by admin | Bankruptcy, Consumer Proposal, Credit Counseling, Credit Repair
Your credit score is used by financial lending services to assess how well you manage your money. They use your score to get an idea about whether or not you are capable of repaying the loan you’re applying for.
The credit score is calculated on the basis of your credit history. Banks and loan services can turn down your application for a loan if your credit score is poor. Your credit score also determines the amount that you can borrow and the interest rate that is applicable to your loan.
Your recent credit history matters more than your older credit records. If you haven’t been paying your loan installments on time, the lenders might charge you a higher rate of interest as they are taking a greater risk by lending to you.
Your credit score
In Canada, you can request a copy of your credit report by getting in touch with either one of the national credit bureaus: TransUnion Canada or Equifax Canada. Your credit report will include:
- Your personal information
- Your financial ties to other people
- Any defaults missed payments or bankruptcy declarations
- The amount of debt you are in
The formula for converting your credit report into a credit score is called the FICO formula. The rating score is based on a non-linear scale between 0 and 9. It indicates your current payment status. A rating of zero means that you have no recent financial activity on which to judge your status. The best score that you can get is 1 and the worst is 9.
Improving your credit score
Your credit history cannot be improved overnight. Improving your credit score is a process that extends over many years. However, many financial institutions are more concerned with your recent credit history. Here’s how you can start rebuilding your credit score.
- You can easily move towards improving your credit score by trying to make as many timely payments as possible. Always meet payment deadlines. If you miss too many loan repayment due dates, your credit score will drop rapidly.
- Close all credit card accounts that you not using. If you have credit accounts with high credit limits associated with your name, the loan services could raise the risk level on the loan you’ve applied for.
- Applying for a secured credit card can also help you in raising your credit rating. The credit builder credit cards charge high-interest rates and offer low credit limits.
- If you are in a joint account with another person whose credit score is poor, it could negatively affect your credit rating. Try your best to get out of these accounts.
- Reduce the amount of debt you owe by paying back as much as you can.
- If you are having a difficult time managing your finances and cutting down your debt, you can hire a good credit counseling service to help you with your problems.
To conclude, it is impossible to improve your credit card score instantly. It will require you to have patience and discipline. Don’t take unnecessary financial risks. The best thing to do is to only spend within your means.
by admin | Bankruptcy, Consumer Proposal, Credit Counseling, Credit Repair, Debt Management
The proper management of your money can help you ward off financial difficulties and make life easier for you. If you are a smart thinker, you’d probably be wanting to find ways to manage your money more efficiently. In fact, you can really save a lot by creating a simple money management plan to help with your expenditures.
What should you do?
Here is what you need to do to manage your money properly:
• Know what you really need
You should be clear about your short and long term goals. You must know how much you’ll need to achieve your goals and how long it will take you to achieve them. Don’t be passive! Actively pursue your goals and keep in mind that their achievement will only be possible if you are willing to make sacrifices by not spending money on things you don’t need.
It is always difficult to get started. The best place to start is by tracking your current expenditures. Did you really need that item you bought yesterday? Is it really necessary for you to be spending money on that new car? You must realize the difference between wants and needs. To achieve your financial goals, you’ll probably have to cut down on your wants and focus more on your needs.
• Creating a budget
If you create a good budget, your chances of accumulating debt will decrease. Your credit rating is likely to go up and you’ll have excess money to save or to invest in schemes that can generate profitable returns for you.
Your budget will determine the amount of money you spend on utility bills, living costs, clothing, travel, etc. If you need help creating a budget, you can always turn to online budget planners or visit a money management service.
At times, balancing a budget can be quite tricky. You’ll probably need to cut down on a service that you are currently using. For instance, if you are a member of a club you don’t often go to, it might be wise to cancel the membership and save money on membership fees.
Constantly review your budget. Life is not predictable! Accidents can happen from time to time and you need to be flexible with your budget. You’ll need to adjust your budget to meet unexpected expenses, but try your best not to go into debt unless it is absolutely necessary.
Good things can also happen to you. You could get a salary raise. If you do get hold of some extra cash, treat yourself to something good, but don’t forget to save some of it.
• Invest your savings
You can either save your money in a bank account or invest it in a smart scheme which will help you grow your wealth. Regular savings account, certificates and bonds, and mutual funds or stocks are common choices for the smart investor. Don’t let your hard-earned money just lying around. Invest it wisely and watch your money grow.
It would be advisable to invest in a safe option like a regular savings account, or fixed-term certificates. Stocks are not ideal for small investors because you run the risk of losing some or all of your money.
These tips are sure to help you manage your money better and save up enough to meet your financial goals. So spend wisely and start saving!
by admin | Bankruptcy, Consumer Proposal, Credit Counseling, Credit Repair, Debt Management
Believe me, if you aren’t careful with your spending, it won’t take long for your hard-earned money to vanish into thin air. Are you an impulsive spender? If yes then I’m betting that you scratch your head at the end of each month wondering where all your money went. The good thing is that you’re not alone. There are thousands, if not millions, of people in the world like you. To ensure that people don’t run out of money at the end of each month, financial experts and credit counselors have come up with several ways of getting your spending under control. The following are four of them.
