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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

A friend of mine found out he is bankrupt, and never realized he was spending more than he earned. Yes, a stupid thing to do. Never managed his credit cards well. And took out a housing loan and a car loan. Now he can’t pay his mortgages. Does this sound familiar, at least among some people you know? Or is this fellow singularly careless?

The responsible thing to do of you earnings is to manage it well particularly of the amount of bills coming in.

Like most people I also have mortgages, utilities, bills and just anything each month/fortnightly.

This time and age it’s more convenient if you have internet banking and it’s easier to check your bills and bank balances. Not only that there’s no banking fees and the likes with higher savings interest rates than most banks.

For mortgages get also from non banks where they have better deals.

Same with your credit cards get it from non banks to get rid of service and membership fees.

don’t forget the classic cliche: live within your means

when you intend to buy something or even just for groceries check on the latest catalogues buy from cheaper outlets.

if need be buy no frills or generic groceries skip the branded.

for holidays, choose the off peaks and check out better deals from airlines. it’s best to sign in from airline websites so that you’ll get the cheaper rates

Hotels offers also better deals on off peak and get away the holidays peaks. Trust me I’m good at this most hotels offers two plus one or something.

If not get a holiday travel timeshare…. it depends on how often you travel. But this is a good one. For me I have Accor it’s good and it turns out cheap and lots of savings. Try also Wyndham

My personal tip is make friends to those thrifty people. Before buying something expensive or even just trying to replace your tires or batteries. Ask them where they got theres. In this way this saves you from spending petrol in driving around just to look for good price.

Skip eating out, home cook meal is far better.

Good luck

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 noticed an area that really needs another gas station. I thougtht of the idea when I was standing in a long line at the 1 and only gas station in this area. All 4 registers were in operation and the lines were still about 5 people deep.
My credit sucks and I don’t have anything to use as collateral, but I think this is a slam dunk. How can I get start up capital?

Some banks extend what they call "small business lines of credit" often through credit cards. Those are easier to get and can be based on your credit history alone. They typically are up to $100,000.

For example, Wachovia’s has various business lines of credits http://www.wachovia.com/small_biz/page/0,,446_612_1399,00.html Their business line of credit can even be approved overnight,

However, if you’re applying for a loan and if it is a big amount, banks and even the SBA http://www.sba.gov/financing may consider other factors aside from your business credit:

– A business plan explaining what the business is

– Your background and experience in the business — in my experience, this is KEY in the eyes of the bank because they want to make sure that you know what you are doing and that you can make the business work. If you don’t have any experience with the business, have someone on board that knows the business to give banks assurance that someone will guide you

– Your credit factors because it shows your dependability and how well you handle credit. They will do a credit check on you and poor credit history may be frowned upon, or even reason for the disapproval of your loan application

– Your collateral. Banks, even SBA guaranteed loans, want the borrower to show collateral. They want to be guaranteed that somewhere somehow they can get payment from you

– Condition or terms of loans. Banks would want to know three important things: "How much money are you requesting? What will it be used for? and For how long will it be needed?" Banks oftentimes prefer to approve loans for items that can be identified, has lasting value, and can be repossessed and sold if things fail.

Unfortunately, if your "credit sucks" and you don’t have anything to use as collateral, your option to get the amount of money you need for a gas station is limited from banks and even the SBA. If you are talking about a small business loan from financial institutions, you stand very little chance of getting a loan without any collateral. Collateral can be personal and business assets such as house, receivables, stocks and bonds, furniture and fixtures, among others — that can be sold to pay back the loan.

Collateral provide banks with the assurance that they can get their money (or at least parts of it) back, even if you cannot pay. Even SBA-guaranteed loans as well as micro loan programs require some form of collateral to secure a loan.

If you do not have collateral, you will need to have a co-signer who has collateral and can pledge to cover your loan in case you default on payment.

Aside from banks I suggest you consider microloan providers. They typically fund up to $30K Read about the SBA Microloan Program http://www.sba.gov/financing/sbaloan/microloans.html and you can find SBA Accredited Microloan Providers here http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol145/microloanproviders.htm

Other sources of funds:

Your Credit Card

Using Credit Cards to Finance Your Startup
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,290366,00.html
Credit Where Credit Is Due: Using Plastic to Finance Your Start-Up http://www.inc.com/articles/1999/08/16625.html

Your Family Members and Friends

Accepting Start-Up Capital from a Family Member: Good or Bad?
http://www.powerhomebiz.com/blog/2006/08/accepting-start-up-capital-from-family.html
Borrowing Startup Funds From Friends & Family http://www.entrepreneur.com/Your_Business/YB_Node/0,4507,159,00.html

I would like to get a program so I can see more easily where my money is going… and things of the sort. I think there is a program called Money, and there may be some more. If you have any knowledge on this, I’d like to know what the pros and cons are of managing finances this way and also of the program.

