"N" Search of Ecstasy

I swear...this is outrageous and unbelievable!

20: Worst fast-food chicken meal
Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips from McDonald's (5 pieces) with creamy ranch sauce
# 830 calories
# 55 grams (g) fat (4.5 g trans fat)
# 48 g carbohydrates
The only thing "premium" about these strips is the caloric price you pay. Add a large fries and regular soda and this seemingly innocuous chicken meal tops out at 1,710 calories.


19: Worst drink
Jamba Juice Chocolate Moo'd Power Smoothie (30 fl oz)
# 900 calories 10 g fat
# 183 g carbs (166 g sugar)
Jamba Juice calls it a smoothie; we call it a milk shake. In fact, this beverage contains as much sugar as 8 pints of Ben & Jerry's butter pecan ice cream.

18: Worst supermarket meal
Pepperidge Farm Roasted Chicken Pot Pie (whole pie)
# 1,020 calories 64 g fat
# 86 g carbs
The label may say this pie serves two, but who ever divided a small pot pie in half? The sad truth is, once you crack the crust, there will be no stopping -- which makes this 300 calories worse than anything else you'll find in the freezer case.

17: Worst 'healthy' burger
Ruby Tuesday Bella Turkey Burger
# 1,145 calories 71 g fat
# 56 g carbs
We chose this burger for more than its calorie payload: Its name implies that it's healthy.

16: Worst Mexican entree
Chipotle Mexican Grill Chicken Burrito
# 1,179 calories 47 g fat
# 125 g carbs
# 2,656 milligrams (mg) sodium
Despite a reputation for using healthy, fresh ingredients, Chipotle's menu is limited to king-size burritos, overstuffed tacos, and gigantic salads -- all of which lead to a humongous waistline.

15: Worst kids' meal
Macaroni Grill Double Macaroni 'n' Cheese
# 1,210 calories 62 g fat
# 3,450 mg sodium
It's like feeding your kid 1 1/2 boxes of Kraft mac 'n' cheese

14: Worst sandwich
Quiznos Classic Italian (large)
# 1,528 calories 92 g fat
# 4,604 mg sodium 110 g carbs
A large homemade sandwich would more likely provide about 500 calories.

13: Worst salad
On the Border Grande Taco Salad with Taco Beef
# 1,450 calories 102 g fat
# 78 g carbs 2,410 mg sodium
This isn't an anomaly: Five different On the Border salads on the menu contain more than 1,100 calories each.

12: Worst burger
Carl's Jr. Double Six Dollar Burger
# 1,520 calories
# 111 g fat
Carl's Jr. brags that it's home to this enormous sandwich, but the restaurant chain also provides convenient nutrition info on its Web site -- so ignorance is no excuse for eating it.

11: Worst steak
Lonestar 20 oz T-bone
# 1,540 calories
# 124 g fat
Add a baked potato and Lonestar's Signature Lettuce Wedge, and this is a 2,700-calorie blowout.

10: Worst breakfast
Bob Evans Caramel Banana Pecan Cream Stacked and Stuffed Hotcakes
# 1,540 calories
# 77 g fat (9 g trans fat)
# 198 g carbs (109 g sugar)
Five Egg McMuffins yield the same caloric cost as this stack of sugar-stuffed flapjacks, which is truly a heavy breakfast, weighing in at a hefty pound and a half.

9: Worst dessert
Chili's Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream
# 1,600 calories
# 78 g fat
# 215 g carbs
Would you eat a Big Mac for dessert? How about three? That's the calorie equivalent of this decadent dish. Clearly, Chili's customers get their money's worth.

8: Worst Chinese entree
P.F. Chang's Pork Lo Mein
# 1,820 calories
# 127 g fat
# 95 g carbs
The fat content in this dish alone provides more than 1,100 calories. And you'd have to eat almost five servings of pasta to match the number of carbohydrates it contains. Now, do you really need five servings of pasta?

7: Worst chicken entree
Chili's Honey Chipotle Crispers with Chipotle Sauce
# 2,040 calories
# 99 g fat
# 240 g carbs
"Crispers" refers to an extra-thick layer of bread crumbs that soaks up oil and adds unnecessary calories and carbs to these glorified chicken strips.

6: Worst fish entree
On the Border Dos XX Fish Tacos with Rice and Beans
# 2,100 calories
# 130 g fat
# 169 g carbs 4,750 mg sodium
Perhaps the most misleadingly named dish in America: A dozen crunchy tacos from Taco Bell will saddle you with fewer calories.

5: Worst pizza
Uno Chicago Grill Chicago Classic Deep Dish Pizza
# 2,310 calories
# 162 g fat
# 123 g carbs
# 4,470 mg sodium
Downing this "personal" pizza is equivalent to eating 18 slices of Domino's Crunchy Thin Crust cheese pizza.

