A lot of people who suffer from having bad credit often think to themselves that they’ll never be able to buy some of the better things in life. I, too, though that with my bad credit score I would never be able to buy anything halfway decent that wasn’t already used by someone.
After looking online […]
ChexSystems is an association of financial institutions which develop a database of delinquent customers. The purpose of ChexSystems is to help limit fraud and ensure that only financially responsible people can open and maintain a checking account.
Member banks of the ChexSystems network (which compromises roughly 80% of all banks in the United States) report on […]
Payday Loans are short-term, secured loans that use your direct-deposit pay as a security against your debt. Unlike other types of loans, payday loans have an extremely high percentage: in some cases as high as 500%!
If you’re considering a payday loan then there are some things you should know:
In order to obtain a loan you […]
Secured debt, unlike unsecured debt, is a debt which is secured against some collateral (usually a house, although this varies). This means that in the event the debt is not paid back, the collateral can be used by the lender to recover the owed money.
In the case of loans, the item being purchased can usually […]
Unsecured debt is money that is borrowed but not secured against anything, whereas secured debt is secured against something of value. In most cases the collateral for a secured debt is usually the borrower’s house, so in the case of a default the lending institution can sell the house to recover the losses.
There are usually […]
Building a good credit score is not as difficult as it may sound. If you’re just starting off in life, then a good credit score may only be a student credit card away, or if - like me - you have hit some bumps in the road, you just need to follow a few simple […]
Organize all of your income, debt, expenses, and necessities into a readable format. When I first started building a better budget I dimply used an Excel spreadsheet.
Debt - Anything that must be paid off each month. This includes (but is not limited to): credit card payments, loans (mortgages, personal, cars), legal obligations (child support), and […]
A lot of people in the United States are in debt. Most of the people in this country have at least one credit card, and many people have more than one (sometimes as high as five cards). So, it comes as no surprise that […]
A collection agency is a company that, as the name implies, collects an owned debt. These companies act as agents of the creditor and attempt to collect debts owed, either in exchange for a flat fee or a percentage of the amount owed.
There are other agencies which actually buy the account that is in debt […]
Credit Debt is a general term used for any type of credit that you’ve used and have not yet repaid. This can come from a variety of sources, including credit cards, bank loans, student loans, and even money owed to those television shopping networks.
Basically “credit debt” is everything you have not yet paid for in […]
Credit cards for people with bad credit are not hard to come by, and I can highly recommend two - one unsecured and one secured.
Tribute MasterCard - This is an unsecured MasterCard that accepts almost anyone. It doesn’t offer any rewards, discounts, or rebates, but it does report every month to the big three credit […]
What’s the difference between a secured and unsecured credit card, and which one is better?
Secured Credit Cards are generally used to help people raise their FICO scores, or the line of credit that companies are typically offering them. The term “secured” comes from the fact that you must open a savings account and deposit a […]
Getting a credit card with bad credit isn’t an impossible task, but you’re not going to get the best credit offers in the world. Still, it’s a line of credit that you can use to build up your credit score and get you out of bad credit hell.
Here are some tips that will help you […]
A credit card: it’s a magical piece of plastic that lets you purchase items you don’t have the cash for. It’s not a debit card because you don’t need to have the purchasing power up front, but it’s also not “free money” because the debt has to be repaid.
A credit card is nothing more than […]
Maintaining your own personal finances can be pretty tricky if you don’t have the right tools. While a good old pen and some paper can go a long way, archiving and saving that paper can be difficult — and you’re screwed if they’re consumed in a fire. So, people often turn to software to get […]
In the world of personal finance, credit cards and personal loans boil down to two main definitions:
Credit Cards - Credit cards are also known as “revolving credit.” That is, you have a set spending limit (say $1,000) which you can spend any way you choose. You can pay back any amount of your debt owed […]
Did you know that more than 80% of American households have at least one credit card? And, if you consider yourself to be “Average” then you have at least eight credit cards in your wallet, racking up debt and interest payments.
It’s not easy owning plastic, let alone owning eight cards! Here are my top tips […]
Credit, when talking about money, is literally financial trustworthiness, i.e.: how much someone (or something) will trust you with borrowed money.
In this modern world there are two kinds of credit:
Item-based credit — these are usually fixed loans, such as a mortgage, personal, or car loans. They’re used to buy one specific item that you normally […]
Raising your FICO credit score can be a very difficult and time consuming task, but its well worth it! I’ve compiled this list of eight things you should know on how to improve your credit score, but you must keep in mind that even if you follow these tips to the letter you will not […]
Continuing on our theme of good credit we ask the question: what is a good credit score?
This question really depends on your lender and how they rate individual scores. It is a good idea to speak with your lender, who would be best able to answer that question; however, we can make some generalizations when […]
If you’ve ever been in debt you’ve probably heard the term “FICO score” but you probably don’t know what it is. So, what is a FICO score?
In the 1950s, Fair Issac & Co. (FICO) created a scoring method that would help creditors determine the likelihood that a certain user would pay their bills, based on […]
I’ve officially re-joined the ranks of the credited. That’s right, folks: after what seems to be an eternity in debt (and spending an even longer time with an open account at collections agencies) I’ve finally built my credit score back to the point where I can get approved for a new unsecured credit card.
It wasn’t […]
