With the holidays just around the corner, many people are making their lists and checking them twice. One list that should not be neglected this shopping season is a list of the best credit cards for you, depending on what type of shopper you happen to be. The image below will help you decide how to get the most out of your budget and save money just by selecting the right way to pay for your purchases.

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We admit it: much advice about holiday shopping is rather simplistic and preachy. Like diet and exercise, holiday shopping is something we all feel comfortable bleating about - even if we aren’t following best practices ourselves. But with so much money at stake, it never hurts to refresh on the fundamentals of intelligent, budgeted holiday shopping. Keep these 20 tips in mind and you’ll escape the holidays without a heart attack-inducing credit card bill in January.

1) Decide who you truly need/want to buy gifts for

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Most budget tip lists begin by telling you to develop a budget. While this is certainly sensible, it is actually not the best place to start. Simply developing “a budget” says nothing about whom and for how many people you are buying gifts. Without scrutinizing the gift list, people often wind up spending excess money buying for those they don’t really need or want to buy for. Consider the big picture. Must you buy gifts for distant relatives you rarely see or talk to? One could argue that buying “yet another cologne set” for little Joey in Iowa does nothing to deepen family bonds while adding extra cost to your holiday bill. So before creating a budget, create a list of who you are buying gifts for.

2) Decide how much to spend on each person

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Simply “creating a budget” suggests that one should sit down with a notebook and adopt whatever random number pops into their head as the amount they’ll spend on holiday gifts. This bog-standard advice is too vague to be helpful. Far more useful is to decide how much you will spend on each person on your gift list. Roughly speaking, you should decide how much to spend on each person based on your closeness with them and your personal judgment. Simply deciding to set personalized gift amounts in this manner will result in spending far less than fulfilling some subjective round number you dreamed up.

3) Time your shopping

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A common holiday shopping tip is doing it all at once to minimize headaches and “get it over with.” Sensible as this sounds, it is actually not the smartest way to go. The reason, very simply, is that retailers hold sales in various product categories in the weeks leading up to Christmas. One week might produce great deals on clothing, while the next proves to be ideal for electronics, and so on. Therefore, trekking all over creation with cash in both hands prevents you from reaping the big-time savings. Instead, keep your eye on sales fliers and decide to tackle all holiday shopping in a certain category (say, electronics) on days when they are least expensive. It takes more patience, but you’ll save more money.

4) Recall last year’s bill

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If you’re like most people, last year’s holiday bills are replete with waste, excess and the overall feeling that no real game plan or discretion was used. Rather than pushing this unpleasant feeling out of your mind, reflect on it. This is more of a psychological trick than a financial one, but it’s no less important. Without burning motivation to do things differently this year, you might just nod your head to these “obvious” tips and go right on doing the same things you did before. As the saying goes, “what got you here wont get you there.”

5) Inquire about discounts

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Many people fail to realize they are eligible for discounts with all kinds of retailers. Students, for instance, can get discounts on laptop computers, MP3 players, and sometimes even furniture. Senior citizens usually can get discounts at retailers of all kinds. If you yourself qualify for these discounts, great! By all means, take advantage of them. But don’t give up just because you aren’t a student or a senior. If you’re a parent, there’s no shame in sending your son or daughter into BestBuy with cash to buy gifts with their discounts. At the end of the day, it all comes down to money in your pocket vs. the store’s.

6) Count non-gift costs

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It should go without saying that gift costs are not simply the prices of the gifts themselves. There’s also wrapping paper, greeting cards, decorations, supplies for any parties you may be holding or assisting with, etc. Left unchecked, these ancillary costs can add a lot of heft to your holiday bills, and they should be kept in mind when deciding on gift budgets.

7) Don’t go into debt

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Notice our choice of words. Rather than the kinder, gentler “be careful with credit cards”, we came right out and said “don’t go into debt.” Why? Very simply, buying holiday gifts is about expressing generosity and kindness to friends and family members. This is all well and good - no one can begrudge you for wishing to give these treasured people things they’ll enjoy. That being said, gift giving is not an obligation. If you truly cannot buy gifts without spending money you don’t have, there is no shame whatsoever in buying cheap or not buying at all. No one worth buying gifts for expects you to sacrifice financial stability to participate in holiday gift giving.

