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This is a guest post by by Money Aisle. MoneyAisle.com runs live, reverse auctions (like a reverse e‐Bay) for consumers shopping for financial products—featuring car loan refinance. Consumers get exclusive rates and instant one stop shopping in a fun, dynamic auction format, and banks and Credit Unions get inexpensive access to new customers, accounts, and loans.

HouseHomeownership may remain a fantasy for nearly thirty percent of Americans because they are unlikely to qualify for a mortgage. What’s holding them back? A three digit number known as a FICO, or credit score.

A person’s FICO score is an important tool used by lenders to determine risk. A poor credit score can result in significantly higher annual percentage rates (APR). Those with extremely low scores may even find themselves denied for a loan. However, borrowers who have proven they are responsible with money are considered to be of little risk by creditors and get the lowest APRs.

Zillow Mortgage Marketplace data from the first half of September reveals that those with a FICO score of 620 or less were unlikely to receive a mortgage quote in their marketplace. Zillow chief economist Dr. Stan Humphries says that in a post-housing bubble world, lenders are looking at FICO scores with more scrutiny.

“We are in an era of historically low mortgage rates, reaching levels not seen in decades. Coupled with four years of home value declines, homes are more affordable than we’ve seen for years,” says Humphries. “But the irony here is that so many Americans can’t qualify for these low rates, or can’t qualify for a mortgage at all.”

However, Zillow data reveals that almost 50 percent of Americans have a credit score of 720 or higher, making them eligible to receive an average APR of 4.3 percent for a 30-year fixed mortgage.

Those with less than stellar credit should take the time to review their finances and boost their FICO score. Zillow says that the average APR fluctuates 0.12 percent for each 20 points a person’s credit score edges upwards or downwards.

The aforementioned Zillow data shows the importance of having good credit when applying for a mortgage. A high credit score is similarly important when applying for a car loan or personal loan. Regardless of the type of loan, an insurer will review credit patterns to determine risk and interest rates.

One of the easiest ways to improve your credit score is quite simple: pay your bills on time. A FICO score can drop due to late payments and other actions that make issuers question your ability to properly manage and pay back borrowed money.

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Eddie Griffin Car Wreck

Ehh - it's just a Ferrari...

If you haven’t re-aligned your expectations and realized that celebrities make mistakes and are regular people just like the rest of us after reading our celebrity credit card debt article then now there is something else that should also do the trick.

Check out the celebrity car accidents piece from Car Insurance Comparison and remember to not only stay out of credit card debt but drive safe!

Also, be sure and check out our full list of credit card feature articles if you haven’t already!

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This is a guest post by Fred, who has been writing about online banking and CD rates for several years. He recommends that you check out his article on Wells Fargo CD Rates.

College Student Credit Card MarketingThe people to whom banks and lenders most heavily market credit card offers to are not those with outstanding credit and rich credit histories, but instead are to college students and young men and women just entering adult life. On college campuses nationally, mailboxes are flooded with offers, tables are set up in cafeterias, public areas, and even at new student events, enticing freshmen to sign up for a credit card.

The College – Credit Card Collusion

Many major colleges around the nation have partnerships with banks to offer specific card offers (often with the school’s logo emblazoned across the card).

While changes to the way that student credit cards can be marketed have come about due to the recent CARD Act some schools can still potentially earn in the millions of dollars from credit card marketing arrangements. Some even issue college-approved identification cards that double as credit cards.

Increasingly, students are graduating with a degree and finding themselves saddled not only with student loan debt, but also with unsecured credit card debt.

My Parents Will Bail Me Out

Most college students appear to be poor credit risks, with low (or no) income and no possibility of good income for years. Yet banks aggressively market to them. Why? Because most students also have parents and family they turn to in order to help pay the bills. Often this includes paying credit card payments for them. Many parents are now doing this as a matter of course, securing a credit card for their teen who’s off to college and then paying the balance as a way to avoid sending money in the mail.

The average student graduates from college with at least two credit cards in his or her wallet and often with credit card debt measured in four or even five figures. They find themselves saddled with debt that also makes for a huge negative on their credit score, affecting their ability to buy or rent an apartment or a car or even to get a job.

