To Lose 1 Pound Per Week
Dodge dining-out disasters
Even your seemingly healthy grilled swordfish and vegetables can pack more calories and fat than a stick of butter. “Many restaurant meals contain up to 2 ounces of added oil [500 calories],” says Anita Jones, founder of the Healthy Dining Program, which analyzes the nutritional content of restaurant food. Pasta dishes are notorious: Oil is used throughout the cooking process and added to sauces and cooked noodles. Stick with steamed veggies and grilled, poached, or broiled lean protein (like poultry and fish), and ask the chef to prepare your dishes without oil. Or just cook meals at home instead of eating out.

Careful With That Cappuccino
Vanilla shots, caramel, sugar packets — they’re not harmless just because they’re in your cup of joe. A large white-chocolate mocha with whipped cream from Starbucks logs in at 630 calories (the whip alone has 100!). Get your sweet fix with two shots of sugar-free vanilla syrup in a medium cappuccino with soy or fat-free milk and kick 500 empty calories to the curb.

Dress Down
“Most entrée salads at restaurants are pre-dressed with 6 to 10 tablespoons of dressing,” Jones says. “And most dressings have 70 to 100 calories per tablespoon and 7 to 10 grams of fat.” That’s an average of 680 calories just for the dressing (let’s not even get into croutons and bacon bits). Order dressing on the side and dip into it sparingly with your fork between bites — you’ll cut back to about 2 tablespoons (roughly 175 calories).

Lighten Up At Happy Hour
If it tastes sweet or has a salty rim, it’s usually bad news — think cosmos, lemon drops, and appletinis. Most cocktails have 2 to 5 ounces of liquor. Add in 5 ounces of sugary syrups or mixers like cola, grenadine, and Midori and you can down more than 700 calories in just one drink. Stay away from Margaritaville (and below 100 calories) by pairing your liquor with diet or club soda. Or go for a bottle of light beer or a 5-ounce glass of chardonnay, which contain around 125 calories each. Sorry, Jimmy.

To Lose 1 Pound Every 2 Weeks
Cut Out 300 Calories A Day

HERE’S HOW
Be Tricky In The Kitchen
For leaner cuisine — and to save 115 calories — swap out that tablespoon of olive oil for canola or olive oil cooking spray. Sauté vegetables and fish with 1/4 cup of broth rather than 1 tablespoon of butter and trim 100 more. Replace the quarter cup of heavy cream in Alfredo and cheese sauces with the same amount of skim milk mixed with 2 tablespoons of flour — bam, another 150.

Switch Dishes
The larger the serving dish, the more you’re likely to consume, according to recent research in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Downsize your ice cream bowl and serve that fettuccine on a 9-inch appetizer plate instead of a standard 11-inch dish — you can save up to 300 calories in a day, says Jenna Anding, Ph.D., associate professor of nutrition and food science at Texas A&M University. Dining out? Cut your entreé in half and doggie-bag it as soon as your food arrives.

Skip The Sweet Swill
“One of the easiest ways to uncover hidden calories is to look at your beverage consumption,” Sass says. American women get up to 300 more calories a day now than they did 30 years ago. At least half of those come from sweetened beverages like soda and fruit juice, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. A 20-ounce bottle of Arizona Iced Tea has 240 calories — about as much as a small meal. Ditch the sports drinks, fruit punch, and Slurpees and get your produce nutrients from whole fruit instead of juice — a 1-pint carton of Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice has 220 calories. An orange? About 35.

Pare Down Your PMS Picks
Forgo the cup of Ben & Jerry’s for the same amount of low-fat ice cream. Slow-Churned Dreyer’s Grand Light Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough has only 260 calories per cup. The B&J version? 540 calories. Yeah, we know that eating Ben & Jerry’s is as close as any of us is likely to get to paradise on earth. So if you just can’t live without the boys, mix 2 tablespoons into a cup of the skinnier stuff and you’ll still save 250 calories.

