Learn How Credit Inquires Affect Your FICO Score

Credit inquiries

Will my FICO score drop if I apply for new credit?

If it does, it probably won't drop much. If you apply for several credit cards within a short period of time, multiple inquiries will appear on your report. Looking for new credit can equate with higher risk, but most credit scores are not affected by multiple inquiries from auto, mortgage or student loan lenders within a short period of time. Typically, these are treated as a single inquiry and will have little impact on the credit score.

The Basics

What is an "inquiry"?

When you apply for credit, you authorize those lenders to ask or "inquire" for a copy of your credit report from a credit bureau. When you later check your credit report, you may notice that their credit inquiries are listed. You may also see listed there inquiries by businesses that you don't know. But the only inquiries that count toward your FICO score are the ones that result from your applications for new credit.

Does applying for credit affect my FICO score?

Fair Isaac's research shows that opening several credit accounts in a short period of time represents greater credit risk. When the information on your credit report indicates that you have been applying for multiple new credit lines in a short period of time (as opposed to rate shopping for a single loan, which is handled differently as discussed below), your FICO score can be lower as a result.

How much will credit inquiries affect my score?

The impact from applying for credit will vary from person to person based on their unique credit histories. In general, credit inquiries have a small impact on one's FICO score. For most people, one additional credit inquiry will take less than five points off their FICO score. For perspective, the full range for FICO scores is 300-850. Inquiries can have a greater impact if you have few accounts or a short credit history. Large numbers of inquiries also mean greater risk. Statistically, people with six inquiries or more on their credit reports can be up to eight times more likely to declare bankruptcy than people with no inquiries on their reports. While inquiries often can play a part in assessing risk, they play a minor part. Much more important factors for your score are how timely you pay your bills and your overall debt burden as indicated on your credit report.

Does the formula treat all credit inquiries the same?

No. Research has indicated that the FICO score is more predictive when it treats loans that commonly involve rate-shopping, such as mortgage, auto and student loans, in a different way. For these types of loans, the FICO score ignores inquiries made in the 30 days prior to scoring. So, if you find a loan within 30 days, the inquiries won't affect your score while you're rate shopping. In addition, the score looks on your credit report for rate-shopping inquiries older than 30 days. If it finds some, it counts those inquiries that fall in a typical shopping period as just one inquiry when determining your score. For FICO scores calculated from older versions of the scoring formula, this shopping period is any 14 day span. For FICO scores calculated from the newest versions of the scoring formula, this shopping period is any 45 day span. Each lender chooses which version of the FICO scoring formula it wants the credit reporting agency to use to calculate your FICO score.

What to know about "rate shopping."

Looking for a mortgage, auto or student loan may cause multiple lenders to request your credit report, even though you are only looking for one loan. To compensate for this, the score ignores mortgage, auto, and student loan inquiries made in the 30 days prior to scoring. So, if you find a loan within 30 days, the inquiries won't affect your score while you're rate shopping. In addition, the score looks on your credit report for mortgage, auto, and student loan inquiries older than 30 days. If it finds some, it counts those inquiries that fall in a typical shopping period as just one inquiry when determining your score. For FICO scores calculated from older versions of the scoring formula, this shopping period is any 14 day span. For FICO scores calculated from the newest versions of the scoring formula, this shopping period is any 45 day span. Each lender chooses which version of the FICO scoring formula it wants the credit reporting agency to use to calculate your FICO score.

Improving your FICO score.

If you need a loan, do your rate shopping within a focused period of time, such as 30 days. FICO scores distinguish between a search for a single loan and a search for many new credit lines, in part by the length of time over which inquiries occur.

Generally, people with high FICO scores consistently:

• Pay bills on time.
• Keep balances low on credit cards and other revolving credit products.
• Apply for and open new credit accounts only as needed.

Also, here are some good credit management practices that can help to raise your FICO score over time.

• Re-establish your credit history if you have had problems. Opening new accounts responsibly and paying them on time will raise your FICO score over the long term.
• Check your own credit reports regularly, before applying for new credit, to be sure they are accurate and up-to-date. As long as you order your credit reports through an organization authorized to provide credit reports to consumers, such as myFICO, your own inquiries will not affect your FICO score.

Source: http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/creditinquiries.aspx

Is Your Christmas Shopping Causing Debt???

