0 Spend

My husband and I own our home free and clear and have been having trouble getting financing because of our credit score. I am guessing that our home is worth approx $125k, I am guessing. (our neighbors said theirs actually appraised for quite a bit more) We would like to borrow $50k-$80K to pay off unsecured debt and clean up our credit. Will this even be possible?
The only reason why we are here is because, our family business went under and we are trying to get back on our feet. The high intrest on our credit cards is making it impossible to pay them, after such a dramatic change in our families lives.

You cant get much of any loan with that credit score. There are some small things you can do to boost your chances..

Here are my 10 steps you can use to build your credit score quickly. I raised mine to well over 700 points fro 500 using these steps in less than a year — :

# Know and Track Your Credit Score (be sure to sign up for the free trial of your credit score monitoring listed on the article below. It really helped my get my score up.)
# Never Miss a Payment, Starting Today
# Never use more than 20% of your Available Credit
# Keep Credit Cards that Have No Annual Fees Open For as Long as Possible
# Extend Your Credit Limit on Cards You Already Have before You Get New Ones
# Get Credit Cards that Have CashBack Rewards to Contribute to your Balance
# Transfer Your Balance to a Credit Card with a Lower Interest Rate and a Higher Available Credit-
# If You Think You Are Going to be FORCED to Pay a Bill Late Ask for an Extension or Payment Plan
# Take out a Small Personal Loan and Repay it Over a Year
# Ask Someone With Good Credit if They will Account Shadow you

When you’re trying to rebuild your credit score it’s important to get a comprehensive view of what is actually effecting it…

Your Credit Score is calculated with the following breakdown:
35% – Payment History
30% – Credit to Debt Ratio
15% – Credit History
10% – New Credit
10% – Credit Types in Use

If you excel in one area and lack in another, only fixing the areas which you lack are going to improve your score.

I’ve got a lot of information on my blog about credit scores, and I get a lot of questions so feel free to check out any of my posts on millionster.com; I believe my articles here address many of your concerns but if they don’t and you still have any specific questions feel free to leave a comment and I’ll reply.

How Can I Increase My Credit Score
http://millionster.com/articles/debt/ask-1mil-how-can-i-increase-my-credit-score/

and

10-Ways to Boost Your MyFico Score
http://millionster.com/articles/debt/increase-fico-credit-score/

Also be sure to check out the promotional links I’ve listed here to help you get a better picture of your creditworthiness:

MyFico’s Full Credit Report
http://millionster.com/go/myfico

Suze Orman’s Credit Report Repair Kit
http://millionster.com/go/suzekit

30-day Trial of Credit Score Tracker with Free MyFico Score
http://millionster.com/go/fico30

but my parents have been managing mine for the last few years that I’ve been working full time. My mother is a manipulating money hungry control freak and won’t even let me have my own bank account.

I just want to get a survey here to understand how hard it is to manage one’s finance so my heart can prepare for what to come. This is really scary for me.

Managing your own finances isn’t hard as long as you are cautious and don’t do something really really stupid. First I would find the best bank in your area and when you go and talk to them about an account then tell them your situation. If you explain that this is your first time doing this yourself, then they may be able to give you advice, pamplets, etc. Utilize online banking if they offer it and check it often as well as keeping track of where every dollar goes in either a personal steno pad or your checkbook. I personally keep an Excel spreadsheet with my finances. The something stupid I mentioned is don’t get taken by creditors. If you have to get a credit card then get ONE. And only use it during emergencies, etc. As one who is recovering from debt, you do not want to be in it. If you have a credit card, set it up on automatic payments so you know you will always be current. If you get a store card (Macy’s, Victorias Secret, etc.) just know that their APRs can be 20-29% a year depending on the card. That is crappy, if you must have one (coupons, etc.) then pay off the balances as soon or as quickly as possible. Also try to plan out your finances. You probably know roundabout how much you make per pay period so then you can figure out what needs paid when and how much you may need to save, etc. This is pretty much making a budget. Try to have targets for your different types of spending: 200/mo. for food, 200/mo. for gas, 100/mo for credit cards, 100/mo for savings, get the idea? Then once you know that, you can curtail different categories if the money is needed for something else.

It probably was confusing but I hope I helped a little bit. Also the only emotional part of it I could see would be starting out, getting everything settled, and then of course if you run into hard times. Other than that it isn’t bad.

I am currently 15, and have wanted to be an owner/operater truck driver all my life. I would like to know what the best credit card and online money management system would be the best. I’ve been looking at the American Express TrueEarnings Business Card and was wondering if that would be a good card to use for trucking. Also, could someone tell me how much an I-Pass costs?

Thanks.

If you’ll be buying a lot of gas, you’ll probably want a good gas rewards credit card. And maybe a card that also pays good rewards at restaurants and, perhaps, hotels (?).

