlight here. As I mentioned before, if there are legitimate mistakes on your accounts, rapid rescoring can be helpful in quickly updating the three bureaus' information. Rapid rescoring is also useful if you pay off some big chunks of debt and want that to be reflected on your credit report immediately. It does come with a cost thoug