Self-Help Articles

Benchmarks of Financial Health Beyond Credit Score

When it comes to your overall financial health, your credit score is very important – which is why we devote a lot of attention to this benchmark. Your credit score is a solid indicator of your financial habits. It’s an unbiased, data-driven number that reflects...

Scam or Legit? How to Spot a Financial Scam

Phony online shopping sites. “Spoofed” phone numbers. Legit-sounding tech support calls. It seems like scammers are always coming up with new ways to trick people into sharing personal information. The good news is that most of these scams are easy to spot – if you...

Debt Got You Down? Self-Care Is the Answer!

Self-care is one of the many buzzwords to gain traction on the blogosphere in the last year or so. Google “self-care,” and you’ll find images of people blissfully doing yoga with goats, eating healthy food, or kicking back with a good book. You might also...

Identity Theft: What to Do if it Happens to You

Perhaps it starts with a phone call from a debt collector, demanding payment for purchases you don’t remember making on a credit card you don’t even have. Maybe you suddenly stop receiving your bank statements and credit card bills in the mail. Or possibly you...

Debt Repayment Methods: Pros and Cons

Do a quick Google search for “debt repayment,” and you’ll find plenty of suggestions, from the gimmicky (Snowballs! Avalanches!) to the no-nonsense (balance transfers). How do they stack up? Which one is right for you? In this blog, we’ll take a look at some of the...

Credit Card Promises That Don’t Live Up

So, you’re an easy mark: The additional discounts offered by becoming a cardholder and all those bonus points if you “sign up now” are too good to pass up. But if you’re feeling that pull from a “cash-back” or “mileage points” credit card, pause for...

Boosting Your Emergency Fund

Here at American Credit Foundation, we're big proponents of "the emergency fund." Hopefully, if you're reading this, you already have (or have started, at the very least) a stash of cash in case of some unforeseen catastrophe. Be it a broken water heater, a hole...

Credit Utilization: What Is it, and Why Should You Care?

We talk a lot about your credit cards (those pesky pieces of plastic that are equal parts good and bad, depending on how you use them) and your credit score (that three-digit number predicting the likelihood that you'll pay your credit obligations on time). But let’s...

How to Manage Your Student Loan Debt

It’s no secret: College ain’t cheap – and it’s only getting more expensive. Over the past 30 years, the cost of an American university education has tripled. The College Board reports that the average tuition for a four-year school is $10,230 – compared to $3,360 in...

A Guide to Financially Irresponsible Family Members

It can be awkward to mix family and money issues, whether it's loaning money to a struggling relative or dealing with competitive or irresponsible spending. Feeling frustrated by family-related financial kerfuffles? We created this helpful guide for dealing with family members who seem chronically unable...