To Lose 1 Pound Per Month
Cut Out 100 Calories A Day

HERE’S HOW
Buy Skinnier Bread
The calorie content in different brands can vary as wildly as Anna Nicole’s “before” and “after” shots. For example, Milton’s Healthy Whole Grain packs 90 calories a slice, while Sara Lee Delightful Wheat weighs in at just 45. Switch brands and you cut your sandwich calories by 90. Better yet, wrap your cold cuts in lettuce — a big leaf of romaine has only 10 calories.

Trade Up Your Toppings
Swap the half-cup of guacamole on your burrito for an equal amount of salsa and spare yourself 150 calories. Get the same savings by using salsa in place of the sour cream on your baked potato and the mayo on your wrap. Other tricks of the topping trade: Swap Gorgonzola for grated Parmesan, dip vegetables into hummus instead of ranch dressing, and sprinkle salads with lightly toasted pecans rather than oil-soaked croutons.

Turn Off The Tube
We know Laguna Beach reruns can be just as tempting as tiramisu, but too many hours in front of your plasma screen can wreak havoc on your waistline. Researchers from Georgia State University found that people took in up to 130 more calories on days when they ate in front of the TV than on days when they left the remote alone.

Spritz Up Your Vino
Mix 3 ounces of club soda with 3 ounces of wine and your drink will have about 60 calories. If you usually have two glasses of Shiraz, substituting the bubbly stuff will save you about 120 calories. An added bonus: Research shows that moderate drinking (one drink daily for women) may increase levels of leptin, a natural hormone that curbs the appetite for sweets.

Camouflage Your Candy
A study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that office workers who kept candy within reach in a clear dish ate three times as much as those who kept it farther away in an opaque container. That’s a 150-calorie difference. If you’ve gotta have a Godiva stash, make sure it’s out of sight and that you have to work (at least a little) to get to it.

Bulk Up
Eating low-cal, fiber-rich foods before a meal — think fruits, vegetables, and broth-based soups — can help reduce your total calorie intake. A study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that women who ate a 100-calorie salad before their meal consumed 12 percent less — 107 fewer calories — overall (salad included) than those who skipped the leafy appetizer. Make your first course a cup of veggie soup or 2 cups of mixed salad with reduced-fat cheese and fat-free dressing. Now get chopping!

By far the most important reason to budget, save, and invest, is to prepare for your own retirement. To do this effectively, you will need to define at what age you hope to retire, and what standard of living you hope to have. Do you want to retire and split your time between northern locations in the summer and a warmer climate during the winter, do you plan on having a simpler lifestyle close to family, or do you hope to have a home base from which you travel around the world? With these two questions answered, you will be able to identify how much you need to invest and for how long in order to meet those goals. Again, the best strategy is to start investing and saving earlier to leverage the power of compound interest to accelerate your plans for financial freedom, which also allows you to meet those goals at a smaller monthly impact to your budget.

To facilitate saving towards retirement, most countries have tax breaks targeted specifically to retirement investments and savings. This can be a major advantage as your tax rate is normally tied to your income, which will be higher during your peak employment years and drop after you retire. This allows you to defer paying tax on the money you saved until you actually need to use it and when your income tax is lower – you not only get an increase to the investment with compounded interest, but also a decrease in your overall taxes paid throughout your life.

Once you retire, you can then start to draw on this income, with the benefit that the balance of your retirement investments will still continue to generate interest, which will provides an incremental income stream throughout your retirement years.

What this comes down to is learning what profile you fit in, and then learning how to change those spending, budgeting, and saving habits to meet your goals. Although many of these strategies will require discipline, the long term goals are clear: once you decide on a path, make the commitment to stick to it and you will find within a few months, you will begin adjusting your lifestyle to your new financial habits, which will, in turn, reinforce these new practices. Remember, nothing comes for free – long term financial goals require short term sacrifices, the trick is to find the right compromise that allows you to meet those long term goals while still enjoying life to the fullest in the short term.

