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Sunday, November 25, 2007

Why Your Credit Score is Important

Your credit score can either haunt you or reward you. It all depends on how you handle your credit and payment activities. Your credit score determines what interest rates you will pay and if you are even approved for a loan or a credit card at all. In addition, your credit score can play a factor in renting your next apartment or getting hired from a potential employer.

Your credit score is compiled from the information on your credit report. The performance of your credit activity is rated on a numerical scale from 350-850. This number is your credit score. The higher your credit score, the better. Late payments, delinquent accounts and maxed out credit limits are all things that can lower your score. Below is a general guideline to determine what your credit score means in terms of getting approved for a loan or receiving credit and what type of interest rates you can expect to pay.

750-850: Is considered to be an excellent credit score. You can expect approval and should receive a great interest rate.

680-749: Is considered to be a good credit score. Generally you should be approved and given a favorable interest rate.
620-679: Is considered to be a middle of the road score. You will more than likely be approved but you may have to pay a higher interest rate.

550-619: Is considered to be a low credit score. You can find lenders who will approve people with poor credit scores but they will probably charge very high interest rates and fees.

300-549: Is considered to be a very bad score. It will be a challenge to find a lender that will offer you credit at all.

Do you know what your credit score is? Having this information can save you the time and hassle of trying to get approved for loans that you may not even be eligible for. There are many reputable companies like http://www.credit-report-credit-score.com that can provide you with your credit score for free.

If your credit score is lower than you need it to be, there are many ways to get your score up. It will take some time and diligence but it can happen. There are credit repair companies available to help get your credit situation back into shape. But there are also actions you can take on your own to improve your credit score.

First, you have to be sure to make all of your future payments on time. Late payments can be very detrimental to your credit score. Secondly, you should try to stop charging if you have a lot of credit card debt. If you do have a lot of credit card debt, you should try to pay the balances down as much as possible. Do not attempt to obtain new credit and do not fill out excessive amounts of loan applications. New accounts and numerous credit application inquires can be a hazard to your score.

If you currently have a good credit score, then make sure you keep it! If you are beginning to have financial trouble and your monthly payments are becoming a challenge, try at all costs to avoid defaulting on any of your loans, especially your mortgage. Taking out a debt consolidation loan is an option that can help ease your monthly payment obligations and keep you from ruining your credit score.

With all of this said, you can see why your credit score is one very important little number.

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Note: This article may be freely reproduced as long as the authors bio paragraph at the bottom of this article is included, the article is published �as is� (unedited) and all URL's are made active hyperlinks with no syntax changes.
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About the Author
This article was written by Beth Pardue who has over 10 years of experience in the financial industry assisting clients with assorted financial needs. To learn more about credit reports or to get a free credit report online please visit: http://www.credit-report-credit-score.com

Work At Home Scams Thrive On The Internet

The ability to earn a living from home is one that millions of people would enjoy. No one likes being a slave to a time clock, and no one enjoys working for a difficult boss. The notion of working from home is appealing to everyone who has ever had an unpleasant job, and thousands of Americans try their hands at it every year with varying degrees of success.

Where there is opportunity for success, there is also opportunity for fraud, and the work at home sector is no exception to that rule. Offers to work from home are common subjects of spam e-mail, and there are thousands of Websites devoted to lavish descriptions of the riches one can acquire while working from home. Unfortunately, most of these offers are fraudulent, and the only thing that most people will get out of them is a lighter wallet. Offers to get rich at home while stuffing envelopes or processing medical claims for physicians earn far more for the people selling them than they do for the victims who buy them.

These are but two of the common work at home scams that can be commonly found in e-mail solicitations or in the classified advertising sections of business-related magazines. Anyone who is considering investing in a plan to work from home should first consider the following:

You can't get something for nothing. If a company promises that you can make thousands each week from doing little or no work, you should be suspicious.

Do not respond to solicitations that come via e-mail. These messages are literally sent out by the millions in hopes that a few people will believe the offer and send money. Don't do it.

Find out what it is you will do to get paid. Then do some research on your own. Is there a market for the work you will be doing? Look into it.

Research the company involved. Thanks to the Internet, it's as easy as looking them up in a search engine. See what others have to say about the company.

Do you have to invest money? How much? What do you receive? Can you get a refund if you change your mind? Find out.