8) Use cash

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Something about taking money out of our wallets and handing it over to a cashier makes us think about what we’re spending. In contrast, swiping plastic feels the same whether you’re spending $5 or $500. It’s extremely passive. To ensure that you adhere to the budgets created in tip #2, withdraw the exact cash amount you vowed to spend on the same day you vowed to spend it (per tip #3.) This way, using only cash - and avoiding debt - becomes a reality, rather than an abstract platitude.

9) Shop online

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The only exception to the “use cash” rule regards online purchases. Websites like Amazon and eBay often offer savings that simply cannot be found in brick and mortar stores, and you should take advantage of these when possible. However, we still advise that you use only debit cards to avoid spending anything beyond what you currently possess. Much as we advised earlier, try to batch these online purchases together so they can all be done at the same time and forgotten about thereafter.

10) Don’t get suckered into buying needless warranties

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One of the biggest sinkholes of lost holiday spending money is unnecessary warranties. Buyers of new TV sets, MP3 players, exercise equipment and countless other big-ticket items are brow-beaten into purchasing warranties by overzealous salespeople, but here’s the rub: Nine times out of ten, the price of these warranties is roughly equivalent to the price of a repair in the event one is needed. Keeping this in mind, it makes little sense to buy now what may in fact never need to be purchased at all. Just buy the gift and let the recipient cross the repair bridge if and when they get to it.

11) Don’t wait

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Don’t confuse our earlier suggestion to buy gifts when they’re on sale as a blanket excuse to procrastinate. As you’ve undoubtedly heard before, procrastinating is the worst way to buy holiday gifts. In addition to the stress and anxiety, you will also find yourself competing with the most people for the least amount of desirable gifts. Don’t let yourself be reduced to picking over the scrap heap for the gifts you want. Formulate a plan of attack and execute it on your schedule, not the retailer’s or other shoppers.

12) Simplify holiday parties

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Untold sums are squandered each year on elaborate holiday parties with enough grandiose decorations to make one of Santa’s elves blush. Glamorous as this may look, it actually misses the entire point of holiday get togethers. Beneath all the glittering lights and tinsel, holiday parties allow relatives close and distant to catch up. Some may not have even seen each other since the last Christmas party. For this reason, it is quite acceptable (and if you ask us, preferable) to create a comfortable atmosphere, serve some favorite refreshments and enjoy the evening without feeling compelled to drop hundreds of dollars on decorative bells and whistles. No one will think any less of you or the party you threw.

13) Resist impulse buying

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Retail stores are laid out by extremely intelligent people. They realize that some consumers show up with a list and sincerely intend to buy only the items on it. Therefore, merchandise is displayed in ways that cry out to our impulses, demanding that we make exceptions and buy “just a few things” that we didn’t plan on. The only way to resist this kind of impulsive buying is by deciding in advance that you will not succumb to it. As you drive to the store, consciously think about the fact that stores want you to buy extra items - and resolve that you are going to stay the course. Crafty as these stores can be, your spending is ultimately controlled by you.

14) Beware of store credit cards

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We advised you earlier to avoid debt completely, but store credit cards deserve their own warning. Yes, it’s awfully enticing to imagine getting 10%-30% or more off what you’re buying today, but the ramifications of getting store credit go beyond today. Every new credit card you get affects your credit score. Store credit cards are also notoriously strict about late fees, and interest rates are generally higher than standard cards like Visa or American Express. Before signing up, consider why a store like Target or Kohls could consistently discount its merchandise and still turn a profit on these credit cards. It’s all in the fees, penalties and interest, none of which are likely to be on your mind in a rush of holiday shopping.

