Knowledge sharing time...
Well today was interesting, I was assigned in my group for a group project. It was introductions day, and well, I met Nadine. Ahah, she's going to make some guy very happy some day. It's very rare to see a person who can cook, sew, and make their own clothes anymore. Ahaha, which is why I learned how to clean etc, someone has to do it nowadays. Anywho, when you start thinking about marriage, the future looks really bleak. I mean it's not really something sacred anymore. I mean the fastest growing lifestyle is America is single and never married.
The numbers are staggering when you look at it. Over half of the people that get married divorce shortly. That's 50%! Everyone goes into marriage thinking that it isn't going to be them, but sometime down the line, they might have to for different reasons. Okay, now that half is gone, the other half that is left and still married, out of those that are left, over 80% of those people will have to deal with infidelity throught the marriage. 80% is a huge number. And about 10% are married out of convience, whether it be same income level, living together, or whatever. Then another 6% are married because they had kids, and even though they fight all the time, they remain together for the kids. Now with what's left, are the people who are truly happy and want nothing other than to the with the soul other person. Think about it...numbers can be found at the government site for domestic affairs.
So when you know something, you have to teach people, so the topic for today is how to build up great credit.
CREDIT BUILDING 101:
Everyone I know out there is about my age, the age ready to settle down and make some big purchases, like buying a car or a new house. But is your credit good enough? How much will you have to pay? How good is your credit? The last time I got my FICO score, my score was 770. Not great, but better than average. Of course I'm still working on it, and will have it really good when I am ready to make those big purchases. I had to do a high school project a long time ago, and I emailed Mark who works at Experian, one of the big three credit reporting agencies, and got information on him, and I still keep in touch with him. I mean it makes a difference when you get an 8% home interest home for 30 years, and I get a 4% interest. You're going to almost end up paying 3 times more than I did. It is that important! Bad dings on your credit stay up to a minimum of 7 years and as long as 10 years. So it's wise to start working on credit now.
Credit cards:
Having credit cards good? The answer is yes, when it is used wisely.
1) Never have a balance equal to more than 50% of your limit. Once you start going over 50% of your limit, you're considered a high risk person. What happens? Your interest rates take a hike. So, if you miss a late payment, or have to pay late fees, guess what happens? If you have other credit cards, you can find that those cards will raise their interest rates too, even though you paid their payments on time. The credit card that you missed a payment report on will release that information to the credit agencies which in turn report that to your creditors every month. So don't miss a single payment, or go over 50% of your limit.
2) Keep a small balance on your card. Because most creditors report to the credit agencies in the middle of the month, before they send out your statement. If you have a zero balance, then it seems as if you're not using your available credit. However, if you have a rapidly small and changing balance every month, they can differ that you are using your credit and that you are responsibly paying it off.
3) Don't close credit card accounts or transfer balances. Why? Simple. Say you have 2 credit card accounts and both have a limit of $1500. On one card you have an $750 limit and on the other you have no limit. If you decide to close the other one then you just slashed your available credit by half. On top of it, now you have just one account, which is on the verge of being a high risk account. NOT GOOD. Same thing with transfering balances. All you're doing is raising the debt off of one card, on top of that, when you make the payments, they don't go toward the balance you transferred, they go towards whatever balance is on that card first, then your transferred balance, all in the meantime your transferred balance will aquire interest. So if you have $500 on a card, and transferred $400 to it, then your payments will be put towards the $500 and it's interest until it's paid off, before any is applied to the transferred balance.
4) Credit reports require revolving accounts, and you can't have a revolving account if you don't have a history. So if you keep closing accounts, how can you have a history.
5) Best way to rebuild credit? Department stores. Someone told the me the best way to play it is, to buy something small. Pay half the first month. Then pay it off the following. Then buy something, and when the bill comes, pay it all off. After that, your credit should be good enough to get a credit card. He said get it, and repeat that process. And after that, keep a small revolving balance on the card. Use the card for things you need like gas, or food. Keeping a small balance and paying it every month does two things. It'll raise your credit limit fast, some creditors raise credit limits as fast as every 4 months, some 6.
The numbers are staggering when you look at it. Over half of the people that get married divorce shortly. That's 50%! Everyone goes into marriage thinking that it isn't going to be them, but sometime down the line, they might have to for different reasons. Okay, now that half is gone, the other half that is left and still married, out of those that are left, over 80% of those people will have to deal with infidelity throught the marriage. 80% is a huge number. And about 10% are married out of convience, whether it be same income level, living together, or whatever. Then another 6% are married because they had kids, and even though they fight all the time, they remain together for the kids. Now with what's left, are the people who are truly happy and want nothing other than to the with the soul other person. Think about it...numbers can be found at the government site for domestic affairs.
So when you know something, you have to teach people, so the topic for today is how to build up great credit.
CREDIT BUILDING 101:
Everyone I know out there is about my age, the age ready to settle down and make some big purchases, like buying a car or a new house. But is your credit good enough? How much will you have to pay? How good is your credit? The last time I got my FICO score, my score was 770. Not great, but better than average. Of course I'm still working on it, and will have it really good when I am ready to make those big purchases. I had to do a high school project a long time ago, and I emailed Mark who works at Experian, one of the big three credit reporting agencies, and got information on him, and I still keep in touch with him. I mean it makes a difference when you get an 8% home interest home for 30 years, and I get a 4% interest. You're going to almost end up paying 3 times more than I did. It is that important! Bad dings on your credit stay up to a minimum of 7 years and as long as 10 years. So it's wise to start working on credit now.
Credit cards:
Having credit cards good? The answer is yes, when it is used wisely.
1) Never have a balance equal to more than 50% of your limit. Once you start going over 50% of your limit, you're considered a high risk person. What happens? Your interest rates take a hike. So, if you miss a late payment, or have to pay late fees, guess what happens? If you have other credit cards, you can find that those cards will raise their interest rates too, even though you paid their payments on time. The credit card that you missed a payment report on will release that information to the credit agencies which in turn report that to your creditors every month. So don't miss a single payment, or go over 50% of your limit.
2) Keep a small balance on your card. Because most creditors report to the credit agencies in the middle of the month, before they send out your statement. If you have a zero balance, then it seems as if you're not using your available credit. However, if you have a rapidly small and changing balance every month, they can differ that you are using your credit and that you are responsibly paying it off.
3) Don't close credit card accounts or transfer balances. Why? Simple. Say you have 2 credit card accounts and both have a limit of $1500. On one card you have an $750 limit and on the other you have no limit. If you decide to close the other one then you just slashed your available credit by half. On top of it, now you have just one account, which is on the verge of being a high risk account. NOT GOOD. Same thing with transfering balances. All you're doing is raising the debt off of one card, on top of that, when you make the payments, they don't go toward the balance you transferred, they go towards whatever balance is on that card first, then your transferred balance, all in the meantime your transferred balance will aquire interest. So if you have $500 on a card, and transferred $400 to it, then your payments will be put towards the $500 and it's interest until it's paid off, before any is applied to the transferred balance.
4) Credit reports require revolving accounts, and you can't have a revolving account if you don't have a history. So if you keep closing accounts, how can you have a history.
5) Best way to rebuild credit? Department stores. Someone told the me the best way to play it is, to buy something small. Pay half the first month. Then pay it off the following. Then buy something, and when the bill comes, pay it all off. After that, your credit should be good enough to get a credit card. He said get it, and repeat that process. And after that, keep a small revolving balance on the card. Use the card for things you need like gas, or food. Keeping a small balance and paying it every month does two things. It'll raise your credit limit fast, some creditors raise credit limits as fast as every 4 months, some 6.