If you often spend more than your needs, you best first step is to focus on a budget, looking for areas that are unnecessary and can be trimmed, and be prepared to have the discipline to stick to your new budget. If you often spend to your means, your best starting point is look for opportunities to build up your savings, which helps to reduce the risk and impact of unexpected expenses, and allows you to begin saving for the future. If you often spend below your means, you are in a good position to save to the future and should focus on savings that are structured to provide for better return on retirement, although, don’t forget to still enjoy life in the interim as many people that spend below their needs end up with a full bank account and regrets on missed opportunities and experiences.

If you answered yes to several questions above, you are probably shopping as a recreational activity. You have a condition called Oniomania. It is also known as shopping addiction or shopaholism, is the compulsive desire to shop. People who shop or spend compulsively get a feeling of being “high” from the experience. This translates into endorphins and dopamine, natural receptor sites in the brain, getting turned on, creating a “good feeling” and reinforcing the desire to shop or spend.

Credit cards facilitate the spending of money as well as mail orders via catalogues or the Internet. In America, shopping is embedded in our culture; so often, the impulsiveness comes out as shopping addiction or compulsive spending. Shopping addiction and compulsive spending can put a strain on both your finances and your relationships. In other words, shopping addicts buy more than they need and spend more money than they can afford, in an effort to make themselves feel better. It can wreak havoc on a person’s life, family, and finances.

Here are the 10 simple steps to stop the cycle of shopping addiction and compulsive spending:

1. Identify a “need” from a “want.” Learn to recognize wants from needs, and practice controlling your impulses to spend your money on things you don’t really need, and you’ll be able to change your spending habits and end up far ahead financially. Before buying anything, ask yourself if it is a need or a want. If it is a want, let go of the item.

A need is something you have to buy, such as groceries. It may also be a new pair of shoes to wear to the office if your present pair is no longer in good condition. A want, on the other hand, is something you just desire but can do without. Examples are a new CD or DVD, a nice-looking hand bag when you have a dozen other hand bags at home, and a cellphone that’s loaded with so many features.

2. If you know you have a problem, try to avoid discount warehouses, malls and shopping districts. Avoid going to the mall if you don’t have to buy something you absolutely need. Even if you have to get a ride from the mall on the way home from work, don’t go inside the mall. Go around the perimeter of the mall instead to get to the bus stop. If you need to go to the bank, go to one that’s not located in the mall. Do the same for other establishments you patronize for other services (e.g., clothes alteration, key duplication, etc.). If you have to meet friends, pick venues that are far from the nearest mall. Avoid temptation.

3. Do not be sucked in by “good deals.” Avoid the sales unless absolutely necessary. Even if your favorite shop is on sale, don’t go there “just to look.” Make your shopping purposeful: think beforehand what you need to buy, make the purchase, then leave.

4. Set a spending budget and stick to it. List down your monthly income, set aside at least 10 percent for savings, then list down all your regular expenses (transportation, food, etc.). Make sure you set aside money for your regular expenses first before even thinking of going to the mall. Be disciplined.

5. When buying gifts; ask, find out whether your friend or loveones have a registry or wish list, or simply inquire what they’d like. This will help you to not only get the gift they really want; it will also help you to zero in on what you need to buy. Your gift won’t be original, or a big surprise, but it will not be the one that gathers dust afterward, either.

6. Start writing things down. Tally your actual expenses every month. This will help you determine where your money goes. You can see too how much you can save on some items and where you’ve spent more than you should. It’s also wise to write down your financial goals so you stay focused on what’s important.

7. Carry a shopping list. Try to plan your shopping. If you’re going to shop for groceries, make a list before going to the supermarket. Then stick to your list. Don’t buy anything else. Remember: If it’s not on your list, then you don’t need it. Try leaving your credit cards at home. Pay with cash, check, or a debit card.

8. Find healthy alternatives. Make yourself busy with other activities. Take a walk or exercise when the urge to shop comes on. After work, go home straight then just relax by reading a book or educational TV shows. In this way, you won’t have to unwind in the mall after a long day’s work.

