Bad Credit Start Fixing It With These Tips…

Raise your hand if you were one of the millions of people who promised yourself you’d only use your credit cards for an emergency. Everyone who read this just raised their hand, and that’s because no one takes on a line of credit with the intent of falling into debt. It happens, though and then it’s all downhill unless you take the steps to fix your credit score. Here’s how you can do it.

A great tip for people who are trying to repair their credit is to make sure you know who is looking at your credit report and why. This way you will know how many inquiries have been made and you can dispute any unnecessary or illegal inquiries into your report.

To help you manage or prevent arthritis when exercising you should wear shoes that are sturdy and supportive. If you exercise with shoes that are not sturdy and supportive it can lead to an over stress of the joints. If you’ve been wearing one pair of athletic shoes for a year, it is now a good time to replace them.

One tip that everyone who is trying to repair their credit should understand is to know the difference between hard and soft inquiries. Soft inquiries will not affect your credit score where as hard inquiries do. Make sure you know exactly how many hard inquiries are on your account at any given time.

Whenever you find a mistake on your credit report, it is important to contact the creditor as well as the credit bureau when you are trying to rectify that mistake. This can help any future problems by preventing that creditor from making the same mistake twice so you won’t have to go through it again.

Take note of where you are getting your credit report from, when you are looking to repair your credit. There are many different places that will offer you a copy of your credit report. It is best, though, if you try and get your copies from the credit bureaus, themselves.

To avoid hurting your credit when you can’t afford to pay all your bills for the month, prioritize. A single late payment towards a medical bill, a payday loan, or even your electric bill won’t hurt your credit in the way that a late credit card payment will. While those late fees may hurt, at least they won’t damage your credit score.

To avoid being unduly harassed by creditors, learn your rights fast. Some collection agencies have been known to lie or engage in illegal techniques in order to get paid. Read up on the collection agency laws in your area as well as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. A little knowledge will give you the ammunition you need to shut down harassment.

To increase your credit score, keep the balance owed on your credit cards at less than 30% of the card’s total limit. The way you utilize your credit is something that credit bureaus consider when evaluating your credit, and a little restraint will go a long way to show that you use your credit responsibly.

While it maybe tempting to agree to instant payments to creditors over the phone, paying by paper check can give you absolute proof of payment should the need arise. Keep canceled checks attached to all pertinent bills and paperwork or be sure to make copies of checks when they are available online.

At the end of the day, getting out of a bad credit situation is all about arming yourself with the proper information to do so. The net is riddled with misinformation and half-truths so heed this information wisely and use it to pull yourself up by the bootstraps so you can experience a life bereft of bad credit.

Credit Card Laws What You Need To Know…

Credit card laws are the laws that govern the way the credit card companies must operate. You don’t usually hear much about them. That’s because most of them are just basic laws—the type that keep anyone from doing illegal things. But credit card laws are under review and changing as we speak.

Consumers and lawmakers are trying to put credit card laws into affect that will stop the credit card companies from changing their terms at will. You might not realize it, but your credit card rate of interest can be adjusted at any time. You don’t ever have to be late on a payment.

How can they do this? Isn’t there a law preventing it? No, there isn’t. And that’s one of the problems.

If you owe money to Joe and Bob, and you’ve always paid Joe on time but you’re late with Bob’s payment this month, should Joe charge you more? Of course not. And if Joe and Bob were your friends, Joe raising your payment or your interest over a late payment to someone else would probably cause some problems.

But that’s exactly what credit card companies are doing. You can be the best credit card user in the world. You’ve never even made a late payment, and you often pay more than the minimum payment. Make a late mortgage payment or a late payment on another card, though, and see what happens.

Some of the credit card companies stopped this practice after consumers complained. Others hold to it. They can raise your rates and slash your credit line based on that late payment to someone else, calling you a credit risk. In fact, if they review your credit report they can decide to do both those things just based on how much credit you have and how much you’re using.

Credit card laws don’t stop them from raising your rate if they only think you look like you might get into debt trouble eventually. Which is basically a free pass that lets them raise rates and slash credit lines anytime they want. That’s not fair.

They also regularly deal underhandedly with consumers by charging variable rates on the way you use the credit cards. That in itself isn’t dirty dealings. But they way they handle your payments in regard to those rates are.

