Cash In On Credit

When it comes to credit, past performance does indeed determine future returns.

Manage it well, and you're looking at thousands of dollars in your bank account -- not your banker's -- over a lifetime. Ignore it or abuse it, and it will take a toll on other life matters -- how much you'll pay to insure your car, what cell phone carrier will take your business, and even the amount you'll shell out for your homeowner's policy.

Because credit's role in our lives continues to grow, we're devoting a month to managing, maintaining, fixing, and taking advantage of it. After all, improving your credit could be the smartest investment you make all year.

All month long we've taken a close look at credit and showed you ways to master the borrowing game. Here are some of the highlights (you can also follow along by bookmarking the Today's Features page):

Card-Carrying Fools
Dear Valued Customer...
Your $3,000 Tan
Use Those Miles
Charge Cards Get a Makeover
Borrower, Beware
Deferring Debt
Six Perks of Plastic
Advice for a Nervous Mom
Play the Field
Lessons From a Debt Collector

This month we're also offering some special deals for Fools...

Peek Into Your Past

Who cares about your credit? You may be surprised. With limited factors upon which to judge your good character, more and more people outside of the traditional lending industry are prying into your borrowing ways. In addition to the usual suspects -- mortgage lenders and credit card companies -- landlords, employers, insurance agencies, cell phone plan providers, and librarians are relying on your credit history to help make important decisions about doing business with you.

Since you also have access to your credit report, you can check up on the checkers. Find out right now what's in your file. In its 3-in-1 credit report, TrueCredit, one of our sponsors, gives you a side-by-side comparison of the information the three national credit agencies have on you. To celebrate Cash In On Credit Month, they're offering Fools $5 off of the 3-in-1 report (regularly $34.95), and they're throwing in a free credit score (regularly $4.95).

Unhappy with your grade? Want to know how to prevent your wife's Bloomie's card run-up in 1994 from keeping you out of the refinancing boom? We're re-running one of our most popular online seminars: Achieving Perfect Credit starting August 1st. It will help you spot credit blemishes and make the right moves to make them go away. Enrollees in the seminar also get a free credit report and score from TrueCredit. There's no time like the present to improve your lot in the lending world.

Protect Your Good Name

The last thing you want is for someone to hijack your credit history -- and trash it in the process. (Read how one Fool financed a $90,000 shopping spree for a ring of identity thieves.) To protect your good name and well-polished credit record, be your own credit cop. Our tips on avoiding identity theft can save you countless hours and a handful of C-notes (victims spend an average of 175 hours and $800 to clear their names) should your information get into unscrupulous hands.

Use Credit Foolishly

The rules of the lending game are changing. Are your following along? Right now lenders are saying "Ta-ta" to teaser rates. The time is now to lock in a low interest offer if you're paying down debt, or looking for an interest-free loan. Even the 0% APR on cash advances and balance transfers on The Motley Fool Visa card can't last forever. Check out the offer now so you aren't kicking yourself come August.

And if you -- or someone you know -- is suffering from debt, our free (!) Get Out of Debt How-To Guide is a must-read.

Get Paid to Spend

Even if you're not looking for cheap money, you should at least be getting something back for your spending. Are you a "swinger"? "Stasher"? "Snob"? No, we're not making character judgments. Those monikers describe how people use reward cards. What kind of card-carrier are you? If 1% cash back on every purchase sounds like your style, then you should be a card-carrying Fool, since The Motley Fool Visa card pays you back whenever you spend.