I’ve been hearing many people talking lately about credit repair and if in fact its possible. There is absolutely nothing wrong with asking yourself this question, but the more important thing is to look for the correct answer.

I’ll tell you with years of experience doing credit repair, it is possible to repair your credit yourself or have someone do it for you.  But before you try running to your phone to start making calls, let me make something clear to you.

Many credit repair agencies claim to be able to repair your credit, even bad credit that is legitimately on your credit report.  These companies typically charge you for something that they truly can’t guarantee.

If you have a collection account that you actually owe, then it rightfully should appear on your credit, though you may not want it to appear.  So, these companies take your money with the hopes that your creditors will not respond when they send a credit dispute letter.

They send credit dispute letters even if the account is valid in the hopes that they don’t respond and then must remove it from your credit report.

However, this practice is not guaranteed even though they charge you for it.  And guess what, the FTC is cracking down on this type of credit repair.

Now with that out of the way, credit repair is actually possible once you know how to do it right.  You can find everything you need to know about doing credit repair in my book Credit Scoring Secrets Revealed.  Check it out today!

Is Credit Repair A Myth Or Is It Possible? is a post from: Credit Scoring Secrets Revealed

The other day,I was talking to a friend about ways to get more income this year.  What she didn’t realize is that she didn’t need to take on a new job or start a business to increase her income, it’s really much easier than that.

Here’s 5 great ways to increase your take home pay in 2009;

1. Increase your dependents on your checkstub – most people don’t realize this, but the dependents that you add on your w4 form at work is only a suggested amount, not mandatory.  I typically tell people to get their money throughout the year as opposed to one big check at tax time since the big check is like a 0% interest loan that you are giving the government.  One word of wisdom, double check with your accountant to make sure that this strategy aligns with your overall financial plan.
2. Get rid of your home phone – most people with home phones also have cell phones.  If you have a cell phone, there really isn’t a need for the home phone.  In fact, this alone can save you $30-$90 a month, which is more income at your disposal.
3. Limit your cable package – many people pay over $50 a month to enjoy the movie channels at home. This is unnecessary since there are now other options such as Netflix or Blockbuster online to take care of your movie needs.  They have packages starting under $10.
4. Increase your insurance deductible – as you know, the lower the deductible, the higher your monthly premium for the insurance.  The difference can be several hundreds of dollars every six months. Its a good idea to sit down with your agent and see what the options are.  There will come a point where the monthly savings would be worth putting the deductible in a separate bank account and participating in the lower rates.
5. Create a discretionary account for fun and play – people typically like going to the movies or other types of entertainment, or like eating out, but they don’t set a budget to doing this, so its can get out of hand.  The better way to do it is by setting a weekly fun budget that you can track and make sure money isn’t slowly leaking out of your pocket.

As you can see, these are some easy ways that you can not only increase your take home pay, but also keep more of your money while not changing your lifestyle one bit.

5 Great Ways To Increase Your Income In 2009 is a post from: Credit Scoring Secrets Revealed

A new year is upon us, and along with a new year comes a new opportunity to get your credit in order.  But the biggest question you may be asking yourself is, should you get your credit fixed or fix your credit yourself.

That’s an important decision to make, but it doesn’t have to be a hard one.

For starters, no matter which option you take, there are two important things you need to consider.  These things are time and money.  For some, its more important to them to save their time and thus choose to go with a company to get their credit fixed.  For others, their money is more valuable (for credit repair that is) so they choose to do the credit repair themselves.

So which should you do?  It really depends on what you have less of, time or money.  If you have the money, you should look for a reputable company who can give you solutions for fixing your credit.  Be sure to ask all your questions upfront so that you are left certain that they are the right company for you.

If you would prefer someone doing this process for you, two resources that you could look into are Veracity Credit Optimization and Lexington Law.  As always, make sure to ask all you need to know up front before engaging with any company. (These companies are just resources, however, they are completely separate from this site, so we can’t guarantee their work).

However, if you’re considering the alternative and doing the credit repair yourself, then though there are several alternatives out there where you can learn how to fix your own credit, I am a little biased and will recommend my own book, Credit Scoring Secrets Revealed.

Either way, be sure to take action and make 2009 the year that you are financially set free!

Should You Start Fixing Your Credit Yourself is a post from: Credit Scoring Secrets Revealed

Its a fact; many people are causing identity theft themselves by doing something that doesn’t add any benefits – adding their social security number to their State ID and Driver’s License.

I was overhearing someone in my office today and they were concerned about all the people that are falling prey from identity theft.  One of the first things that can be done to decrease the possibilities of having identity theft happen is to make sure you don’t include your social security number on documents that don’t really need them.

