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Bad credit - why so prevalent?
Many "experts" blame the epedemic of credit problems in current society on factors such as lack of stable permanent employment, relegation of importance of marriage and the family unit, inadequate healthcare and insurance provision and failing...
Low Interest vs. Cash Back: Credit Card Questions Answered
Ahh, credit cards. All those offers, tons of fine print... what does it all mean? Whether you're applying for your first credit card or are a long-time cardholder investigating alternate options, it's wise to get the facts before moving ahead with a...
Making Good Use Of Local Banks And Credit Unions For Low Loan Rate Bargains
With the average 30 year and 15 year fixed-rate mortgages jumping up to several basis points over recent days, consumers who have been holding out hoping to catch the best level of the refinance wave may wonder if they have missed the boat. Not...
SuperCharged Secret 5, Credit Card Utopia
LIVING IN CREDIT CARD UTOPIA
Let’s just take a brief moment to recap:
If you’ve been following along on this journey with me, learning the 5 Super-Charged secrets to Credit Card Utopia, then you now know 4 very important things:
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Which Credit Card?
Bewildered by the sheer variety of debit cards and credit cards? Here is a breakdown of some of the main types of debit and credit cards available: Debit card You can use a debit card to buy goods and services. A debit card is very much like a...
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What to Know When Getting Your First Credit Card
Credit card debt is way too easy to get into these days. It seems like every time I check my mail there is at least one or two pre-approved credit card applications. It doesn’t matter if you have good credit, bad credit, or no credit; they still send bushels of these offers everyday. You’re in college and you have expenses and no money so you grab one and sign up. It’s easy and only takes a few short minutes and you’re approved but little do you know you just picked up a loaded gun!
It’s shiny, small, and so accessible when money is tight. So much so that we don’t feel like we are spending real money until the bill comes, and then it’s too late.
When establishing good credit, one of the things we’re told to do is to get a credit card and then use it to spend wisely. Having a credit card is important to having good credit but it’s not everything. A large part of your credit score is comprised of utility payments, car payments, and other debt like loan payments. Your credit card is only a portion of a bigger picture that makes up your credit score. The problem is that there are always going to be times when credit is necessary and at some point you are going to have to take that plunge. Ever want to rent a car? Has your car ever broken down suddenly and you realize you have no cash to fix it? These are just 2 of millions of scenarios where credit is good as well as a necessity.
Experts advise us to pay our bills on time and not to exceed the credit limit. More specifically to avoid accumulating credit debt only spend what you think you can payback that same month and try not to carry a balance. Not only does that improve your credit, it saves you a lot on interest. However, no one really talks to us when we get that first card about how easily and quickly we hit that limit, or how easy it is to miss that first monthly payment. Once you get behind it can be impossible to catch up. Oftentimes, credit cards come with introductory interest rates that are nothing or very low. If you miss a payment suddenly you
find your paying 21% interest on a payment you already cannot afford and on top of that you’re getting charged late fees! Before you know it, you are getting bad reports on your credit reports for credit card debt on a card you got for emergency purposes in the first place.
Unfortunately, when times are hard, abusing credit cards is all too easy. When the economy is bad and cash is tight, you might find yourself putting your daily living expenses on your credit cards because you do what you have to do to get by. When you are not making your payments, the credit card companies do inquiries to verify your address or other information and every time someone makes an inquiry on your credit report, it makes you look like even more of a high risk. All the credit card debt on your report, even if some of it is good, can make you look high risk for future car loans or mortgages. Even worse a bad credit report can keep you out of rental apartments or from getting a job that requires a background check.
As tempting as it is to pay with plastic, choose the “debit” option next time and keep your future in mind. It’s normal to risk it all when times are tough, but doing so creates more problems later that can take years with a credit counselor to fix and you end up paying triple what you put in. Remember when your at the register ask yourself some very real questions about what your need and what you want. Think ahead about what your budget is and be realistic when formatting it. Remember to account for food, gas, a night out with friends, and most importantly try your best to save money to prevent the emergency credit card swipe. Build your credit slowly by making small purchases and paying them off every month. In the end you’ll thank yourself from avoiding the stress of bills you cannot pay back. You’ll thank yourself in the future!
Jason Jell is the editor and webmaster of http://www.internetcreditcardlist.com. A site geared towards providing people with clear concise information about credit cards and credit card offers
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| Credit Reports - Credit Cards - Car Loans - Home Loans - Credit.com |
| Credit.com offers a variety of credit related products and services including credit reports and credit scores, credit cards, car loans, home loan and ... |
| www.credit.com |
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| Equifax Personal Solutions: Credit Reports, Credit Scores ... |
| National consumer credit reporting company that offers credit reports, FICO(R) credit scores and identity theft protection products to consumers and small ... |
| www.equifax.com |
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| The FTC's web site on Credit |
| Credit is much more than a piece of plastic, and the resources on this site can help you become a more savvy consumer. You’ll also find compliance ... |
| www.ftc.gov |
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| Federal Trade Commission - Consumer Credit Center |
| Features an assortment of helpful articles related to credit issues. |
| www.ftc.gov |
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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. |
| www.annualcreditreport.com |
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| Springboard - Non-Profit Consumer Credit Management |
| Our mission is simple: To offer education on the wise use of credit. ... SPRINGBOARD has been approved to provide credit counseling services and issue ... |
| www.credit.org |
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| myFICO - FICO Credit Scores, Online Credit Reports and Identity ... |
| myFICO.com: Get your Free credit report and Free credit score with a 30-day trial of Score Watch. All three FICO Scores and Credit Reports Available now ... |
| www.myfico.com |
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| Credit Suisse Global |
| Credit Suisse Group is an international financial services group. - Shares part of SMI. |
| www.credit-suisse.com |
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| Experian: Free Credit Report and Credit Score, Credit Check ... |
| Credit referencing and consumer targeting for the USA and other countries. |
| www.experian.com |
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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 |
| Any movement of financial capital is normally quite dependent on credit, ... Sometimes if a person has financial instability or difficulty, credit is not ... |
| 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 ... |
| FreeCreditReport.com: Free credit reports and credit scores from Experian. Get your free credit report and credit score now. It's free, fast, and easy! |
| www.freecreditreport.com |
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| Compare credit cards | apply for a credit card | 0% balance ... |
| Compare over 300 credit cards, including 0% offers and balance transfers, and make a credit card application online... |
| www.moneysupermarket.com |
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| Ford Credit - Auto financing for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars ... |
| Ford Credit provides auto financing to finance a lease or purchase a car or truck through Ford, Lincoln or Mercury dealerships. |
| www.fordcredit.com |
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| The Credit Card Prank |
| In my lifetime, I have made nearly 15000 credit card transactions. ... Credit card signatures are a useless mechanism designed to make you feel safe, ... |
| 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. |
| www.creditmag.com |
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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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