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How to get your credit fixed today.
Visit the link below to get started. It's easy!
Here are some easy steps to follow.
But most importantly check and watch your credit report!
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Create a budget. Calculate your income and your expenditures.
The best way to figure your expenses is to track your spending for 30
days. Find out how much money is going to leisure activities and going
out to eat. Then figure out how much money you can set aside each month
to whittle down your debt. There is a lot of free budgeting software out
there, just look.
- Be aware of what's in your
credit report.
- The most important thing to do with your credit reports is to
review them for accuracy. It's tough enough paying for your own
mistakes -- you don't need to be penalized for someone else's. (See
Tips, below.)
- You can also quickly see the two biggest red flags creditors, (and
employers, and insurance underwriters, and ...), look for: late or
missed payments, (especially recent ones), and maxed-out credit lines.
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Contact your creditors. Preferably not after months of harassing
calls, but as soon as you realize you won't be able to make the
requested payments. Most creditors are not as cut-throat as you think,
and they will work with you to schedule smaller payments that fit your
budget. After all, they'd much rather receive $20 payments for the next
year than risk getting nothing in bankruptcy court. This is one of the
places having a written budget can really pay off -- tell them you've
worked out a budget, can afford to pay them $X, and offer to send them a
copy of your budget. They're much more likely to accept your offer of
lower payments if you can show good faith.
- Get any agreement in writing. If you are able to negotiate
lower payments, interest rates, or balance payoffs, request they send a
letter confirming it. Having it in writing is your defense against
changing minds, lost records, new management being more aggressive, or
any number of other things. Once you pay off your debt, make sure you
get a settlement letter and send a copy of it to the credit bureaus so
they can update your credit report.
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Cut up the cards. Even if you do nothing else, stop charging,
and keep paying at least the minimum on everything. Eventually, you will
get them all paid off. Keep one card available, but difficult to use,
(e.g., put it in a bowl of water in the freezer), for those times when
you have to have a credit card.
- Keep some credit accounts open. Close no more than one or two
every six months or so. A sudden burst of activity of any kind reflects
poorly on your financial stability. When
deciding which accounts to keep open, keep at least the one or two
oldest accounts -- the third-biggest factor in your credit score
is length of credit history. Having 5 accounts with zero balance on four
and $500 on one lowers your credit risk, as opposed to 2 accounts with a
$250 balance each.
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Pay off your debts. Once you've decided how much you can pay
against your debts, and negotiated any lowered payments, you must
allocate that portion of your budget to each creditor. Pay the minimum
(or agreed amount) to each and every creditor, every month, on time.
Then pay any extra against the lowest outstanding balance. Each
time you pay off your lowest balance, celebrate, then "snowball" your
payments onto the lowest remaining balance. Total debt outstanding
constitutes nearly one third of your credit score.
- Get a
secured credit card, if you don't have a traditional one, and
need to build up your history. You're unlikely to be turned down for one
because you supply the money up front as a collateral. If you deposit
$300 with the bank, you'll have $300 credit limit on your secured card.
Beware of the high interest rate and various fees often associated with
a secured card. Pay in full, on time, every month to avoid most of those
fees.
- Join a credit union. They're more likely to give you loans in
the future than a regular
bank.
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Make all payments on time. Don't arrange a lowered settlement
amount you can't pay. It will only reflect badly on your credit. Payment
history is the number one factor in your credit score -- over one
third of your score.
- Avoid bankruptcy if at all possible; it shows up on your
credit for 10 years. Don't take the easy way out now, you'll pay for it
later. It takes a lot more hard work and dedication to rebuild your
credit than it does to declare bankruptcy, but you'll be glad you did.
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