30% Off FICO Scores at myFICO.com

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Want to check your credit score to start off the new year? Here’s a current coupon for real FICO scores and all other credit products at myFICO.com. Use the promotional code SURVEY30 to get 30% off and a FICO score for about $11, the best discount currently available:

The code is good until December 30th, 2009 (although try it as it may still work even after that date). As a backup, you can also get 26% off with the codes DECEMBER26 or 26UNTIL2010 until 12/31/09.

Finally, you can still use CPPSAVINGS for 20% off after these expire.

Experian no longer allows Fair Isaac to sell FICO scores to consumers at all, even though lenders still buy and use them. They sell their own FAKO (“FAKE-O”) version now. But since lenders almost always use real FICO scores in their decisions, those are the only ones you should pay for – if at all – in my opinion.

For the diligent, a cheaper alternative is to sign up for a free 30-day trial of ScoreWatch, which includes two free Equifax scores and reports. Just remember to cancel as soon as you grab those scores. You are allowed to cancel online, without having to even call in. As always, you can always request your credit reports (not scores) once every 12 months at AnnualCreditReport.com.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Over 25% Off Real FICO Scores at myFICO.com

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Need to check your credit score? Here’s a new coupon for 26% off real FICO scores and all other credit products at myFICO.com. Use the promotional code NOVEMBER26 to get 26% off and a FICO score for less than $12, the best discount currently available:

The code is good until November 30th (although try it anyways and see if it works after that date), so be quick about it. For the Equifax credit score only, you can get it for $10.95 using the code SW94608, which is over 30% off. You enter the promo code relatively late in the buying process, right before entering your credit card information. Look for this:

Experian no longer allows Fair Isaac to sell FICO scores to consumers at all (even though lenders still buy and use them). They sell their own “FAKE-O” version now. Lenders almost always use FICO scores in their decisions, so those are the only ones you should pay for if at all.

For the diligent, a cheaper alternative is to sign up for a free 30-day trial of ScoreWatch, which includes two free Equifax scores and reports. Just remember to cancel as soon as you decide you don’t need it anymore. You are allowed to cancel online, without having to even call in.

You can always request your credit reports (not scores) once every 12 months at AnnualCreditReport.com. If you’ve already done that, you can still try these other direct methods for the unemployed, those denied credit, and victims of identity theft.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


British Airways Credit Card – 100,000 Miles Offer

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Here’s a nice credit card offer for those interested in international travel. The Chase British Airways Visa Signature card is offering 50,000 BA Executive Club miles for new cardmembers with first purchase, and another 50,000 BA miles after spending $2,000 within 3 months, for 100,000 miles total. Regular features include earning 1.25 miles per dollar spent. The card does have an annual fee of $75 as well.

50,000 British Airways miles is enough for an economy class transatlantic flight from USA to their “Europe Zone 1”, which includes the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Switzerland. Note that “all reward flights are subject to taxes, fees, charges and surcharges, including airline surcharges.”, which can add up. I did a quick search and for a random San Francisco (SFO) to London (LHR) flight in March 2010 that cost $807, the taxes and fees alone were $387.

You’ll also need to fly out of a major city that BA services. Still, two free flights from US to London even for a few hundred dollars each is a big discount for those looking to buy such a ticket anyways.

What if you like to fly in style? 100,000 miles is good for a single business class ticket from USA to Europe Zone 1… and the fees are more reasonable on a relative basis. A business class flight from SFO to Paris (CDG) in March 2010 would have cost around $4,700 in cash, but the fees/taxes are only about $400 as well:

Finally, if you can manage to spend $30,000 a year on the card, you can even earn a 2-for-1 companion voucher. Time to buy some coins? Thanks to reader Paul for the tip.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Chase Freedom Credit Card

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Free Experian PLUS Credit Score From American Express

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Just a reminder that American Express cardholders can get a free look at their Experian PLUS credit score and credit report once every 12 months. This is Experian’s own proprietary (“FAKO”) credit score, but is the best you can get from Experian since consumers can no longer get their FICO Score based on Experian data. (See here for current myFICO coupon codes.) PLUS has a range of 330-830 as opposed to the FICO range of 300-850, but like all FAKO they don’t necessarily map directly to FICO.

