Intuit Credit Karma
Weed out the wallet, says Ken Lin, CEO of consumer website CreditKarma.com in San Francisco. You don't need your Macy's card while hiking in the Sierra. Same for your Social Security card, library card, gym membership or anything with personal information that can "encourage identity theft or access to your life."
Experts say if you're going to take a debit card on vacation, change the red flag alerts to a lower amount to deal with the possibility of fraud. Ken Lin, CEO at CreditKarma.com, said in general it's better to travel with a credit card.
Seeking credit perfection go to CreditKarma.com and use their credit score simulator.
We tapped two of our favorite credit experts, Bethy Hardeman of CreditKarma.com and John Ulzheimer of SmartCredit.com, to weigh in on the pros and cons of carrying plastic.
A similar report by credit card tracking site CreditKarma.com that included data from more than 300,000 consumers of all income levels found that the average credit card balance for 2011 was $6,576, down from $7,404 a year earlier.
The average Californian owes less in credit card and mortgage debt than they did last year, according to a new report, but credit scores still dropped a little.
Now that you know why a credit score might be useful, don't pay for something you can get for free: I recommend using CreditKarma.com — signing up on their secure form took me only a minute, and within a few clicks I had access to my actual credit score
You can go for those bonus miles and cash-back cards, but not all at the same time. One inquiry for new credit can knock as much as 25 points off a very high score, says Kenneth Lin, CEO of Credit Karma. Even so, the ding from a single new account isn't likely to change the interest rates you'll pay.
When consumers pay with their cards, they'll be offered discounts at the store where they're shopping or at other stores. There's no actual coupon -- consumers just have to pay with their card at the designated store within a certain time frame to automatically get the deal, says Ken Lin, CEO of Credit Karma, which provides credit scores and credit-card reviews.
So imagine my skepticism when I stumbled upon CreditKarma.com. What I learned, however, is that this site provides far more than your credit score and really is "free" to the user.