Everyone knows that having good credit is a wonderful thing to have, especially in this day and time, and everyone also knows that having the black marks of bad credit against you will give you a lot of needless headaches and worry. So why is it such a bad thing when an individual does not have any credit at all? It seems like having no credit would be a good thing, especially since it isn’t like you have any bad credit on your credit report…right? … Wrong!

Have you come to the point in your life where you are comfortable with your lifestyle, and you feel like you have plenty of extra money coming in each month that you think you should be able to afford a new car payment? Or, perhaps you are thinking about buying that new dream home for your family that you have dreamed about being able to buy for so many years. Then, all of the sudden you come to find out, that there is something that is standing in the way of being able to do either of these things.

Having no credit at all is normally just as frustrating as having bad credit can be. The reason for this is, a bank or a lending institution, a credit card company, automobile dealership, mortgage company, or any other type of business that you are trying to borrow money from will want to be able to see a past credit history of some type. If these companies are able to see a good credit history on your credit report, then they are able to use your credit information to determine the bill paying practices that you have kept, and are keeping.

If you have bad credit, they can look at your credit report and determine what has caused your credit to be bad. Sometimes a person might have had a good credit history, then all of the sudden, an unexpected accident of some sort might have occurred. If lenders are able to see that you had good bill paying practices up until this point, then sometimes your loan can get approved under these circumstances.

If you have no credit at all, there is absolutely no way that any type of lending institution or company will have any type of information that they can base a determination on previous bill paying practices. It is important for them to be able to determine what level of risk a client will, or will not be.

The way various companies can determine someone’s past credit history and bill-paying practices is by looking at your FICO score. The FICO score is simply a means of being able to condense the credit information that is supplied on the credit report into a more easily understood three-digit number. These numbers can range anywhere between the numbers of 300 and 850. A score that is above 750 is considered to be excellent, and a score that is less than 620 is considered to be risky.

There are several different factors that are used in the formula to calculate a persons FICO score.
• 35% – determined by your past payment history
• 30% – determined by the current amount of money you still owe lenders
• 15% – determined by how long your credit history is
• 10% – determined by the amount of credit accounts that are new, that you have either opened, or applied for
• 10% – determined by a mix of the credit accounts that you currently have, such as credit cards, mortgages, etc.

To ensure that you are able to enjoy the benefits from having good credit, instead of having no credit at all, pay careful attention to the management of your finances and your bill paying practices.

Many people are not even aware that there are numerous different computer software programs that are made specifically for helping them to manage their finances. These can be very useful, and they can save a considerable amount of time that is normally spent on this grueling task.

When you take advantage of some of the many different programs that are available, you will be able to say goodbye to the endless boxes that are filled with receipts that you have saved, stack after stack of endless bills that have yet to be paid, your calculator, pencils, and scratch paper that is filled with calculations you have to be sure and remember.

Personal finances software can be very beneficial in keeping your complicated records in order, such as with various bills that you have, all of your different bank account records, investments that you have made, various funds that you have received through the month, and various funds that you have paid out throughout the month. Personal finance software can be very useful in keeping each of these better organized for you.

Many of these programs will also allow you to separate different areas of your finances into specific categories. They can track investments that you have made, and separate your savings accounts from your checking accounts at the same time for you.

Instead of having to sit for countless hours at the kitchen table, as you go through your bank ledger and adding transactions, or as you figure your bank statement, wouldn’t it be a whole lot easier to simply input each transaction or deposit that you have made into the program. As long as you do not forget to add in each deposit, along with all of the expenditures you have made, your checkbook will automatically be balanced for you. That alone will save you a tremendous amount of valuable time that you could be spending doing other more enjoyable things, like being with your family.

Creating a budget is another beneficial and very important part of managing your finances wisely. There are several of the personal finance software programs that you can purchase that will also create a budget for you. The software uses the information that you key in to the program, to compute a budget. This is an invaluable advantage that every individual could benefit a great deal from.

In order to better have an idea of exactly where all of your money is going, and how much of it you can save, you should take advantage of one of the many useful software programs that are on the market today. They can certainly make managing your finances a whole lot simpler, and they can save you a tremendous amount of time.

