Category: Credit Score


Be Careful with Credit Cards: They Can Be a Two Sided Blade

Filed Under: Credit Score by Don Weststein — Comments Off
September 29, 2011

Credit cards are a big responsibility so before you think about getting one, be prepared mentally and physically. Keep in mind that while credit cards are normally used for emergencies, many people use them for every day spending which can lead to excessive interest fees and if you’re not careful, you’ll go into debt because of overspending. With cash, you can plainly see how much you have left, but with credit cards you won’t know how much you spent until you hit your credit limit. At times, this may be several thousands of dollars, which is money that most people aren’t likely to have. It can be hard, but credit cards must be used sparingly and responsively.

Many people are not taught when they are younger about the negative ramifications of credit cards. After all, that money is not free and must be paid back. If you miss a credit card payment, your interest rates will go up and those interest fees will add up over time. Even if you pay off everything as soon as possible, you will still pay extra fees that are not necessary if you were to pay with cash. Of course, paying with cash is the better alternative in terms of saving money but always paying with cash means that you won’t be able to improve your credit score either. It’s a bit strange but in order to build good credit, you have to use credit cards even when you don’t need to. It’s bad practice to use credit cards when you don’t need to, but since you need to in order to build good credit, don’t go overboard with it.

The best thing you can do is charge a little bit on your credit cards and pay off the balance as soon as possible. Use cash as much as possible but use your credit cards for small bills that you already have the money for. It’s a bit roundabout but this way, you get to keep your debts down and maintain good credit at the same time. Be careful not to overuse the credit cards though or you may find yourself drowning in interest fees and even more debt. Credit cards are a two sided blade, so be careful if you find yourself needing to use them.

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Age and Loan Applications

Filed Under: Credit Score by Don Weststein — Comments Off
August 25, 2011

Although people are trying to get the correct way on how to save money, there are almost always things that come in the way to hinder that goal.
Home savings and loan installments are in a way correlated with each other and even simple savings get affected whenever things are starting to get stirred up. There are different loan services available these days. Those options can either be provided by a bank or any financial institution.

 

When applying for a loan, there are different requirements that a loan applicant must comply before being considered and in the end granted. One of the things that credit grantors check is the credit standing of a person in order to gauge how much is the risk that the company can get from a certain individual or institution when approved of a loan in the company.

 

Next is probably any collaterals that can serve as a payment in case for example the payment arrangement is not met by the debtor. There are other things to consider prior to being granted a loan. Many people ask as to what legal age does an individual person is allowed to submit a loan application to any institution.

 

If we talk about legality, it is always eighteen years of age for most part however, it depends on the company that will grant the loan and the type of loan being applied for. There are so many loan types in the finance world these days, like the payday loan and student loan available to the youngest possible clients. For payday loan, a minimum age to apply for a loan is really 18 but then again, it depends on the state or federal laws where the debtor is located that may affect the minimum wage. Another type of loan that is available to the youth is the student loan that also requires for someone to be at least 18 years old to apply for a loan at any bank or financial institution. Most states have a law that stops minor people to apply for a student loan. Often, even if you are more than 18, banks and other institutions would require you to get a cosigner for a student loan you are applying for to assure the company’s assets kept secured.

 

There are other loans however that will not require a person to be at least 18 years old before granted a loan for government grants like Pell Grant or Stafford grant. However, for you to be able to apply, you must have a high school education or is equivalent for federal aid. You need to fill out a FAFSA form to begin the process to acquire a federal student loan regardless of your age. Bear in mind that getting a loan a long process and is exhausting so patience can also be a requirement.

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Your Paltry Credit Score Range Is No Stopper For Payday Loan Assistance

Filed Under: Credit Score by Don Weststein — Comments Off
July 18, 2011

When greeted by an emergency, people often fail to find suitable remedies. In these times of congested disposable incomes, even $1000 urgency can mean a hell-load. Naturally, sometimes, people even have to sell off a merchandise to meet the expense. Those who have a high credit rating find no problem in fetching loans to support a crisis hour. After all, the loan forwarding agencies find such consumers to be a health investment option.

However, what happens in case your credit rating lies in the low credit score range? Of course, you won’t be provided immediate loans in such cases. Unfortunately, emergency hours do not give you much time.

You need not despair though in such situations. You can take help from online payday loans. These are meant to be short-term succors and are generally provided very quickly for your immediate relief. The central idea is to equip you with money before it is too late. The online payday loan providers do not seek your credit rating and are equally game to provide you money if you have a bad credit score.

For them, it suffices that you have an income of $1000 a month and can exhibit your basic information like Driver License and Social Security Number. To fetch these loans, you should ideally possess a Routing Account Number. Online payday loans are generally credited into these accounts and debited from it automatically on your next payday. However, if you intimate the lenders otherwise, they may even debit only the interest amount and keep the principal outstanding running till your next payday.

