If you're paying off debt, you want to be aware of something called your debt to income ratio. The reason it's good is because it provides an overall measure of your financial health.

Most young people don’t learn the tenets of personal finance in school, but building solid habits throughout your teens and early twenties can help set you up for a truly prosperous life.

Dear Lifehacker, I keep seeing certain types of debt (mortgages, student loans) referred to as "good" debt, whereas other types (credit card debt, for example) are referred to as "bad" debt. What does that mean? What makes a certain type of debt "good" and another type "bad?"

Most people's eyes glaze over at the words "credit report." Sure, it's boring. It's confusing. But ignoring it can make your financial life difficult. And it can badly affect your love life, too - from lowering the chances of finding a date to increasing the likelihood of divorce.

Here's a little exercise for you to try out. Take out your latest credit card bill from your most frequently used credit card. Print it out if it's an electronic bill; otherwise, just grab a pen and put the bill on the table in front of you.

As we march forward into a new financial year, many Australians are beginning to wonder what their credit reputation is like -- something that isn't always 100% clear. This infographic from Credit Savvy breaks down the dos and don'ts that can affect your credit rating over the course of a year.

I have pretty good credit -- right now my score is close to 800. Awesome, right? Sure, except that awesome credit has actually been pretty useless, even when I recently bought a home. Don't get me wrong, bad credit has a big impact on your finances. It's strange, then, that excellent credit doesn't really matter.

We all know that cosigning on a loan is not a decision to be made lightly. When deciding, here's something else you'll want to consider: Thirty eight per cent of cosigners end up paying the debt they sign off on.

Much of personal finance has a lot to do with your mindset and behaviour, and that goes for getting out of debt, too. So it's important to understand why you got into in the first place.

It sounds crazy, but yes, personal finance can be exciting. Not like, "we're going to Disneyworld!" exciting, but more like, "how exciting, I finally have control of my debt." Problem is, sometimes we get so excited about getting control of our money situation, that following the rules too closely can backfire.

People’s Choice Credit Union has launched a new gaming app in which player's attempt to catch falling money. The hook is that the week's best scores are converted into real cash and transferred into the player's bank accounts. So what's the catch?

Managing your credit may seem like a hassle, but you can distill the most important principals down to a strategy that fits squarely on a sticky note.

Dear Lifehacker, I moved to Australia from California last year, and I'm wondering how to protect our identity and credit here (beyond changing passwords, shredding documents, and so on). In California and many other states, you can elect to lock down your credit file, meaning that nobody can get credit in your name without a PIN, regardless of how much information they have. Is there anything like this available in Australia? We have credit monitoring services there of course, but they are basically a profit machine for the credit card companies, and are a retroactive tool at best. Thanks, California Dreaming

Budget blog Wise Bread discusses financial products and deals that almost everyone should avoid, and at least one of them has been offered to likely every single reader of this blog—store-branded credit cards, often with a same-day savings pitch. But even if you pay off that purchase the minute you arrive home, it's generally a bad idea:Do not be enticed to sign up for these cards even if the store gives you 30% off on the day you sign up ... These are different from a cobranded credit card that can be used anywhere. An example of a co-branded credit card is the Costco Amex Card, which can be used outside of Costco. Co-branded cards generally have better rates and better internal controls than store specific cards.As noted by BankRate.com, each store card opened automatically knocks 20 points off your credit score, making a discount on one sweater not as appealing. Hit the link for five more items to keep your distance from. Six Horrible Financial Products You Should Avoid