One of the most important things you should do in managing your finances would be to set realistic goals. These goals can include such items as saving up for that long awaited dream vacation you have always wanted to take your family on. Some other goals you might choose could possibly be for your child’s education, the purchase of a new automobile, saving money to make additions to your existing home, or even to save money for the down payment on a new and larger home. Making sure you keep your goals as something that can be realistically done will ensure that you don’t set yourself up for disappointment and failure of being able to meet goals.

A very beneficial way to help with the management of your finances is to take advantage of the many available tools there are today that can be very beneficial in managing your money well. Some of the software that is available today such as Microsoft Money, Quicken, and Excel, can be very helpful tool to help you be able to create a good budget that you can use throughout the week, or month. These programs are very beneficial in helping individuals be able to keep up with expenses they have. If the particular bank that you use offers online banking, this can be another useful tool that you might choose to use. Using this tool will allow you the advantage of being able to check your account frequently, and always be able to know the status of your account.

Take the extra time to sit down and create a budget for your family for each week, or even monthly. If you would like to be able to manage your finances well, this is one step that you cannot forget about doing. If you will create a well-planned budget for all of your expenses, then make sure that you stick to your budget, it can be very important to successful financial management.

If you have decided that you would like to benefit from the advantages to be had in managing your finances wisely, you will be able to find many useful websites that are available online to help you. Many of these websites will include very useful tips and ideas on ways that you can better manage your money, and have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that you are on top of the game when it comes to your finances.

Before you begin, it is important to realize how important it will be in the long run to make it a point to always pay your bills on time, and protect any type of credit you receive, no matter how small it may seem. After all, your credit line will end up following you around for the rest of your life. It can either be something that is extremely helpful to you, or it can be something that can end up causing you a lot of nightmares.

Almost everyone in today’s time either has, or plans to have cable or satellite T.V. Or, what about a telephone, or other utility? These are small things that you will more than likely want at some point in your lifetime. The bonus to having them is most of these companies report to credit bureaus. The important thing to remember is you need to climb the ladder of building good credit one-step at a time.

You could also consider obtaining a department store credit card. They generally start you out with just a small line of credit, but even this can be extremely beneficial when you are trying to build your credit history.

Students have an advantage to the credit building process. MasterCard, Visa, and American Express offer help to students who are trying to build their credit history with a low interest student credit card. Another major benefit is many times college students are offered special promotions when obtaining their student credit card.

If you have a savings account, you could consider opening a secured credit card. Approval on these cards are based on the amount of money you have in your savings account, which ensures the lending institution is protected in case you default on paying off your credit card in the amount of time agreed upon.

If you don’t already have a checking or savings account open in your name, doing so could help your chances in lending institutions seeing that you have some financial credibility.

There is also what is called a ‘no credit history’ credit card that you might consider applying for. These cards are generally unsecured cards that do not require security from a savings account. If you are unable to open the card in your name alone, some individuals use a co-signer such as a family member to help them obtain an unsecured credit card.

Building a good solid line of credit history can be frustrating to say the least. If you will stay consistent and determined, it will happen. It will also prove to be a huge advantage to you, when you stay diligent in your efforts.

One of the most important steps you should consider before you even fill out an application to receive a business credit card would be to carefully compare the interest rates and the fees that each individual card company will be applying to the card. Depending on which company you decide to choose, some of these figures can differ a great deal. With the help of the World Wide Web, this very important step has been made a whole lot easier than it was in times past. It is now made easy by simply going online and searching through the various credit card companies that are available and doing research on each of these. You can easily compare each of their rates and fees they will be applying. This will give you the advantage of making a more informed decision. The ability of being able to do research on various companies at your leisure, while in the comfort of your own home or office can be extremely beneficial. Many of the sites you visit will have information answering any question you may have regarding the business credit card they offer.

Normally the rates on a business credit card can be found to be considerably lower than those of a personal credit card. You will notice this difference because the many of the credit card companies know that when a business is for some reason unable to make their business credit card payments, the credit card company then has the ability to seize that company’s assets to cover the unpaid debt.

Obtaining a business credit card can be very beneficial to any business. One important factor is they can be very helpful in obtaining a credit history for your particular business. Most credit card companies do report to credit agencies, but it would be to your advantage to make sure of this when you are applying for your card.

