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October 19, 2010

10 Things You Must Know About Good Credit.
Filed under: Building Credit,Credit Counseling,Credit Repair,General — Tags: attractive credit attractive credit secrets authorized user accounts bad credit bankruptcy build credit build credit after bankruptcy Building Credit charge-offs credit and jobs credit cards credit in, build credit, credit, Credit Repair, credit report repair, good credit, increase credit scores — admin @ 11:51 am

10 Things You Must Know About Good Credit Credit

Too many people use credit without fully knowing how. If you want to get and keep a good credit score, there are some things you have to know about credit.

1.  Credit is a loan. Using credit is the same thing as borrowing money from a friend. The  main difference is that you have to pay back interest on credit whereas most friends won’t make you pay a fee for credit.

2.  Good credit matters for more than just credit cards. More and more businesses are starting to use your credit standing to make decisions about doing business with you. This includes banks, employers, landlords, utility companies, and even insurance companies.

3.  Your credit history is tracked. Information about whether you pay your bills on time and whether you pay them at all is collected in your credit report. At least seven years worth of credit history is in your credit report waiting for businesses to see how you’ve been acting with the credit you’ve been given.

4.  Negative credit information follows you. If you make a late credit card payment or have a collection account, it remains on your credit report for seven years from the date of the delinquency. Only after that seven years has passed will that late payment fall off your credit report.

5.  Your credit score is based on your credit report. A credit score is a numeric snapshot of your credit history at a point in time. It shows where your credit stands at that moment. Higher credit scores are better.

6.  Your credit report could be wrong. Mistakes happen and sometimes errors appear on credit reports. Fortunately, federal law gives you the right to have this information removed when it can’t be verified. Simply submit a credit report dispute to the credit bureaus.

7.  Five key things impact your credit score. These things are: your payment history, your  level of debt, your credit age, your mix of credit, and the number of recent credit applications. Payment history has the most significant impact on your credit score and level of debt has the next biggest influence on your score.

8.  Unpaid credit accounts end up in debt collections. After you miss a certain number of credit card payments, usually six, your account will likely be passed on to a third party debt collector who will try harder to get you to pay the unpaid bill.

9.  If you take on too much credit, you can hurt your credit score and end up in debt. You should only take on as much credit as you can comfortably afford to repay. Taking on more than that puts you at risk of having too much credit.

10. First credit cards may be hard to get, but once you get one, the others come easily.   Be careful not to open too many credit cards since you may be tempted to charge more than you can afford.

http://www.attractivecredit.com


March 17, 2010

5 Steps to Establish Good Credit History
Filed under: Building Credit — Tags: Building Credit, establishing credit, good credit, good credit history — admin @ 1:41 pm

5 Steps to Establish Good Credit History

Good credit is important in so many aspects of your life. Though you can get by without having a good credit history, it will be an unnecessary hassle. Work on building a good credit history so that you have good credit when you need it.

Get credit. To build a good credit history, the first thing you need to do is get credit. Your credit score, the numeric snapshot of your credit history, can’t be calculated if you don’t have at least one account that’s at least six months old. So, get a credit card or a loan to help you start building a credit history.

Use credit. Just having credit isn’t enough to build a good credit history. You actually have to use credit (responsibly) to show start creating a positive credit history. When you use credit, especially credit cards, you should never charge more than you can afford to pay back. Credit isn’t a substitute for cash and shouldn’t be used as one.

Pay your bills on time. Once you get a credit account, it’s important that you pay it on time. The most important part of your credit history is how well you’ve paid your bills. So, make sure you pay your credit card and loan bills on time every month.

Building a good credit history isn’t just about paying credit card and loans; it requires you to pay all your bills on time. If you fall behind on other bills, like utility or cell phone bills, it could end up on your credit report as a debt collection. These collection accounts hurt your progress with building a good credit history.

Keep your balances low. The second most important part of a good credit history is the amount of debt you have. Your credit history is better when you only use a portion of the credit available to you. So, when you make purchases on your credit card, only use about 10% to 30% of your credit limit. Paying down loan balances quickly also helps build your credit score since it shows that you’re reducing the amount of money you owe.

Hold back on new applications. Avoid taking on too much credit at once. The more credit applications you make, the harder your credit score gets hit. That’s because recent applications for credit account for 10% of your credit score. You should also limit your credit and loan applications to avoid taking on more debt than you can afford. Starting out with just one or two credit cards or loans is ideal.

A good credit history takes time to build. You can’t rush a good credit score. Instead, you have to take it one step at a time making the best credit decisions along the way.