How to avoid debt while Christmas shopping this year

WRITTEN BY DAMON CARR

FRIDAY, 09 DECEMBER 2011 09:44

Can you believe it’s the month of December already? It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Retailers are open extended hours seeking to claim the money in your wallet. Every charitable organization known to man is soliciting you for money. Friends and family are dropping hints about certain gifts that they would enjoy this year. People in the office are asking you to chip in on a gift for the boss. Your church is passing around an extra offering plate for a present for the Pastor.

You believe in your heart that “it’s better to give than to receive” but in the back of your mind you’re thinking, “give me a break”. “No can do,” says mortgage, car note, student loan, credit cards, lights, gas, cable, house phone, cell phone, internet, insurance, and Uncle Sam. “We understand that you’re in a giving mood but don’t forget you have bills to pay!”

As a financial adviser I sit as the proverbial fly on the wall and listen to the conversations you’ve been having with yourself and your significant other. I heard you cry out in a moment of stress—“the paycheck don’t stretch far enough to feed, shelter, and clothe the family, provide basic utility and transportation for the family while at the same time give to charitable causes and save for future needs, wants, and goals.” I know that you’re doing the best you can to make ends meet. You’d like to avoid using credit cards. You’d like to save a small portion each month starting in January so that when Christmas is here you have the money to shop for gifts. The reality is you’re having a tough enough time trying to meet the financial demands of today.

Christmas is upon us. You frantically wonder how you’re going to come up with the money to do your Christmas shopping. You’ve thought long and hard. You’ve concluded that you’ll get the money you need for Christmas one of two ways: 1.You’ll skip various bills this month and pay them when you get your tax refund. 2. You’ll reluctantly use a credit card with the intention to pay it off within the next 6-months. Caught up in the emotion of the holidays, it may not have dawned on you that this is exactly what you did last year, the year before and the year before. That plan isn’t working.

Below are some ideas that will help you enjoy Christmas and avoid debt this holiday season:

* Set a spending limit and track you’re spending—If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Before you do any shopping decide how much you’re going to spend for Christmas. Keep track on how much you’re spending so that you don’t go over your limit. Only use cash or debit card when shopping.

* Make a list and check it twice—If it’s good enough for Santa Claus, it’s good enough for you. Make a list of all the people you plan on buying gifts for this season. You now know how much you plan on spending and who you’re purchasing gifts for. Check your list not twice but three times. As you review your list the third time write a dollar amount on how much you’re going to spend on each person on the list.

* Keep your guard up—Don’t be tempted by your existing creditors attempt to defer payments on your loans and the merchants attempt to offer you discounts should you open and use a store credit card. They have one of two things in mind—get you to spend money you don’t have or force you to pay interest you can’t afford.

•Look for great deals—Make it a goal to get discounts on every gift you purchase. This will help the money you’re spending on Christmas go further.

•Limit discretionary spending—Temporally reduce or eliminate spending on entertainment, dining out, and other activities you do for pure joy and amusement. It’s better to give than receive, right? Sacrifice something you enjoy doing and use the money you normally spend to purchase gifts.

•Give the gift of time—Quality time with loved ones is perhaps the best gift you can give. It’s FREE and INVAULABLE. In this fast paced society we live in, we rarely get to spend quality time with loved ones where there’s no distraction. Make an earnest effort to spend time with someone you care about. The memories you’ll gain from the experience will be more valuable than any gift you can purchase.

•Give a helping hand—Offer to baby sit, shovel snow, mow the lawn, prepare a meal as a Christmas gift to someone you know who can use a break.

•Get a part-time job—If you’re still short on money, consider a part-time job to fully or partially pay for your Christmas purchases this year. There are plenty of part-time jobs available during the holiday season. It’s better to work a couple extra hours now and pay cash for your Christmas gifts then to neglect bills or accumulate debt and work extra hard the entire year trying to catch up on bills and payoff debt you’ve created during the holidays.

•Remove adults from the list—You did all the above and you’re still contemplating whipping out the credit card. Time to trim the list. It’s been said that Christmas is for the kids. You’re adult family and friends will understand when you say that you spent your entire Christmas budget on the kids this year.

(Mortgage and Personal Finance Expert Damon Carr is owner of ACE Financial. Sign up for Damon’s FREE Online Newsletter at www.allcredit­experts.com. Damon can be reached at 412-856-1183.)

http://www.newpittsburghcourieronline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6017:how-to-avoid-debt-while-christmas-shopping-this-year&catid=41:business&Itemid=37

Financial Tip : How to Organize Bills

Are You Ever Too Old to Start a 401(K)?

