Joshua Heckathorn

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Joshua Heckathorn

Joshua Heckathorn is a credit expert and has been featured on CNNMoney, FOX Business, Yahoo Finance, The Street, and many other national publications during the past twenty years.  He received a Bachelor of Science in Management (Finance) from Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Business and earned his MBA from Seattle University.

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Recent Blogs

Why Credit Card Protection Plans Aren't Worth Jack Squat

August 3rd, 2012 by Joshua Heckathorn

Many credit issuers really push the sale of credit card protection plans on their customers.  Why?  Because they're extremely beneficial to the credit card companies' bottom lines. These plans basically claim they will help guard against an unexpected illness or job loss by paying off your credit card balance for you.  However, while the marketing spiel may sound good to your ears, the reality is that they are expensive and provide little value in return for most cardholders.

How to Rebuild Credit With Secured Credit Cards

August 1st, 2012 by Joshua Heckathorn

The best thing anyone with bad credit can do to improve their credit scores is focus on building positive payment history.   In fact, payment history accounts for the largest percentage of your overall FICO score, about 35 percent, so its importance can't be ignored. Build recent positive payment history on your credit reports, and the old negative marks will have less of an impact on your scores. It's that simple. Unfortunately, if you have bad credit, there's a good chance you've had payment issues of some sort in the past.  Late pays, charge offs, and collections on your credit reports are all ultimate credit score killers!   But if you're reading this post, then I'll assume you're ready to put your past mistakes behind you and make a change for the better.  And that process begins with making timely payments and building positive payment history as fast as possible.

What Does "Fair Credit" Mean?

July 30th, 2012 by Joshua Heckathorn

Your credit scores aren't horrible, but they aren't spectacular either. And while there's no denying you've had some credit issues in the past, at least you've finally taken the necessary steps to get your personal finances back on track. Things are definitely heading in the right direction. So where should you begin looking when you're ready to get a new credit card that'll be a good fit for your current credit situation?  You know you want to avoid credit cards for bad credit unless there are no other options available, but your gut also tells you there's no way you'll ever get approved for some of the more appealing rewards credit cards you've found online.

Amex Prepaid Card Giving Away Free $10

July 27th, 2012 by Joshua Heckathorn

I love free money, even if it is just 10 bucks. If you love free money too, and you're willing to spend a few minutes jumping through some hoops this weekend, there's still time to take advantage of this promotion from Amex and score yourself a complimentary $10 gift card. Here's what you'll need to do in 3 easy steps:

Would You Pay Extra to Use Your Credit Card?

July 25th, 2012 by Joshua Heckathorn

It's always the consumer that gets hosed in the end. In case you haven't heard yet, Visa and MasterCard recently reached a hefty settlement with a number of retail groups as a result of a class-action lawsuit initiated back in 2005. Not only will Visa and MasterCard pay over $7 billion to these retail groups, but part of the agreement gives merchants the ability to charge consumers an additional fee for using credit cards to make purchases. Wonderful.

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