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Building Credit to a Better Future
Building credit is building a better future. Nowadays it takes
good credit scores to purchase a home, buy a car, and get a
credit card and so on. If your credit is bad usually more bad
follows. It takes you to find a solution to repair your...
Check Your Credit Report Regularly
You may reprint or publish this article free of charge as long
as the bylines are included.
Original URL (The Web version of the article)
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Credit Repair Scams
“Erase Bad Debt !”
“Remove Negative Items From Your Report”
You’ve probably seen these headlines and others just like it promising to clean up or “fix” bad credit. For someone who suffers from a bad or poor credit rating, these headlines...
Entrepreneurs (or Anybody Else): If You Must Use Credit Cards, Practice "Safe Swiping"
"But Everybody's Doing It"
Are you familiar with that plea some children make in an attempt to get what they want based on the behavior of their peers: "But everybody's doing it"? Should you, as a business founder or one who wants to be, use...
How Your Credit Rating Affects You, and How to Check It.
You might not know it, but every time you take out any kind of loan or credit or pay something back, it gets counted on your credit rating. Who keeps a record on you will vary according to where you live, but the big three credit reference agencies...
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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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| National Credit Union Administration - Home Page |
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| Credit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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| CUNA: The Credit Union National Association |
| News and resource directory about credit unions. |
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| Credit/Debt Management - Tools and Advice for Managing Credit and Debt |
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