You can do it at annualcreditreport.com.

It won’t cost you anything to go through that web site if all you want to do is check the credit report for mistakes or inaccuracies. Each of the three participating credit bureaus allow you to request one free credit report a year.

Do be aware you will see links for additional credit services that can be requested at that time. If you are interested in those other services such as getting your credit score, fine. But keep in mind this service was intended to let customers discover any mistakes and get them fixed before applying for credit or a loan.

CreditCards.com has this report from Sally Herigstad: When your ex doesn’t pay on joint account.

ABC News has this report: Credit card companies change limits, change lives.

A snippet:

ABC News asked Scott Talbot of the Financial Services Roundtable, an industry group that represents all the major banks, whether banks realize their actions are having such a devastating ripple effect on people’s credit.

“Absolutely, these are real Americans we’re talking about. Every single file is a real family,” Talbot said.

“Unfortunately, it’s part of your contract and it’s possible under your contract, it’s permissible,” he said.

What can you do about this? Find every means possible to start getting out of debt and set aside even a couple of hundred dollars as emergency money.

I know, many of you are already living paycheck to paycheck. That’s why you have to find every means possible to cut your monthly expenses down.

Keep in mind that a lot of the money-saving tactics that work best for working class or middle class families require an investment of time, money or both before you see results. Did you / will you take my advice with any tax refund money you get this year and do at least thing to save money with that cash?

Today’s installment is a very detailed report on How to save money on credit card bills.

A snippet:

Data released this month show that the credit card payment rate — the percentage of outstanding card debt paid — fell by 2.5 percentage points to 16.1%. The drop in November, the latest month available, is among the largest on record, according to CardTrak.com, a credit card research firm. …

Historically, consumers pay an average of about 18% of balances each month, Robert McKinley, founder of CardTrak.com, says. “The payment rate can drift down in recessionary times, but the (recent) near-collapse is mind boggling.”

Are you having trouble keeping up with your bills?

You can’t go about “business as usual” when the income drops. You will most likely have to make lifestyle changes, get settled into new routines or spend time researching how to get the most for your money. Yeah, been there, done that. Why do you think I host a blog on frugal living?

But I’ve got lots of tips and resources in my sidebars and blogroll links intended to help southeast Michigan residents make their finances stretch. If you are one of my local readers, look around the blog and see what’s new.

A snippet:

“People who have good credit don’t need another credit card,” said Barry Kassel, chief executive of RTC Relationship Marketing in Georgetown. “And other people are overextended. It’s an over-commoditized category in which anybody who passes a credit screening pretty much has too much credit card in their wallet already.”

Catalogue companies, already pinched by a postal rate increase last year, began scaling back earlier this year. Late last month, the Postal Service projected that it would carry 9 billion fewer pieces of all types of mail in fiscal 2008 than it did the year before.

A snippet:

To get ahead of rules that would hamper their ability to re-price accounts, for example, many companies are jacking up interest rates. A survey of major issuers by advocacy group Consumer Action found that 37% of companies had raised rates across the board, even for borrowers with relatively pristine credit records.

The MonroeTalkers are chatting about this story.

A snippet:

Ed Mierzwinski, federal consumer program director with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, said, “There’s no question that this type of behavioral score is used by everyone. They just don’t like to admit it. … It sounds like American Express is dialing up the impact.”

For instance, Mierzwinski said, “For years, you’ve been dinged if you purchased your stuff at a rent-to-own store on your credit card. The ding used to be very small. It sounds to me like they’ve dialed up the ding.”

About 150 comments have been left on the Newsvine forum about that story.

Related post by the Red Tape Chronicles blogger has already resulted in more than 200 comments. A snippet from the blog:

“Consumers are probably not accustomed to that but we live in a new world,” said Carol Kaplan of the American Bankers Association, explaining the new caution among lenders. “(Banks) have suffered a lot of losses and they are doing whatever they can to reduce risk. They have people that work all day and all night who try to come up with new formulas to assess risk.”

Now, for some additional reading material: This report by PBS Frontline goes back to 2004, but it’s well worth a read if you haven’t checked it out yet: Secret History of the Credit Card.

CNN reports today on the Consumer credit limit crackdown.

A snippet:

Credit card issuers have been reining in credit limits lately “to minimize their risk because the economic climate has changed so dramatically,” explained Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of the card rating site LowCards.com.

In the midst of a financial crisis, banks have less money to lend. On top of that, the percentage of people who are delinquent on their credit card payments rose 12% in the second quarter from the same period a year ago, according to credit reporting agency TransUnion LLC.

So to mitigate rising risk and compensate for less credit overall, issuers are scaling back consumer credit lines – sometimes by more than 50% …

Markets soared early today on news that the federal government will rescue banks from their bad debt. The plan, which still is being worked out, raises some questions:

Q: Who would pay?

A. There clearly would be some exposure for taxpayers. The exact cost would depend on how many companies are “rescued” or taken over, and how far home prices fall. Resolving the savings and loan crisis took six years and $125 billion in taxpayer money – roughly equal to $200 billion in today’s dollars. Some economists have suggested cleaning up the present mess could cost more than that.

Monroe Bank & Trust provided some questions and answers to the turmoil in financial institutions:

Q: Where is the safest place for my money right now?

A. The safest place for your money is in the bank. It’s earning interest, it’s FDIC-insured and it’s accessible.

Q: Should I be worried about the health of my bank?

A. With 98 percent of nation’s 8,500 banks considered “well capitalized” – the highest designation possible – the possibility of your bank being taken over by the FDIC is extremely remote. And if it did happen, you would continue to have uninterrupted access to your FDIC insured deposits.

Q: How do I know I won’t lose money?

A. Customers’ bank deposits are protected. Not one penny of insured savings has ever been lost by a customer of a federally insured bank. Deposits are insured by the FDIC for up to $100,000 per depositor per insured bank and up to $250,000 for retirement accounts. If you need more coverage, your banker can explain your coverage limits and give you options to ensure that all of your deposits are insured.

Q: Will I still be able to get a mortgage, credit card or other loan?

A. People with a good credit history will continue to have access to mortgage, credit card and other loans. Most banks are taking steps to limit risk in the current economic environment, so they have tightened lending standards. That’s why it’s more important than ever to monitor your credit report and keep your credit score in the “good” to “excellent” range.