15) Beware of no down payment offers that are too good to be true

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Another timeless tactic of retail salespeople are “no down payment” offers and installment plans. Like so many financial offers, it sounds great right now. Get your gift now and don’t think about it until payments come due in six months. What could be better? Unfortunately, the messy reality is more complicated. Just like store credit cards, these payment plans have strings attached. Failure to make on-time payments (sometimes even by a single day) can trigger astronomical interest rate hikes - not just on the one missed payment period, but on the entire duration of the plan! Nobody needs these headaches during the holidays. Instead, bear in mind what we said in tip #7. Holiday gift giving is appropriate and gratifying but there is nothing compelling you to bend over backwards in the process.

16) Shop alone

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Believe it or not, shopping alone is an under-appreciated way of ensuring that you spend less. One explanation is that shopping with someone else boosts your desire to “one-up” them by spending more, or impress them with the extravagant gifts you are willing to buy. Another is simply that having someone tag along distracts you from the task at hand, making you lackadaisical and complacent instead of focused and determined. Whatever the reason, it’s just not smart to shop in a group or with others. Go it alone.

17) Buy some gifts after Christmas

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Think long and hard and you can probably remember numerous occasions where you exchanged gifts with someone days or weeks after Christmas. Whether you live far away, have conflicting travel plans or just don’t get a chance to meet up as early as you’d hoped, this creates an opportunity for you to intelligently delay gift buying. Instead of rushing to buy for people you may not even see, wait until it is assured that you will. If Aunt Suzie rolls into town after all, scoop up some gift certificates to her favorite store and a greeting card. If nobody hears from her, consider it money saved.

18) Keep your receipts

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As often as this advice is repeated, it is still astounding how many people toss receipts to the gifts they buy. For myriad reasons (defective merchandise, wrong sizes, or just general dissatisfaction), stores are flooded in the days following Christmas with returns and exchanges. Don’t get stuck with something just because you couldn’t be bothered to tuck away the receipt in a safe place.

19) Hunt for promo codes

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More online retailers than ever are offering promo codes that you enter in at checkout. Before placing any orders, Google around to see if your retailer of choice has any promo codes available. A few minutes of searching could equate to 10%-30% off your order or more (depending on the promo code), which is literally as good as found money.

20) Ask about free gift wrapping

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Most retailers offer free gift wrapping during late November and throughout December - but only if you ask for it. Generally speaking, clothes, candles, and certain electronics can be gift wrapped by the retailer free of charge, saving you both time and money on doing the job yourself. Do yourself a favor and speak up at the checkout counter, as busy clerks are sometimes reluctant to mention this service and create more work for themselves.

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At this point in the economic recession, just about everyone agrees that our financial regulatory system needs a serious overhaul. President Obama is taking an important step with the creation of a new consumer protection agency — the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) — that will be the cornerstone of financial reform.

The proposed agency’s powers and oversight would extend to home mortgages, credit cards, consumer loans, and other consumer credit services. The agency’s first charter would be to create consumer-friendly, uniform disclosure to all home purchase and financing transactions, like ‘good-faith’ estimates and truth-in-lending statements.

The proposed CFPA puts consumer concerns front and center, rather than as a tangential issue. Designed to rule credit and loan institutions, the agency would be a toothier watchdog for financial institutions who are long accustomed to cozy relationships with the institutions meant to regulate them. Such cozy relationships are a big part of our current financial predicament, and the whole reason Obama and Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) are such major proponents of the agency.

BillShrink fully supports the creation of the CFPA. After all, we’re a company dedicated to saving people money by providing apples-to-apples comparisons on costs of their everyday bills.

Bottom line: In the everlasting conflict between big business Goliath and the little David, it’s about time David got some backup.

photo credit: amycgx

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Planning on traveling for the holidays? In the U.S., where you go will affect how expensive a trip by car may be. Here’s a look at where you’ll pay the most for a gallon of gas in the U.S. and the places where it’s cheap in comparison.

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With its large, vibrant 3.7 inch WVGA (854 x 480 pixels), the Motorola Droid hits the shelves today, ready for the Android-hungry masses. Beyond its sharp display, the Droid comes with free turn-by-turn GPS, a fast Web browser, 5.0 megapixel camera — the Droid may just yet live up to its buzz and hype.