While there are legitimate opportunities to work from home, most offers to hire people to do so are fraudulent. By doing a little homework before you invest your money or time, you can avoid being another victim of a work at home scam.





About the Author:

�Copyright 2006 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including http://www.End-Your-Debt.com, a site devoted to debt consolidation, credit counseling, payday loans and personal bankruptcy.
Source: www.isnare.com

Worried About Debts?

Having trouble paying your bills? Getting dunning notices from creditors? Are your accounts being turned over to debt collectors? Are you worried about losing your home or your car?


You're not alone. Many people face a financial crisis some time in their lives. Whether the crisis is caused by personal or family illness, the loss of a job, or overspending, it can seem overwhelming. But often, it can be overcome. Your financial situation doesn't have to go from bad to worse.


If you or someone you know is in financial hot water consider the options below. How do you know which will work best for you? It depends on your level of debt, your level of discipline, and your prospects for the future.


Developing a Budget: The first step toward taking control of your financial situation, is to do a realistic assessment of how much money you earn and how much money you spend. Start by listing your income from all sources. Then, list your "fixed" expenses – those that are the same each month – like mortgage payments or rent, car payments, and insurance premiums. Next, list the expenses that vary – like entertainment, recreation, and clothing. Writing down all your expenses, even those that seem insignificant, is a helpful way to track your spending patterns, identify necessary expenses, and prioritize the rest. The goal is to make sure you can make ends meet on the basics: housing, food, health care, insurance, and education. Your public library and bookstores have information about budgeting and money management techniques. In addition, computer software programs can be useful tools for developing and maintaining a budget, balancing your cheque book, and creating plans to save money and pay down your debt.


Contacting Your Creditors: Contact your creditors immediately if you're having trouble making ends meet. Tell them why it's difficult for you, and try to work out a modified payment plan that reduces your payments to a more manageable level. Don't wait until your accounts have been turned over to a debt collector. At that point, your creditors have given up on you.


Managing Your Auto and Home Loans: Your debts can be unsecured or secured. Secured debts usually are tied to an asset, like your car for a car loan, or your house for a mortgage. If you stop making payments, lenders can repossess your car or foreclose on your house. Unsecured debts are not tied to any asset, and include most credit card debt, bills for medical care, signature loans, and debts for other types of services.


Debt Consolidation: If your objective is to reduce interest rates and lower your monthly payments, avoid bankruptcy, consolidate your bills and have one monthly payment, or simply get out of debt the fastest way possible, then a debt consolidation loan could provide the answer.


Are you paying out too much every month for your credit cards, store cards and loans? Then why not replace them all with one, lower, convenient repayment through a consolidation loan?


Consolidation loans can give you a fresh start, allowing you to consolidate all of your loans into one - giving you one easy to manage payment, and in most cases, at a lower rate of interest.


Secured on your UK home, low cost, low rate, cheap, low interest debt consolidation loans can sweep away the pile of repayments to your credit and store cards, HP, loans and replace them with one, low cost, monthly payment – one calculated to be well within your means.


With a Debt Consolidation Loan you can borrow from �5,000 to �75,000 and up to 125% of your property value in some cases.


A UK Debt Consolidation Loan is a low cost loan secured on your UK home. It frees up the spare capital (or equity) in your home to repay your store card and other debts.


It can reduce BOTH your interest costs AND your monthly repayments, putting you back in control of your life.


Debt Consolidation Loan rates are variable, depending on status


Your monthly repayments will depend on the amount borrowed and term.


You may freely reprint this information on your website provided the following caption remains intact.


�This information courtesy of http://www.directonlineloans.co.uk Click here to see full range of loans.�




John Mussi is the founder of Direct Online Loans who help UK homeowners find the best available online secured loan via the http://www.directonlineloans.co.uk website. To find a loan that best suits your needs visit http://www.directonlineloans.co.uk

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You can eliminate debt, but it's hard work and it takes time

If you watch any television at all, you have probably seen ads for companies that promise that they can get you out of debt quickly - perhaps in as little as one year. It sounds great - they've got a staff of professionals with years of experience who can assist you with your debt problems. They'll tell you how they can get your creditors to accept much less than you actually owe - perhaps as little as half of your outstanding debt. And they will do it all for a small fee.