4: Worst pasta
Macaroni Grill Spaghetti and Meatballs with Meat Sauce
# 2,430 calories
# 128 g fat
# 207 g carbs
# 5,290 mg sodium
This meal satisfies your calorie requirements for an entire day.

3: Worst nachos
On the Border Stacked Border Nachos
# 2,740 calories
# 166 g fat
# 191 g carbs
# 5,280 mg sodium

2: Worst starter
Chili's Awesome Blossom
# 2,710 calories
# 203 g fat
# 194 g carbs
# 6,360 mg sodium

1: The worst food in America
Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing
# 2,900 calories
# 182 g fat
# 240 g carbs
Even if you split these "starters" with three friends, you'll have downed a dinner's worth of calories before your entrée arrives.

Labels: Food

When it comes to repairing your credit, you're the best person for the job.

Credit repair scam artists will charge you anywhere from $500 to $1,500 or more upfront, and promise you everything from a new Social Security card to perfect credit.

But these companies can't do anything for you that you can't do for yourself -- for free -- and they might ultimately do more harm than good.

What should you do if you have bad credit? Here are 10 tips that are designed to improve your credit history and raise your credit score:

1. Pull a copy of your credit history from AnnualCreditReport.com. Sponsored by the three credit-reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, AnnualCreditReport.com is the only place you can go to get a truly free copy of your credit history. Each credit-reporting bureau is required to give you one copy once a year. You should pull copies from each of the bureaus, since they sometimes collect different data.

2. While you're there, buy a copy of your credit score from Equifax.com. Equifax offers a FICO score, also known as a Beacon score, which is from Fair Isaac, the company that created the concept of credit scoring. Most creditors will pull a FICO score, so you should see what they're seeing. Your credit score will give you a snapshot of what your credit information means to your creditors. The FICO score runs from 350 to 850. The higher the number, the better. Your target should be to have a credit score of at least 720.

3. Check your credit history thoroughly. You're looking for errors, misinformation and negative information that might count against you. File a dispute with the three credit-reporting bureaus if you spot any errors. Some credit reports have serious errors in them, so fixing these will boost your score.

4. Understand what kind of debt you're facing. Make a list of everything you owe, the interest rate each debt carries, and the minimum payment due each month. Then, prioritize your debt: mortgage, real estate taxes, credit cards and medical bills should be paid in that order.

5. Negotiate with your creditors for a lower interest rate. Paying less in interest means more of your payment each month goes toward paying down your balance. If you have a good credit score (over 720 is a starting point), you should be able to find other credit cards featuring zero percent to 5 percent in interest for the first year, or for the life of a balance transfer (check out sites like CardRatings.com and CardTrak.com to compare credit-card offers.) Just be sure you read the fine print: Some credit cards require you to charge on the new account each month or face a stiff fee.

6. Pay down the debt with the highest interest rate first. Pay your mortgage and home equity loan and lines of credit in full each month. Then, make sure you have enough cash to make all of the minimum payments due on your debt each month. Then, throw any spare cash at the debt that carries the highest interest rate first. Once you've paid down that debt, transfer all of the extra cash you're paying each month to the debt with the next-highest interest rate, and so on.

7. Pay everything on time, even if you can make only the minimum payment. The most crucial component of your credit history and credit score is your ability to pay your bills on time each month. Paying on time shows your creditors that you take your debts and obligations seriously. Even one late payment can seriously damage your credit history and credit score, even though it can take a year's worth of on-time payments to start to heal your credit history and raise your credit score. It doesn't seem fair, but that's how the credit industry works.

8. Don't charge more than 25 percent of your maximum available credit limit. If you carry a credit-card balance that is a higher percentage of your available credit limit, your credit score will go down. Why? Because creditors believe if you charge the maximum on your credit cards, it means you can't properly manage your credit. You're better off spreading out your debt between three or four different cards than having it all piled on one card.

9. Don't open and close a lot of accounts. Again, a credit score tells current and future creditors how likely it is that you won't pay back your debts. It assesses how risky a borrower you are today. Every time you apply for a new credit card, that creditor pulls a copy of your credit history from the credit-reporting bureaus. That "inquiry" gets reported on your credit history. Too many inquiries in a short period of time signals that you may be getting low on your available credit and need more cash. Even though you might be interested in getting 10 percent off your first purchase for opening a new account, it looks different to a prospective creditor.

10. Don't share credit (except with a spouse). It's easy to tell someone that you'll "co-sign" a credit card, student loan or a mortgage loan application, especially if it's someone you've known for a long time. But it's also easy to wind up in a situation where that friend or relative stops paying his or her bills (for whatever reason) and your credit will take a big hit. Once you're a co-signer for a loan, you're legally obligated to make those payments -- whether or not you can afford them. So think carefully before you agree to co-sign a loan, and nip the problem of bad credit before it begins.

To get even more valuable advice, visit the Personal Finance and Real Estate Center.

Labels: Credit History, Personal Finance