9. Seek support. Ask a friend or family member to keep you accountable. You need someone’s help to make sure you’re taking steps to curb your impulse buying. If you must go shopping at a place that’s especially tempting for you, bring along a trusted friend who knows how much you’re struggling, and ask your friend to help you stick to your shopping list when shopping.

10. Give yourself a simple reward but don’t over indulge. If you have followed these tips after a month or two, reward yourself with something to make you feel good. It doesn’t have to be expensive (remember: you have a budget to follow!). It can be as simple as a trip to the spa, a movie date with a good friend or you can buy an elegant pearl necklace so that everytime you wear it, you will be reminded of your efforts. It doesn’t even have to be a purchase at the nearest mall.

Remember that shopping addiction or compulsive spending can be stopped or minimize. The despair can be ended through successful treatment and people can be restored to normal life. As with other addictions, success follows an honest admission of the problem and the seeking of help from others.

When the ice cream store owner asked, I said, “Well, my parents are cutting off my allowance for the summer so I’d like $20 a week.” That seemed like a lot because I wouldn’t have to buy school lunches with that money. Later, my mom pointed out that I gave a number so low that it would have been illegal. In the end, he paid me minimum wage for a 40-hour week, and because I had asked for so little at the beginning, by the time I was a manager I was still making less than the scoopers.

So I quit, and moved to a pizza parlor where I got extra money for cutting the salami with the machine that cuts peoples’ fingers. It wasn’t until later in my career when I realized that there are established strategies for salary negotiations, and if you follow them, you will likely get the salary you deserve without risking the loss of a limb.

Don’t give a number during the interview.

The first person to talk establishes the range. If you give a number first, the interviewer will either tell you you’re in the same ballpark as him, or you’re high. And probably you will never know if you hit below the range the interviewer was considering. The opposite is true, too. So the interviewer will always want you to tell your range first. (Do not try to remedy this situation by giving an unreasonably high number because then you will sound unreasonable.)

Your first line of defense is to say you’d like to talk about salary once you have an offer. If the interviewer is good, he will persevere. So try asking the interviewer what he would pay for this job. Whatever number he gives, you can say, “That will be a fine starting point.” (You will ask for more later.)

You can also say that you are still learning about the job responsibilities, which impact what salary you’d expect. Mention that the opportunities for you to contribute to the company are more important than the salary. This tactic makes you look like a team player, and it gives a direction that the interview can go down besides the salary path.

If all else fails, think package. Say, “My package at the last company was worth … .” Be sure to include benefits and bonuses. Your interviewer will have no idea what percentage of the number you gave is salary, and what sort of benefits you are counting, so you will appease him with a number while guarding the useful information for yourself.

Have courage: The interviewing manager should pay you for your current worth, not what you were being paid by another company. Do not feel guilty about withholding a number; if nothing else, corporate America values good negotiators. I went through this process at interviews for my last job. And after hemming and hawing I gave my “package” answer, and the interviewer laughed. He said, “I hope you negotiate this hard when you are working for me.”

Do not negotiate until you have an offer in writing.

Here’s why (and you should remember this for when the tables are turned): Let’s say the hiring manager knows she’s going to give you salary and bonus. If you do not get the complete written offer before you start negotiating, then you might get her to go up $5K in base salary but you will lose $10K in bonus without even knowing it because she will take the bonus off the table before even bringing it up with you. She will go back to her boss and say, “I saved us $5K.” Instead, you want her to put the full offer in writing so that you know what you have to work with in negotiations.

Once you have that written offer, ask for a night to think about it and come back with a counter offer. You might say you hate confrontation, and negotiating is not you’re your strength, but if you try you will almost always get more money, and you will definitely get better each time you try.

Do your research and plan your attack.

To know what offer to come back with, you need to know the pay range for your position. Check out salary surveys online and in trade journals. Talk with friends who have similar jobs or recruiters who regularly fill this type of position in your geographic region. Find the top of the salary range and ask for that. Show the hiring manager your research and remind her why you are worth the top of the range.