Wow! Sounds great, doesn't it? Just pay a small monthly fee and your debts will be cut in half! It does sound great, until you take the time to ask yourself "Why would my creditors be willing to accept only half of what I owe them?"

That's a really good question, isn't it?

Here is how these debt elimination companies work. You meet with them and agree to pay some fees up front. There may be a one time application fee and there will probably be ongoing monthly fees, as well. They will then instruct you to send a monthly amount to them to cover your bills. They may or may not deduct your monthly fee to them from this amount. You may assume that they will then negotiate your debt with your creditors and pay them from the money you send them. Well, it doesn't really work that way. In all likelihood, they will just sit on the money, and probably for quite a while. If you have been paying your bills regularly, even if you have only been paying the minimum amounts, your creditors are happy. They make tons of money off of people who pay only the minimum amounts. And as long as you are doing that, they have no reason to negotiate with you. So your debt elimination service is going to tell you to send money to them and to ignore any communication from your creditors. After your bills have gone unpaid for a few months, they will then negotiate with your creditors in order to get them to lower your balances.

There's just one problem with this - if you haven't been paying your bills, it's going to wreck your credit report. There's no such thing as a free lunch, and if you don't pay your bills for any reason, you are going to be reported as a nonpayer to the credit bureaus. You may be able to have your debt lowered, but you'll find it nearly impossible to get credit again anytime soon. And worse, any money owed that is waived by your creditors will be treated by the Internal Revenue Service as taxable income, so you'll have to pay taxes on the amount of the bills that you didn't pay.

And you'll still be paying monthly fees to that company you hired to "help" you. There are better ways to get out of debt than by hiring companies that advertise on late night television.

About the author:

Talbert Williams offers debt consolidation referrals and advice on debt settlement, debt relief and debt consolidation. For more information, articles, news, tools and valuable resources on debt solutions, visit this site: http://www.1debtfreedom.com

You Can Fix Your Bad Or Poor Credit

Tips on how to get started now.
You will not be able to build good credit overnight. It will take discipline and persistence on your part to change your credit for the better. After you have fixed and improved your credit rating in the eyes of lenders, you will notice more opportunities offered to you to borrow money at more desireable terms than when your credit was bad. Just because you have bad credit does not mean that you can not borrow money or get a loan, it just means that less opportunities will be available. The funds you can get will come at a greater cost in terms of higher interest rates and more stringent repayment terms.

Many banks and lending companies are less likely to make loans to people with bad credit. Therefore, it only makes sense that you strive to improve your creditworthiness in order to convince potential lenders that you are a good credit risk. Once you have improved your credit history and track record you will be have better opportunities to buy a car, finance a personal loan, or buy a house. If you have already been trying to financed for any large purchases, then you may have noticed the hurdles you've been put through trying to get approved.

Fixing your credit rating may be as easy as getting any inaccurate statements off of your credit report. Therefore it is important to frequently check yours to see if everything on it is correct. If you do find inaccuracies immediately contact the credit bureau and work with them to get them corrected and off of your credit report.
For others, fixing or repairing their credit rating may be a lot more involved and complicated. Start by getting your personal budget balanced. You should not be spending more each month than what you bring in each month.

If you are, then get that straightened out immediately. Cut out all unnecessary spending and charging. It is critical that you get your budget and debt repayment plan balanced, while making all debt payments on time. Not making on time payments each month increases the late payment fees you will have to pay, bring about increased interest rates and continue to negatively your credit rating. Once you start making and continue to make your monthly debt payments on time, you should see your credit score start to rise.

If you find that you can not do this on your own, there are many companies that can provide debt consolidation services.

So in essence to improve your credit:
* Create and live by a personal budget that balances your monthly income with your monthly expenses.
* Create a plan to save money and pay off your credit cards and debt.
* Use credit wisely.
* Pay your bills on time every month.

Once you have put all of these tips into action and your credit score begins to improve, you should see your borrowing opportunities improve as well. But remember, good credit habits must be worked at every day, so do not give up and make it a lifetime habit.

About the Author
James Smith publishes http://www.all-credit-types.com/. Visit the personal finance web site for more credit information and resources. This article may be freely reprinted as long as the author's resource box and url links remain intact.