Credit Help Center

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Getting out of debt is a challenge, but just like losing weight, there is no magic formula, nor bill that is going to help you.  What you’re going to realize is that as long as you have money, and you apply it toward your bills while not packing up more debt, you’re not going to have a hard time getting rid of it.

If you want some ideas when you want to get out of debt, I wanted to give you 8 tips that work for many people out there.  Hopefully by following them, you will find that you can save a lot of money.

1. Stop using your credit cards: The first thing that you will want to do is stop using your credit cards.  This is the only way that you’re going to rack up your debt.  Cut them up, and try to stick to your cash.
2. Create a plan and attack it: Write down all of your debts, and be sure to list your minimum payment, the interest rates and more.  You will want to make sure that you attack the highest interest rates first, while paying off the minimums on your other cards.
3. Get a side job: If you’re working a full time job, you can always consider getting a side job.  What you’re going to find out is that you can dump it once your bills are paid off.   Deliver pizzas, or wait tables.  Even working 20 hours a week can save you a ton of money!
4. Dump the bills: Get rid of your cable TV, Internet, Netflix and more.  Granted, you can get them all back in the future.  You’re going to have to make sacrifices today, in order to save as much as possible.
5. Sell things: Look through your house, and start selling items on eBay, garage sales and more.  You will be amazed what you can get for your items.  By selling items in your home, you can easily rack up a few bucks.
6. Inform yourself: There are a lot of debt books out there that can help you.  What you will want to do is check out these books, and read them.  Read them until your brain hurts.  You will find that the more you know, the more it will help you.
7. Speak with a counseling service: Whether you go with a church, or a debt collection company, you will find that there are many services out there that you can take advantage of.  Find one that can help you today.
8. Eat at home: This goes along with the bills, but make your food at home.  You will also want to make sure you watch your grocery bills, use coupons and more.

These are some great ways to get you on the path to financial freedom.   If you want to read another great article on getting out of debt, ZenHabits has another great read.

Do Not Despair

There are many events that can create the need for credit repair, from the loss of a job to a medical emergency that taps savings and strains an otherwise sound budget. There are also cases of identity theft that, through no fault of ours, cause grievous credit harm. Regardless of the underlying cause, there is never a case that should make us despair.

Expecting Errors

It is important to understand, as you examine your damaged credit report, that the credit reporting system is prone to spawning errors from the seeds of real events. This is not the fault of the credit bureaus. The reporting system is massive and incorporates data from millions of participants, including creditors, collectors, courthouses and the services that gather public records. Expect errors to occur.

Disciplined Self-Monitoring

The need for credit repair is inherently acknowledged by the presence of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The requirement by the FCRA that all national credit bureaus provide free reports to consumers on demand once per year at no charge is a nod to the inevitability of errors. Read more…

Credit card and loan companies use a standard to determine who will be their possible clients. It is risky for these companies to let all people borrow unlimited money from them because each person differs in terms of his capacity and capability to pay the kind of loan they apply for.

Lenders will use the person’s credit score to determine the total amount that the person can borrow. It is also useful in recommending how much the company will charge based on the cost of borrowing the money—the interest rates.

Credit score has been a product of the Fair Isaac Company’s goal which is to achieve an over-all and general score for the individual with regard to his basic credit report and history.

The credit score involves several variables including the person’s loan account and records in different companies, mortgages, type of credit card accounts, delayed or missed payments over time.

Moreover, credit scores have its own range based on Fair Isaac. The range of the score is from 300 to 850. If the

Read more…

If you have fallen behind on your credit obligations, you may feel like you are trapped and there is nothing much that you can do.

And no matter what you do, your credit score and credit report will be affected. The question becomes how much will it hurt?

While filing Bankruptcy can be painful and the credit report effects longer lasting, it can stop the pain…almost immediately. The nasty creditors can no longer contact you, harass you, bother you at all for your late payments. But it will stay on your credit for up to 10 years. During that 10 years, you can begin to build credit again, however, there will always be some lenders who will treat you like a pariah forever….since you no longer have any other debt and supposedly the bankruptcy was just some bad timing, luck, whatever, and you probably want to pay all of your bills and get good credit again, it ends up being their loss…but of course, that is another post, another day.

Or there is Credit counseling. Credit counseling is designed to help you get a strict budget to follow so that you can pay back all of your debts. It is

Read more…

So, you want to get married, but you’re worried about your finances?  One of the biggest problems when it comes to a marriage proposal is money.  If you have any type of debt, it’s always best that you tell your significant other to avoid any type of stress issues in the future.

What happens to your debt before marriage?

First off, what you’re going to find is that your debt won’t go anywhere.  It’s still going to be there, and you’re still going to have to pay it.  There isn’t a magic wedding pass that you’re going to get, when you’re fighting debt.

Now, onto debt, what you will find that the only way that you will be responsible for your spouse’s debt is that if you put them onto the debt with you.  While many spouses won’t do this, you will find that if you add your name to the account itself, then you will be held responsible together.

Now let’s say that god forbid you  have a divorce in the future.  When you get a divorce, you find out that there is debt still sitting there prior to your marriage.  As long as you can prove that you didn’t create it, and it happened before you got married, you generally won’t be held responsible.

Once you’re married, all debts that you accrue while married will hold both of your responsible.  If you go on to purchase a home, a car, boat or whatever it may be, once you’re married, you’re looked at as a “one.”

In the end, as long as all of the debt was accrued before the marriage, you won’t be held responsible.  In case creditors call, and mistaken your identity, all you will have to do is prove that you don’t owe that debt.  Most of the time, you can show marriage certificates, etc to show that you weren’t married at the time.