If your in debt, you must devise some plan to get out of the red. You can declare bankruptcy (Chapter 13 or Chapter 7), but that will tarnish your credit and financial records. An alternative is the wage earner plan — which allows you to meet your debts methodically without bankruptcy.

This holiday season, retailers may nudge you a little harder to sign up for their store credit cards. Perks could include discounts of 10% or more on your first purchase and introductory offers that allow you to delay payments, interest or both.

The credit bureau keeps record of an individual’s credit history. A credit bureau prepares an individual’s credit report that contains every payment detail for that individual. A credit report also contains an individual’s personal information such as the name, residential address, official address, etc.

Collection agencies have been doing it for years — collecting on a consumers bad debt who’s essentially said they won’t pay. Even the most hopeless of bad debts can be collected on — here are six of their secrets.

A credit freeze occurs when you notify a credit bureau not to release your credit history without your consent. This is an effective way to combat identity theft since a potential identity thief will not be able to see your credit history even if he has your personal identifying information.