Say you’re getting a low rate on that balance transfer. Many cards will do that but you’re paying high interest on purchases. You know that, so you’re not bothered. When you make your payment though, where do you think they apply that payment? They lower the amount that you’re already not being charged interest on.

The amount of money sitting there charging you 18% interest doesn’t change. They automatically apply all payments to the amounts with the lowest interest rates to keep you in debt longer and paying more interest.

Many people have no idea that their payments are applied that way. Credit card laws being considered today will also remove the company’s rights to rewrite their contracts with you anytime they want.

Calculate Credit Score – How Do They Do It…

Just about everyone who has been an adult for any amount of time knows the importance of establishing and maintaining a good credit score. It is your credit score, as determined by the three credit reporting bureaus, that determines your creditworthiness. Lenders of all sorts, and even landlords and insurance agents, are likely to pull your credit history practically before they shake your hand and say, “Nice to meet you.”

Do you know your credit score? Do you wonder how TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax calculate credit scores?

Credit scores are calculated by looking at your income, your expenses, the amount of credit you already have, and how well you have paid your bills in the past. By looking at all of these different items, the credit agencies apply a mathematical formula, calculate your credit score, and report their findings and determinations to those who inquire about your creditworthiness.

Information that may have a negative impact when your credit score is calculated incude:
• A large amount of outstanding debt.
• A low income-to-debt ratio.
• A bankruptcy.
• Late payments
• No credit history
• A limited credit history
• Unpaid utility bills
• A lot of open credit accounts, even if they have low or no balances
• A lot of accounts being opened at the same time.
• Closing accounts that still have a balance.
• Closing a lot of accounts at the same time.

If you are attempting to calculate your own credit score, you may find it difficult to do so, as there are quite a number of variables involved, but if you follow the simple strategies below, when your credit score is calculated, you are likely to have a pretty good score:
• Apply for only one type of credit at a time and wait for a few months before applying again.
• Pay your utility bills (electricity, cable, water, phone) on time each month.
• Live within your means.
• Make all credit card or other credit payments on time.
• Pay more than the minimum due on your credit cards.
• Use credit cards to buy necessities such as groceries, but only if you have the willpower to put the same amount of money away and pay for them in their entirety when the bill comes in.
• Maintain a savings account for emergencies.
• Save up for the purchase of expensive items rather than charging them all the time.
• Check your credit history periodically to make sure it is accurate.
• Correct errors on your report promptly.

Credit counseling…

Credit counseling is kind of a last way out for people who have burdened themselves with a number of debts and pending interest against their names. Usually what happens in the normal flow of time is that an individual keeps on taking loan against his name to fulfill and satisfy his needs for the time being. What happens then is that whenever the individual is in the need of money, he resorts to taking up loans to meet his needs. Eventually a point comes when the individual cannot afford to repay his loans. As the number of loans against the individual increases, so does the monthly payment to be made by the individual increases. But as the individual gets knee deep in the loans, he or she cannot afford to even make the monthly payments, leave aside the interest to be paid by him. What results in this is that the rates of interest get accumulated against his name and thus the amount to be to be paid by the individual increases too. This is the time when individuals are asked to and advised to take the help of credit counseling for their credit needs.

Credit counselors are actually professional financial advisers who help concerned individuals with there credit needs and requirements. Credit counselors are experienced advisors who specialize in dealing with individuals who have a number of debts pending against there name. There main work is to help those individuals out of their financial dilemma and then help those individuals out of there debts. Usually what happens is that the individuals who approach these credit counselors have a number of loans pending against there name. As they are not able to meet the monthly payment requirements, they have huge outstanding payments against there name. How credit counselors help these individuals out is by helping them consolidate there loans into one single loan. The credit counselors help the individual to convert his or hers single loan into one single loan amount, which makes it easier and affordable for the individual to make the payment. Credit counselors also help the individuals to convert there poor credit history into a favorable and suitable one. People who have a poor credit history can also go and lend the services of a credit counselor.

However, it should be taken into note that a credit counselor’s job is not finished by just consolidating the loans. Credit counselors also help in giving the individuals a low and best rate of interest on their consolidated loans. Thus we see what an important role the credit counselors play in the credit history of an individual.