You will also need to decide on which type of business credit card you would like to get. You can choose from a range of different terms and conditions, and you can also choose from either a secured card, or an unsecured card. Also, many of these cards will be offered without having any type of early repayment penalties, and some will have an early repayment penalty.

With so many business credit cards being offered today with different terms and conditions, you will want to find out all of this important information before making your final choice on which card will best suit you and your company.

The majority of credit bureau scores in the United States are produced by Fair Isaac and Company, or FICO®. The three major credit reporting agencies, or bureaus, are TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. They all provide FICO® Scores to lenders, and they all three use a slightly different formula to make their determination on what score will be given for your credit rating. All three could have identical information and the scoring system would be different.

However, most of the time they do not always end up having the same information in being able to determine your credit score. This is simply because not all businesses such as credit card companies, auto lenders, home mortgage companies, and various others will use the same agency to report any type of activity on your account.

There are specific factors that will influence the overall credit score. Issues such as your personal payment history on your accounts, any outstanding debts that you may have, the amount of credit you have versus what you have available, how long you have had each line of credit and very importantly, any derogatory or negative information that may be on your accounts. The frequency of late payments, any charge-offs or collections and a big factor is bankruptcies or credit repair companies you may have used.

There are also other factors that are weighed in determining your credit risk that do not have anything to do with your credit or any open accounts at all. Those factors are issues such as how long have you lived in your current home, how often do you move, or the length of time you have been at your job. It is never a good idea to change jobs right before applying for any type of credit, but especially so if it is a home or automobile loan. Lenders like stability.

Following a few simple steps can optimize your credit rating: be sure to always pay your bills on time or even before they are due, try to always ensure that you use 30% or less of the credit that is available to you, take the necessary precautions to always ensure that your good name is protected from the chances of identity theft. Protect your credit rating.

Every parent has the ability of deciding if each child is responsible enough to have a credit card at a young age. The top reasons from parents that get their children a credit card with their child’s name on it is for emergencies, so children can go shopping, keep track of where they spend their allowances, and purchase items when they are out with friends.

Before you consider getting your child a credit card, you need to decide whether you think your child is of a responsible age and mature enough for this huge responsibility.
Getting your teenager a credit card is not a bad idea if you want to start teaching them about financial responsibilities. With that in mind, it would be wise to sit down with your minor and discuss the purpose of the credit card, set limits, and discuss how the monthly payments will be made in a timely manner. Your teenager needs to be aware that if they go out and spend past the credit limit, nothing else should be purchased or they will have additional over the credit limit fees applied to the monthly statement.
There is another alternative, rather than giving a credit card to your children to teach them about financial responsibilities. Instead of an interest-bearing credit card, you can get them a debit card.
Take you teenager down to the local bank and set them up a checking account with a debit card. This will teach them responsible spending as they earn their money, rather than spending, and paying for it later with interest. Parents have the benefit of being able to “direct deposit” their teenager’s allowance into their account so they have access to it.
If you have a younger child, a “Charge Card” would be the best kind of plastic for them. The payments on a charge card must be made in full every month, so that will teach your child that in order to be able to use the card they have to do their daily chores. They do not carry a balance from month to month with a charge card.

If you and your child decide to get a plastic card of any type, whether it is just the debit card, you need to make sure you read all the rules to every account with the companies. Some companies will restrict cards to minimum age groups; while other credit card companies will allow anyone that the co-signer allows, to have a secondary card. Debit cards are probably your best option for teaching your children financial responsibilities.

Once you get the card with your child’s name on it, don’t take it for granted that your child knows the financial responsibilities. Sit down and teach them the basics. Let them know it is very important not to lend their cards to anyone, not even their best friend. Once the monthly statement comes in, review it with your teen and explain what everything is. Compare the receipts against the charges. If you have chosen a credit card for your child, show them it is better to pay more than just the minimum payment. Not only do you want to show them how to use it, but also how it can affect their credit scores and how it will affect their life when they become adults.

Taking a few, easy, security precautions, you can significantly reduce your chances of becoming the next victim. Think about how you handle your junk mail. Many people do not consider it to be anything more than just that – junk – and quickly toss it into the trash. However, if that particular piece of mail is offering you any form of credit, throwing it into the trash is like handing a thief an open invitation. Some people feel comfortable simply tearing it in half before throwing it away. To reduce the risk of someone stealing the information and fraudulently obtaining credit in your name, shred the mail instead. It only takes a moment.