Motorola Droid Specifications:

Appearance and Size:

Phone style: Slider
Antenna: Internal
Color: Licorice

Height: 2.36 inches
Width: 4.53 inches
Depth: 0.54 inches

(Slightly taller than an iPhone 3GS and slightly thicker. One of the thinnest QWERTY-slider out there).

Display

Display Color support: 16,777,216 colors
Display resolution: 854 x 480 pixel
Display screen size: 3.7 inches
Multi-touch capacitive touchscreen, LCD TFT

Camera

Integrated 5.0 Megapixel Camera, Auto-focus support with Camera Flash and Video Capture
Camera Features: Real-time color effects, scene modes, location tagging, and image stabilization

Power & Connectivity

Li-ion battery with 270 hours standby time and 385 minutes talk time.
Bluetooth v2.1 support, Wi-Fi 802.11g and 802.11b
Cellular band & frequency support: EVDO, CDMA 1900, CDMA 800

Memory, RAM, CPU & GPU

256 MB RAM, 512 ROM
Included 16 GB MicroSD (up to 32 GB)
550 MHz ARM Cortext A8 CPU
PowerVR SGX 530 GPU

Audio & Video Support

Integrated audio player supporting:
AMR-NB, AMR-WB, OGG, AAC, MP3, eAAC+, MIDI, WAV, AAC Plus

Integrated video player supporting:
H.263, H.264, WMV, MPEG4

Ringtone support: AAC Plus, eAAC+, MP3, AAC

Other Functionality

Android 2.0 mobile operating system
Calling features: Call barring, call divert, call hold, call timer, call waiting, caller ID
Messaging support: SMS, EMS, MMS, and IM
Input type: Multi-touch capacitive touchscreen with slide out QWERTY keyboard

Previously under the codename Sholes, the Motorola Droid is being launched with better hardware support and implementation of Google’s Android operating system. One of the major improvement to Android 2.0 would be its support and presentation of multiple emails accounts, across Gmail, POP, IMAP, Exchange accounts making it much easier for users to see all their email accounts in one place (Blackberry users will be familiar with this). For the Facebook crowds, Facebook account integration is now built into Android 2.0.

Accessory lovers can rejoice as the Motorola Droid has two available extras that are definitely worthwhile to look at (if not cheap on the wallet): a multimedia docking station for $30, and a GPS car-mount that will also run you $30 — (then again, when compared to the TomTom $100 iPhone app + $120 car kit, the Droid’s $30 car-kit will seem like a steal).

If you’ve been following the Android operating system for awhile now, you’ve no doubt already read about the bombshell Google dropped on the consumer-GPS industry, offering free turn-by-turn GPS navigation map on the Motorola Droid and future supported Android-device. Though the offering may not completely destroy the standalone consumer GPS device market , this offering certainly made a disruption and is a clear showcase on the type of features Google will continuously update and offer for the Android platform.

As one of the first device to be designed for the new Android 2.0 operating system, the Motorola Droid is definitely THE Android device to beat. Are you a current fan of the Android lines of smartphones and will you be picking up a Motorola Droid? For other smartphone users, is the current offering from Motorola enough to entice you to switch?

In months, as the dust settle and sales report comes rolling in, will the Motorola Droid emerge as a steady stepping stone to consistent Android improvement, or will it be a clear sign to the beginning of a heated battle between smartphone devices and platforms?

If you love the Droid and Android platform, here are some other Android devices:

Sprint HTC Hero / Verizon Droid Eris

Touchscreen: 3.2″ / 320×480 HVGA resolution; Touchscreen TFT-LCD
Dimensions: 4.40″ x 2.21″ x 0.56″ mm & 4.76 oz
Camera: 5 MP with AutoFocus
Standby Time: Up to 440 hours
Talk Time: Up to 470 minutes
Processor: Qualcomm MSM7200A 528 MHz
Battery: 1350 mAh Lithium-ion battery
Internal/External Memory: 288MB / MicroSD 2.0
Other Features: 3.5mm Headset jack, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS enabled
Price: $99 (Eris) 179.99 (Hero)

