9 Tips to Raise Your FICO Credit Score

The fastest way to raise your credit score is to never let it fall. However, circumstances such as losing your job or medical emergencies can do you in. The fastest ways that you find to raise your credit score could backfire. The best advice is to improve your credit responsibly over time. So here are some pointers for raising your credit score:

1. Always pay your bill on time.
2. Always pay your bill on time. Sorry, but I can’t emphasize this enough. Even if you owe $5, pay it on time.
3. Lower your debt to credit limit ratio.
4. Close credit cards that are store specific. You should never have more than one of these, because they reduce your credit score. Each one you apply for can reduce your credit score by 20 points.

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How to Manage Too Many Credit Cards

Recently a friend asked me the following question: “If I have 4 Visa cards, 1 American Express, and 3 Store Cards, is that too much? I am never late and pay off almost all of them. Should I be closing some or just keep them open without using them?” -Jeffery

The Answer
The amount of credit cards you have open do not directly impact your credit score. However, your amount of debt to credit ratio does. For example if you have $10,000 worth of credit and $2,000 worth of debt, then you debt to credit ratio would be 20%. The higher this percentage is, the lower your credit score will be. It is a good rule of thumb to use less than 30% of your line of credit on any single credit card.

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The Secret to Living Without Credit

Devil’s Advocate It’s funny how everyone has fallen into the credit world of credit cards and credit score. Credit cards are like tricky games of who can out smart who and credit scores are just silly numbers that companies and institutions with trust issues use to size you up. Wouldn’t your life be so much better if you never have to worry about juggling your money on credit cards or have to stress about getting a high credit score? Wouldn’t that be great?

If you think it is impossible, then I am glad to tell you that you are wrong because people live without credit every day.

The Secret
The secret to living without credit is…

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4 Serious Ways Bad Credit Can Ruin Your Life

Higher Interest Rates and Fees

The rule of thumb is the lower your credit score is the more money you will pay for everything. This includes everything from credit cards, loans, mortgage, rent, utilities bills, insurance and the list can go on forever. The point is that a bad credit score means that others can take advantage of you. If you want a credit card or loan, they’ll give it to you, but with a higher interest rate and more fees than anyone else. For example, if you were to pay off a $20,000 car over the period of 5 year and you had bad credit, you will pay $8,000 more in interest compared to a person with good credit.

A lot of people with bad credit who need money resort to using payday loans, which are short term cash advances that are paid until your payday. The interest on these can be over 1800%. Similarly, in desperate times, a person may resort to car title pawning. This is when you surrender the title of your car to borrow up to half of the car’s worth. During this time period the owner of the car can still keep it but if he or she misses a payment on the loan then the car can be confiscated. The interest for borrowing money through car title pawning can be over 800%.

Lose Job Opportunities

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About Credit Score, Part 2

Upon recent request, here is even more information about credit score that will prove to be vital information for both amateur and rookie credit score holders.

As mentioned in the previous post, credit score ranges from 300 to 850, with 850 being the best. So what about everything else in the middle? Here is the breakdown of what’s good and what’s not.

850 – 650 Very Good! People with a credit score in this range have the most potential to obtain the loans and lines of credit with the lowest interest rates and highest credit limits.

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Getting Started With Credit

Having credit is a very important part of living in today’s society. The amount of credit you have represents how trustworthy and responsible you are when it comes to money. Your credit is measured using a credit score. Your credit score is checked every time you apply for a credit card, mortgage, buy a car or even apply to get your phone line installed. Checking your credit score is becoming more and more prevalent, because lenders and organizations are becoming more careful about whom they can trust giving credit to.

Your credit is dependent on the items listed below:

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Your Guide to freecreditreport.com

Freecreditreport.com offers you a free Experian credit report and credit score as a part of their free 7 day trial when you sign up for their program. The program costs $11.95 per month if you sign up through us using the link below. Normally, it is $14.95 if you go directly to freecreditreport.com. With this service you get to view your credit report and credit score anytime you want and you are enrolled in credit alerts. This is an easy and cheap way to monitor and protect your credit and identity. For extra cost, freecreditreport.com offers extra services towards protecting you and your children.

Here are the step towards protecting your credit and identity.

1. Click here to sign up.
2. Fill in your personal information (Name, Address, etc.).
3. Press the “Get Yours Now” button.
4. Create a username and password, fill in your personal information and enter your credit card information on this page. Press the Submit Secure Order button when you are finished.
5. Answer the questions to verify your identity and press Continue.
6. You will receive a promotional add about one of freecreditreport.com’s additional services. You may choose to accept this service that adds additional fees, or click the “No, Thanks” button to continue.
7. You should now be on your credit report page.

If you are only on this site for the free credit report and score, you must cancel your account within 7 days by calling 1-888-829-6560. Inside Secret: If you call and try to cancel they will offer you a 50% discount on your membership! This may be a limited time offer but it is always worth a try.

Whether you are looking for a free credit report and score or a cheap and effective way to protect your identity and credit, freecreditreport.com is a great solution. Remember it is important to check your credit report often or have alerts sent to you when there are changes on it. This is the best way to help insure you are not a victim of identity theft. Freecreditreport.com offers a $50,000 guarantee against identity theft.

Your Guide to a Free Credit Report

According to the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACT Act) you are entitled to one free credit report each year so you can monitor your credit and fight identity theft. Annualcreditreport.com was created by three credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, to fulfill this purpose. The steps below will walk you through obtaining your credit report for free. The process can be tricky, because each company likes to sell you promotions. This process can also be very lengthy and only gives you your credit report, not your credit score. So we recommend you use Identity Guard for a faster and more efficient means at obtaining both your credit report and credit score!

But if you must do it the hard way, here are the steps:

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About Credit Score

A credit score is a three digit number ranging from 300 to 850. This number is used to represent how good you are at paying your bills and the likelihood that you will pay back money that you borrow. The higher the number the better your credit score. There are different types of credit scores; the main one is called FICO score.

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