Scott P. McKay's Articles http://www.articlealley.com en-us editorial@articlealley.com Managing your budget through a financial crisis As the unemployment rate jumped from 8.5% in March to 8.9% in April, many Americans are finding themselves needing to make major reductions in their financial budget to deal with the loss of income. Let's face it, many Americans are currently living paych... http://scottpmckay.articlealley.com/managing-your-budget-through-a-financial-crisis-891252.html 14th May 2009 Free websites may sound great, but not always free With the economy being at historical lows, most consumers would be willing to take almost anything for free that they can find. Especially free advice on topics like credit repair and personal budgeting. Although there is plenty of free advice out there t... http://scottpmckay.articlealley.com/free-websites-may-sound-great-but-not-always-free-883605.html 08th May 2009 House passes bill to protect consumers from credit card companies On Thursday the House of Representatives passed legislation that will prohibit all credit card companies from performing some of their most common practices that can leave consumers feeling like they can't keep up with their monthly payments. The bill, wh... http://scottpmckay.articlealley.com/house-passes-bill-to-protect-consumers-from-credit-card-companies-882442.html 08th May 2009 7 tips on improving your credit score When trying to increase your credit score consumers must realize that there is no legitimate way to boost your credit score overnight. It takes time and patience to build a solid credit history which is the best way of obtaining a high credit score. Th... http://scottpmckay.articlealley.com/7-tips-on-improving-your-credit-score-880477.html 06th May 2009 Credit card companies may be forced to stop rate increases Federal regulators are proposing some changes to the way that credit card companies are allowed to operate. These proposed bills will impose greater oversight and regulation on credit card companies but still faces tough resistance from the industry. A... http://scottpmckay.articlealley.com/credit-card-companies-may-be-forced-to-stop-rate-increases-870507.html 27th April 2009 Trying to put the “free” back in free credit report It was back in September of 2005 that the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) had made it a requirement that the three major credit bureaus provide all consumers a free copy of their credit report on a yearly basis. Since that time the Internet has been plag... http://scottpmckay.articlealley.com/trying-to-put-the-free-back-in-free-credit-report-852410.html 09th April 2009 Identity Theft: 5 tips to avoid becoming the next victim Identity theft and credit fraud are among two of the fastest growing crimes across the entire world. In 2008 an estimated 10 million consumers were affected by identity theft which is a 22% increase from 2007. Amazingly though about 43% of all cases repor... http://scottpmckay.articlealley.com/identity-theft-5-tips-to-avoid-becoming-the-next-victim-851934.html 09th April 2009 Automakers easing up on lending standards for customers The nation's big 3 auto makers are starting to realize that adjustments in their normal operating procedures need to be made in order to keep up with the declining economy. While many consumers are struggling with maintaining good credit due to things lik... http://scottpmckay.articlealley.com/automakers-easing-up-on-lending-standards-for-customers-850109.html 08th April 2009 Free credit report scams increase as credit crisis gets worse As the worlds economic crisis deepens more and more people are for the first time in their lives, having to deal with bad credit. And like a lot of average consumers, many of these people have never seen real copies of their credit reports before. Once s... http://scottpmckay.articlealley.com/free-credit-report-scams-increase-as-credit-crisis-gets-worse-847647.html 05th April 2009 FTC suggests self credit repair may be the best If you were to type in the words "credit repair" in any major search engine on the internet you had better prepare yourself to be bombarded by companies who claim they can increase your credit score for a fee. On Google alone there comes up with 7,580,000... http://scottpmckay.articlealley.com/ftc-suggests-self-credit-repair-may-be-the-best-585056.html 22nd July 2008 Cashing in on the credit crisis While the American economy is suffering tremendously from the damage that has been done to our housing market, a lot of companies are now trying to profit off of other peoples misfortunes more than ever. One of the many outcomes of the high mortgage forec... http://scottpmckay.articlealley.com/cashing-in-on-the-credit-crisis-571358.html 07th July 2008