Thanks!

The two main program choices you have are Intuit’s Quicken and Microsoft’s Money.

As far as functionality, I think they are pretty much the same, I don’t think you’ll go wrong chosing either program. Each has different versions of their software with basic, middle and tricked out versions of their software. If you’re thinking of starting to keep track of your finances, I would recommend you go with the middle versions as they offer more functionality than the basic versions, yet leave out all the bells and whistles you’ll probably never use anyway.

Every year a new annual version of the software comes out, but you don’t have to upgrade every year. BUT, every 3 years or so they’ll make significant changes to something in the program that will force you to upgrade to the latest and greatest. Not a bad idea to upgrade anyway, but something you should be aware of.

You’ll get as much usefullness out of a financial program as you put into it. It’s up to you on how detailed you want to track your transactions. The more detailed you get, the more unique ways you can generate reports telling you where and how you’re spending your money. This is, I think, the only con: once you start you must keep up with transactions, let it sit for a couple weeks and you won’t remember what that $9.48 charge was that the bank is showing.

The best thing about using a program to help manage funds is the online linkages you can make to your bank accounts, credit cards, loans, etc. All you do is activate the online service (usually free) and you can download all your recent transactions to match up receipts. And if you have several accounts, it’s also nice to be able to see everything in one place and run reports across accounts.

I say go for it.

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/

In a very general sense, it’s about intelligently handling your money. It involves understanding how a checking account works, how credit cards and charge cards work, how to understand different types of loans, income taxes, basics of investing, budgeting and being a smart shopper – and of course other things also.

It is extremely important! People who don’t have a grasp of these concepts get screwed when they get a mortgage, buy a car, get insurance, spend their money, and many other things. It’s impossible to get through life without earning and spending money – and nobody is going to care about your finances as much as you are, so the smart thing to do is learn about it so you can protect yourself from scammers, bad investments and rip-off artists.

Here’s an example: years ago, my parents once took out a loan to get new windows. It was a 5-year loan for $3,000. After making payments for 3 years, they wanted to pay off the loan early to save on interest cost. The amount they still owed was almost $2,000. How could that be? They had made way more than half the payments but still owed almost the entire amount they borrowed! It was because the loan was set up in such a way to penalize anyone who wanted to pay it off early (hint: it was a "rule of 78’s" loan). They got screwed because they didn’t understand the loan documents, and just assumed if they paid it off early they would save some money.

People want to be financially secure, and unless you are lucky enough to have a massive income, the way to be financially secure is to intelligently manage your money.

I have Quicken on my old computer. I heard of Microsoft Money Plus. Are there any other programs and which is the best. My finances are not too complicated (2 mortgages, few credit cards, car, insurances, condo dues). Any suggetions are greatly appreciated.

Use Quicken. The newer versions are excellent for personal finace mangement.

will our personal debt be dissolved or just moved along with the new currency and world gov etc.?

It has already happened, which is why the recovery is taking so long. This is a "balance sheet" recession.
http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/3065
http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2010/08/first-draft-of-september-8-principles-of-economics-lecture-financial-markets-and-depression-economics.html

So we’ve seen what happens:

A. People abandon their homes because they can’t afford the mortgages.

B. People renege on their other debts: credit cards, etc.

etc. Those who have jobs pay off the debt they can,
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/07/08/consumer-borrowing-dropped-again-in-may/
but most of the decline in outstanding personal debt has been defaults:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g19/current/default.htm
http://www.housingwire.com/2011/01/19/household-debt-decreased-in-2010-due-in-part-to-default
and it has been this was since the recession began:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/07/23/idUS160626+23-Jul-2008+BW20080723

Of course, this has hurt the small banks (those that didn’t get federal rescue money) a great deal:
How The Bailouts Hurt Small Banks and Benefited Big Finance.

And the result is nasty (and self defeating) for all
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/damnification/

I’ve been using Microsoft Money since 2002, so I have over 7 years of financial data. However, now the Microsoft is leaving the personal finance mgmt business, what is the best alternative? An important requirement is that I save these 7 years of information. I would like web based, but I must be able to import my current information. I have stock information, retirement info, various bank accounts and credit cards.

What is the best personal finance management software today?

Without a doubt Quicken…..