From a moral point of view, this may not be the best strategy. After all, it is not wise to shirk from paying off a loan that is meant to be an emergency succor when you have resources to do so. Even from a practical line of thinking, accumulating unsecured revolving debt may not be the best debt management idea.

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Consumer Credit Counseling in Columbus

Filed Under: Credit Score by Don Weststein — Comments Off
November 9, 2010

Credit card debt is a fact of life for people that have been unable to find a job for an extended period of time. These people have no money coming in and this means that they are forced to charge any of the products that they need to survive. This may not be a problem if you find a job and then you are able to pay off the bills in full at the end of the month. However, jobs in this community have become very difficult to find, this means it is likely that the items you charge today will be debt in the future. Building up debt is a cycle that can never end, you need to charge in order to survive and this will place you deeper in debt. If you are in this situation, you need to stop charging and start working on paying down your debt with consumer credit counseling columbus. A majority of the bills that you are getting may be a result of finance charges and interest.

Every month that you are not able to pay your bill in full, the company will add interest and make the bill more expensive. This is a cycle that is designed to keep you in debt, but this company can help you get out by contacting the card company and speaking with them. These card companies would like to have some payment instead of none, this is why this service can work to your advantage. Your credit card company may be willing to accept a fraction of the balance that you owe, with consumer credit counseling columbus you will save money and take care of your mounting debt. Finding inexpensive columbus mortgage rates can also help you to focus on putting this chapter of your life behind you and start building your future.

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Credit Card Debt Reduction Solution: Everyone Must Know

Filed Under: Credit Score by Don Weststein — Comments Off
August 23, 2010

Being in debt is something not new to any of us. I’m sure you know of someone who is caught up in debt. It could be a neighbor, a family member, a friend, a colleague, or it could be you. In today’s situation, it is almost normal to get into debts that buries you knee deep. And ones you are covered up in debt, it is very difficult to get out. Keep in mind that getting out of debt id difficult but it is not impossible. There is a credit card debt reduction solution that could help you such as debt consolidation or debt negotiation/ settlement.
Agencies that will help you with debt solution also offer debt counseling and debt education. They will find ways for you to get out of debt and stay out of it. The counselor will have a discussion with you so he will know the extent of the problem.

You will have to provide him with data about your finances like your expenses and earnings every month. He will figure out a budget for you that will allow you to put away a certain amount. Another thing they would do is to recommend conferences you can join which will benefit you. Through this seminar you will meet people in the same situation, and knowing you are not alone gives you faith.
Debt consolidation allows you to combine all unpaid balances of your credit card and condenses it to one monthly payment option. This way you only have to worry about making one payment in a month, lowering the possibility of missing a single payment. Remember that when you forget a single payment you will be charged an interest.
The second solution is through debt negotiation or settlement. The counselor you are working with will negotiate with the creditors. He will try to lower the interest rates on your debts. This way you can reduce the amount you owe to almost 50%. Although not all creditors will agree to this, but it’s worth a try.
Whatever option you choose, whether debt consolidation and reduction or negotiation, it is important for you to be focused and have one goal in mind. And that is to eliminate debt and stay away from it.

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Bad Credit Cell Phone Service and Plans

Filed Under: Credit Score by Don Weststein — Comments Off
July 30, 2010

With the current economic climate being what it is, many people are having a difficult time paying for their regular bills let alone the additional fees and expenses that come with owning a cell phone and traditional cell phone service plan. To make matters worse, many people are finding themselves being turned away by the major cell phone service providers and manufacturers due to the fact that they may have no credit or a poor credit history. As a result of the cell phones bad credit situation, many people are starting to look into alternatives to traditional cell phone service in the form of bad credit cell phone service plans.

One of the most popular options when it comes to getting around this entire issue is going with some type of prepaid or pay as you go cell phone plan which usually comes in the form of a flat rate monthly fee or in a prepaid cell phone format. The popular pay as you go cell phone option is by far one of the most economical ways to get basic cell phone service without having the sign-up with a company, and you can also find these phones typically inconvenient locations like grocery stores, retail locations, and even gas stations, so they are highly accessible.

The other alternative to consider is going with a flat rate-based monthly plan which you can usually get most of the major cell phone retailers and manufacturers, one of the most prolific of which is T-Mobile. Like most of the other service providers who are starting to offer these types of services, T-Mobile offers a variety of flat rate monthly plans starting as low as $30-$40 per month depending on the types of features that you’re looking for. But this will allow you to do is gain access to one of the major cell phone networks but also allow you to cancel any time without incurring any penalties or fees.

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Start Repairing Your Credit Now!