Whether it's you or your grandma, here's what you need to know about saving for retirement

A reader of AskTheMoneyCoach.com wanted to know whether or not it’s a smart decision for them to launch a 401(k) or 403(b) investment plan later in life. The person asked me simply:

Q: “Should I start a 401(k) or 403(b) investment plan at 63 years of age?”

A: Yes! Actually, I think it can be a good idea to start a 401(k) plan at any point during your working years. You may know that a 401(k) or 403(b) is an employer sponsored retirement savings plan. But you may not know the full range of benefits associated with these plans.
For starters, you get three primary advantages with saving for your Golden Years using a 401(k). The first advantage is that you can set aside retirement funds on a pre‑tax basis; this lowers your annual tax bill. The second benefit is you get the potential for get capital appreciation when you invest your 401(k) funds in investments such as individual stocks or mutual funds. Finally, a third benefit of a 401(k) is that you may receive matching funds from your employer – which helps turbocharge your savings.

A 401(k) also gives you a more disciplined approach to investing for retirement, because you’ll be consistently contributing to your retirement assets – every pay period – regardless of what the market is doing. Such consistency also helps takes emotion out of the investing equation – making you less likely to be driven by fear or greed when the stock market swoons or surges.
Even if you wind up retiring in a few short years—say, at the age of 65 or 70, it’s still worth it for you to put aside more money into that nest egg and help to build your savings cushion.
That way, when you do leave the work place, you are not simply dependent upon your own savings that you might have had, which may be limited. You also won’t be solely dependent upon government funds such as Social Security.

Currently, the average Social Security recipient is only receiving roughly $1,000 per month. That’s not a lot of money to live off of.

If you’re 63, you’re probably at a higher level of earnings power, so you have the option to go ahead and put aside more money.

And here’s a bonus for you: The IRS recently announced that starting in 2012, the maximum amount you can sock away in a 401(k) plan is being raised to $17,000 for those under 50 and to $22,500 for those 50 and older. That’s a $500 increase over 2011 levels. (That $22,500 figure includes the “catch up” contributions that individuals 50 and older are permitted to contribute to a 401(k), as a way to help Americans who may have started saving for retirement later in life).
So let’s assume you did sock away at least $17,000 a year for five years. Well, that’s $85,000. If you saved $22,500 a year for five years, you’d amass $112,500, not assuming any increases (or losses) to your savings.

Hopefully, though, the funds you put aside for your retirement will grow and collect interest. Also, as I mentioned, you may even get some form of an employer match as well. It might not be dollar for dollar, but even if it’s $0.50 cents on the dollar or $0.25 cents for every dollar that you put in, that’s an additional kicker that you can look forward to.
All of this means you have many great reasons, even past age 60, to save in a 401(k) or 403(b) plan—and I would encourage you to do just that.

Even Millionaires Have Budgets. Two Reasons You Should, Too

Two rules to help you create a successful budget

If you’re operating without a normal monthly budget, that’s a huge financial mistake.
In fact, the lack of a budget is a big part of the reason that the average American household now has more than $10,000 in credit card debt. (To get rid of your credit card bills, read the free online version of my book, Zero Debt).

Of course, many people have mortgages, auto loans, student loans, and other consumer debt too.
But it’s possible that you can have tons of bills and still exist in a state of denial about your finances. I know, because I did it for a very long time before waking up and deciding to fix my debt problem once and for all.

For a lot of people, “budget” is a four-letter word because they often picture a budget as something that restricts them—something that says: you can’t have this, you can’t buy that, or you can’t do this.

Well, that is the wrong way to look at a budget.
A budget is really a part of your personal prosperity plan. It’s the financial blueprint you’ll use to help you get where you want to go in life.
Without a budget—without a clear sense of exactly how many dollars are coming in the door and how many dollars are really going out each month—you’re doomed to constantly live paycheck to paycheck.

A budget helps you manage your cash flow so that you can more readily achieve your personal and financial goals, including paying off those student loans.
Unfortunately, statistics show that about 70% of all Americans don’t operate with a basic monthly budget.

That’s a real shame because a lack of a budget explains, in part, why so many people don’t know where their money goes.
Have you ever been in a situation where you thought “Gosh! I just got paid last week and now I’m broke” or “I don’t know what happened to my money; it seems to have vanished just as quickly as I got it”?

