Part 1: What Your Word Means

 
Many people take their own word for granted. What they do not realize is that society judges them on their word for everything that they do. This judging of your past is what will determine your future. I stood by amazed at people when they say things like, “I know I have bad credit.” Like it is something to be proud of. Ignorant people like that tell me that their word is in the “crapper” and that person can’t be trusted with a dime. Parents think that children learn how to borrow money in school. They are not taught about money, if they are taught anything at all about finance. Your children are taught in school and from TV how to give lending institutions as much money as they can. They are not taught how to use credit to your children’s advantage.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=XhVCzqjQzzA

Credit Report Scoring From Ask Audrey

Maintaining your credit report

If you are working, you should always do this with your paycheck in this order;

1.    Pay yourself first. That means put money in your 401K, IRA, or savings account. I recommend at least 10% of your paycheck every pay. 

2.    Pay your obligations. Never spend money just because it makes you feel good. For example, I talked to a lady that bought one of these cell phones that do everything for her except cook dinner. She told me that I should get one. I told her that my phone works just fine. She had a problem with that because I was not keeping up with technology and the “Jones.” In less than 4 hours, I noticed her phone “locked up” on her, she could not make or receive phone calls, and most of the time, it dropped calls when her phone was working. Her phone is so complicated that she could not use many of the fetchers. By the way, they offer a class for her to take on how to use her cell phone.

3.    Pay your charities such as your United Way or your 10% of your remaining money to your church.   

Let’s talk about your credit report. It is very important that you follow your contracts with your lenders to the letter. This determines your credit score. Your credit score is used by lenders for future borrowing for such things as new cars, a home mortgage, and the least expensive credit. 

Here are the things that you must do to maintain good credit;

1.     Pay your bills on time. For example, if the payment is due on the second Tuesday of every month at 10:00 AM, you must have it in the payment office at 10:00 AM on the second Tuesday of every month. Don’t think that mailing it on the second Tuesday is good enough because the earliest that it can get to the payment office is the next day. If that is the case, you are not one day late, you are 30 days late because your money arrived in the next billing cycle. That is how your lender will report it to your credit reporting service. To many of these late payments will result in a lower credit score.That equates into higher borrowing cost to you or even rejections by lenders.

2.     Never co-sign for individuals including spouses. When you co-sign, you are saying that you will pay when the other party will not or cannot pay. When they are late paying so are you and it is reflected on your credit report.   

    

These are the two obvious things that you have to remember to keeping a high credit score. Now let’s talk about the things that can destroy your credit score.

1.     Always keep your credit separate from everyone else. Keep in mind, holding joint credit is not in your best interest. It is in the best interest of the lender.

2.     If you live with your spouse, make sure that both of you spend time once a week going over all bills to make sure that they are being paid on time.    

3.     Make sure the mortgage or rent is paid on time. You hold the mortgage account jointly so review it jointly. Marriage is not all love and fun. It is a business.

4.     When your credit card bills come, check to see what you purchased. If you see purchases that do not belong to you, call your credit card company and challenge it.

5.     If you use an unsecured mail box, change to a more secure mail box. Thieves will use your mail box to steal your identity and stick you with their bills. 

6.     Be careful of what you do on your PC. Many Internet thieves will use the Internet to steal your personal information and your bank account.

7.     Thieves will steal your information by calling you on the phone pretending to be your bank or some other institution. They will open accounts in your name and stick you with the bill.

8.     The economy can destroy your credit. This Great Depression has trashed millions of people financially. If it looks like you will not be able to keep up with your bills, call your lenders and tell them that you are having trouble paying your bills. Ask them if they have a solution to some of your bill paying problems short term until you can gain employment and get back on your feet.

Last, check your credit report from the three major agencies once a year. Look at each item and determine if it’s your account. If it is not your account, report it to the proper reporting agency. If you know you have accounts where you are in good standings that is not on your report, report that to your credit reporting agencies.  

The objective is to make your credit report look the best that you can. Remember, this is your unspoken word that will go out to all the stores and banks where you do business.