Credit Help Center

We all know that just one missed credit card payment can negatively impact your credit scores. But what if you don’t use credit cards at all or even have a traditional bank? Millions of people in the United States have little or no credit, good or bad. This is why credit agencies are pushing to widen the criteria used to determine credit scores.

According to an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, people with little to no credit are referred to as having thin credit files. Having little to no credit can make it hard for them to get traditional loans or even pass a background check. Even though most people with thin credit are not captured by the traditional credit net, they still make payments for telephone or Internet service, as well as utilities. Because of this, credit agencies are seeking to widen the credit net used to determine scores.

The credit bureaus assert that widening the net will allow lenders to make safer credit decisions that could affect millions of people. And because several agencies are now collecting data on job history, assets, income and even rental history, lenders can access that information as well. C

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Before you know it, the holiday season of 2011 will be over and 2012 with all its potential and opportunity will be staring you in the face. If youve never had to think about budgeting, or have never been completely satisfied with the budget you have, the beginning of a new year is a great time to make some financial changes.

Building a better budget can be empowering. Fortunately, it can also be easy.

So while everyone else around you is singing Auld Lang Syne, pop in your hits of the 80s CD (or queue it up on your iPod), and start singing along to that Howard Jones anthem of optimism that promises things can only get better.

Here are four ideas on how to budget your money better 2012:

1. Complete a Budget Worksheet - Whether you do it online or by hand, filling out a budget worksheet can really help you bring your finances into focus and clarify what your financial goals will be for the New Year. Finding a good one is as simple as typing the terms into a search engine.

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[A quick update on where the bidding stands in the Bloggers for Charity auction. The top bid now is $400 by Dr. Dale Rathgeber. If you'd like to make a bid, you may want to hurry. Bidding will close on December 16, 2011.]

A recent discussion on Canadian Money Forum over the advantages of using a financial aggregation service such as mint.com to track expenses reminded me of this earlier warning from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) about the possible risks involved in disclosing online banking and credit card information to third parties:

Consumers should be aware that if they disclose their online banking information to any other party, including financial aggregators, they may risk losing their protection against unauthorized transactions. Some financial institutions user agreements clearly state that users will be responsible for unauthorized transactions if they provide other parties, including financial aggregators, with their passwords and account information.

I looked up the terms and conditions of TD Canada Trust and RBC to check if disclosing id and password to aggregation services will completely void security guarantees against unauthorized transactions.

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In Massachusetts, marriage between gay men or women is legal. But it’s a state law. There is a contradictory federal law. The Defense of Marriage Act was enacted into law in 1966 and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It says that the federal government does not acknowledge same sex marriage, notwithstanding what the various state laws say. The usual effect of this law is to have an adverse effect on 1,138 federal laws that relate to marriage, including benefits and taxes, especially estate taxes. President Obama’s administration has decided that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and stopped enforcing it in February. Thus the Defense of Marriage Act also has an effect on bankruptcies, and in particular Boston bankruptcy, because a 2003 law allows gay marriage in Massachusetts.

How does this relate to filing for bankruptcy in Boston? Because it’s a federal law, in federal bankruptcy courts, gay couples cannot file for personal bankruptcy together. However, this may be changing.

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The residential mortgage market has been reeling lately, suffering blow after blow over the past five years as a product of one of the largest real estate bubbles in American history popping dramatically in 2006-2007. Now, as 2012 approaches, many players in the real estate industry are gauging the strength of the residential mortgage market and assessing its chances for growth – or further decline – for the next year.

Suffice to say, the current state of the market is weak. Nearly a third of all homes in the United States today are underwater, or owe more on their homes than they are currently worth. This is a problem because negative equity often leads to delinquent payments, then defaults, then foreclosure. In addition, foreclosure rates are still high. Num

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