At the beginning of this year, I had several thousand dollars in credit card debt and I was ready to pay it off. But I knew that I needed to cut down on my spending in order to have enough money left over to start paying down my credit card balance.

So I did some research and started finding ways to cut expenses. One of the things I realized is that your fixed expenses – the ones that seem to be locked in – like your auto insurance and rent, often have some flexibility after all.

Below are some tips I’ve found for reducing those fixed expenses:

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In today’s extremely competitive digital world, business analysts want information when they want it, the way they want it. Nowhere is this more evident than in the financial services sector, where the power of information helps risk and portfolio managers improve strategies and make better business decisions every day.

With the introduction of IntelliView, never before have you had this amount of pertinent data at your disposal that can be categorized and evaluated according to specific needs. The tool can help you to optimize strategic planning, uncover new opportunities and improve decision making by having 24-7 online access to Experian’s aggregated quarterly consumer credit data.

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Experian Marketing Services announced the appointment of industry leader Peter DeNunzio as general manager for Experian CheetahMail. DeNunzio assumes responsibility across all CheetahMail offices in the United States and reports to Matt Seeley, president of Experian Marketing Services.

With more than 25 years of experience in marketing, branding and direct-to-consumer programs, DeNunzio has a proven track record of anticipating opportunity and delivering results in every organization he has led.

“Peter is a recognized leader in our industry, and joins us with an exceptional background in interactive marketing, data and agency services,” said Matt Seeley, president of Experian Marketing Services. “Through his leadership and breadth of experience, Peter brings a strategic vision that is essential as we continue to invest in technology and innovative solutions that help our marquee clients deliver truly coordinated, relevant and response driven marketing programs.”

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There are two sides to every story. It’s one of those old clichés you hear time and time again. When I think about the collections process, this is the first thing that comes to mind. You have the consumer or debtor who enters into an agreement to pay for something and at some point, makes the decision not to pay.

It could be a credit card bill or a car payment –or maybe they even forget to pay a library book fine (this actually happened to someone I know!). On the other side, you have the debt collector, who has the task day in and day out, of collecting on the debt the debtor has agreed to pay.

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Do you love saving money?

Do you ever use apps or online tools to help you cuts costs and stay on budget?

In our continuing quest to promote financial literacy and help consumers live credit smart, we asked some of our favorite personal finance writers to share a favorite app that helps them stay on budget and save money.

Check out these frugal-living apps:

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has just issued its latest report to Congress on credit scores sold to consumers versus credit scores sold to creditors.

The 42-page report, which you can find here, provides an analysis of different scoring models, comparing credit scores sold to creditors and those sold to consumers by the national credit reporting agencies, including Experian.

Of particular interest, and of reassurance to consumers, are some high-level conclusions from the report:

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Everyone seems to be keeping a closer eye on their finances these days and more people are becoming aware of how important it is to know what your credit report looks like.

In the recently released Experian 2012 State of Credit report, we found that the national average credit score is currently 750, which is up one point from 2011.

We also crunched some numbers in more than 100 cities throughout the country and ranked the top 10 and bottom 10 cities according to credit score.

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A credit report is like a report card that provides lenders insight into how you use credit.

If you’re paying debts on time and keeping debts low on credit accounts, you’re building a great credit history that will help you earn lower interest rates on loans and will help you in a variety of other ways, too.

There are many myths going around about what hurts or improves your credit scores.

Here is a list of seven popular myths about credit scores and credit reports you should know about:

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Experian Automotive today announced that midrange cars were the highest-selling vehicle segment in the first half of 2012, according to its latest vehicle registration analysis.

The analysis also showed that the Toyota Camry topped the list of best-selling vehicles for the first half, with the Ford F-150 coming in a close second. In the first half of 2011, the F-150 was the best-selling vehicle, with the Camry coming in second.

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Experian Marketing Services showed that email volume has increased 10 percent in Q2 2012 versus Q2 2011 according to the Experian® CheetahMail® 2012 Q2 email benchmark report. Experian CheetahMail also found that total open rates increased 1.5 percent in Q2 2012 versus Q2 2011.

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According to a new study by Experian Marketing Services, niche social networks significantly increased their market share of all visits to social sites, with Instagram and Pinterest leading the pack.

The following graph illustrates the global growth between July 2011 and July 2012, based on share of visits to all sites by country:

Other niche social networks that have experienced significant gain include Stock Twits in the US, Redidt in Australia, and FanPop in the UK.

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Experian®, the leading global information services company, today announced that its Precise ID platform has achieved Federal Identity Credential Access Management (FICAM) recognition at Assurance Level 3 for identity proofing.

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According to the Experian Automotive industry market trends and loyalty report, Toyota finished third in overall corporate loyalty, with 45.7 percent of their customers who returned to market during Q1 2012 purchasing or leasing another Toyota vehicle. Toyota’s corporate loyalty ranking had dropped to 41.8 percent in Q2 2011, the first full quarter after the earthquake and tsunami. Honda’s corporate loyalty was 42.1 percent in Q1 2012, after falling to 36.4 percent in Q3 2011.

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