T-Mobile MyTouch 3G

Touchscreen: 3.2″ /320 x 480 HVGA Touchscreen TFT, TFD, LCD
Dimensions: 4.45″ x 2.19″ x 0.54″ & 4.13 oz
Camera: 3.2 MP, AutoFocus
Standby Time: 420 hours
Talk Time:7.5 Hours
Processor: Qualcomm MSM7201a, 528 MHz
Battery: 1340 mAh Lithium-ion battery
Internal/External Memory: 192 / 288 MB / MicroSD up to 32GB
Other Features: HTC ExtUSB Headset Jack, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS enabled
More Specifications: T-Mobile MyTouch 3G
Price: $149.99

Dell mini 3i

Touchscreen: 3.5″ / 640 x 360 resolution
Dimensions:4.49″ x 2.28″ x 0.61″ & 5.75 oz
Camera: 3.2 MP, Flash & AutoFocus
Standby Time: Unknown
Talk Time:Unknown
Processor: Unknown
Battery: 950mAh Li-ion
Internal/External Memory: Unknown/microSD card slot
Other Features: No Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS enabled
Price: Unannounced

Can’t get enough of the Droid? Check out our Droid vs iPhone Comparison chart for more!

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It is official, Verizon has announced that the Verizon Droid Eris by HTC will be launching tomorrow, Friday, November 6th. The Droid Eris will launch alongside the Droid by Motorola. (See our Droid vs iPhone Comparison)

While this is news, it has been talked about for sometime from sources like Engadget. The Verizon Droid Eris will hit stores as nothing more than a repackaged version of the HTC Hero by Sprint. The Eris will launch at a price of $99 (after $100 mail in rebate) on a two year contract and will run Android OS 1.5. The Eris comes to stores with a 528MHz processor, 8GB microSD (expandable to 16GB), 5 megapixel camera, and a 3.2 display. The other main difference is that the HTC Droid Eris comes with no QWERTY keyboard, where the Motorola Droid does.

Not sure of the reasoning of releasing two Android phones on the same day, other than giving two options and getting tons of buzz around the highly awaited Android launches. Maybe Verizon thought the launch of the Eris, which is a cheaper alternative, would get more people to stores and more people signing up.

What do you think? Do you think it’s smart to release the HTC Droid Eris and Motorola Droid on the same day?

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Talk to a random sampling of wireless phone users and you are sure to find one thing: dissatisfaction with their provider. Seemingly everyone has a horror story about two about “how bad Verizon is” or “what terrible signal strength AT&T has” or how “so and so has the worst customer service ever.” In fact, it would be tough to visit just about anywhere in the U.S. and fail to dredge up similar stories from just about anyone you met. All of this begs the question: why are people are so universally unhappy about their wireless providers? Here are 11 reasons.

Text Message Markup

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According to Consumerist, several wireless providers (including Verizon) “mark up the cost of text messages by at least 7,314% when compared to their rates for data transfer services.” Assuming a max text size of 160 characters and a transmission of 7 bits per character, that’s 1120 bits (or 140 bytes). Without a text messaging plan in place, you will find yourself paying 15 cents. Conversely, the very same phone can transmit 1024 bytes for just 1.5 cents via its data plan. As Consumerist puts it, “that’s $.015 per data kilobyte versus $1.09 per text message kilobyte.” Put another way, it equates to an eye-popping 7,314% markup!

Requiring Security Deposits for New Phones or Contracts

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Amazingly, wireless providers have begun pulling credit reports and demanding security deposits prior to handing out new service contracts to applicants. We addressed this in a recent Billshrink post and found that AT&T, in particular, “charges iPhone users with bad credit up to $800 as a security deposit!” Needless to say, requiring security deposits and pulling credit scores for services that impose no risk on the other party is incomprehensible. As one Billshrink commenter astutely lamented, “it would be like Home Depot asking what your batting average was before selling you a skill saw.” Making matters worse is how militantly strict the phone companies are following the collection of the deposit. Being late even a single day on a single payment is reportedly grounds for them to keep your deposit forever.