To access your score, visit americanexpress.com/creditreport and log in as usual. It is free, and you do not need to enroll in any trials to get your free score. They will however try to upsell you their CreditSecure monitoring service after 30 days. Just checked for DW:

From their site:

How much does My Credit Score & Report cost?
My Credit Score & Report is a complimentary benefit offered exclusively to American Express Cardmembers. You pay absolutely nothing. Simply sign up to gain access to your Credit Score and Report.

How long will I be enrolled in My Credit Score & Report?
Your enrollment in My Credit Score & Report will last 30 days. After 30 days, you will no longer have access to your complimentary Credit Score and Report. If you wish to continue enjoying access to your Credit Score and Report, you may enroll in CreditSecure.

Don’t forget about all the other ways to get a free credit score without free trials.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Creating a Completely Automated Financial Household

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Meet Bill and Jan. They are my imaginary couple that loves putting their personal finances on auto-pilot. They don’t worry about bill due dates, they never visit the bank, and only check their balances online once a month if there are no e-mail alerts sent to them. (Apparently they also don’t have lips or eyes, so it works well for them…) Let’s take a look at how they do it!

Income
Bill and Jan both elected to receive their regular income via direct deposit, so there are no checks to deposit. Even though Jan does some freelancing, she gets paid via PayPal, which she sets to automatically sweep any money into their bank account at the end of each business day. This feature is called Auto Sweep and is not heavily advertised, you must contact PayPal directly to enable it.

Long-Term Savings
Like everyone else, their 401(k) plans are funded via an automatic deferral each payday. For their Roth IRA, they simply take out $500 per month via an automatic transfer from their checking account for 10 months, which can be set up easily at Vanguard.com or any other major mutual fund provider. If you like individual stocks or ETFs, try automatic investing at ShareBuilder.

Short-Term Savings
For their annual vacation and other savings goals, they have an automatic transfer from their checking to an online savings account like the original Capital One Consumer Bank.

They do keep a certain buffer amount in their checking account, similar to this simple budgeting method. If the balance falls too low for any reason, an e-mail and text message alert are sent to both of them.

Housing
If they had a mortgage, most lenders will happily set up an automatic ACH from bank account each month. If they wanted to set up a biweekly payment plan and it isn’t free, they could simply take out 1/12th of their monthly mortgage payment each month automatically into Capital One 360. Once a year, they send one full mortgage payment to their lender.

If they rented, they would set their Online Billpay service to send a snail-mail check automatically each month and deduct the amount from the bank account.

Utilities
Most utility companies will allow to you sign up for them to automatically withdraw the full bill amount from your bank account. Contact them directly, and when available use your credit card to earn some extra rewards.

Insurance
Instead of dealing with large payments either annually or semi-annually, they have signed up for State Farm Payment Plan (SFPP), which groups their insurance premiums and divides them into one single monthly payment which is taken from their bank account. Check with your insurer to see if they have something similar.

Credit Card Bills
Most large credit cards issuers allow you to sign up a service like Citi’s AutoPay, where you can have the full amount sucked out of your bank account each month. Since the Citi Forward Card gives you 5x rewards on restaurants and Amazon.com, this most of their disposable income as well. To find it, go to CitiCards.com> (Login) > Payments Tab > Enroll in AutoPay.

