Credit/Money Tips & Support:

Be Sure to Read our Personal Financial and Computer Security Tips

CREDIT TIP: A Secured Credit Card for persons with damaged credit may be helpful for establishing, or re-establishing, credit. Bear in mind that, even when the loan being sought is not based primarily on credit, your credit rating will affect the rates, fees and terms available to you. Little respect is given to borrowers who say, "I have little or no credit because I have always paid my bills on time, but with cash." It will always be a benefit to establish and maintain credit, even if you pay off credit balances every month and pay most debts with cash. It is "the nature of the game." Trying to play the game by your own rules will do you no good at all.

In the past, many secured cards were undesirable because they: 

• "harvested" large initial, monthly or annual fees that used up most of the available credit; 
• had very high interest rates and even larger penalty rates if a payment was ever late; 
• didn't necessarily report credit activity to the major credit bureaus; 
• might identify the card as a secured card to the credit bureaus. 

We are pleased to recommend the Public Savings Bank Secured Visa Card to our visitors who may be having difficulty obtaining true credit card vs a debit card. This card has an affordable interest rate and none of the undesirble characteristics mentioned above. CLICK HERE for further information the card's about fees and terms, or to apply for it. Beyond a reasonable, initial setup fee that must be paid up-front, along with the security deposit, there are no monthly or annual fees and the APR is ZERO for the first six months of purchases. 

If you have absolutely no credit now, you might want to apply for two cards (with different deposits, say $200 and $250, so the accounts are not confused with each other.) Use the cards for normal debts, instead of carrying cash, and then pay the balance off every month. If you pay early enough, there will be no interest charge. In a reasonable amount of time, you will be able to apply for, and obtain, an unsecured card from another company.

CREDIT TIP: Changes have been made by the Fair-Isaac Co (FICO) to the amount of effect that multiple credit report "pulls" have on credit scores. The scores are now much less affected by multiple inquiries within 45 days. We understand that multiple inquiries within that time period will only count as one inquiry. This should encourage, rather than discourage, borrowers from shopping for the best rates and terms from multiple lenders. Remember, too, that your lender will want to pull their own credit report on you. But many lenders will be willing to look over a credit report, that you obtained yourself, when they are attempting to prequalify you for funding.  if you are concerned about spreading confidential information far and wide, you can black out your social security number and credit account numbers on a credit report that you supply to a potential lender.

CREDIT TIP: AnnualCreditReport.com is the ONLY website which provides free (once per year) access to your credit report from all 3 major credit bureaus. Dispite their attractive jingles, all other sites that only sound like this one will have hidden fees ranging from about $15 per month and up. Click HERE to link to this website or see the link at the bottom of this page. Please be advised that each of the bureaus DO charge a fee for providing your credit score in connection with your free credit report request. We suggest that the fees charged for your scores are excessive and that you do not pay for the score reporting options. We will obtain your scores for your when we pull your credit report in connection with an application, or you can get them

We Recommend Credit-Aid Software

CREDIT TIP:  Credit-Aid Software, from "The Credit Doctor", is a highly recommended tool to help you retrieve and improve your credit rating, as well as track all of your efforts to do so.  While much credit repair information is available for free online, having all of this information from one source, and the letter-writing and record-keeping abilities of Credit-Aid make the program well worth the cost of about $40 to $50. You do not need to spend a lot of money to improve your credit.  The Federal Trade Commission agrees that you can do most credit correction by yourself. (It just takes some effort and knowledge!) With our help, and Credit-Aid, you can often achieve significant results by doing most of the "legwork" yourself.  We suggest that you view the Credit-Aid 5-minute tour, download the free demo and then buy the program. At $29.95, you can hardly go wrong even if your credit is not severely damaged.

Click HERE for a Free Demo Download & More Details About Credit-Aid

CAUTION: Be wary of firms who promise to improve your credit and charge large fees or require advance fees. You should usually pay very little, or nothing, upfront. These fees may be downright illegal. Also, do NOT fall for schemes that promise to improve your credit scores by creating a new credit ID for you. This is almost always both a fraud and a serious crime! Click here to read about some other Credit Urban Myths.  .

CREDIT TIP:  Paying only the minimum payments on your credit debt can mean many years of payments. Click on the following calculator to figure out how long it will take for minimum payments to pay off credit debt and how much interest it will cost you. Remember, too, that paying off debt more quickly is equivalent to a tax-free, often high-yield investment.  Click on the following link to find out what kind of return you can get by paying more than the minimum payment on credit debt.

CREDIT TIP:  Go BACK to our LENDING PAGE to find out about several techniques to pay off your mortgage early and Save Thousands of Dollars in Interest Charges. LOOK FOR MORTGAGE ACCELERATION.

How To Get Out of Debt More Quickly?

There are only two things that must be done. First, you must "get out from behind the 8-ball". That is, you must get yourself in a position where you make more than you spend. Whether it is by earning more money, or by budgeting, spending more wisely and cutting expenses, you must create a surplus at the end of each pay period. Do think it is impossible to obtain the extra cash to put toward credit debt? CLICK HERE for some suggestions. 

The second step is use the surplus cash you have "found" to pay more than your minimum required payments. You can use the "snowball" technique (pay off the smallest debt, and then put the saved payments toward the next larger debt), or you can choose to pay down debt with the highest interest rates. (Paying off the debt with the highest interest rate first saves money in the long run, but the snowball technique may be more satisfying.) It is your choice, but you must pay more than the minimum payments or you will be in debt for a very long time. Here is a short video that describes the snowball technique:

HELP WITH CREDIT SCORE IMPROVEMENT:  If you prefer to have help with interpreting your credit report, disputing credit report errors and increasing your credit score; help is available for a reasonable fee. Contact Us.

HELP WITH LOAN MODIFICATION AND UNSECURED DEBT REDUCTION NEGOTIATIONS:  If you need an advocate to help you negotiate a loan modification or help in negotiating a reduction of your unsecured credit debt... Contact Us.  We have programs available for you. The service provider is attorney owned the features no upfront fees and guaranteed results, or you pay nothing.

Other Useful Credit-Related Documents or Links:

The Full Law:  FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT

The Full Law:  FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES

Learn About Deceptive Mortgage Ads

Federal Trade Commission - The US government agency that controls credit reporting & credit card practices, Do Not Call, Internet fraud, personal identity security and other consumer rights and issure..

    FTC Summary of New Credit Card Regulations             FTC Summary of New Gift Card Regulations

PRBC - Credit Bureau that allows payment history to be established for accounts not shown on the "Big 3" credit bureaus...ideal for consumers and businesses with limited credit histories.

annualcreditreport.com - The one and only website established by the three major credit repositories to provide consumers with the annual free credit report mandated by the federal government. Note, however, that credit scores are NOT provided at no cost...each bureaus charges a fee to provide their version of the score.

Americans for Fairness In Lending - An organization promoting fair lending practices and fair interest rates.