How To Improve Credit Score – Play By The Rules…

Many people wonder how to improve credit score. There are many reasons why they might care about what is on their report. For one thing, access to credit depends on what your score is. You may not be able to get credit at all if your score is too low. So, here’s how to improve credit score.

Many people advising you on how to improve credit score will have gimmicks and tricks to make short term jumps. Unfortunately, these don’t tend to work. The credit agencies aren’t stupid. They close loopholes quickly. But the advice sticks around long after the formulas change.

The best advice on how to improve credit score is to play by the rules.

That means using credit responsibly. The foremost advice I can give you is to take out only the loans you need and can afford. Then, pay them on time every month.

Some credit, like a home mortgage, is absolutely necessary for the functioning of life. With renting as the only viable alternative, your home is an important asset in your portfolio. The best advice for this kind of credit is to not buy more than you can afford to pay back and then make your payments on time each month.

Other credit, called revolving credit, involves mostly credit card debt. The advice for credit card debt is more complicated. For instance, you don’t want to max out your cards. At the same time, you don’t want to have multiple cards. You want to appear like you can handle the credit card debt that you have.

High outstanding debt on credit cards can lower your credit score. So, you should keep balances low. At the same time, you don’t want to have a lot of unused credit because that too makes you a risk. If you have $1000 in debt but $20,000 in available credit, the credit reporting companies recognize that you could go on a spree and suddenly end up over your head in debt.

Another trick some suggest for how to improve credit score is to move debt balances from card to card always chasing low teaser rates. The credit reporting companies have gotten wise to this trick. FICO says that paying off debt rather than moving it around is the effective way to improve your credit score.

You shouldn’t close credit cards as a short term strategy for how to improve credit score. While over the long run, having fewer cards can help the score, if you are looking for a short term boost, this can actually hurt you.

Similarly, you shouldn’t open a bunch of cards to make it look like your credit utilization ratio is smaller. You also shouldn’t open a bunch of accounts when your credit is new, which happens to a lot of young people who are bombarded with credit offers at their colleges.

If you want to know how to improve credit score, you should know that it is a long term process that mostly involves managing your credit responsibly, paying your bills on time, and not taking on more debt than you can afford. There are no quick tricks. There’s just responsibility.

That’s how to improve credit score.

Auto Loans In Todays Economy…

Anyone who has a high credit score will never really need to worry about getting any type of loan. Most banks will fall all over themselves to give you a loan. Unfortunately many people today, sometimes through no fault of their own, have some dings on their credit rating which will make it harder to qualify for a loan. But, even so, there is hope of getting auto loans in todays economy.

If you have some blemishes it will be harder and you will pay more, there is really nothing you can do about that until you’ve cleared up the issues on your credit report. But, getting auto loans in todays economy can actually help you improve your credit score as long as you make all your payments on time.

For that reason, it’s very important that you don’t overspend on a new, or used, car. If your payment is at the top of what you can afford and you end up with an unexpected expense, you will have trouble making your payments and your credit score will go even lower.

Make sure that you figure out your monthly budget before you go off to your local car dealer. It will be tempting to get the absolute best car you can get approved for, but if you do you may end up having problems. It’s better to get a car at the lower end of your budget so you have some wiggle room if you have any unexpected financial troubles.

Of course, if you are able to wait you can save and pay cash for a car, true it may not be a really nice car, but it may be able to get you from point A to point B. For example, several years ago I was struggling and I had to pay cash for a car. I bought a car with over 140,000 miles on it and paid $2,400.

I ended up keeping that car for several years and finally sold it for $800 with 265,000 miles on it when I sold it! Not bad, huh?

You can also try to go to a local bank or credit union. Often they will be more forgiving then the large national banks. If you’ve been a good customer of the bank and they know you and you can explain any dings on your credit (maybe due to a layoff or a health problem) they will be more likely to still give you a loan.

You may also want to try a “buy here, pay here” type of place. Of course you have to be warned that the vehicle may not be as nice or dependable as you might get elsewhere and you will pay through the nose for your interest payment.

Getting auto loans in todays economy if your credit is mediocre or poor is definitely more of a challenge than in years past, but it is not impossible. Do all you can before you go to your bank to improve your credit rating. Be prepared to have a large down payment and be willing to pay more in interest. It’s tough but it is possible. Be prepared to spend quite a bit of time finding a bank that will approve you.