What else?
With all this set up, all Bill and Jan have to do is show up for work and spend their money wisely. Is there anything else that could make their life even more easy? I thought about using an online grocery store like Peapod, where you can access past orders and possibly create default orders which you only tweak slightly each month.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


New myFICO Coupon Code

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Here’s a newly released coupon for 25% off real FICO scores and all other credit products at myFICO.com. Use the promotional code FINANCIALHELP25 to get 25% off and a FICO score for less than $12, the best discount currently available:

The code is good until September 30th (although try it anyways and see if it works after that date), so be quick about it. For the Equifax credit score only, you can get it for $10.95 using the code SW94608, which is over 30% off. You enter the promo code relatively late in the buying process, right before entering your credit card information. Look for this:

Experian no longer allows Fair Isaac to sell FICO scores to consumers at all (even though lenders still buy and use them). They sell their own “FAKE-O” version now. Lenders almost always use FICO scores in their decisions, so those are the only ones you should pay for.

For the diligent, a cheaper alternative is to sign up for a free 30-day trial of ScoreWatch, which includes two free Equifax scores and reports. Just remember to cancel as soon as you decide you don’t need it anymore. You are allowed to cancel online, without having to even call in.

You can always request your credit reports (not scores) once every 12 months at AnnualCreditReport.com. If you’ve already done that, you can still try these other direct methods for the unemployed, those denied credit, and victims of identity theft.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Setting Up Automatic Credit Card & Bank Activity Alerts

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

I still love getting my bills via snail mail. I avoid online statements because I get over a hundred e-mails a day and it is very easy for me to put it off temporarily and never remember to read the e-mail again. A paper bill will stay on my desk until pay it and I file it away.

However, I essentially got paid $50 to sign up for paperless statements when signing up for the Citi Forward® Card (see my review), so of course I did it. This month, I barely got my payment in on time, and was only 2 days away from being dinged a $30 late fee.

As a result, I’ve been gradually visiting all my financial provider websites and signing up for online alerts, which e-mail or text you when certain criteria are met. For example, with Citibank I can get alerts for:

Credit Cards

  • Current Balance (you choose frequency, up to daily updates)
  • Within $XXX of credit limit
  • Balance exceeds $XXX
  • Payment notification: A payment posted on [xx/xx/xxxx]
  • Minimum payment due on [xx/xx/xxxx]

Banking

  • Balance Alerts (too high or too low… avoid overdrafts!)
  • Deposit Notices alert you whenever funds are credited
  • Bill Payment Alerts inform you when there are insufficient funds in checking
  • Check Alerts notify you whenever checks are presented for payment
  • CD Alerts notify when your CD is about to mature.

For the credit cards, the option is under the “Account Profile” menu as opposed to under “Tools” where I thought it would be. See screenshot.

Some sites like American Express also have an alert that triggers when it is X days before the bill is due, but they still haven’t received payment, which find most useful. Another alternative would be to just set up auto-pay on the card while it was on e-statements. But if you’re like me, I just switched my Forward card back to paper statements after I got my 5,000 ThankYou points. Sorry, trees!

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


myFICO Coupon: 25% to 30% off Codes

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Update February 2011: Use coupon code FICO25 for 25% off!

Here’s a newly released coupon for 25% off real FICO scores at myFICO.com. Use the promotional code FICOHELP25 to get 25% off, the best discount currently available:

Update: For the Equifax credit score only, you can get it for $10.95 using the code SW94608. $5 off equates to a little over 30% off.

You enter the promo code relatively late in the buying process, right before entering your credit card information. Look for this:

Experian no longer allows Fair Isaac to sell FICO scores to consumers at all (even though lenders still buy and use them). They sell their own “FAKE-O” version now. Lenders almost always use FICO scores in their decisions, so those are the only ones you should pay for.

For the diligent, a cheaper alternative is to sign up for a free 30-day trial of ScoreWatch, which includes two free Equifax scores and reports. Just remember to cancel as soon as you decide you don’t need it anymore. You are allowed to cancel online, without having to even call in.

You can always request your credit reports (not scores) once every 12 months at AnnualCreditReport.com. If you’ve already done that, you can still try these other direct methods for the unemployed, those denied credit, and victims of identity theft.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


American Express Card Statement Shows Restaurant Tips

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

If you’re like me, you keep receipts to reconcile with your credit card transactions online. If you dine somewhere you leave a tip, you might be wary that the waitperson might alter your tips, either by accident or on purpose. If you just see the total amount charged and lose your receipt, it’s hard to remember what your tip was. Well, I just noticed on an American Express credit card statement that they actually break down the food and tip charges for your convenience.

