As of the end of January 2013, merchants are now allowed to charge customers a surcharge, or checkout fee, for using credit cards. Also in the news, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported 2/11/13 that 5% of consumers had errors on one of the three major credit reports.

This infogrpahic from FrugalDad.com shows how difficult it is to pay for college. And that’s not all–many college graduates are loaded with debt and have very few job options. Plus, even when they find employment, the salaries aren’t there to repay the tuition loans.

This infogrpahic from Credit-Land.com sums up the finances for the horrible storm. At least many banks have contributed to those affected by the storm as well as giving those consumers a break on fees.

Fair Isaac is the creator of the most used FICO score. This graphic shows you what you need to do to keep your credit score high. I have 40+ credit cards and a FICO score of 803, which is counter intuitive unless you understand that how you manage your credit accounts is the most important factor in having a high score.

Many banks have sent email messages to customers in hurricane affected areas waiving fees and extending payment dates. If you haven’t received these communications, then you should call your banks, and visit their websites, to find out these policies.

You can watch many of my TV interviews all on this one page organized by network: CNN, NBC, CBS, CN8, ABC, FOX, WB, PBS, NJ12, Extra Help Channel, and Money Talks News.

I met Lisa Flynn at a vendor fair at Popcorn Park Zoo and was immediately struck by her product and passion. She has invented a simple and elegant dog leash that is sure to be a great business success.Her answers to my questions below may help guide you in developing the awesome ideas that I’m sure you have too!

Great info graphic about the how tough it is for college students today. Just because you go to college doesn’t mean that you’re going to have a good job when you graduate. What is almost for sure is that you’ll be loaded down with debt!

Do you know a way to calculate APR with low balance transfer offers with credit cards? All methods I’ve previously read about don’t work, because they assume you make equal payments for the full term until the balance is paid off. This is how mortgages are paid, so the APR formulas work for those.

I wrote a check, which would have caused an overdraft, but since I had the overdraft protection, they took out 3k on our Visa account. Now we got the bill from Visa, which has both a transaction fee finance charge of $99.00 and a periodic rate finance charge (I suppose that’s on the 3k we borrowed). Is this a charge that I might successfully have waived? Or, shall I resign myself to paying? If it is fightable, any tips on what I might say to them?