Never, never, ever throw away bank statements, credit card statements, medical statements of any other financial document into the trash without first shredding it. Shredders can be purchased for as little as $20.00, and should be your first defense against possible identity theft. Cross paper shredders run a little higher, but offer a higher degree of security. The difference between a regular shredder and cross shredding is the size and shape of the paper particles left in the shredding bin. The smaller the pieces, the less likely they are to be put back together. The idea after all is to make life difficult for a potential thief.

Another critical component to keeping your identity yours, is to turn your computer off when it is not in use. Some people leave their computers on all the time. From a security stand point that equates to leaving your house unlocked with all of your valuables plainly visible to every passer-by. This is especially true if you have wireless or cable internet, pay your bills on line or keep personal or business account numbers listed on your computer.

Many people pay their bills via the internet. The programs available for tracking home and business expenses make it much easier to keep up with budgeting and such. However, leaving this information unsecured is akin to posting it on the local bulletin board. No one would do such a thing, it is simply too dangerous. If you chose to pay bills online, simply ensure you have proper firewalls; intrusion alerts and use only secured internet sites for doing any online accounting or banking. It is never a good idea to leave account numbers or access codes on any computer.

In addition to shredding documents and basic internet safety the one thing that is probably the most important of all, is to keep track of your credit history. There are multiple companies that, for a small fee, will track your credit for you and notify you if there are any changes. Those changes include anyone, including yourself, applying for any type of credit in your name, or accessing your social security number for any reason.

Many of these types of services are available through your credit card companies. Read the fine print. See what is available and which services will best suit your needs.

Your good to excellent credit rating makes you a target. Taking these few simple steps to protect it could very well be the wisest investment you ever make.

Not long ago, an acquaintance decided she wanted to purchase a home. She believed she would be easily approved because she had no debts other than the normal monthly utility bills, car insurance, and her cell phone. Her income and employment were solid. She had saved diligently for years in order to have a substantial down payment to purchase a home. She had plenty of assets, including a newer vehicle that was paid for, all of her antique furniture; a 401k she regularly contributed to and she owned several stocks, which were doing well. It appeared on the surface, she was a mortgage lenders dream.

In reality, she was a mortgage lenders nightmare. Because she had absolutely no debt, she also had no credit rating. Everything she owned, she paid for with cash or check. She had not developed a history of credit. She was what is termed, a credit ghost. From a creditors standpoint, she did not exist.

Because she had no credit history, one had to be created and established for her. Letters had to be obtained from each of her utility, cell phone, and insurance providers, as well as her landlord showing a full two-year history without any late payments. The lender required three open lines of credit in good standing. She did not want any lines of open credit, however after serious negotiations they agreed on one.

The one requirement non-negotiable by the lender, it had to be an unsecured, revolving line of credit, preferably a credit card. The credit card or credit line had to be maintained for a minimum of six months prior to the lender approving her home loan.

Although she was eventually approved for her home loan, it was a far more complicated process because she had no credit. Speaking to several mortgage lenders during the long process, she learned that it would have been easier for her to obtain the loan had she had bad credit than with no credit. As absurd as that sounds, apparently when one leaves no credit marks whatsoever, there is almost no way to track their habits or patterns. At least with bad credit, the lender can visually see where a persons strengths and weaknesses are. Usually bad credit is a result of an unexpected illness, job change or divorce. The blemishes can be explained away, by looking at the rest of the history prior to when the unexpected situation occurred.

A situation where there is no credit, because a person chooses to pay all of their bills upon receipt does not leave a history for the lenders to look at.

Multiple mortgage lenders recommend there be a minimum of three open credit lines. They should be revolving, preferably unsecured and maintained for at least six to twelve months prior to applying for a home loan. Of course, each person should discuss their own personal credit situation with their banker, accountant or tax expert before making any decisions about how to change or improve his/her private credit rating.

Whether you are wanting to purchase an automobile, a home for you and your family, furniture for your home, items for a business you just opened, or anything else in between, your credit score can either be something that will be helpful or it can be something that can be harmful to you in being able to achieve these important goals. Having bad credit can even stop you from being able to get approved for a credit card, as well as opening up a checking account.