If you are fortunate enough to find that you are at the top of your salary range, then expand your job duties slightly so you can ask for a slightly higher salary. For example, if you are a marketing manager with a background in technical writing, then you could ask for slightly more money because most marketing managers will pass off technical writing in marketing documents to someone else. You will be able to handle those tasks yourself.

Know what you need.

Each person has needs that extend beyond money. You can listen to advice from your friends, but in the end, you have to go to the job every day, and you have to decide if you are going to like it. No salary survey can tell you that. Some people will trade money for time at home with their kids. Some people will trade money for the opportunity to work with movie stars. You need to know what you will trade money for, but be sure to be honest with yourself. Don’t give up extra money just because you hate negotiating. The combination of good self-knowledge and good negotiation skills can take you far down the path of finding a job that’s right for you at the salary you deserve.

Toning this trouble zone is harder now. “When you’re younger and producing more estrogen, fat travels to your hips and thighs,” explains Pamela Peeke, MD, a FITNESS advisory board member and author of Body for Life for Women. “Once you reach your 40s, you produce less estrogen and fat goes straight to your belly instead.”

Your Diet To-Do List

Ignite your metabolism. “The more muscle you have, the more calories you’ll burn on a daily basis,” Dr. Peeke says. The key is protein: It fuels muscle growth and helps keep you full between meals, so you’ll eat less. Aim for 60 to 80 grams a day from a mix of lean meats, beans, peanut butter, and dairy. People who ate three servings of dairy a day for six months lost two more pounds of belly fat than those who consumed a low-dairy diet, according to a study. Researchers say calcium may increase the activity of enzymes that break down fat cells in your body.

Blast fat with… fat. As your estrogen levels decline, your risk of cardiovascular disease increases. A diet low in saturated fat — no more than 14 grams for a woman eating 1,800 calories daily — and high in protective monounsaturated fat, like that found in avocados, walnuts, and olive oil, can help keep you healthy.

Water down your appetite. In your 40s and beyond, you burn about 100 fewer calories a day. To help keep the weight off, eat plenty of low energy-dense foods, like salads, vegetables, broth-based soups, and nonfat yogurt. “These foods are filling because they have a high water content, which means you can eat larger portion sizes but still keep calories in check,” Sandon explains. Women on a low-fat diet containing H20-rich foods lost about one-quarter more weight and felt much less hungry than those who followed a traditional low-fat diet, according to a study from Pennsylvania State University.

Your Recipes for Success

Breakfast
Whole wheat English muffin with 1 tablespoon soy nut butter
1 pear
8 ounces 1% milk

Lunch
Chicken pita: Whole wheat pita stuffed with 3 ounces grilled chicken, shredded romaine lettuce, 5 chopped black olives, 1 slice each red onion and tomato, and curried yogurt (1/2 small container nonfat Greek yogurt with 1/4 teaspoon curry powder)

Snack
1/4 cup walnuts and 8 ounces calcium-fortified tomato juice

Dinner
Turkey chili: Saute 3 ounces lean ground turkey breast and 1/4 cup chopped onion in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add 1/2 cup diced tomatoes and 1/2 cup thawed frozen corn. Heat until warm. Season with chili powder and cumin to taste.
1 whole-grain tortilla
1/2 cup low-fat vanilla frozen yogurt topped with 1/2 cup fresh or frozen (and thawed) raspberries

Nutrition facts (for the day): 1,694 calories, 100g protein, 211g carbohydrate, 56g fat (10g saturated), 30g fiber

Feel like you’re being pulled in a zillion different directions? No wonder. Between a demanding career, a husband or significant other — maybe kids too — and trying to fit in a workout whenever you can, it’s tough to balance all the things on your to-do list and still muster the motivation to eat right. Consider this your health wake-up call: “A less-than-stellar diet starts to catch up with you in this decade, putting you at increased risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and weight gain,” Fernstrom says.