Enabling Paid Features or Services by Default

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A particularly sneaky tactic some wireless companies use is to enable paid features or services by default, whether or not you explicitly authorize them or even know about them. For instance, an individual who visits a store to sign up for a new contract may be told that various features are “standard” when in fact they are optional and enabling them increases the monthly price of the bill. Features commonly “stuck under the rug” in this manner include early night and weekend times (say 7PM instead of 9PM), extra texting capacity and in-network calling. For this reason, you should ask any sales rep you encounter to go down the list of features one by one, verifying which are truly standard and which cost extra.

Tying Certain Phones to Certain Providers

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One of the most frequent complaints heard among wireless users is how certain phones are locked down or tied to certain providers. Many people would love to own an iPhone, for instance, if it was up to them to choose providers. Most of us would find it outrageous if a TV we bought only worked with Comcast or a new laptop only got Internet access via AOL, but this very policy is alive and well in the smart phone industry. Fortunately, there has been talk in recent months about opening up the iPhone to other carriers such as Verizon.

Poor Signal Strength

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While wireless service has undoubtedly improved, the number one complaint remains poor or spotty signal strength. Even companies that claim to have fewer dropped calls are suspect, according to a Boston.com article analyzing their claims. In the article, Bruce Mohl points out that Cingular (now AT&T) Verizon and Sprint do not actually offer “any backup in its ads” which claim to have top network reliability or low dropped call rates. In fact, it is often unclear exactly what these companies are even claiming - is it claiming the fewer dropped calls “by a wide margin or a tiny margin?” These questions remain unanswered amidst a sea of poor signal strength complaints from customers of just about every service, depending on the area you are in.

Retaining the Previous Owner’s Information

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Wireless service is expensive these days, ranging from $50-$100 per month and in some cases much more. Given the hefty pricetag, one would think that having their own name show up on outgoing caller IDs was not too much to ask, but some providers think differently. According to a rising number of complaints on support forums, it is now common for phone numbers to remain associated with their previous owners, even after someone else has been using the number in question for several months. While this may seem like a minor annoyance, imagine the frustration of the people you call seeing someone else’s name on their caller ID when you are paying over $1,000 per year to use that number.

Mysterious Headset and Upgrade Fees

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Wireless companies lure people in time after time with “free upgrade” offers that promise newer phones in exchange for re-upping on their service contracts. But according to MSNBC, this often comes with strings attached, in the form of mysterious fees. As MSNBC’s Bob Sullivan explains, it works in the following manner: “You decide to stay with your mobile provider, upgrade to a new phone and think you’ve got a good deal, but two months later a $36 fee is slipped into your bill.” The size of the fee varies depending on your exact provider, but it goes without saying that any fee you discover after the fact, on a bill, rather than up front has screwjob written all over it.

Huge Disconnection Fees

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Perhaps the most heated outrage toward wireless companies is felt by those who get stuck with gigantic disconnection fees. No matter who your provider is, getting out of a wireless contract before the specified end date is not cheap. In some cases, cutting the cord with your current provider can set you back as much as $250! To be fair, it should be noted that these fees are spelled out, albeit in fine print. However, it is also worth noting that many wireless sales reps fail to mention them verbally to new customers, many of whom are too young or inexperienced to examine contractual language. Furthermore, the astronomical size of these fees suggest that they are not simply covering costs of termination, but serving as a separate revenue source in and of themselves.

Unauthorized Charges

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A growing number of wireless customers are reporting suspicious and unauthorized charges to their monthly phone bills. According to ClassActionConnect.com, the charges in question are “never authorized, for mobile content services and subscriptions they never heard of, from mobile content companies and merchants they often never knew existed, and for products they never wanted nor ever even received.” Making matters worse, ClassActionConnect has found that wireless companies are generally apathetic and unhelpful when their customers call to investigate the charges. In some cases, companies state flat out that the customer “simply must” have made the charges, even when it is blatantly untrue. Only after repeated calls and threats of legal action do some customers get refunds, which are usually only partial.

