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Consumer Action: Putting The “Freeze” On Credit Files
In the wake of 40 million MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express accounts recently being breached, consumers and legislators are scrambling for ways to protect their personal and financial information from being hijacked and used...
Credit card companies: the rewards, promos and services that make the difference
With so many credit card companies offering credit cards, the
consumer market for credit cards has become one tough cookie to
crack. To stay competitive, credit card companies offer various
extra services, rewards programs and promos that...
Credit Card Issuers to Restart Charging Annual Fee
It seems that the major UK credit card companies may be forced
to reintroduce an annual fee to claw back lost profits due to
bad debt.
This is according to a report "Precious Plastic 2006" issued by
the accountancy firm Price Waterhouse...
Get a credit card with a low interest rate
Before you choose a credit card it would be wise to first find
out the interest rates offered by all the credit card companies
and banks. While you compare credit card companies and banks,
take note of the ones with low interest rates and offer...
How to establish credit as an immigrant
This article is about establishing credit. I learned it the hard
way.
Spring 1997. I had moved from Germany to the USA around
Christmas and enjoyed my first Southern Californian year. While
I browsed the www, I saw some ads for...
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Techniques For Building Good Credit
Whether you are just starting out with no credit to your name or
trying to recover from having accumulated some bad debt which
has ruined your credit, there are simple strategies you can
apply to get your credit back on track.
Many young people have a hard time establishing and building
credit simply because no lender wants to be the first to lend
them money! Therefore, you need to start establishing credit
with some sort of secured credit card or loan. If you have money
in the bank, you can use this to secure a loan which will help
you to build credit. Try asking a friend or family member to
co-sign the loan or credit card application.
Once you have opened an account, make sure you meet all monthly
obligations, since if you miss any payments at all your
co-signer is responsible. If you do not have a credit history,
you might want to opt for credit cards issued by gas stations,
or else open an account with a department store. These cards are
relatively easy to get hold of, and it helps you to build
credit.
After you established some line of credit, make your payments
faithfully and after about six months you will be entitled to
more credit. If you have taken out a lengthy loan with a co
signer then after 6 month of flawlessly making the payments you
might want to see if you can get another loan in your name only
to pay this one off. This will release the co-signer from
responsibility. Never take out more than you need when applying
for a loan and always check the interest rates and upfront fees
to avoid overpaying.
Keep up those payments and you will be amazed how easy it will
eventually become to get credit cards and loans - just remember
to not overdo it and never borrow or charge more than you can
pay off.
If you have bad credit and want to restore or build your
credit, you must first start by sending for copies of your
credit reports. The reports are free once per year and can be
obtained by TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. After you have
reviewed your reports make sure no activities are listed against
you that is not your own. If you notice, any actions on your
report immediately write the three bureaus and ask for an
investigation. Once you have disputed your report, the next step
is knocking down each account until your credit is clear.
If you are struggling with money, you might want to knock out
the
secured debts first and then work through the unsecured
debts. It may take some time but you will see results after your
debts are paid in full. A great strategy for those of us in debt
is to save money each month and apply it to our dues. If you are
spending money, for entertainment give it up for now and get out
of debt. Many things in life are free of charge and often fun
and exciting.
Cut back on as many expenses as you can and go full tilt making
as much money as you can to pay off your debt. Perhaps you could
consider a second job? It is only temporary until you pay off
all your bills. You need to keep ahead of they payments and not
spend money you don't have as this will only add to the burden.
Make all your payments on time and apply any extra money you
have towards one credit card - once that is payed off apply the
extra money PLUS the minimum payment for the first card towards
another card. This piggy back strategy takes discipline but will
help you to pay down your bills faster. Remember, that more
interest payments you can get rid of the more you can make your
money work for you.
Finally, once you get your credit score back in good standing
you want to strategize to maintain or elevate the score. If your
credit is good, you want to continue the budget that is
obviously working and work toward increasing your income to make
sure you meet all payments each month. The last thing you need
to do is apply for additional lines of credit if you already
have credit established. Payoff what you owe now and buy what
you want later. One of the biggest mistakes many of us make is
taking for granted our situation. If we have a lot of money and
a great line of credit, we often go on spending binges. This can
lead to building up a pile of debt that may not be easy to pay
off in the future. If you can, only charge what you can pay off
in full the next month. You never know when you might lose your
job or an unexpected expanse might come up and you want to be in
the best situation possible to deal with life's little surprises.
About the author:
Lee Dobbins writes for For Your Wealth where
you can find out more about your money and wealth. Visit their
article archive for more articles on
credit repair.
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| The FTC's web site on Credit |
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| Federal Trade Commission - Consumer Credit Center |
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| AnnualCreditReport |
| Site set up by the big three credit reporting agencies in the United States, to furnish free annual credit reports, as required by federal law. |
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| Credit referencing and consumer targeting for the USA and other countries. |
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| National Credit Union Administration - Home Page |
| An independent federal agency that supervises and insures 7152 federal credit unions and insures 4240 state-chartered credit unions. |
| www.ncua.gov |
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| Credit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Debits and Credits, a type of bookkeeping entry; Credit (creative arts), acknowledging the ideas or ... Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit" ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Credit (finance) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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| en.wikipedia.org |
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| The National Foundation for Credit Counseling |
| DebtAdvice.org is a service provided by the Members of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), most of them known as Consumer Credit ... |
| www.nfcc.org |
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| FreeCreditReport.com | Free Credit Report and Credit Score Online ... |
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| The Credit Card Prank |
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| www.zug.com |
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| Credit magazine, corporate bonds, derivatives, structured credit ... |
| Credit magazine provides information on the international credit markets for credit investors, issuers and market professionals. |
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| CUNA: The Credit Union National Association |
| News and resource directory about credit unions. |
| www.cuna.org |
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| Credit/Debt Management - Tools and Advice for Managing Credit and Debt |
| Drowning in debt? Trying to improve your credit score? This is the place for you. Get real world information and tips, as well as the legal low down, ... |
| credit.about.com |
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