Today's article: Keep your credit (cards) clean A good credit score is your passport to a home, automobile, insurance and yes, a credit card. However, with a devastating sub-prime mortgage crisis and a credit crunch gettting tighter by the month, one thing financial institutions are looking out for - your credit card debts.

Banks have been forced to write off record levels of credit card debt, so things are going to get rougher. So make sure you pay your credit card bills in full every month and on time. Late payments will lower your credit score and may even trigger an automated increase in rates. Moreover, it could result in a vicious cycle of credit-card debts. [continue reading]