Identity Theft And Credit Card Theft On The Rise…

Unless you have been living in a cave, you know that identity theft credit card fraud are on the rise. It’s too bad that the crooks aren’t as dumb as you would have thought, but they’re not. For that reason we can’t afford to let our guard down for even one minute.

In this article we will discuss some easy things you can do to help protect your identity. It’s really not that hard to avoid identity theft credit card fraud, much of the things that happen can be easily avoided if you just take some simple precautions and use some common sense.

Follow these tips and continue to be diligent and protect yourself:

1. Always shred any documents that have any personal information on it. Like I said above, most crooks aren’t dumb, they can actually be pretty clever. It’s hard to know just what they can use to steal your identity so it is a good idea to not let them get any of your information, even things that seem like they couldn’t do any harm.

Just buy a shredder and get in the habit of using it every day on every piece of paper you will be throwing in the trash.

2. Don’t carry your social security card or credit cards with you. If your wallet is lost or stolen you can really find yourself in a lot of trouble. And, you don’t need to carry every credit card with you and you sure don’t need your social security card. Keep them safe in a home safe (that is bolted to the floor preferably).

3. Keep track of all the expiration dates on your credit cards (and debit cards). Your financial institution will send out new cards before your old cards expire so if you don’t receive on in a timely manner it could mean that someone grabbed it out of your mailbox before you got it.

If you have cards that are getting ready to expire but you haven’t received the new ones yet call your financial institution and ask where they are. If they have sent it and you have had sufficient time to receive it but there is no sign of it, the bank may want to cancel the new card and reissue one and send it to you.

4. Never click on any link in an email and then enter personal information on the site that link takes you too. Believe it or not, it’s actually pretty easy and inexpensive for crooks to set up websites that look exactly like the website for your bank or credit card company.

Once they have those sites set up, all they have to do is send an email out and scare people to into clicking on a link in that email and going to the phony website and enter some personal information.

They will try to scare you by saying that there “is a problem” with your account or that your “account may have been compromised”. These are common scams, don’t fall for them.

If you ever get an email do not click on the link in the email, instead call your financial institution yourself and never call the number that is provided in the email, that too will be phony.

Instead look in the yellow pages for the number for your bank or credit card company or just check your bank statements and call the bank yourself to ask if there is a problem (I can almost guarantee you there isn’t).

These tips can help you stay safe from identity theft credit card fraud. It’s really not that easy to get ripped off, you have to be a willing participant in most cases… don’t be!

Can You Be Sued For Credit Card Debts…

If you have gotten behind with your credit card debts you may find yourself wondering can you be sued for credit card debts. If you are concerned about this, I don’t want to alarm you further but you should know that you can actually be sued for credit card debts. Although you may get away with being behind with your payments for a long time, possibly even years, but you won’t get away with it forever.

Credit card companies want their money and they will take whatever action is necessary to get their money from you. When you don’t pay your credit card payments, or only pay the bare minimum, they will slowly accumulate and the amount you owe just gets bigger and bigger. You may even begin to think that you have gotten away with paying the debt and that bank must have forgotten about it. But they haven’t!

Credit card companies will start charging you extra fees if you are late paying just one payment because they are serious about getting their money back. They may even call you to remind you that you owe them money and to make arrangements for you to pay.

Some credit card companies will even increase your interest rate once you start making late payments. This may depend on your agreement with the credit card company but don’t be surprised if, once the introductory offer period is over, you see your interest rates soar.

If the credit card company increases your interest rate, charges you late payment fees and calls you to make payment arrangements, but they are still having trouble getting the money from you, then they will turn the debt over to a collection agency. The sole purpose of a collection agency is to get the money from you. You will most likely receive a letter from the agency that you need to reply to within 30 days.

The collection agency will give you two choices. You can either make the payment or you can dispute that the debt is yours and you need to do one of these options within 30 days. If you do nothing then they assume that the debt is yours and will proceed to the next level.

They will continue to send you debt collection letters and will also start calling you. If a collection agency is not successful at getting the money from you then they may transfer the case to someone else, so you may have to deal with several such companies.

After a certain time period, if the credit card company has not received their money they can choose to write the debt off or to sue you for the amount of money you owe them. If the amount is very small then they will write the debt off but if the amount owed is significant then there is a very good chance that they will sue you.