Manage Credit Wisely

Yet doing without credit cards entirely is also probably not a good option because leaving college with little or no credit is no help either. Most agree that at least one credit card with a very low balance is a must by the time graduation comes around.

The trick is to manage that credit wisely. Use common sense, know your budget, and use your card only for things you absolutely need or can pay back easily. Using the card for gas, groceries, or other items you budget for and can pay back when the bill comes is a good start. Some also find that, with the high price of books, they can purchase many of their books with a credit card and pay them off over the next couple of months of the semester.

Parents should be aware of the danger of co-signing for a credit card and what could happen if their child becomes a victim of identity theft or becomes irresponsible for their spending. That becomes the parents’ problem too and puts your own credit at risk.

Talk with your children about credit and how it affects their lives. Offer advice, to help when you can, and remind them that whatever they charge now, they’ll have to pay for eventually and often that $100 pizza and beer binge can become $500 in payments and fees before it’s done.

[Editor's Note: To see real life examples of the increased cost of an item when buying with a credit card and not paying off the balance in full right away check out our true cost of credit calculator]

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Is celebrity credit card debt a problem? Well, it might make you feel better about your problems to know that celebrities have problems too. In fact, most of the time celebrities have really big problems, not to mention their problems get reported in the media. Take massive credit card debt, for example. While many people might owe a couple thousand here and there, famous people who get into credit card debt often get themselves into hundreds of thousands of debt, credit card style.

Credit Card Debt Steel Trap

That’s why we decided to take a look at some of the worst offenders. This proves that just because you’re famous doesn’t mean all your money problems are solved; sometimes being famous makes them worse.

#1 Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian Credit Card Debt

“I totally don’t have a clue about money!”

Estimated Kim Kim Kardashian Credit Card Debt: $120,000

Kardashian was hired as a stylist for R&B singer Brandy and was given access to an American Express card. Big Kim immediately went out with her sisters and spent $120,000 on the account, proving that “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” is both expensive and financially dangerous. She is now being sued for the money, because it ain’t free … even if you’re a Kardashian!

#2 Courtney Love

Courtney Love Credit Card Debt

Are there other issues at play besides just credit card debt? You be the judge...

Estimated Courtney Love Credit Card Debt: $350,000

Another American Express connoisseur, Love owes the company $350,000. She alleges identity theft, which is a bit hard to believe. It is plausible that someone would be able to pull off a really good Courtney Love imitation? Probably if you drank Patrone like an athlete drinks sports beverages, perhaps, but unlikely.

#3 Ed McMahon

Ed McMahon Credit Card Debt

Sidekick to debt.

Estimated Ed McMahon Credit Card Debt: $750,000

McMahon was a lovable figure, but toward the end of his life his financial situation was so bad he had to accept a bailout from Donald Trump in order to remain in his mansion. Making things even worse was the fact that his wife reportedly spent somewhere in the range of three quarters of a million dollars on the couple’s credit cards. Heeeeeeere’s bankruptcy!

#4 Lindsey Lohan

Lindsey Lohan Credit Card Debt

“Dude, I don’t even have a wallet”

Estimated Lindsey Lohan Credit Card Debt: $600,000

It’s been rumored that Lohan owes over a half million on her credit card accounts. It goes to show that a substance abuse problem probably exacerbates financial problems because you’re not paying attention to your money. Lohan can still turn it around, but getting help with her personal problems needs to come before getting her financial problems in order.

#5 Tori Spelling

Tori Spelling Credit Card Debt

Shopping like it's 1995.

Estimated Tori Spelling Credit Card Debt: “Hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Spelling likely incurred many bad spending habits: the daughter of entertainment mogul Aaron Spelling, and the star of a hit show over a decade ago (with no breakout roles since then). Spelling’s father, the creator of “Beverly Hills: 90210,” was worth hundreds of millions when he died — but surprisingly, left Tori a minuscule inheritance.

#6 Stephen Baldwin

Stephen Baldwin Credit Card Debt

"Money? Oh, I'm good for it"

Estimated Stephen Baldwin Cred Card Debt: $70,000

Some blame karma from starring in the cutout-bin movie “Bio-Dome” for Baldwin’s financial misfortunes, but here’s the real culprit: really bad management of money, plus living the Hollywood lifestyle that perhaps your brother can afford, but you cannot. Sorry Stevie, no one can remember another movie that you were in!