The simplest way to identify and fix the problem is to come up with a realistic budget to operate from on a regular basis.
Believe it or not, even millionaires have budgets. In my book, The Money Coach’s Guide to Your First Million, I talk about my own transformation, and how I went from debt to wealth. I also highlight tips from many other people—including other financial experts and millionaires.
And all of them agree that having a budget as the basis for your spending plan is a smart way to exercise control over your dollars—instead of letting your money control you.
No matter how you configure your budget, to have a proper, successful budget, you need to conform to two rules:

1. Your spending cannot exceed your income.
Sounds basic, I know, but most people don’t stick to this one little rule. In fact, the average household in the U.S. spends $1.22 for every dollar that it earns, according to a study from Northwestern Mutual. Even though Americans have began saving more cash amid the Great Recession, people still generally spend more than they make.

2. Your budget must include a savings component.
Without some level of savings worked into your budget, you’ll always be behind the proverbial eight ball. I don’t care how much or how little you earn, you absolutely must “pay yourself first” and save money (for emergencies, the long-term, etc.) if you want to successfully budget.

If you’ve tried and failed in the past when it comes to budgeting, it’s probably because you didn’t create a realistic budget—one you can live with and one that isn’t overly restrictive. Or perhaps you’ve let certain budgeting mistakes get in the way. To fix either of these problems, and to learn more about budget, read these tips on how to create a proper budget.

Trust me, when you get your finances in order, you’ll find that budgeting is not only the smart thing to do – it’s also a healthy financial habit that can help propel you to millionaire status.

Financial Tip: Building Good Credit to booster Your Credit Score

College Scholarships for Students in High School, Middle School and Kindergarten (Yes, Kindergarten!)

From newborns on up to adult children in graduate school, learn about resources available to pay for higher education expenses

Since my oldest daughter entered high school in September, I’m going all out to help her hunt for scholarships and aid her in scoring some free money to pay for college.


I figured we’d be getting an “early” start, by looking for scholarships while she’s just now in 9th grade. Boy, was I wrong!

Little did I know that we’re actually a bit late when it comes to nabbing scholarships, grants and free money to help pay for college.
Here’s some of what I’ve learned lately – and how it can help your family or someone you know with children.

For starters, did you know that there are educational scholarships for kids as young as five or six years old? This blew me away, but it also made me even more determined in the hunt for scholarships. After all, in addition to my first-born daughter, who turned 14 in September, my youngest daughter is about to turn six. I also have an 11-year-old son.

Sure, my husband and I are saving for our kids’ college education with 529 plans. But I’m also realistic enough to know our savings may not be enough considering that the price tag of college has been skyrocketing the past decade – and it’s only heading higher.

In fact, according to the College Board, in the 2011-2012 school year, 123 colleges in the U.S. charged more than $50,000 a year for tuition, room and board alone.
That means all of us parents – with newborns on up to adult children in graduate school – would be wise to learn about all the resources available to pay for higher education expenses.

Another thing I’ve learned: getting scholarships is largely a numbers game. Not only do you have to be “in it to win it,” but your also have to be committed to applying to a lot of scholarships. Three or four won’t cut it. Encourage your son or daughter to apply for at least a dozen – two dozen is even better – to greatly improve his or her odds of landing one or more scholarships.

Does this mean a lot of time spent on your scholarship search? Yes, absolutely. But the payoff is more than worth it. Getting thousands of dollars worth of scholarships now for your child means you won’t have to do things like tap your 401(k) funds, take out a home equity loan, co-sign for student loans, or use credit cards to pay for various college expenses. It will also keep your kid from racking up college debt.

So if you or your child is serious about winning scholarships, make it a quasi part-time job. Spend at least 15 to 20 hours a week (more, if you can spare it) hunting for scholarships, putting together applications, writing essays, etc. You’ll likely have to do this for several weeks (even if the time is spaced out over a few months).

Successful scholarship winners – and I won a few scholarships of my own back when I attended graduate school at USC – will tell you that you’ll only get out of your scholarship search whatever you put into it.

Finally, utilize Internet based tools to help you streamline your scholarship quest. A website like FastWeb.com is priceless because it’s free to use, saves you time, and it lets you set up a profile and get automatically matched to scholarships that fit your unique circumstances.

