Why Maintaining Your Credit is Harder than Improving It

[Y]ou get the notice in the mail that says your 30 days past due on a credit card. You can’t believe you forgot to make the last payment, and you know it dinged your credit. You had the money; you just got busy with summer vacation or the kids’ soccer games and forgot to make the payment.
You wo...
Why Maintaining Your Credit is Harder than Improving It

What is the Most Important Thing to Know About Your Credit?

You will read a lot of information about credit history, credit scores and credit reports if you are working on improving your credit. Some of this information will be accurate while some will be incorrect. It can all get overwhelming and confusing. It may be easier to narrow it down to the most...
What is the Most Important Thing to Know About Your Credit?

Paying Old Debts to Improve Your Credit Score

There is a lot of contradictory information available about whether you should pay an old debt, especially old credit cards or charge accounts. The final decision is up to you, but you should be aware of a few facts before you decide.
Paying Won’t Change Anything
On your credit score, that...
Paying Old Debts to Improve Your Credit Score

Why You Shouldn"t Apply for Too Many Credit Cards at One Time

It can be tempting to apply for multiple credit cards for many reasons. You never know which ones will approve you and many carry rewards that you would really enjoy. Perhaps you would like a travel rewards card, one with cash back and another that offers low interest rates. However, you should...
Why You Shouldn"t Apply for Too Many Credit Cards at One Time

How to Improve Your Credit with a Secured Credit Card

If you have had major credit problems in the recent past, you may have trouble qualifying for a traditional credit card. Even though having a credit card and using it responsibly is one of the best ways to improve your credit score, it can be tough to qualify with a bad record. Instead, you may...
How to Improve Your Credit with a Secured Credit Card

Why Your Credit Score Isn"t Improving

It is a frustrating feeling to be working diligently to improve your bad credit only to see that your score stays the same, only moves up one or two points in as many months, or even worse – actually drops by those same one or two points. When you are trying to do everything right and it seems n...
Why Your Credit Score Isn"t Improving

Why Credit Scores are On the Rise

According to public data, the average credit score has gone up a few points from the low point of the recession. FICO scores for 2008 were at 686 and in 2013, they went up to 690. That is only a four-point increase, but it is significant.
Positive Indications
Any increase shows that the average...
Why Credit Scores are On the Rise

Special Credit Scores that Impact Your Life

You know that credit scores are used to predict your likelihood of repaying a loan or paying off any credit obligations such as a credit card. Did you know that there are other types of scores that use nontraditional information to make certain determinations?
These are secret scores that may...
Special Credit Scores that Impact Your Life

Pay Off Debt Fast and Raise Your Credit Score

It sounds like an intriguing promise, especially compared to what advice you often receive about how to pay off debts. But is it really possible to pay off debt quickly when you don’t have a lot of money left over from your paycheck?
Traditional Advice
The advice you’ve heard for years is to fin...
Pay Off Debt Fast and Raise Your Credit Score

Preparing for a Credit Check

You want to buy a car or your first home. You already know that the lender is going to check your credit. How do you prepare for that situation before it happens?
Get a Free Copy of Your Credit Report
The first thing to do is to get a free copy of your credit report. You want to know what it...
Preparing for a Credit Check

Does More Credit Cards Mean a Better Credit Score?

One of the things you hear a lot when you are trying to establish or rebuild credit is to get a credit card. It may not make an immediate impact on your credit score, but it will help over time if you make your payments before the due date.
If One is Good, Two Must be Better
You may be thinking...
Does More Credit Cards Mean a Better Credit Score?

4 Ways to Get More Money to Pay Off Debt and Raise Your Credit Score

Other than paying your bills on time, the one thing you can do to raise your credit score the most is pay down your debt. This is especially true of credit card debt since it is revolving debt and credit utilization plays such a big role in your score.
Most people don’t have a lot of extra m...
4 Ways to Get More Money to Pay Off Debt and Raise Your Credit Score

Three Choices for Dealing with Credit Scores

Credit scores can be confusing. So much information is included on a credit report along with codes that it can seem overwhelming. People who have had low credit scores often resort to one of three ways of dealing with them when they don’t understand the reason behind the numbers.
Method #1 – Ig...
Three Choices for Dealing with Credit Scores

Credit Score Interpretation: Understanding Why It Takes 7 Years to Get Bad Stuff Removed

Most negative information can stay on your credit report for seven years. Have you ever wondered why the magic number is seven and if there is any way around it?
Congress instituted the time for negative data to remain on credit reports back when the Fair Credit Reporting Act was put in place....
Credit Score Interpretation: Understanding Why It Takes 7 Years to Get Bad Stuff Removed

Can You Hack Your Credit Score?

Are you looking for a fast and easy way to increase your credit score? Maybe you found your dream house but can’t qualify for a mortgage with your current credit score. Maybe you want to get a credit card but have been turned down repeatedly. Whatever the reason, you are hoping to find a way to h...
Can You Hack Your Credit Score?

Credit Score Tracking: Is It a Good Idea?

You may have heard about sites like Credit Karma, Credit Sesame and Quizzle that track your credit scores. Many of them offer free monthly scores while others provide them quarterly. Still other sites charge a monthly fee that can range from just a few dollars to $20 or even $30 a month to track...
Credit Score Tracking: Is It a Good Idea?

Does Where You Shop Matter for Credit Score Tracking?

You may wonder if your favorite store is good or bad for your credit score. Or maybe you shop at a lot of stores and you worry that it might not look good for your credit. The truth is that it doesn’t matter where you shop as long as you pay your credit card bills.
You see all of the i...
Does Where You Shop Matter for Credit Score Tracking?

Could Congress Help You Get a Better Credit Score?

Have you ever lamented over past mistakes that just won’t go away? You made poor decisions in the past or an unfortunate situation happened and you are paying for it years later. Legislation that is being proposed to Congress may change things for people with lower credit scores.
In this l...
Could Congress Help You Get a Better Credit Score?

Best Apps to Help You Manage Your Credit Score

You have a busy schedule with numerous obligations. As much as you might like to, you don’t have a lot of time to spend managing your credit. However, it is essential that you monitor it if you are planning to buy a car or home in the next few months. Apps that you can download on your...
Best Apps to Help You Manage Your Credit Score

Why You Should Know What Won"t Improve Your Credit Score

Credit scores are confusing. It seems that everything you do in some way affects your credit score. However, while this may feel like the case, in reality not everything about you impacts your score. Even if it is reported on your credit account, it won’t change your score. Let’s...
Why You Should Know What Won"t Improve Your Credit Score