If for some reason, you find that you have added your social security number to your ID’s, don’t worry, just take action.  Take some time to get new ID’s printed without your social security number.  That way, if you lose your license or ID, the person who finds it will not have access to this valuable information.

The other place where people often put their social security number, which opens up another way for identity theft to occur, is on their personal checks.  This too is a huge mistake.  You can do a search online for places where you can get new checks made up fairly cheap.

These small precautions are well worth the nominal fee to avoid having to pay the cost of money and time from identity theft!

Identity Theft Prevention Tip – Check Your Id’s is a post from: Credit Scoring Secrets Revealed

Many people believe that when they are in the credit repair process, they should automatically close out older accounts.  That is a huge mistake and ends up costing people well over 30 – 50 points on their credit score. 

Here’s the thing, when you close out these old accounts, usually credit card accounts, you immediately lose out on the credit history for that account. 

Let’s say for example that you had a credit card for 8 years, but haven’t used it in over 6 months.  What that means is that you have a good payment history with that account for 8 years.  The moment you close that account, you immediately shave off 8 years of credit history. 

So while most so called professionals tell you to close out old accounts when you’re trying to repair your credit, the best solution is actually to keep the old ones and get rid of brand new accounts, under a year, if at all possible, since those have the least amount of credit history.

In conclusion, the older the accounts (with good payment history of course), the better it is on your credit.

Why Closing Out Old Accounts Is A Huge Credit Repair Mistake is a post from: Credit Scoring Secrets Revealed

I was just speaking to a client right now and they wanted to know if I could provide them with a credit dispute letter for them to use.  I usually don’t do it because its part of the service that I provide but I was pretty impresses that they were taking the initiative and do what I always tell people to do: “Start doing the credit repair yourself!”

So, as I was talking to them, I ended up giving them a copy that they were able to put to good use right away.

But that got me thinking. Surely these clients weren’t the only ones that need this credit dispute letter or are taking it upon themselves to repair their credit themselves.

So what I did was make the credit dispute letter available to everyone right here.  But, not only did I do that, I also put together a quick video to show you exactly what to do with it once you download it.

Think of it as my way of saying thank you for reading my stuff!  Here are the two resources for you:

Now all you have to do is download the credit repair letter here and you are good to go!

Sample Credit Dispute Letter You Can Use Right Now To Help You Repair Your Credit! is a post from: Credit Scoring Secrets Revealed

Did you know that it is highly possible to obtain credit even if you don’t have credit now or are facing credit issues.  There are several options that you can try out to gain access to credit.

The first solution is to apply for credit at a credit union.  Usually, credit unions are a bit less stringent since they always look to help out their clients.  If you aren’t a client or member of a credit union, you should really consider opening an account there for the various benefits that you’d get.

Another option is to apply for a secured credit card.  The fact that you need an initial deposit on the account usually helps you get one even with bad credit. If for some reason you don’t pay, the bank or financial institution can access the funds in your initial “security” deposit so they don’t lose out.  And, since the bank had some kind of collateral, they will offer this type of card to people with lower credit scores.

Finally, you can apply for credit with a co-signer.  What this allows you to do is use the other person’s income and credit history to give you a higher probability that you’ll be approved.  Their reasoning is this: if you don’t pay, then we can go after someone else who will.

Those are three options that you can consider today to get your credit going. Don’t get fooled into thinking there is absolutely no way for you to get credit if you currently have issues with your credit.  Those are just 3 quick ways for you to obtain credit.

**If this was helpful, please leave your thoughts by adding a comment to this post**

How To Obtain Credit If You Don’t Have Credit Now is a post from: Credit Scoring Secrets Revealed

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Top 10 Reasons To Rebuild Your Credit Score! is a post from: Credit Scoring Secrets Revealed

Believe it or not, people are paralyzed at the thought that our economy is a bit shaky.  They look at all the credit problems that we are having, and they give up on fixing their own credit problems before they even start.  However, it doesn’t have to be that way.

As bad as your credit problems are, they can be solved.  All it takes is a few minutes a day and it can dramatically fix your credit problems and your credit scores in no time.

Here are 5 ways to cure your credit problems and move closer to the credit you truly deserve.

1. Create an action plan to eliminate your debt the smart way. If you are overcome by credit card debt, rest assured that you can join the ranks of thousands of others who are shedding their debt using a simple strategy.

First look at the balances of your credit cards and determine which on has the smallest balance.  Your only job is to send the minimum payments on the larger balanced cards and focus any extra money on the credit card with the smallest balance.

Soon, you will eliminate the debt on that credit card and you are one step closer to being completely debt free.  Now, focus on the next smallest balanced credit card and get rid of that.  Be sure to focus the majority of your budget towards the one card while paying the minimum payments on the other cards until you eliminate all of them.