If you or your high-school child needs free money soon to cover the cost of tuition, books, supplies, room and board or other college-related expenses, check out the three scholarships below. Two of these scholarships are also open to children as young as five years old:

Name: Federal Junior Duck Stamp Art Competition

Sponsor: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior

Amount: $2,000 to $5,000

Eligibility: Students in grades K-12; U.S. Citizens and resident aliens
Deadline: March 15

Requirement: Students must submit a painting, drawing or sketch of any North American waterfowl species. Each state or district has its own competition and “Best of Show” winners advance to the national competition. One of the 53 Best of Show images will be selected as the next Junior Duck Stamp.

Application: http://www.fws.gov/juniorduck/

Name: Toshiba/NTSA ExploraVision Science Competition

Sponsor: Toshiba and the National Science Teachers Association

Amount: $5,000 to $10,000 savings bond (There are four divisions: grade K-3; grades 4-6; grades 7-9; and grades 10-12; within each divisions there is one first place price, $10,000; and one second place prize, $5,000)

Eligibility: Students in grades K-12; U.S. and Canadians residents

Deadline: January 29

Requirement: Students must create a project (in written and visual form) that showcases their vision of what technology will be like 20 years into the future.
Application: http://www.exploravision.org/

Name: Young Naturalist Awards
Sponsor: American Museum of Natural History
Amount: $500 to $2,500 (2 awards for each grade level)
Eligibility: Students in grades 7-12; U.S. and Canadian residents
Deadline: January 3
Info: Students must enter a research-based science essay contest.
Application: http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/youngnaturalistawards

This brief sampling of scholarships, of course, is but a drop in the bucket. There are literally tens of thousands of scholarship opportunities that abound for students of all types, ages, skills, interests and abilities.

Don’t think scholarships only go to poor students, minorities, high school kids with “A” grades or the children of alumni. If you are willing to put in the work, I can guarantee you that there are scholarships out there that are tailor made just for you or your child.

Good luck in your scholarship hunt!

Financial Tip: Three Miraculous Steps to Financial Freedom

Three Miraculous Steps to Financial Freedom

Published June 25, 2011 | By Rhodri Jones

Breaking free from debt and having enough money to live the life you desire is a goal millions of us aspire to.  Money worries can really have a profound effect on your health and quality of life. Destroy these worries and start living the life you never thought possible by discovering the steps to financial freedom.

Let’s face it, although money does not necessarily make the world go round, it does oil the screws and make the world spin faster than it should.

Many people think the ultimate goal to reach in life is to be rich and comfortable in luxury living. As shallow as it may sounds, materialism isn’t viewed as shallow nowadays.

Thankfully though, there comes a time when realization hits home.

People get to see that money doesn’t make one happy in the long run. And here is the part where one starts to seek steps to financial freedom.

What does it really take to take off the bind that most of us have with money?

Here are simple yet miraculous steps to financial freedom that can open your eyes – from blindness to the real vision.

The First Step To Financial Freedom: Stop Trying to Earn More.

Don’t get this wrong; you still need work in your life in order to finance your basic needs. But try to reassess yourself; are you working merely for money?

The primary step to financial freedom is to free yourself from all the things that make you a prisoner of wealth.

If you are working for the love of money and not for self-growth and enjoyment, then stop what you’re doing.

If you’re driving yourself to being a workaholic to earn more, then you are going nowhere.

What you need to do is find a real job which makes you happy even without the money incentive into light. Do what you want even if it means getting only enough salary for your family to live in comfort.

The keywords in the first step to financial freedom are happiness over salary.

The Second Step To Financial Freedom: End the Luxurious Life.

This may be the part where most people quit but don’t let yourself be just another lame quitter!

Do you like eating at fancy restaurants everyday?

Enjoy a deluxe travel vacation every month?

Or maybe prop yourself with the latest gadgets as soon as they come out?

Well if you said yes to the three previous questions, this is the question where you might be spending a little more time to answer: Are you truly and deeply happy?

Yes, probably not.

If you want to know a secret about happiness, here it is: If you want it to last then it should come from within.

Not from your job, definitely not from money and not even from your lifetime partner.

Happiness should come from yourself and from God. Only in contentment of what you have will truly give you joy.

The Last And Ultimate Step To Financial Freedom: Value Your Relationship With God.

This is the most important step to financial freedom.

If you will remember what He said that love of money is the root of all evil, then you will never ever consider living your life following the rules of materialism.

