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Credit card companies desperately want the opportunity to just get a place in your wallet.  In fact, they're often willing to offer free money in the form of 0 percent interest credit cards and sign-up bonuses in hopes that they can convince you it'll be worth giving their new card a try. In addition, credit issuers know that many Americans are making a continued effort to pay down high-interest credit card debt, and one of the best ways to do that is by transferring old balances to no interest credit cards in order to pay off the debt while avoiding unnecessary interest charges.

You know why I love Labor Day? I love this holiday because it provides us with the opportunity to reflect on all the achievements of American workers by taking a day to do absolutely nothing but watch sports, stuff our faces with BBQ, and complain about how the summer went by too fast. Perfection. I plan on doing a lot of that today, and hopefully you get to as well. Oh, and don't forget to bust out your white suit/dress and seersucker too, because Labor Day marks the last day you can fashionably get away with wearing them. Croquet anyone? Happy Labor Day!

Dear Creditnet: My college-age son had good credit, but then he got sick and was unable to work for a long time. He got behind on all of his obligations, so my husband and I are attempting to help get him back on track and rebuild his credit. We would like him to have a credit card in his name that we will be responsible for paying, but we're not sure what kind of card he could get approved for with bad credit. We would rather not co-sign unless it's absolutely necessary. What do you suggest? - Mary B. from CT

If you’re anything like me, your stomach drops when you receive any form of communication from the IRS.

That’s because if they’re sending you something in the mail, it's most often because you owe some clams to Uncle Sam. Inevitably, the government finds ways in which to squeeze revenues from as many angles as possible, especially with today’s trimmed public budgets and high government debt. In fact, credit card holders have often been the recipients of such attempts at increasing the public coffers.

The first thing we should clear up in this discussion is the fact that there's no such thing as a "prepaid credit card".  It simply doesn't exist.   If anyone references a prepaid credit card in a conversation with you, what they actually mean is a "prepaid debit card". The terms unfortunately get mixed up all the time, even though "debit" and "credit" mean very different things, but the fact is all of these cards are debit cards.