We can try to ignore our credit and pretend it isn’t there, but the fact remains, it is something that will hang over each of us for our entire life.

Wouldn’t it be much more simple to put the effort forth in keeping our credit free from black marks and bad ratings? The first step in doing this would be to make sure you do not commit to any obligations or contracts that you aren’t able to handle making the payments for. You should never overextend your line of credit. This means you should never have more money going out, than you have coming in.

This can sound simpler than it actually is. More often than not, people will only commit to certain obligations that they know they are able to handle financially, then out of nowhere an unexpected sickness or tragedy will occur. Before they even realize what is happening, they find themselves overextended financially, and then they are unable to pay some of their bills, or make payments that they’re obligated under.

It is best to always try to plan ahead as much as possible, and leave room for those unexpected events that seem to always sneak up on us when we least expect it.

Your financial trail will follow you around everywhere you go in life. Always taking care to be sure and manage it wisely is something you will benefit from for a long time to come. It will also be well worth the time and effort to always stick to good planning and good budgeting.

There are many different cards that offer this reward program. Some offer cash back for a certain amount that you purchase. There are others that offer programs that send your change from the total purchase amount into a savings account. These kinds of cards usually have participating partners where you can receive discounts on purchases made at these stores or retailers.

Cash back offers are usually a percentage of the total purchase amount. These offers are great especially people who use their card for every day purchases like gas or at supermarkets. The normal percentage rate is any where from around 1-5% of the purchase amount. Many of these cards do not have annual card fees. They also bigger reward on the first purchase that you make on the card. This is so that you will be more willing to make purchases later on. Credit card companies know how appealing easy money is to people. These cards offer many different kinds of rewards as well. Many cards allow you to save points in order to get free air flight, though in most cases this take a lot of spending to reach this point to receive the rewards.

The cash back rewards was set up to get more of their customers to put purchases on the cards. This is so that the credit card companies would receive interest on the purchase. Thought in most cases the card owner does not pay in full for those who do this is a great offer. You can not beat being paid for making a purchase of some thing that you needed. For example, every one needs gas so why not offer a discount or reward for the purchase of this particular necessity. Walmart offers a reward of three cents off any gas purchased with their credit card or a Walmart gift card. This is just one example of how these cash back cards can work. They can benefit the card owner as well as the credit card companies. Research the best card that will benefit you the most for the kind of purchases that you make the most often.

If you’re already struggling with credit card debt, the first thing you can do is to minimize its usage. Continue to reduce the amount you put on the card until you are able to discard it entirely. One way to wean you off credit cards is have a budget and stick to it, no matter what. If you are in dire need for a more drastic solution, you can sell your house, rent out your apartment, or sell a vehicle. You may need to liquidate your assets and live with relatives or friends so that you can avoid declaring bankruptcy. A wise relative or a professional financial advisor can also provide some tips.

As soon as you have completely stopped using your credit cards, it’s time to settle your debt. Decide how much you’re willing to pay off every month, then look for ways to increase this amount for the months to follow. It is tempting to settle the card with the lowest unpaid balance, but remember that interest is your worst enemy. The ideal scenario in paying off credit cards is to allot none or very little of your money for interest, because, when you look at the bottom line, these are unnecessary fees anyway. You will be able to settle your credit card debt faster if you don’t have to pay for interest. Prioritize the card with the highest interest rate, and settle that one first. Focus on one card at a time, making consistent minimum payments on the rest of the cards until you don’t have any unpaid balances anymore. If you don’t start paying off the other cards, the interest rate will continue to climb until it becomes much more expensive than the card you’re paying off right now.

Once you have achieved zero balance in one card, destroy and discard it. It is also recommended to throw away all credit cards save for one. The one you keep should be the one you’ve used longest. While lower-interest cards you’ve had for a shorter period of time may seem best to keep, consider your credit history. The credit card you’ve used the longest will give a more accurate view of your credit rating.

One solution that a lot of people have considered is to just transfer unpaid balances to a brand new credit card with no interest rate. This strategy is based on the assumption that interests can be avoided for as long as a person can. However, you are likely to keep opening numerous accounts and closing them again so that you won’t have to pay for the interest. While the plan is sound on surface level, it will reflect on your credit score, causing it to drop. Low credit scores will mean tougher interest rates on other financial transactions, such as applying for a home mortgage. This strategy only offers short-term benefits. Permanent fixes are much more convenient and ideal.

