Did you know you can set up automatic payments for many of your credit cards directly from an online savings account? This can be an excellent way to earn the highest interest rate possible on your cash while ensuring credit card bills are always paid on time, so it's definitely worth taking a few minutes to explore.

Unless you don't exist in the credit system for some reason, you actually have three credit scores. And you have three credit scores because you also have three credit reports — one from each of the major credit bureaus. While each credit report should be similar, chances are they contain different information because certain lenders may only report to one of the major credit bureaus. Therefore, each of your credit scores will likely be different as well.

The days of just applying for whatever credit card offer you received in the mail are long gone. And that's a good thing, because it wasn't a smart way to shop in the first place. If you were in the market for a new TV, would you buy the first offer that arrived in the mail without checking online to compare other products and prices? Of course not, and choosing a new credit card should be considered an even more important financial decision.

While the Credit Card Act of 2009 may not be perfect, it will put an end to some of the more egregious practices that have plagued the credit card industry for decades. Among the major changes the law will enact, double-cycle billing is one that consumer activists are especially excited to bid goodbye.

It's easy to despise the credit issuers.

Who else should we blame for the ugly state in which our credit card industry exists today? Should we blame consumers for making poor financial decisions and living beyond their means? Perhaps Congress for taking so long to get its act together? Why not blame Bush? He's an easy target for just about anything bad that's happened to our country and the economy.