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.

Even if you know relatively little about how FICO scores work, you've most likely heard that when your credit is pulled it hurts your scores. I've actually found this to be the primary reason people avoid applying for new credit. In fact, friends often ask me how I manage to apply for so many of the rewards credit cards I rate and review on Creditnet.com. Shouldn't all those credit inquiries be killing my FICO scores? Well, they haven't, and I frankly don't worry about credit inquiries that much. While there's no doubt in my mind too many inquiries can hurt FICO scores, I think most of us overestimate just how big of an impact credit inquiries have on our scores.

Dear Creditnet: I recently incurred $5,000 in surprise dental expenses and had to charge it on a credit card I've used since 1982. I've never had another credit card in my life, but now I'm interested in exploring my options so I can transfer this balance to a new 0% interest card and pay it off. I would like the card to have no annual fee, no balance transfer fee, a long no-interest balance transfer promotion and great customer service from a reputable outfit. I'm not really interested in airline rewards or cash back, and I do have excellent credit. Is there any credit card out there you recommend? -Sarah S.

Dear Creditnet: I have a bunch of private student loans totaling about $25,000 in debt, and I've been diligently making payments on time for the past five years. I unfortunately lost my job six months ago and I'm worried about keeping up with all of my payments in the coming months. Is there some way I can consolidate all of these loans right away so I only have to worry about making one payment to one company? Would this allow me to lower my payments and save some money while also buying additional time to land a new job? - Jackie S. from TX

Dear Creditnet: I got a secured credit card from Capital One over a year ago so I could finally begin rebuilding my bad credit. Since then, my FICO scores have risen from the low 500s to around 675, but I still don't have any other credit cards or loans in my name. My question is how much longer should I continue to use this secured credit card? Is it time to finally try to get a better card? -Ryan P. from MI