#7 Nicholas Cage

Nicholas Cage Credit Card Debt

“It’s really quantity over quality at this point for me, I’m broke.”

Estimated Nicholas Cage Credit Card Debt: $250,000

It’s no wonder that Cage is in so many movies; his financial issues are such a mess that he had to file for bankruptcy. One of the debts owed is for his ex-wife’s credit card account; the court allegedly ruled that Cage is liable for what she charged on the account. The actor has sadly had to sell a castle that he owned; now he must dwell in a regular home. It’s just not right, is it?

#8 Perez Hilton

Perez Hilton Credit Card Debt

“Famous people are stupid because, well, I am too.”

Estimated Perez Hilton Credit Card Debt: $50,000

In a twist of fate that might leave all these celebrities salivating, Perez Hilton, purveyor of the celeblog of the same name that pokes fun at famous people, filed for bankruptcy — claiming credit card debts from college forced him to file for chapter 11. (That’s what happens when you charge too many scholastic champagne breakfasts to plastic. )

Credit Card Debt Debt Goal Debt Consolidation Care


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Credit Card 2.0How would you like to carry around just one small credit card and be able to use that card for linking up to all of your different credit card and debit card accounts? How would you like to be able to press a button on the card and hide the card numbers from the view of a nosy cashier or server that may have a credit card skimmer or cloner?

Dynamic Inc., the winners of the recent DEMO startup technology conference, have unveiled the credit card of the future: Card 2.0.

Check out the below video courtesy of Mashable to see a demo of Card 2.0. in action:

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This is a guest post by Jason D. Steele, who has been a credit card writer for the blog at AskMrCreditCard.com since 2008. In addition he has his personal blog where he writes about Travel, Aviation, and Consumer Issues.

Last week, Joel published a feature article about credit cards and international travel titled “Hong Kong Phooey”, a subject that I have been writing about this summer. Joel concluded his international travel blog post review of the “Hong Kong Phooey” feature article by asking, “Do YOU have any humorous stories or words of advice for those traveling with a credit card, cash, or other type of payment?”

Yes, I Do Have An Interesting Story

It was the summer of 2005, and I was getting married. For over a year, my wife and I had been simultaneously planning a big wedding in Denver, and a subsequent honeymoon in Brazil. With the help of a travel agent, I constructed a fantastic three week trip including such sites as Rio De Janeiro, Iguazu Falls, and the Amazon jungle.

The wedding went without any major hitches, and two days later we were off to Brazil. On one of our first nights there, we decided to splurge on a traditional Brazilian steakhouse. Being on our honeymoon, we naturally went to the finest one in town.

ChurrascariaIf you have been to a Brazilian steakhouse, or churrascaria, you know that the food is served table side, and it is priced all you can eat. The idea is to sample as many entrees as possible, and we did. We knew the prices ahead of time, and we had taken enough cash to cover the meal, leaving a larger amount and most of our credit cards in our hotel for safekeeping. This strategy worked well for me when I was a student traveling internationally.

The meal was incredible, and we even left enough room to try the desert cart that was brought to our table. Again, not wanting to miss out on any aspects of Brazilian cuisine, we tried to sample as many deserts as our appetite would permit. Everything is going great, until we receive the bill. Imagine our surprise when we realized that the deserts were not included part of the fixed price for the rest of the meal, a fact I am sure must have been clearly explained to us in Portuguese. It turns out that the deserts were quite pricey, nearly doubling the tab! No problem, I thought, that is why we brought a credit card with us.

Now perhaps I had not used that particular credit card on our trip at that point, but that was the moment our bank decided to suspect that our card had been stolen and was being fraudulently used all over Brazil. In the madness surrounding our wedding preparations, I had neglected the first rule of international travel with a credit card; Always call your bank and tell them where and when you are planning to travel. Rule number two might as well be to always carry more than one credit card, in case one of your banks didn’t get that memo. Make sure you at least have an Visa credit card or a MasterCard as they are accepted more internationally.

