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Did you know you can get your credit report from all three credit bureaus for free? Better yet, that you don’t have to go to the three major bureaus separately to do so?

Take a look at http://www.annualcreditreport.com/. This is the real site to request your credit report from the credit bureaus for free.

Why should you go there rather than directly to the credit bureaus? Because their sites make it difficult to get your free reports. They pitch their paid products heavily and it can be difficult to figure out how to request your free report. This is supposed to be for security reasons, but if you go through the websites, be prepared to deal with their advertising on the way to getting your free report.

You are entitled to a free copy of your credit report once a year. Take advantage of this free service and fight identity theft and get better rates when you apply for credit.

Technorati Tags: free annual credit report, free credit report

Bankruptcy has become increasingly common in recent years, so common, in fact, that the Senate has passed a bill to make it more difficult to avoid paying your debts by filing bankruptcy.

Many people have come to see bankruptcy as a means to get out of debt and file for bankruptcy much too freely. This has become a serious problem for credit card issuers.

Some feel that this will create problems for people who are hit by serious financial problems they cannot get out of, such as large medical bills or other major events in their lives that cannot be avoided by good planning.

The bill requires more unsecured debt, such as credit cards, to be paid off in a bankruptcy. There is concern that this bill leaves it open for wealthy people to still keep their homes while middle class families have more to lose. Some say that this bill erodes the protection the government gives middle and lower income families in times of need.

It has been shown that most bankruptcies are due to major financial misfortune, so it is possible that this bill will cause more harm than good. However, amendments trying to protect those in such situations were voted down.

While there is no doubt that there are those who abuse bankruptcy and decline to pay what they could of their bills, this bill does not properly address such people. Instead, it fails to protect those who are truly having financial problems and would have the most trouble working with a payment plan.

Do you know what to look out for with your credit card? There are lots of details in the fine print of many card offers you need to understand before you apply.

Perhaps one of the trickiest is the clause found in many credit card applications that while they are starting you at a reasonable interest rate (depending on your credit score), if you are ever late on ANY payment to ANY company, they can increase your interest, sometimes up to nearly 30%. This is something you need to be aware of, as it is all to easy to miss a payment even if your credit is otherwise excellent.

This means you have to be very, very careful about when you send out your payments for your bills. Allow plenty of time for them to arrive at their destinations.

You also need to know if your low interest rate is short term. Most low or zero interest rate credit cards are good for only a few months or until the balance transferred is paid off. Payments on these cards always first go toward the lowest interest rate balance, leaving you to pay a higher interest rate on any part of the balance not covered by the low rate for as long as possible. Read the rest of this entry »

Credit card offers give you all kinds of options. You can get rewards, cash, points… or maybe you prefer low interest rates.

It is very important to consider how you will use a credit card before applying for one. If you are definitely going to pay it off every month, then a rewards credit card with a low annual fee is good for you. So long as you use the card enough, you can earn enough rewards from your credit card to make it worthwhile to pay the annual fee. On the other hand, if you carry a high balance you’ll lose money.

Low interest rate credit cards are the way to go if you carry a balance. You want to minimize what you’re paying the credit card companies over and above your purchases. Remember that many offers only give a low rate for a limited time, so read the terms carefully. If a low rate is only temporary, you can be certain that your payments will be going toward paying off the low rate balance before any higher rate payments are credited.

One thing to watch out for now with all credit cards is how high the interest rate will go if you miss a payment to ANYONE. If your credit card company finds out that you missed a payment, many of them will now raise your rates to as much as 30%, no matter who the missed payment was owed to. It really pays to keep up with everything these days.

Watching your spending habits before applying for a new credit card can save you quite a bit of money. You don’t necessarily need low interest rates if you always pay off your balance, but on the other hand low or no annual fees are always a benefit for any credit card. Think before you apply and read the fine print.

Technorati Tags: choosing a credit card, spending habits, new credit card, low rate credit cards

Being in a large amount of debt is painful. The interest rates add up fast and making payments can make it difficult to scrape together enough money that you don’t have to charge more on your credit cards.
Debt consolidation sounds like a wonderful solution in such a situation. Lower payments. A lower interest rate. The ability to make payments without suffering so much financially.

The trouble with debt consolidation is that it doesn’t address the core of the problem. If you haven’t changed your spending habits you are too likely to just charge those credit cards back up again and make the problem worse.

This means that if you decide to go for debt consolidation it will be a wise idea to close those credit card accounts you are clearing up. If necessary you could keep one open for emergencies, but make it hard to use so that you are not tempted to have fun with it.

As you look at debt consolidation, don’t focus just on the lower payments. Think about how much more it will cost you. Even with a lower interest rate, debt consolidation can often make you pay more in the long run because you’re paying interest for a longer period of time. Read the rest of this entry »

As I’ve said before in this blog, it’s very important to keep an eye on your credit. The simplest way is to get your free annual credit report from each of the credit bureaus. This will allow you to keep a general eye on how your credit report is doing. But what about when that is not enough? What if you have reason to be concerned?

It’s time to take stronger measures.

Let’s say you just received a notice that your credit information has possibly been obtained by someone. You can request a 90-day alert be put on your credit so that you must be called in order for any credit requests to be put through. This kind of fraud alert is helpful in protecting your credit for the 90 days it is in force, although it does limit your own ability to get quick credit during that period. But if you have reason to be concerned, it is a good place to start. Best of all, you only have to tell one bureau; it will notify the others.

Now, if you know for a fact that your identity has been stolen, and have proof (a police report is sufficient), you can have an alert put on your records for seven years. Same benefits and problems as the 90-day alert. If for any reason you want it removed early, you can cancel it, but you’ll have to prove your identity. Read the rest of this entry »

You may not recognize it when the theft first occurs, but you suddenly start getting warnings that something is wrong with your credit. Maybe you were one of the smart ones who gets credit reports annually. Maybe you found out because creditors have started contacting you. Your identity has been stolen.

There are a number of steps you need to take once you realize your identity has been stolen. All of them are tedious, but it’s vital you get things back into order. And unfortunately it can take years to get your accounts back in order. The entire process is tedious and draining.

The first thing you need to do is get your credit report from all three agencies. You are entitled to this free in the instance of fraud. You can also request a fraud alert be placed on your account. This will make it harder for you to get credit, but will inhibit further fraud. Read the rest of this entry »