2. Leverage other people’s credit to get approved for your own. If your credit problem revolves around not getting approved, then ask your friends or family members to cosign for you while you establish your credit once again.  The important thing is that you are on the loan too, otherwise it doesn’t help at all.

Using someone else’s credibility allows you to get the credit you need at that time, and helps you get better established to apply for your own credit within a short period of time.

3. Accept the higher than normal interest rate as a short term solution. If your problem is that you can only qualify for high rate credit, then accept it (as long as you can afford it) and make your payments on time with the expectation to refinance for better terms within 6 – 12 months.

This can be the step necessary to rebuild your credit and secure better financing over the long run.  It’s like biting the bullet now to save yourself thousands of dollars over the next few years.  Although you don’t solve your credit problem now, you will shortly by sacrificing a few months of having high rates.

4. Plan to wait for your next big purchase. It may be possible that you are looking to buy a house or car and your credit is not up to par.  The best thing to do in this situation is to wait before you make the purchase.  It may end up costing you a whole lot of money to make the purchase when you’re credit is damaged compared to waiting it out.

A good thing to do if this is your credit problem is to ask yourself, “how else can I solve this problem? “  If you need to buy a car, perhaps you can take the bus or find a ride to work.  Perhaps you can find a used car for a couple hundred dollars just to get by until your credit is back in shape.

5. Look for creative ways to bring in extra cash in your home to get rid of debt. If you are facing issues like not being able to afford your debt, then you should look for ways to increase your income or cash flow.  Some ideas include selling household items that you don’t really need or use on eBay or Craigslist.  You’d be amazed by the items that people buy every day.

Another option is to start a small business in your home with something that you are already good at doing.  Are you good at quilting, making jewelry, or installing stereo systems?  There are people looking for those things all over the place. Making money from these things can supercharge your debt payment plan.

As you can see, with a little thought, creativity, and action, it is completely possible to eliminate your credit problems.  You must create a plan of attack to eliminate your debt by starting with the smallest credit card balance first and looking for other creative ways to bring in extra money every month.

It may also make sense to use a co-borrower or temporarily take on loans with higher than usual terms to get you in the position to obtain much better terms later on.  And finally, it may also be best to put off large purchases when necessary so that you don’t buy into something that ends up giving your much larger credit problems.  Use these tips and you will be much better off!

5 Simple Ways To Overcome Credit Problems is a post from: Credit Scoring Secrets Revealed

In this rough time in our economy when credit is more important than ever, it’s crucial to know how to fix your credit the easy way.  Fixing your credit doesn’t have to be a long process if you consider the easy changes that you can make instantly to increase your credit score.

Here are 3 easy steps to take to begin the process of fixing your credit.

1. Pay Your Bills On Time

For some reason, people always underestimate the power of paying on time.  Human nature always draws us to complicate simple tasks, and this is the case when you are working towards fixing your credit score.  The easiest thing to do to accomplish a high credit score is to develop a habit of paying your bills on time.

If you do, then you never have to worry about having late payments on your credit report or dealing with collections.  The reason is simple, you are already paying your bills on time so there’s nothing to correct.  Besides, 35% of your credit score is driven by your payment habits.

2. Have A Good Mix Of Credit

Your credit is your ability to pay your debts and expenses per the terms and conditions, as well as in a timely fashion.  So, with that said, lenders are more impressed by borrowers who have shown proof of being able to handle different types of credit, not just one type.

What that means is that credit scores can be higher for someone who has paid credit cards, a mortgage, a car loan, and other types of loans like student loans (or other types of installment loans) compared to someone who has only managed credit card debt.

Again, lenders look at how you handle different types of credit.  Having a variety of credit allows you to boost your credit score when you are looking to fix your credit.

3. Use Good Judgment When Applying For New Credit

If you are looking to fix your credit, then it may or may not be a good idea to apply for more credit. There are things to consider before applying for credit while you are trying to fix your credit scores.  Some of those things include the length of time you’ve had your existing credit for, how many accounts you currently have opened and how much do you owe in total balances.

Using wisdom and not just looking for a discount at your local department score can make all the difference in you being able to obtain a better credit score or not.

If you are looking for a new credit account simply to spend more then don’t do it.  However, if you are applying for a new credit card to spread out your balances over several card, then it may be a good thing.  The point is to look at your credit overall and make decisions that will not hurt you in the end.

Fixing your credit doesn’t have to be as difficult as most make it to be.  Start with the small steps like paying your bills on time, having different types of credit, and thinking about your credit profile before opening up new accounts.  Once you take these 3 steps to fixing your credit, you will notice your credit score going higher and higher over time, and it didn’t cost you any money to achieve those results.

How To Fix Credit In 3 Easy Steps is a post from: Credit Scoring Secrets Revealed