Now is the time to be careful. In the coming weeks and months, you will be inundated with every credit offer known to man. The invitations will bog down your mailbox asking you to apply for this credit card or guaranteeing you acceptance for that credit card (for a low annual fee, and possibly a secured amount of funds in the bank) and then the car dealerships will get to you.

You are wondering why in the heck this is happening. However, more than wondering why, you just may be tempted to immediately start rebuilding your credit by applying for all those wonderful lines of credit that are suddenly open to you.

The old saying “buyer beware” should seriously go into play about now. Read the fine print on every offer. The interest rates are going to be astronomical. Repayment terms will be stiff. Penalties for late payments are going to ask for everything shy of your first-born.

Why is this happening? Well, because since you just cleared a bankruptcy, you have no debt. Your debt to income ratio is zero debt to 100 percent income. You cannot file bankruptcy or ask for court intervention if you get yourself into trouble again for close to a full decade from now. You are no longer a risk. The banks, credit card companies and automobile dealerships have recourse they did not have a few short months ago. Now if you default, it will be far easier for them to attach your wages, bank accounts or any assets you may have held onto during the bankruptcy.

You must be very smart about how you are going to go about rebuilding your credit. Do it slowly. There are a couple of very good credit card companies that will help you rebuild your credit at a slow pace and with minimum of risk for them. Usually that means you will pay a fee for their services and frequently they will start you off with a secured credit card. A secured credit card is one where you put a specific amount of money into a checking or savings account, reserved for this amount of money only (say $200.00 to $400.00). If for whatever reason, you do not make your payment, the company will take the money from the account immediately to pay the full balance due and close your credit card account.

What would be a more prudent course of action, is to give yourself a few months for the offers to stop or at least slow down a bit. Make sure that for a given time, the only bills that you have are your rent (or mortgage), your car (if you still have it), and your utilities. Most cell phone providers report to a credit agency, therefore if you do not have a cell phone, that is a good place to start building credit. Within a year, open three minor, preferably secured lines of credit and do not allow any of them to come close to reaching the full balance. Purchase something minor on the card, pay it off at the end of the month and make sure there is no balance to carry over for the credit card company to charge an interest rate on.

Take time to build your credit slowly – I cannot stress that enough. It took a long time to reach the point of bankruptcy. It will take a while to get the credit cleaned back up. It can be done. Just do not be in such a hurry that you do it the wrong way or unwittingly get yourself in over your head.

That is the point of the credit cards. You spend money you do not have and the credit card companies make money off the interest you pay them. How it works is that they loan you this money just like a bank would, but you pay them almost 20% percent interest on money you do not even have. This is where the problem begins. You place too much money on the card and you never get it paid off because you make the minimum payment and it only pays the total down a few dollars at one time. There is a simple solution for those who do not want this to happen, but want to use their credit cards to receive the benefits. Pay in full every month.

Make money from your credit card by using it more like you would a charge card. You can charge every thing you would normally pay for every month for your bills such as utilities, groceries, and gas. This way you can still get the benefits of cash back or receive the points from purchases made on your credit card. Most credit card companies offer a percentage back on purchases like gas or groceries. You get your cash back, but they do not receive interest from you because you have paid your monthly bill in full.

Placing your money in an account that will accumulate interest while you are waiting for the credit card billing cycle to end will make you money. You will not only make money off the credit card company because of cash back benefits and discount offered from your credit card company, but your money will also receive interest while still in the bank. You will write out only one check out of your account once a month and use the credit card on all other purchases. This allows your cash to stay in your saving account longer and will accumulate more money for you.

Though most people will find themselves in trouble when it comes to credit cards, you can be informed to make the right kind of purchases so you are not really using any credit because you already have the money in an interest receiving account. Make more money from your money instead of losing it to the credit card companies that make millions of dollars a year off of people who make rash purchases.

Citi said that this pilot program offers cash-back rewards, 24-hour access to accounts, additional cards at no cost and introductory annual percentage rate (APR) on purchases or balance transfers for 12 months, depending on the type of credit card selected by individuals with established credit history.

You can read the full article here