Financially Speaking

One of the easiest ways, besides winning the lottery to improve your bad credit financial situation is to have a credit card for people with bad credit.

Sounds easy enough doesn’t it!

There is a but though. The bad credit, credit card must report to the three major credit bureaus and allow you to have increment credit limit increases. These normally happen when you pay your credit card on time for at least 3 months or more. This is then reported to the credit bureau like equifax and this shows them that you have gained a little more trust with the lending institution and possibly rate a better rating other than poor.

It should take you anywhere from 6 months to one year to do this. But at the end the rewards are huge. You can then apply for a card with cash back rewards and other bonuses usually reserved for fair to good credit ratings.

The horizon credit card is for people in different credit situations whether establishing or rebuilding credit. Although this type of credit card offer tends to have higher interest rates and possibly additional fees depending how bad your financial situation is, when compared to cards with rewards, they’ll give you the opportunity to repair your history and improve your credit. Eventually, with regular on-time payments and an improved credit rating, you’ll be able to apply for better offers with a low APR, no fees and rewards.

Best credit card offer for poor credit

This card is designed for most consumers

Apply for this credit card here
There is no reason you can’t improve poor credit, if you have a credit card that is designed to do just that and raise your credit score.

It is now time to look at what we have purchased with a charge card. Now concentrate on taking the next few months to get rid of our bad credit rating and lowering your debt load. I am not going to say pay more on your credit card every month so that you pay less interest, that comes much later. For now all you want to do is be very careful and make sure you make your payments on time. This will have a far bigger impact on improving your credit rating. If you can afford it then at the least pay an extra 5 dollars per month more until you have your spending under control.

You shouldn’t rely solely on your credit card to fix your bad credit you need to do a little research on your credit report and then repair your credit history. You also need to protect yourself and monitor your credit, you can do this with equifax - Equifax Credit Watch™ click here to get more details.

Applying for you first credit card is a pretty important decision

Mess this one up and it will affect many aspects of your financial life. Including your ability to apply for a loan. rent a home and possibly even hinder you in getting a good job.

The first time you get a credit card should be for one purpose only and that is to establish credit and a credit history. For students and young adults this is a very important first step. Your rates are going to be a little higher at first becuase credit card companies don’t know anything about you. The credit bureaus would only have limited information for them to review.

There really is only one way you can establish credit and it’s sort of a catch22 situation. You need to either have a loan, mortgage, credit card or store charge card. The problem most people face is how to get financing and credit when no one really wants to lend you money, becaue you have no credit or worse bad credit.

Here the solution so you can apply for your first credit card

There are two credit cards that you should use to establish credit. They both report to the three credit reporting agencies, which is what you need. The horizon credit card is one and the other is a orchard bank credit card.

• First choice is the imagine card. They offer cash advances, a quick online decision and apporvals even without a credit history.
• The second choice is the orchard bank credit card. They offer more rewards like
  purchase protection and periodic credit limit increases. Points for every dollar spent at gas stations, grocery stores, and drug stores. Because of the rewards this card is a little harder to get than the imagine card. You can go here to review orchard bank credit cards or credit cards for people with bad credit

First credit card do’s and dont’s

• Dont apply for too many in a short period of time. It will have a negative affect on you.
• Don’t miss even one payment (this creates a poor credit history and lowers your fico score)
• Don’t use your first credit card for taking your friends out to dinner.
• Don’t go above 50% of your credit limit.

Things you should do

• Review all credit cards before applying for one
• Know your billing cycle, so you can pay your bill before the next statement is processed.
• Every 3 to six months review your credit report and look for errors, they can be fixed
• Read the fine print on the back of the credit card statement at least for the first time
• Every time you receive your statement remind yourself that credit is a financial tool and should not be abused. Then open up your bill and see if this is true.
• Review your expenditures every month and see what you could cut back on or didn’t need to buy. By doing this you break everything down in needs and wants.

 Credit reports and credit scoring is an impersonal act when it determines your credit worthiness.

At first a credit score was developed as a guide to help point our certain deficiencies with a persons loan or credit card application. At first banks and credit card companies relied on their own professional decision makers to approve or disapprove your application. I remember when loan officers used to go into the managers office and discuss your loan. Basically they would just ask each other, what they thought about you and your situation. They relied on human intuition and there own gut feelings.

Along came computers and a credit scoring system that replaced a persons personalized decision. This system uses technology that assigns a numbered valuation of your credit worthiness based on what someone else reports. This then bases a number from your past performance and assigns a number as a lending risk. These are all based on your income, how long you have lived in your home and employment history.

This is a good system for lenders but it’s a poor way to evaluate a person financial situation. A computer cannot report or consider any extenuating circumstances. This is also one of the reasons billsaddup.com only recommends you use your local bank to apply for a mortgage or to refinance.

One example is if the company you work for has a fire and you are laid off for a short term. It would be hard to make all your payments on time until you got back to work. If you miss a payment or are late, it will only report that with no other reason. The computer would score you the same as if you always had late payments or and your credit score would go down. This is a good example of why you should always strive to have at least a minimum of 6 months income in the bank to hole you over until you are back on your feet.

True and false questions about your credit report

False - credit bureaus do not determine your credit rating, they only record what is reported to them

True - If you apply for too many credit cards or loans. This is recorded in your report every time you apply. Do this too many times in a short time frame and you file will be flagged.

False - Your credit rating cannot be changed is false you can always have incorrect information changed. Sometimes not easily but it can be done.

All creditors report to the credit agencies is false, they are not required to do so.

Bankruptcy only appears on your file for six years is false, it will be there for at least 7 or more and if you file twice it will be there for at least 14 years.

If you are near your credit spending limit this could look bad and affect your credit history or rating. This is true.

What can you do?

Get a copy of your free credit report or spend a couple of dollars and signup with a credit reporting service and get a detailed report.