Your Diet To-Do List

Bolster your immunity. Antioxidants like vitamins A, C, and E, found in foods such as sweet potatoes, red peppers, and almonds, may slow the effects of aging and help ward off heart disease and cancer. The secret to their success? They reduce inflammation and repair damage to cells. You can’t get the same benefits from supplements, however. “Studies show that the antioxidants in food are much more effective than those you get from popping a pill, because they work in tandem with other compounds to fight disease,” explains James Joseph, PhD, director of the neuroscience laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging in Boston.

Aim for three squares. Too busy for breakfast? Likely to choose your “lunch” from the office vending machine? If this is you, your habits need help, pronto. Dinner shouldn’t be your first real meal of the day. “Not eating enough of the right foods for breakfast and lunch can make you feel exhausted and irritable by midafternoon,” says Lona Sandon, RD, an assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. Build time in your schedule for three meals daily of 400 to 500 calories each, with a 150-calorie snack anytime you go more than three to four hours without eating. Keep healthy foods — nuts, fruits, whole-grain cereal — in your desk for those days when you can’t get away from the office.

Power up your plate. Filling up on fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains may reduce your risk of diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. In one study, women who ate the most vegetables lowered their odds of developing type 2 diabetes by 28 percent, and in another report, vegetarians slashed their risk of cardiovascular disease by 24 percent. To reap the benefits, load three-quarters of your plate with the foods mentioned above, and the remaining one-quarter with lean meat, poultry, or fish.

Your Recipes for Success

Breakfast
1 package instant oatmeal topped with 1 sliced banana and 1 teaspoon brown sugar
6-ounces low-fat vanilla yogurt
Coffee with low-fat milk

Lunch
Spinach salad: Toss together 1 1/2 cups baby spinach, 1/2 sliced red bell pepper, 5 halved grape tomatoes, 5 chopped baby carrots, 1/2 cup chickpeas, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette, 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
1 ounce (about 13) baked pita chips

Snack
1 apple, sliced, and 1 tablespoon peanut butter

Dinner
4-ounce grilled chicken breast with 1 cup cooked brown rice and black bean-tomato salad (1/2 cup black beans, 1 small diced tomato, 1/4 diced avocado, 1 tablespoon lime juice and 1 pinch chili powder)
8 ounces 1% milk and 2 Oreos

Nutrition facts (for the day): 1,783 calories, 80g protein, 258g carbohydrate, 54g fat (9g saturated), 41g fiber

Nobody’s perfect. When it comes to our financial lives, we’ve all done things we later regretted — whether it’s getting slapped with a $3 fee for using an out-of-network ATM or going on a Las Vegas bender and losing the house on an overly aggressive poker bet.

The key is to understand the scale of the transgression. With credit card blunders, that’s no easy task — is it worse to take a cash advance or to pay a bill a day or two late? Experts graded a range of credit card mistakes on a scale from 1 (losing a few bucks to a cash machine) to 10 (losing the house). Find out which worry the pros most — and which may (almost) get a free pass.
Paying Late
How bad is it? 6
The details: Credit card companies are notoriously prickly about late payments — even a payment that’s late by a few minutes can pile up fees, interest charges and other penalties. Depending on how late the payment is, your card issuer may also report the problem to any of the credit bureaus, which can wreak havoc on your credit score. The good news, says Stacy Francis, president of Francis Financial, is that the error may be reversible. “You do have the option of giving the credit card company a call and asking them not to report it,” she says. “If you’ve generally been an on-time payer, they may waive the fees and not report it.”

Paying Only the Minimum on Your Card
How bad is it? 4
The details: Credit card companies love it when you pay off your debt slowly, but you should loathe it. It won’t necessarily affect your credit score, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good practice. Sending in only the minimum payment “is definitely going to keep you in debt longer, and you’re going to pay a heck of a lot more in interest,” says Francis. “You may be paying twice as much — or more — as you would by paying in cash.”
Buying On a Card Just For Rewards
How bad is it? 1
The details: If you’re paying off your balance on time and in full, using your cards to grab extra rewards isn’t necessarily a bad plan, says Gail Cunningham, spokeswoman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. “You can win the rewards card game if you know how to play,” she says. “But you do have to know yourself.” Because most people spend more when they’re paying with plastic than with cash, be cautious and recognize when you’re buying something only because plastic makes the purchase painless.

