Credit Guides

Guides and tips for managing credit, loans, and credit cards.

What Is a Charge-Off on Your Credit Report (And Why It’s Not the End of the World)

Two words. That’s all it took to ruin my afternoon. I was doing a routine credit check — something I’d […]

Pulling up my credit report was supposed to be a five-minute task. I was getting ready to apply for a

Nobody handed me a roadmap when I turned 22 and moved into my first apartment. My mom had always paid

Two years ago, a coworker of mine pulled out a sleek metal credit card at lunch — the kind that

Getting rejected for a credit card when you’re just trying to start is a special kind of frustrating. You’re not

The first time I got a credit card, I told myself I’d only use it for emergencies. Three months later,

Three credit card rejections in a row will teach you something no personal finance blog ever spelled out for me:

I still remember the first time I tried to check my credit score. I was 26, freshly moved into my

My best friend moved to the U.S. from Mexico three years ago. She had a steady job, paid every single