Let go of money and let God do you a favor.

This is the best and ultimate step to financial freedom.

Having enough money opens up so many opportunities in life. It gives you the freedom to choose your work, where you live and how you spend your time. Start taking control of your life and your destiny by taking proven steps to financial freedom.

Finacial Tip:How to Be a Great Investor by Simply Saving and Spending Wisely

How to Be a Great Investor by Simply Saving and Spending Wisely!

November 8, 2011 3:25 AM

by Michelle Singletary

My pastor recently made a statement that pretty much sums up the financial difficulty many people find themselves in.

“Most people don’t have a money problem,” he said. “They have a management problem.”

Every month, Discover Financial Services takes the pulse of consumer spending. The company polls 500 consumers daily and 8,200 monthly to get snapshots of consumer confidence and spending intentions. In its latest findings, 55 percent of consumers felt that their personal finances were getting worse. That was two points lower than the September survey. Forty-two percent said they would have no money left over after they paid their bills, also down two points from September.

Even accounting for the difficulty that people are having because of a bad economy, many folks would still be having financial trouble because they don’t save or spend wisely. The fact is it takes time, effort and persistence to be financially prudent.

It also takes access to good and unbiased information. So for this month’s Color of Money Book Club, I’m recommending “Clark Howard’s Living Large in Lean Times: 250-Plus Ways to Buy Smarter, Spend Smarter and Save Money” (Avery, $18). Howard hosts both a nationally syndicated radio program and a television show on HLN. In 1993, he founded a consumer action center, which is staffed with volunteers who answer consumer questions.

I’ve known Howard for some time and have subbed for him on his radio show. I admire his passion for educating consumers, and how he does it without making people feel stupid.

I think every household should have a book such as the one Howard has written. You can read it straight through, but it’s more likely you might just pick it up to find the chapter on whatever financial issue you are facing at the moment.

In the first chapter, to jump-start your savings, Howard provides 25 quick tips to save money. To seasoned penny-pinchers, many of the tips in this chapter will seem obvious (raise the deductible on your insurance, switch to a cheap no-contract cellphone provider, buy extra copies of a Sunday newspaper to get more coupons). But there are some tips you may not have heard about.

If you don’t want to give up your landline phone but want to get the cheapest rate possible, ask for the no-frills service, where bills typically run between $7 and $18. Howard notes that you’ll have to call and ask for the “state-regulated tariff rate.”

“If the representative you speak to feigns ignorance, ask to be transferred to a supervisor and make your request,” he writes.

Howard tests a lot of consumer products and when he does he buys the item. “I don’t accept any freebies from manufacturers or carriers at all, because I want you to know I’m unbought and unbossed,” he writes.

The book is broken down into 13 chapters covering consumer issues from cars, computers and health care to homes, insurance and travel. Within the book, you’ll also find two features, “Clark’s Greatest Hits” and “A Clark Favorite.” Howard considers the greatest hits the bedrock of his money-saving philosophy. I like his favorites category. These are tips for super cheapskates like me.

“I have always been cheap, which I define as being willing to accept lower quality for a lower price,” Howard writes. “But sometimes, my cheap tendencies have come back to bite me.”

Howard has found a way to make one disposable razor blade last a year. But he’s also willing to admit when his frugality goes awry. Like me, Howard hates to pay for parking. Unlike me, he parks in questionable areas, a money-saving tactic that has resulted in a few smashed car windows.

I found the chapter on “Clark’s Graveyard” interesting. It’s a list of Web sites and services that Howard has featured over the years but that didn’t make it in the marketplace. HM Vehicles Freeway is on the list. The company sold the Freeway, a three-wheeled car that ran on a 12-horsepower Tecumseh engine and got 100 miles to the gallon. It had no reverse gear.

If you’re looking for a good basic guide to help navigate common consumer issues, this book will serve you well.

I’ll be hosting a live online discussion about “Clark Howard’s Living Large in Lean Times” at noon Eastern on Dec. 1 at washingtonpost.com/conversations. Howard will be joining me to answer your questions.

Every month, I randomly select readers to receive a copy of the featured book, which is donated by the publisher. For a chance to win a copy of Howard’s book, send an e-mail to colorofmoney@washpost.com with your name and address.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/saving-spending-wisely-is-an-investment/2011/10/31/gIQAHfaNqM_story.html