In a panic, my new wife and I dug through our wallets, eventually finding a hundred dollar bill we had tucked away for just such an emergency. Fortunately, the restaurant was glad to accept American Dollars rather than employ us as dishwashers for the evening. They were even kind enough to give us change in Brazilian currency so that we could pay for a taxi back to our hotel.

Since that time, I have learned so much about credit cards and international travel that I am embarrassed that I was ever foolish enough to be put in such a desperate position. Earlier this month, my wife and I had a second chance to visit Brazil. This time we made sure to bring multiple credit cards and to inform out banks ahead of time of our plans.

On the last evening of our trip, we again decided to splurge on a traditional Brazilian steakhouse. To our delight, the restaurant that was recommended to us was a new location of the same steakhouse that we had visited on our honeymoon. Upon realizing this, our thoughts immediately returned our memorable evening, laughing at the naivete of the young newlyweds who dined there five years earlier.

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This article comes from Mike Clover. Mike has been a Mortgage Banker for 9 years. He is also a consumer advocate for better credit education and a blogger on the CreditScoreQuick.com Blog.

The current state of the economy has put Americans in a new frame of mind – one that says it isn’t fun anymore to be in debt. Some folks are even trying to go “all cash” to get away from the danger of checking overdrafts and/or identity theft.

But, you never know when you might actually need to use credit, whether you want to or not. There are times when the car engine blows up, or the furnace goes out in 10 degree weather – and you don’t have enough savings to cover repairs or replacement.

Owning and using a credit card will help keep you in a position to access credit quickly in that kind of emergency.

First, it will give you instant access to funds up to your credit limit. That might be all you need to cover the cost of a furnace repair man or a rental car to use while yours is in the shop.

But just as importantly, wise use of your credit card will help you keep your credit scores high – so if that car is beyond repair and you need a new one, you’ll not only be able to get a car loan, you’ll pay a lower interest rate.

The way you pay bills accounts for 35% of your credit score. So using your credit and paying your bills on time helps build higher credit scores.

You do have to be careful. Use the card sparingly, and pay it off when the bill arrives. Be careful never to charge over 30% of your credit limit – less than 25% is even better. Do use the card every 2- 4 months, so that you continually demonstrate your bill paying abilities – and so that you don’t get hit with an inactivity fee.

If you have to charge a higher percentage of your limit because of an emergency, and have to carry a balance, pay it down as quickly as possible.

Another big factor in your credit report is the length of time that you’ve had and used credit. So don’t wait to get a credit card until you think you might need it. Get it now. And don’t just take the first card that is offered to you. Do some research and choose the card that has the lowest fees and interest rate.

No matter how determined you are to be debt free, don’t cancel any old cards. Keep them, and use them just often enough for them to remain active.

The first step in building and maintaining your credit is to know your scores. So get your free online credit report with scores and see where you stand. Be sure to check for errors, and get them corrected if you find them. Then read the suggestions for improving your scores.

It’s very wise to stay out of debt – but it’s vital to have credit available when you actually need it.

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Robin Hood (Russell Crowe)In Michael S. Derby’s Wall Street Journal article titled “Credit Cards Take from the Poor, Give to the Rich” a ridiculous study is highlighted that claims a number of very interesting things, chief of which is that credit cards serve as a form of “Reverse Robin Hood” to take money from the pockets of the poor to give to the rich.

The title of the study is, “Who Gains and Who Loses from Credit Card Payments? – Theory and Calibrations” by Scott Schuh, Oz Shy, and Joanna Stavins. Here is the abstract:

“Merchant fees and reward programs generate an implicit monetary transfer to credit card users from non-card (or “cash”) users because merchants generally do not set differential prices for card users to recoup the costs of fees and rewards. On average, each cash-using household pays $151 to card-using households and each card-using household receives $1,482 from cash users every year. Because credit card spending and rewards are positively correlated with household income, the payment instrument transfer also induces a regressive transfer from low-income to high-income households in general. On average, and after accounting for rewards paid to households by banks, the lowest-income household ($20,000 or less annually) pays $23 and the highest-income household ($150,000 or more annually) receives $756 every year. We build and calibrate a model of consumer payment choice to compute the effects of merchant fees and card rewards on consumer welfare. Reducing merchant fees and card rewards would likely increase consumer welfare.”