Don’t assume that credit card companies only go after huge amounts of money, there have been people sued for as little as a thousand dollars. Then of course there are court costs and legal fees added to that amount so your debt will be even higher.

When you enter into a credit card agreement you sign a contract agreeing that you will follow their terms. When you didn’t make your payment by the due date you broke that agreement, which is a legal document, and therefore the company can sue you.

Can you be sued for credit card debts? Yes you can and many people do, so if you have credit card debt it is best to contact your credit card company and make some sort of arrangements to pay your debt off.

Cash Flow – How To Collect 98% Of Business Debts In 28 Days…

The most common cause of businesses failing is a lack of cash flow. Cash flow is the money coming in, compared to money going out.

Your business plan will identify where, and when, your major business expenditures occur. These are unlikely times when your income is at a maximum.

Businesses often run into cash flow problems because their customers delay paying their bills, or when their customers cannot pay their bills at all.

Many individuals delay paying bills until they have to. All companies do this, because it improves their own cash flow position and because the companies that owe them money are doing the same thing.

When someone starts a business it usually comes as a surprise when debtors do not pay their bills on time. The company owing you money knows that you want to keep their business, so you are unlikely to chase them for debt collection immediately or aggressively.

The attitude your customers, your debtors, take is that your cash flow is your problem. If your company fails then there are plenty more suppliers they can turn to, and meanwhile the money they owe you is in their own bank account, earning interest. If your company fails, then they will have the use of your money for six months or more, while accountants pursue them for the debts.

There are 2 ways out:

1. You can delay paying your suppliers until you absolutely have to, i.e. pass the problem along the supply chain.

2. You can sell your debts to a finance company. This is called factoring.

The factoring company will buy your 100 dollars debt for between 75 and 98 dollars. The range varies with the likelihood that the factoring company will be able to get the debt paid. If you factor all of your debts after 21 or 28 days the factoring company will give you a better price than if you only sell them debts that have been outstanding for 6 months or more.

Factoring can mean the difference between your business thriving or folding because of the difference in cash flow it makes. Your income is predictable. Your cash flow is secure. You can pay your debts and sleep at night.

Factoring means that you collect less than the full amount of each invoice, but at least you get 98 cents on each dollar on time. Your profit margin may appear to be lower, but when you take loan charges necessary to cover your outstanding invoices into account, there may be little or no difference.

What To Look Out For When Choosing A Personal Loan…

With literally hundreds of personal loans on offer, it can be tempting to take the one that offers the lowest rate of interest.

However, while we all want to pay the least possible in interest on a personal loan, there are considerations that you need to make before signing on the dotted line. Otherwise, you could find yourself more out of pocket than you need to be.

Payment holidays

So, you’ve seen the advert that says “Get a loan today and start paying it back in three month’s time!” We think: “Yippee!, I have access to a wad of cash and it won’t cost me anything until three months’ time!”

Wrong. In most cases, you will be charged interest from day one of your loan. This means that for three months’ that wonga will be sat in your pocket or spent a new car / holiday / debt consolidation /new clothes and will be accruing interest!

Unless the terms and conditions of the loan say otherwise, this is how you will be charged. So, start paying back the loan as from the very first month if you don’t want to pay even more in interest.

Redemption penalties

Redemption penalties are normally hidden away in the small print and relate to charges levied if you decide to repay your loan early. Legally, lenders can charge you one months’ interest in lieu of repaying your personal loan early. And while most so, there are some nice, friendly personal loan provider who do not charge you, so keep an eye out for these.

Fixed rate

When choosing your personal loan, make sure that the rate you will pay is a fixed rate and not variable. With a fixed rate of interest, you will repay the loan back in equal instalments and at the same interest rate over the term of the lending.

With a variable rate of interest, this means that the interest rate can vary. And while it may go down, in reality, we all know that lenders are greedy and love any old excurse to make a bit more profit from their loyal customers and will therefore hike up the interest rates.

This will leave you in a position of not knowing how much your loan repayments will be from month to month – which is no good is you are trying to budget – plus it means that you undoubtedly pay more in interest.

Bear these three very important pointers in mind when shopping around for a personal loan, and you could snap yourself up a good deal on your personal loan.