Filed Under: Credit card advice, Credit Score by Don Weststein — Comments Off
July 10, 2010

Has your credit score recently taken a dive and you are finding yourself saying “I need to clean up my credit”?  If you are getting started with credit repair, you should understand that it really is nothing more than a systematic process.  Like most processes, credit repair works best if you follow the steps.  The best place to get started with credit repair is by getting legitimate errors in your credit file corrected.

An estimated 87% of credit reports have errors in them. Of course, most of these errors are not intentional but rather data entry errors.  This is especially common if there is someone with a name and social security number that is somewhat similar to yours.  Also, very often you have accounts that are so old that they should no longer be reporting to the credit bureaus that are still showing up.  Another common credit report issue that you can get corrected is when you have accounts that the creditors failed to substantiate upon request that are still showing up in your credit file.  In all of these cases, you should not expect the issues to correct themselves on their own.  It is up to you to contact the credit bureaus and work to get your credit report corrected.

You will need to contact each of the credit bureaus, because they are private companies that operate completely independently of each other.  This means that it is not enough to correct one of your credit reports, you will need to correct all three individually.  This is especially important because most creditors will request “tri-merge” credit reports which gives them all three of your credit scores.  This means that an issue with just one of the credit reporting agencies can seriously hurt your ability to get a loan. So, if you are trying to get a bad credit mortgage, repairing all three of your credit reports is critical.

While some credit repair companies suggest that you should challenge every negative account in your credit file, this is generally not a good idea.  In fact, you should never challenge more than three or four items at a time because doing so could cause your disputes to be disregarded as frivolous.

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Ways to Restore Credit!

Filed Under: Credit card advice, Credit Score by Don Weststein — Comments Off
March 15, 2010

When you look at your credit score do you shudder in horror? There are a few credit repair secrets that you can use that will dramatically increase your credit score.  They are strategies that I use myself when trying to clean my credit up.

One of the easiest credit repair secrets is to correct your credit report. A study by the government has shown that almost 80% of all credit reports contain errors.

If you are trying to restore credit, the first step is to obtain a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus. You will need to review each of them carefully to see what is being reported. These errors can cause your credit score to fall. Dispute each and every error that you find on your report. The credit bureaus have 30 days to verify the information, report the accurate information or remove the entry completely.

Another little known credit repair secret is to put your bills on auto pay. When calculating your credit score 1/3 of the number is based on credit repayment history. Each month that all your bills are reported as paid on time, your credit score rises. By placing your bills on auto pay for two days prior to their due date, you will boost your score in as little as 30 days.

Don’t over apply for credit. Each time you apply for a credit line, your score is affected. If you apply more than 3 times within a 30 day period, your score will drop a considerable amount. Credit reporting agencies view excessive requests for credit as a sign of financial instability. One of the littlest used credit repair secrets is to stop requesting credit. By refraining from credit applications for more than 60 days you will raise your score.

Everyone can, in fact, boost their credit rating by using these simple credit repair tricks. They are easy to do, and better yet, free. Following these simple procedures will boost your score, improve your rating and enable you to get financing at a great rate when you really need it most.

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Maximizing your credit score

Filed Under: Credit Score by — Comments Off
November 20, 2009

There are many tips and tricks out there to help maximize your credit score. However, some do not work, some are goofy, and some are just plan dumb. Many people try to over analyze this and do all these crazy calculations. Let us try to keep things simple and see where it goes.

First, keep low balances in relation to your total credit limit. This just means do not put much on your cards. Also, be sure not to close all your accounts or your ratio will be bad.  It does not hurt anything to have a few cards with high limits if you are not using them. Be sure just to monitor your statements and set up alerts in case you are skeptical.

Also, do not open up a bunch of accounts. Yes this can hurt your score a bit. If I saw a person with 56 accounts I would not want to give you a loan either.

Pay your bills on time. This is by far the most important.  No late payments.  Is this hard?  Maybe, but get them paid. One late payment can ruin good credit scores.

It is simple, have low debt and pay your bills on time.  Does it get much easier? I cannot see how.  Now start paying down those cards.

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Building credit at a young age

Filed Under: Credit Score by — Comments Off
October 29, 2009

While most people these days are talking about how bad the credit card companies are, which they kinda are, and why no one should ever use a credit card, there are a few key points that people need to remember.  Everything revolves around credit.  Your house, cars, ability to get a student loan, cell phone, insurance rates, job applications, all revolve around your credit history and score.  While you can get away without having any credit cards, it may not be the best move.

A good credit score can save you so much money over your life it is scary.  A bad one can keep you out of a home, car, or even going to school. Every one at 18 should be responsible enough to use their credit, but that never seems to happen.  Adults need to beat it into them how important it is to never be late on a payment.

So how do I get a good credit score?

Pay your bills on time.  That is it.  Easy, but so many people try to make it more complicated.  Paying them on time will give you about 70% or more of your total credit score.  Not hard, no need to pay money to hear people talk about it.  Just pay your damn bills on time.  Got it. Good.

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