Missing a Payment
How bad is it? 9
The details: Not only are you going to be slammed with fees, interest charges and other penalties when you miss a payment, but you’ll likely see a rise in your interest rates. If that weren’t bad enough, you’ll also have to contend with a significant hit to your credit report — about 35 percent of your credit score is based on your ability to pay bills on time. As a result, you’ll pay more when you try to get a loan. “Missing a payment has both immediate and long-term consequences,” says Clarky Davis, Care One Debt Relief’s Debt Diva. “You may be dealing with the fallout for years.”

Having Too Many Cards
How bad is it? 6
The details: If you’re the type to apply for a card just so you can grab a discount on clothes or other merchandise, you likely have a huge stack of cards in your purse or wallet. You’re probably not getting enough value from the card to make it worth the high interest rates or additional complications from additional bills and junk cluttering your mailbox — and you’re increasing the likelihood that a payment slips through the cracks or that you’ll be a victim of identity theft. “There’s rarely a good reason to get a new card if you’ve already got a general-purpose card, a rewards card and a low interest card,” says Cunningham.

Maxing Out a Card
How bad is it? 7
The details: Maxing out a card can have a serious impact on your credit score, since about 30 percent of your score is based on “credit utilization” — the amount of credit you’ve used relative to the amount you have available. More important, says Davis, is the fact that it likely signifies a distressing trend in your personal finances. “Maxing out a card may not have an immediate financial pull, but it’s a sign that you’re not budgeting or spending your money wisely,” she says. “It means you don’t have enough saved up to cover unexpected expenses.”

Playing the Balance Transfer Game
How bad is it? 5
The details: Moving your debt from a high-interest card to a low-interest card with a balance transfer isn’t as smart a move as you think, says Francis. “About 15 percent of your credit score is affected by your recent credit applications,” she notes. Pile up a few transfers and your score will take a hit. “Credit bureaus don’t (differentiate) that these cards are for the same [debt], they just see it as you getting pre-approved for more and more credit.” Add in the fees that generally accompany balance transfers and you’re not gaming the system — you’re getting hammered by it.

Debt Settlement Plans
How bad is it? 9.5
The details: If you’re overwhelmed by debt, negotiating down your balance with the credit card company (also called debt settlement) sometimes helps you pay pennies on the dollar on your debt — but you’ll pay a steep price. First, there’s the tax hit you’ll take for the amount of debt that’s forgiven — it will count as income during that tax year. And your credit score will be decimated, so don’t expect you’ll be able to take out a loan soon after consolidation. Next to bankruptcy, debt settlement “is the most negative thing you can do to your credit score,” says Francis.

Getting a Cash Advance?
How bad is it? 8
The details: It may feel like free money, but the truth is that it’s anything but: You’ll likely have a fee associated with the advance, and you’ll likely pay a higher interest rate than you would by using the card associated with it. “You also have no grace period,” notes Cunningham. “You’ll start accruing interest from the moment you get the money.” While these are all dangerous attributes in and of themselves, they’re not the worst part, says Cunningham. “When you start using cash advances, you have to understand why you’re using them as they’re likely symptomatic of a deep financial problem.”

Using a Card in a Pinch
How bad is it? 2
The details: If the fridge went on the fritz or the furnace conked out in mid-January, you might not have the means to fund its immediate replacement. Putting the bill on a credit card — and paying it off quickly over the course of a few months — is a pretty solid option, says Cunningham. “You don’t want something like that to become standard operating procedure,” says Cunningham. “But it’s OK to have a balance on a card for a few months when you’re going through a rough patch in your financial life. Just make sure it’s on a card without an annual fee or with a very low annual fee.”