Personal Finance and Investing

We all want to watch our pennies and avoid overspending in today’s economy; and this is all the more evident when it comes to holiday shopping. Because of this, we may be inclined to keep the credit cards at home and use cash instead. But is this the best solution?

Perhaps not. Although the concept of only purchasing what you can afford to pay off within a month or two is an excellent idea, it may not be beneficial to pay for your holiday purchases with cash, and here’s why:

• Cash can be stolen – Yes, so can credit cards, but the biggest difference is that the answer to a stolen credit card is a simple phone call to your creditor to have the account frozen and the card replaced in a matter of days. Once

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Nowadays, many of us have at least one credit card or charge card.

Similar to the personal computer, the credit or charge card has been regarded as another useful tool and even a necessity in our daily life.

You may probably want to possess a card for the following reasons,

1. Convenience Purpose

Most people use a card make payment for may things, from air tickets to business entertainment to the necessities or even to make a donation to charity.

2. Cashless Purpose

Many people prefer to make payment by credit or charge card instead of carrying large amounts of cash.

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Fair Issac states that it will appeal the jury verdict.

TransUnion, Experian Defeat FICO Trademark Lawsuit (Update2)

By Andrew M. Harris

Nov. 20 (Bloomberg)—TransUnion LLC and Experian Plc defeated a lawsuit brought by Fair Isaac Corp. claiming that their credit-scoring system infringed FICO trademarks.

Fair Isaac will appeal the federal jury verdict, the Minneapolis-based company said today in a statement. Fair Isaac sued the companies and Equifax Inc. in 2006, alleging they sought to monopolize the credit-scoring market and confused consumers with their VantageScore model. <

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Gift cards? Particularly helpful as a last minute gift idea.

Image from latimes.com

The shopping season will soon be alighting upon us and the question is — how much are you going to be spending (or saving?) during your shopping trips? This is the season when you’ll probably do most of your spending for the year, if you subscribe to holiday traditions that involve festive celebrations, gift giving and decorating that make this time of year the peak season for the retail industry.

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