To quickly see which rewards card will pay you the most for your expected spending profile, you can use this rewards calculator:
http://www.creditcardtuneup.com/

and how would I go proving my credit when it comes time for me to get,for example,a car,rent an apartment,etc.

A credit card is a good way to build ur credit… yes u do have to be 18 to apply but u can start before if u can get one of ur parents to cosign a credit card for u… this way, by the time u are 18 ull already have credit established. ur credit is very important in purchasing big items such as a car or renting an apt so be on top of ur payment. the smartest way to use ur card if u dont really want to buy much is to use it for purchases over $20 and pay it off as soon as u get ur statement. This is something i found while browsing for a new credit card… they got some good recommendation on which card to apply for

http://blog.greensherpa.com/index.php/personal-finance/credit-cards-with-the-best-rewards/

I need short term personal finance guidance. If I could hire someone to manage my household budget and pay the bills on time, perhaps I could step aside and get some good pointers before I can take the reigns again.
Serious replies only.

A personal assistant can do it for you. One coworker is taking care of a woman in her 90s, does her shopping, bill paying and takes her to appointments.

You really can do it yourself cheaper and it is so easy these days. Set up as many as you can to pay on a credit card. I do that will all insurance, cell phone, cable and garbage so I never need to think of them again. Other bills are paid on bill payer even ones I don’t know how much they will be like water. I just send them more than they could ever want, like my water bill runs 25-50 for 2 months so I send them $50 and have an overpayment unless I remember to change it to the actual amount. My natural gas is never over 200 and takes what they want so I budget $300 for it and electric so never let my balance get below that. Even my mortgage is paid automatically. I really only need to pay my property taxes twice a year and my credit card once a month but I even set up a payment for the credit card so at least the minimum is paid should I ever forget to pay it.

Finally schools in New Jersey are being forced to have every student complete a personal finance course by graduation. Why is this only starting now? Obviously, the poor will teach their children to be poor and the rich will teach their children to be rich.

Do you really want to government to be teaching our children about finance? “When you get into a large debt, just raise your debt ceiling”. The children of today need to be taught how our economy works, how to save money, how compound interest works, and how to market themselves in the work place. All they need to learn can be taught at home or from a book. By the way, that thing about the poor can only teach their children to be poor and the rich an only teach their children to be rich is completely false. An intelligent economist can be very poor because he dedicates his life to studying economics and doesn’t make much of an income, however he can teach his son or daughter what they need to succeed financially. Yes, it makes sense that children born into rich families would learn to become rich, but that’s not the reality. The reality is that many rich children don’t know how that credit card mommy and daddy gave them even works.

See this article from NY Times.
Rescue of Banks Hints at Nationalization

Would you want the government to know the details of your personal finance?
Who you are writing checks to.
What you are buying with your credit card.
Where you are obtaining your money.

I personally will. I have banked with Citibank for several years and generally like their service. It is not perfect. It’s been frustrating that they continue to drop their interest rate for my savings account, but all in all, I like the bank. Citibank has lots of locations, which is really important to me. It also has an online system that is very easy to use. Most importantly, it’s a huge pain to switch banks, so unless there is a much better offer at another bank, I plan to continue to use Citibank, regardless of whether it gets nationalized or not.

The best way to get out of debt is by keeping expenses lower than income and use any low interest-bearing savings account money to pay off higher interest credit cards. Avoid the pitfalls of debt with tips from a financial planner in free personal-finance video.

Expert: Julie Asti, CFP
Bio: Julie Asti works as a financial planner for Asti Financial.
Filmmaker: Bing Hu

Duration : 0:3:1

Read more…

Been at my job for over 2 years, been working on paying off my old collections on my credit report, 1 active judgement for 4500$, auto loan never late orig 8000, down to 5200, 1 credit card $250 limit, 50% balance used on it. Credit scores were going up for a few months, but seem to have leveled off, I’m considering a personal loan in the ammount of 1000$ to take advantage of a deal my auto finance company has for tax rebate season. Any tips, I’ve not had much luck lately in securing loans.

No bank will do that loan. 598 means that you haven’t been very good about paying back.
PayDay lenders will do the loan. Pawn shops will do it if you have some expensive items. Some private lenders in the classifieds will do it if you have collateral..

Hi, I am searching for one of those programs that let’s you calculate your finances and create the best budget. What I don’t need is a program that keeps track of my accounts or tries to sell me stuff. I need a simple software where I put the data and it just puts all in a good perspective so I know how not to end with a 0 at the end of the month.

I’ve been using Quicken for years. I can download transactions from my checking, savings and credit card. As the software "learns" which categories I use most often, there’s very little entry for me to do. Then I can run reports and see where my money has gone – which helps me plan for where I want it to continue to go.