12. "Validate the debt"
Also, if you have collection agencies calling you, you should exercise your right under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and have them "validate the debt". This will accomplish 4 things: 1. have this unknown company prove that they have the right to collect on the alleged debt; 2. have the unknown company prove that the debt is valid; 3. stop them from making harassing phone calls; and 4. stop them from putting another negative mark on your credit report.Valeri says that any changes to our credit report can affect our scores dramatically. For example, simply closing two accounts not only lowers the number of open installment accounts (which generally will improve your score) but it also lowers the total number of all open accounts (which generally lowers your score). Furthermore, such an action will affect the average age of all accounts that could either raise or lower your score. As you can see, one seemingly simple change actually affects a large number of items on the credit report. Therefore, it is impossible to provide a 100% accurate assessment of how one specific action will affect your credit score. Scores are as follows:* 700 – 850 Excellent These types of scores can get you the best interest rates possible* 621 – 700 Good You can obtain loans, but you may be subject to higher interest rates* 561 – 620 Fair A loan is possible, but you will pay higher interest rates and more down* 300 – 560 Poor You definitely need to bring your scores up higher to be able to obtain a loan REUTERS

Cyber Monday shoppers are going mobile.

John Squire, chief strategy officer at IBM Coremetrics, which tracks online sales, said online shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday via mobile devices also made a significant jump from last year. Squire said last year shopping via mobile devices did not even register one percent of the web retailers' intake, this year it was nearly four percent.

That's 40-60 percent fold increase in the amount of people using mobile devices to shop online, he said.

The jump reflects the explosion in smartphone sales and the associated shopping apps offered by retailers such as Amazon. Many popular online sites are optimizing for devices such as the iPhone.

Cyber Monday remains web shoppers - and retailers' - favorite day. Online sales from Cyber Monday surpassed online sales from Black Friday by 31.1 percent. Cyber Monday was also the biggest selling day on the internet for the second straight year.

All told, Squire said web sales on Cyber Monday were up 20 percent from last year. Last year it was the biggest selling day of the year on the internet and surpassed sales from Black Friday online by 25 percent.

Consumers this year appear much more willing to open their wallets and are turning to online stores for the convenience of shopping wherever and whenever they like, but also as their primary source of information about products and inventory levels. Retailers have done an exceptional job across the board of appealing to consumers with highly personalized promotions and a slew of free shipping promotions, Squire said.

Coremetrics tracks data from its clients and uses its cloud-based analytics software system to figure how their web retailing segment has performed throughout the year. The system is able to track individual days and compare the two, which is how it was able to differentiate Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Squire said the company tracks every client the same and is able to compare across different segments such as jewelry and apparel.

Data from IBM's Global Business Services division also found sales from consumer electronics will increase 3.5 percent compared to last year. This is in large part to the increased amount of disposable income, which rose from two percent in 2007 to six percent this year.

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