I didn’t bother scanning, but it looks just like this:

MOM & POP INDIAN CUISINE $26.44

FOOD/BEVERAGE $22.44
TIP $4.00

A nifty feature, I wonder why others don’t do this as well. However, I am still sticking with the Citi Forward for the 3.5% cash back.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Citi Forward Card Bonus & Rewards Follow-up: 5x Rewards at Restaurants and Amazon.com

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Citi Forward CardI promised to follow-up on the features of the Citi Forward® Card after getting mine, and am finally getting around to it. Read on to see how you can get a $100 gift card and also 3.45% cash back with this card at restaurants, Amazon.com, and more.

Sign-Up Bonus

The bonus ThankYou points showed up promptly. The bonus amount changes and is different now than before, so please see their website for the current offer. But I did get them as promised.

5x ThankYou Points

This card works off the same ThankYou points system as many other Citibank cards. 10,000 points = $100 gift card at stores like Sears, Macy’s, Staples, Old Navy, Gap, etc. 10,000 points = $100 towards a student loan or mortgage payment. 14,000 points = $100 prepaid Visa credit card. 14,500 points = $100 statement credit.

What makes this card unique is that you get 5 points for every $1 you spend on restaurants, book stores, video rental stores and movie theaters. On everything else, you get the plain vanilla 1 reward point for every $1 spent. No annual fee.

5x Rewards at Restaurants
Again, at 1 penny per point with gift cards, getting 5x points is like getting 5% back when eating out. Even if you convert to straight cash, that’s still 3.45% cash back at restaurants (5/1.45). Or 3.57% back if you are okay with prepaid Visa card, which I am since they are usable anywhere that takes credit cards.

I have gotten my 5x rewards at fast food restaurants (McDonald’s), chain sit-down restaurants (Chili’s, etc), and also mom-and-pop places.

5x Rewards at Amazon.com
I can also officially confirm that Amazon.com is considered a bookstore. This is true even if your entire purchase (or any of it) did not contain books. I made one purchase with books, and one with only electronics, and got 5x points for both. So you can indeed get 3.45% cash back at Amazon, or 5% back in the form of gift cards.

The 5x points show up separately under the “Bonus Points by Category Earned” on your online statement:

Earnings Screenshot

I can also confirm it works at Regal movie theaters. I have this card stored online at my Amazon account so I don’t forget, and it’s in my wallet marked for restaurants only. Makes it easy to track my dining-out budget!

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


myFICO Promotional Codes

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

I am not a big fan of purchasing credit scores. I can understand why a lender would pay to get a calculation of your likelihood of defaulting on your loan, but if it’s based on our data, why do we have to pay just to see it? Even if I am declined for a loan, I can only see my report, not the numerical score that supposedly defines my financial life.

There are plenty of “fake” credit scores out there, but there is no way to get your real FICO scores anywhere but myFICO. If you must order your score, use the promotional code CPPSAVINGS to get 20% off all credit report and monitoring services orders. It’s the best coupon I found that worked:

Whenever you do buy a score, I would recommend trying to correlate your score and the current information on your report. Then you can start to learn beyond the generic rules they spit out, and see how changes really affect your score. I’ve applied for 12 credit cards and canceled 5 with almost no affect to my scores – despite all the “rules” – only to have a huge balance on my mom’s credit card (with me as authorized user) show up and drop it by 30 points.

An possibly cheaper alternative is to sign up for a free 30-day trial of ScoreWatch, which includes two free Equifax scores and reports. Just remember to cancel as soon as you decide you don’t need it anymore.

* Experian no longer allows Fair Isaac to sell FICO scores to consumers at all (even though lenders still buy and use them). But they’ll happily charge you money for their own attempt at a credit score.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.