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Saturday, August 30, 2008
Don't close those old credit card accounts!
Here's a quick tip that some of you might not be aware of!
Alot of consumers are under the impression or feel like once they pay off a balance it is best to just close that card.
This is especially true of department store cards (like Macy's, Target, etc.) where it's so easy to rack up the debt.
Once it's paid, you decide you don't want the temptation so you close the card out.
You should congratulate
yourself for paying the card off, but closing the account actually negates the positive impact of lowering your debt burden.
A good chunk of your credit score is calculated by the amount of "available credit". The more available credit
you have the better you're score. This is why asking for a credit increase on an existing card can have a positive
impact on your credit score immediately.
Lenders like to see that you've used your credit wisely, have made
purchases and then paid down your credit on at timely basis. Keeping those cards open will do nothing but HELP your
score.
Length of credit is also a big part of your score. So, if you opened up that Macy's card
in 1999 and you close it, you've just lost a big chunk of your credit history and that could cause your score to fall.
Keep those cards open even if you aren't using them!
If the temptation is too great to use them,
simply stash them somewhere (like the freezer!) where they won't be available to you next time you find something that's
irresistable at the mall. :-)
30 aug 08 @ 2:05 pm
Thursday, August 28, 2008
You can't improve it, if you don't know what it is!
Before you can work on improving your credit, you
need to know where you stand! Looking at those numbers and researching your credit report is the first step.
Did you know that 7 out of 10 credit reports contain errors?
Order your report and credit scores today
from Fair Issac, the score that ALL lenders use.
Monday, August 25, 2008
FICO vs. FAKO
Did you know that the credit score you receive from many companies
offering credit scores and credit reports are NOT YOUR ACTUAL SCORE?
You can purchase your credit score individually
through the credit bureau's and they would be accurate. (Unless you're talking about Experian's Vantage
Score, but we won't go there!) However, there are many credit monitoring services out there, even Costco offers
it!
However, unless you purchase your score directly from the credit reporting agency (Experian, Equifax,
or Transunion) or from Fair Issac (my FICO.com) then the score is not accurate, just an estimation of what your FICO might
be.
Lenders only use the Fair Issac scoring model. I think it's quite unfair, but no one knows exactly
how your FICO score is calculated, the algorithms and scoring models are kept secret. These other companies "guess"
at your score and sometimes they come close or they can be 100 points or more off.
If you are going to work on
improving your credit, don't mess around with a potentially inaccurate score and report. Get your score directly
through Fair Issac where you'll see what the lenders see.
Remember, the higher your FICO score, the lower your
payments.
Go to http://www.myfico.com/ to purchase your credit score and report today. They have many different affordable
options available.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Little Known Trick to Immediately Improve Your Credit Score!
How would you like to increase your credit score by 20 or more points nearly immediately?
I recently have been looking into auto loans and discovered that I was only ten points away from locking in a
WAY better interest rate, which meant lower payments!
My spouse and I have worked hard to clean up our credit
(see my Ebook for more awesome tips & tricks!) and I felt frustrated because we had no collections on our account and
all of our payments have been made on time, yet we still were not in the elusive "golden" range of credit scores
to obtain the best possible interest rate. We were close, but no cigar.
So...I began making inquiries to
find out how I could quickly increase my score. I figured there had to be a way...and THERE IS!
Here's
the trick:
Call each credit card company that you have active accounts with and ask for a credit line increase!
It's genius really. If you've been paying on time, most cards will review your history and ARE GLAD
to offer a credit line increase. This immediatley increases your debt:income ratio and thus has a HUGE impact on your
credit score.
Honestly, this took me about half an hour and within 48 hours my score increased over 30 points AND
saved me a TON in interest on my auto loan.
If you pay your credit card bill online, they often have a feature
included where you can request an increase online, I know that Bank of America cards have this feature and it couldn't
be easier.
Hope this helps someone out!
-Jay
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