Dishonest Service Reps

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We already discussed how some wireless service reps misrepresent optional features as being standard. However, some take deceit a step further by promising wireless coverage to residents of areas that do not have it. TrumanIndex.com tells the story of a young college student who signed up with AT&T on the understanding that she could use the phone where she went to school in Kirksville, Missouri. To her astonishment, however, her phone bill claimed that half her calls were being made outside the area - apparently due to the fact that AT&T did not, in fact, extend coverage to Kirksville. Slapped with roaming charges and and then left without a phone for an entire semester at school, the young girl was told that she could either give up the phone or switch to a new provider - while remaining on the hook for the contract she signed under false pretenses with AT&T.

Misleading Advertising

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Finally, no discussion of wireless provider shortcomings would be complete without mention of misleading ads. It has become almost axiomatic in wireless that what the commercials giveth, the fine print and customer experience taketh away. My3Cents.com, for instance, dissects misleading statements made by MetroPCS, such as its promise that you can try their service free for one month when, in actuality, you have “less than one hour (including incoming and outgoing calls billed in unknown increments) to evaluate their service.” Despite claims of allowing consumers to “unlimit themselves”, MetroPCS is reportedly unavailable or spotty in several major cities, producing skepticism about just how “unlimited” they truly are.

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Good credit = cheaper wireless

Like mortgage lenders and credit card companies, cell phone providers check your credit before extending you those crucial minutes of monthly airtime. If you have poor credit, they may charge you additional monthly fees, an upfront security deposit, or just deny you service altogether. AT&T, for instance, charges iPhone users with bad credit up to $800 as a security deposit!

Watch out! Cell phones can also hurt your credit

You need good credit to get a cell phone. Conversely, having a cell phone can damage your credit. This drop in score can happen in a couple of different ways. First, when a wireless provider checks your credit it’s known as an “inquiry.” This inquiry into your credit report can ding your score slightly. It’s not a big deal (we’re talking around five points), just don’t apply for wireless service from several different providers at once.

The bigger way having a cell phone can hurt your credit is if you stop paying your bill. You may think the worst that can happen is having your service switched off. But what you may not realize is that your cell phone provider is likely to report your missed payments to the credit bureaus or turn your debt over to a collections agency. Either action means your credit rating takes a hit. Delinquencies and collection accounts listed on your credit report are likely to remain there, stubborn as mules, for up to seven years (even if you pay the debt in full).

The moral of the story? Pay your cell phone bill on time each month to avoid serious damage to your credit. And ask the wireless provider its policy on reporting your payments to the credit bureaus before signing the contract.

What if you have bad credit but need a cell phone?

Unfortunately, those with poor credit might have to settle for a higher-priced wireless plan or more expensive pre-paid minutes that don’t require a credit check. In the meantime, check your own credit to see how you can improve it. Once you get enough positive payment history under your belt, you’ll be able to qualify for the wireless plan of your choice without paying additional fees.

Carrie Davis is a personal finance blogger at SpendOnLife.com, a site dedicated to giving readers accurate information about credit, debt, and identity theft. She is FCRA-certified and has a passion for educating others on how to achieve financial independence. Follow Carrie through the SpendOnLife RSS feed or on Twitter @SpendOnLife.

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After months and months of blogger buzz and a heavy veil of secrecy, the new Motorola Droid by Verizon Wireless is set to launch within days, just in time for the holiday season.

The Droid enters into a smartphone marketplace dominated by the Palm Pre with Sprint and the ever-popular iPhone 3GS with AT&T. But how are consumers supposed to compare the offerings?

BillShrink.com is here to help! While sticker prices are roughly comparable between smartphones, each offers its own particularly generous features. Below is an apples-to-apples comparison graphic that examines the true cost of ownership and select features of each phone.

And, without further ado, we bring you the Droid vs. iPhone vs. Palm Pre vs. MyTouch 3G …(now that’s a lot of smartphones)

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Check out previous graphics comparing:
myTouch 3G vs. iPhone 3GS vs. Palm Pre
Android G1 vs. iPhone 3GS vs. Palm Pre

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