Should We Believe the Study’s Conclusions Blindly?

Much has been said about this study but it seems that most writers are blindly accepting the conclusions of this study simply because, well, it’s called a “study” and Schuh, Shy, and Stavins must know what they are talking about, right? Well, not so much.

What the Study Gets Right

The study is right on the mark when they point out that credit card users typically end up paying less for a given item (after credit card rewards are taken into account) than someone who is paying cash. The study is also right on the mark when it points out the fact that most merchants (aside from gas stations) do not set different prices for items based on the payment method (meaning that the credit card processing fee is already built into the cost of the item).

What the Study Gets Horribly Wrong

There are a number of different issues that I take with the study and it’s conclusions but here are two major things that the study gets horribly wrong: the “Give and Take” issue and the “Rich vs Poor” issue. Let’s take a look at each in turn.

“Give and Take”

Is it even proper to frame the issue like “give and take”? Every different type of cost that a store has is priced into the purchase price of the products it sells. Why should the convenience of credit cards be treated any differently?

What about bathrooms? Bathrooms are convenient yet some people choose (probably wisely) to never ever use a gas station bathroom. However, whether they use the bathroom or not then the cost of having a bathroom available to customers of the gas station is a part of the price of every single item in the gas station convenience store. Does this mean that gas station bathroom users “take” from those who choose to not use the gas station bathroom? Of course not. The convenience of using the gas station bathroom is available to all and the cost borne by all just like the convenience of using credit cards is available to all and the cost borne by all.

Pretty simple stuff right? We could go on and on with all kinds of other examples of things that are available for everyone to use at a given store but only used by some and yet still not free because they are baked into the price of every item but I hope that the bathroom example gets this simple point across clearly enough. Let’s take a look at the second major error with the study’s conclusions.

“Rich vs Poor”

The second area where the study goes horribly wrong is when they insinuate a poor to rich transfer via credit cards. Let’s take a look at the thought process used:

The price of an item is the same for both cash buyers and credit card buyers.
For cash buyers the price of the item is likely higher than it would be if there were no credit card processing costs built into the item’s price.
Credit card use is highly correlated with being rich.
Therefore, credit cards take from the poor and give to the rich.

See anything wrong with the above reasoning process used in the study?

If you guessed “Lurking Variable/Confounding/Correlation Does Not Imply Causation” then you are right! The higher someone’s income is then the more likely that they are to use their credit cards more BUT that does not mean that credit cards take from the poor and give to the rich it simply means that credit cards “take” (see the above “Give and Take” section to see why I chose to use quotation marks) from the cash users and give to the credit card users (and in fact – credit cards also GIVE even to cash users via economies of scale through easy efficient payment processing, especially online, that lets more stuff get sold at an overall cheaper price to everyone but that is a discussion for another day).

If someone makes $6 an hour or $600 an hour then the price that they pay for an item is exactly the same AND if they have the same rewards credit card then the credit card rewards that they receive are exactly the same too. Income is not a causal factor in the equation. Choosing to use or not use a credit card is the causal factor. Those who use credit cards are rewarded via credit card rewards and those who use cash are “penalized” (in a sense) because of the passing up – the foregone benefit of credit card rewards that they are neglecting to receive by virtue of them paying with cash instead BUT-

BUT, BUT, BUT

It’s very important to understand that the people who are choosing to pay with cash rather than a credit card are presumably paying with cash because of some other real or perceived benefit to them (i.e. they are a hard line believer of the Dave Ramsey view of credit cards and are able to be more responsible with their money by only using cash or some other reason that makes sense to them). Assuming that pretty much everyone can get a decent credit card (and yes, there are even student credit cards and bad credit credit cards that offer rewards of some kind) then isn’t it just as ridiculous to demand separate pricing for cash payers as it would be to demand separate pricing for non bathroom users?

Imagine this scenario:

You walk into a gas station convenience store and say, “Hi, I would like the no-credit-card-convenience, the no-bathroom-convenience, and no-trash-can-convenience special pricing for my gallon of milk, please. Is that possible? Oh, and one other thing, can you please reduce the price a little more and give me the no-customer-service-for-asking-stupid-questions pricing as well?”

