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During my morning scan of Twitter, I came across a tweet from personal finance gurus Ken and Daria Dolan:

Cutting up your credit cards? Great! But don’t forget to close the account. Our sample letter makes it easy.

The recession spawned a national trend which saw thousands, if not millions, of American shift from spenders to savers. High charges and fees imposed by credit card companies made the transition all that much easier. But before you pull out the scissors and kiss that plastic goodbye, remember that merely cutting up your card doesn’t mean your account is closed.

Think your paycheck is for your eyes only? Think again. Americans are surrendering over more and more of their personal information with each passing day — and your paycheck is the latest bit of personal data that’s now out in the open.

The final rules issued by the Federal Reserve under the CARD Act will now require credit-card companies to examine your income when you apply for credit as a means of determining your ability to make payments. The examination of your income, among other factors, can be used to determine whether or not your application is approved, the size of your credit limit, and/or whether you may be pre-approved for certain offers:

Each Saturday we review all the stories we published during the week — just in case you missed one or two.

Friday

“FHA Reserves Almost Gone, And There’s No Going Back“: HUD/FHA say no need for a bailout. We say that the FHA’s expanded role in the marketplace suggests otherwise.

Thursday

We’re “borrowing” this topic from our friend Mitch over at TopFinanceBlog.com. While Mitch’s latest post is titled “Why I Say Credit Scores Are Worthless,” we’re taking a somewhat different approach.

Banks and credit card companies have been jacking up interest rates and fees (if not simply canceling cards) more and more these days — sometimes without warning — as they prepare for the new business landscape that will be created by Congress’ upcoming credit card reform.

Credit conditions are tight these days — getting a loan isn’t as easy, and may never be as easy, as it used to. That means your credit score and report may dictate whether or not you get a mortgage, car, credit card, student loan and more. With so much riding on good credit, it’s time to separate the facts from the fiction when it comes to your credit.

You may think that you have just one credit score, but in fact, you have several. Your FICO score — the credit rating system developed by Fair Isaac Corp. which can range from a dismal 300 to the pinnacle of 850 — is just one. The others are calculated by the three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Your exact credit score all depends on the type of lender requesting it and which credit bureau reports it.

The latest thorn in the side of President Obama’s loan modification program is that some participating borrowers could see their credit scores plummet:

Banks, including Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp., report the loan modifications to credit bureaus. The adjustments can lower credit scores because of the way the FICO formula, the most widely used by U.S. lenders, works.

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Responsible credit card holders: consider yourselves warned. The credit card legislation that the president recently signed into law may not only take away your “free ride,” it may also lower your credit score.

The new rules will severely limit a credit card company’s ability to make big bucks off of negligent customers. That being understood, card companies have shifted their focus to responsible card holders:

For any consumer out there who hasn’t visited financial experts Ken and Daria Dolan’s website — www.Dolans.com — you’re missing out. Just today we found out that Fair Issac, the company which developed the FICO score, has changed the formula for how your credit score is calculated.

Dubbed “FICO 08,” the new formula, which ranges from 300-850 points, is designed to do a better job at detecting future defaults. Here are some ways the new FICO formula will affect you:

Federal interaction and incentives combined with the dismal conditions of the housing market have concocted the “perfect storm” for eager first-time homebuyers shopping for a great deal. Mortgage rates are at historic lows, first-time buyers can take advantage of an $8,000 tax credit, home prices are tumbling, and home owners are eager to sell. Could the time be any more right?

Before you jump in with both feet, here are a few important factors to first consider:

Do Americans spend more when they pay with cash — or with plastic? When are banks allowed to raise your interest rate?

To find out the answers to these questions and more, take the credit card IQ test. Eileen AJ Connelly of the Associated Press assembled a 10-question quiz which will test your credit card knowledge as well as gauge your credit score.

1. What’s more important for your credit score?