To which the reply is: “I am sorry sir, but the pricing is the same for everyone – and you would not qualify for the no-customer-service-for-asking-stupid-questions pricing even if such a thing existed, my friend.”

What do YOU Think?

Do you agree with the conclusions of the study?

What do you think about the “Give and Take” framing of the argument?

Why do you suppose the authors of the study chose to imply this “robbing of the poor to give to the rich” type of effect?

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This article comes from CreditCardsCo.com – a site with lots of good information about credit cards. We are happy to feature this article from CreditCardsCo.com and hope that you will check out many of the information rich articles on both Credit Card Chaser and Credit Cards Co before making any decisions when looking for the best credit cards. Credit Cards Co is a newcomer here on Credit Card Chaser.

Everybody needs credit at some point or another in their lives. If you use it responsibly, it can be one of your greatest assets. While balance transfers can sometimes save you from a horrible credit situation, it can also be a convenient ally if you understand how to capitalize on its benefits.

The Pitch

Many credit card companies offer low introductory APR on balance transfers to entice you to opening an account with their bank. While you might not be considering a new account presently, you should know that this could be wise move on your behalf. That’s because consolidating your credit on one card can not only save you a lot of money, but time and heartache too. With all of your credit in one place, you should be able to make more significant payments, more often, which can, in turn, pay your balance down faster than expected. Typically, these offers are introductory, meaning that you open an account with a variable rate that starts as low as 0% but adjusts to something higher after 6, 9, or 12 months. If you manage your money properly, though, you can pay these balances off before the adjustment settles.

The Promise

By consolidating your credit card balances on one account, you immediately reduce your interest rates. Since you likely had multiple cards, you were probably paying more than one interest rate, and none of them were even close to 0% APR. These add up quickly and can cost you thousands of dollars by the time you finally pay off the accounts. However, under one rate, you will know exactly how much to pay and you can more easily calculate how long it will take to pay it off. This gives you the power to make payments according to a schedule that you determine.

Also, when you consolidate your credit, you decrease the likelihood of encountering a fee. Although you are responsible with your payments, sometimes things come up and you have to miss a payment. If you miss all of your credit card payments, you get hit with as many fees, which can quickly send you spiraling out of control. However, consolidating cuts your payments down into something that should be much more affordable, and if you hit a snag in your budget, you end up with only one fee. This won’t set you back so much that you can never catch up, and within a month or two you will be back on track.

The Progress

There have been some significant changes to credit card policies this past year. One of the most important is how your payments are applied to your account. Credit cards carry multiple interest rates for the three basic types of activity: purchases, cash advances, and balance transfers. Before 2010, your payments were being applied to the accounts with the lowest interest rates, leaving your high-yield accounts to fester and keep you in debt longer. The new laws, however, force credit card companies to use the excess of your payments to pay down your highest-interest balances first.

The Possibilities

When you have credit, you are held by the bank as a liability. The more credit you use, the more likely it will be that you will default. Unfortunately, that’s the way that they think. The more consistently you make payments and the longer you do so, the less they view you as a liability and the more likely they are to reward you with more credit if you need it. By consolidating your debts into one account, you manage your budget better and commit to more responsible activity on your account. You also open yourself up to a better credit standing. By leaving your old accounts open after you transfer money, you will immediately appear more attractive because it will appear that you have a better credit-to-debit ratio.

The Payoff

In the end, all of this should result in an improvement in your credit score. Reducing the amount of your overall minimum payment allows you to make more substantial payments and decreases the likelihood that you will default. By keeping your credit limit high and increasing your available credit through regular payments, you will appear responsible and trustworthy. While there are many factors that go into determining your credit score, the ability and likelihood of making payments bear the most weight. Keeping this in check will keep you in the clear.

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It is even possible to travel internationally with just a credit card or can you find yourself in a pinch if you don’t have cash or traveler’s checks?  That is the question we explored when one of our writers recently visited Hong Kong and attempted to survive without cash for three days.

Check out our latest feature piece titled “Hong Kong Phooey: How I Survived Without Cash in Hong Kong for Three Days” and then let us know what you think.

Do YOU have any humorous stories or words of advice for those traveling with a credit card, cash, or other type of payment?

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