Avoid buying impulsively
Are you easily excited by the idea of shopping and finding a bargain? If yes then you’re more than likely to buy impulsively. If you want to keep your spending and debt under control then buying impulsively is something you mustn’t do. The best way to control this habit is thinking about the longer-term consequences of buying and owning something before you spend your hard-earned money on it. Also, think about the impulse purchases you made in the past that you later regretted. This will ensure that you don’t buy impulsively which in turn will allow you to control your spending.
Avoid treating shopping as a means to improve your mood
The idea of shopping to improve your mood is something I find quite baffling. Though shopping can lift your mood temporarily, you should never use it as a means to improve your mood. When this becomes a habit, you’re doing two things: using temporary fixes for your problems and spending when you don’t need to. If you want to get your spending under control then ditch shopping as a means to improve your mood.
Keep track of your financial situation
The majority of the people who spend impulsively or excessively are individuals who have little idea of their financial situation. People who don’t keep track of their financial situation are often guilty of spending excessively. If you want to get your spending under control then keeping track of your financial situation would be a good thing to do. To do this, maintain up-to-date records and regularly check how much money you have in your bank account and elsewhere. Additionally, develop a realistic budget based on your income and past expenses. Once you’ve developed the budget, see how it fits with your spending. You need to control your spending if your spending exceeds your budget.
Have a thirty-day rule
Wise men say that if you do something for thirty consecutive days, it becomes a habit. This is why you need to make use of the thirty-day rule. Basically, you need to avoid spending on the ‘unimportant’ things that you love spending on such as home décor, speakers for your car, and sports memorabilia for thirty days. Once you’ve successfully done that, you’ll no longer have the urge to spend on the aforementioned things which will help you to keep your spending under control.
by admin | Bankruptcy, Consumer Proposal, Credit Counseling, Credit Repair
No matter how hard we try to prevent it, our expenses keep on increasing. Each new expense increases our cost of living. To manage this ever-increasing cost of living, most people use credit. Ultimately, this results in more debt, making our life even tougher. Let me be very clear: there are no short cuts when it comes to managing your cost of living. There are only two legitimate ways of effectively managing your cost of living: decrease expenditure or increase income. If you choose to do the former then the very first thing that you need to do is create a budget.
Once you’ve created a budget, you’ll know exactly what you spend on and how much. This will allow you to curtail or eliminate unnecessary expenses. This in turn will allow you to lower your cost of living and increase savings. To help you manage your expenses and increase savings, following are 4 tips to lower your cost of living recommended by credit counselors.
Conserve
Most of our monthly income goes towards the payment of utility bills. This is especially true for people with big houses. Even if you live in an apartment, utility bills are going to be a major monthly expense. The good thing is that you can lower the cost of utilities by making small changes including turning off the lights and electronic devices in your house when you’re not using them. By conserving energy, you will lower your monthly utility bills.
Always visit the grocery store with a list
A mistake that most people make is going to the grocery store unplanned. When people go to grocery store without a shopping list, they tend to spend more than they need to. This increases the monthly grocery expense which in turn increases the cost of living.
Find ways to lower your housing costs
For most people, housing is the largest expense. If you’re one of them then you must find ways to lower your housing costs. Now, if you live in a rented property, make sure that the house you’re living in is something you can afford. If not, move to a smaller house in the same vicinity or simply shift to a cheaper neighborhood. On the other hand, if you’ve mortgaged your home, rent out any space that you can in your house. Apart from helping you to pay for your mortgage, this will allow you to take care of your other expenses.
Consolidate all your debts into a single loan
There are ways for you to consolidate all your debts into a single loan. By doing this, you will lower the debt you have to pay each month. This will turn will allow you to lower your cost of living.
Lowering the cost of living can be a real challenge. However, by connecting to a credit counselor, you can make this task easy.
by admin | Bankruptcy, Consumer Proposal, Credit Counseling, Credit Repair, Debt Management
For many people, managing debt is a real challenge. Luckily, there are people who can help you to manage and pay off your debt. The people I’m referring to are credit counselors. The bad news is that not all credit counselors are the same. Some of them may not act in your best interest. For this reason, you need to find ways to separate the good from the bad. Once you know the ways of filtering out the ‘good’ credit counselors, it will become easy for you to find the right credit counselor for yourself. So, without wasting any further time, let’s take a look at the 5 ways to find the right credit counselor.
Know what you want
When looking for the right credit counselor for yourself, the first thing that you need to do is find out what you want from the counselor. Are you looking for general advice, simple budgeting, debt management, or bankruptcy counseling? Once you determined this, you can start searching for a credit counselor who ticks all the boxes.
Find out the services offered by the different credit counselors
When looking for a credit counselors, one of the most important things that you need to do is find out the services offered by the different counselors. It is true that debt counselling is one of the most important offered by a credit counseling agency. However, reputed counselors offer more than just debt counselling. So, look for counselors who offer budgeting and bankruptcy services in addition to debt management.
Determine how much you can pay for credit counseling
Let’s be honest, no one provides services for free including credit counselors. While your first session with them may be free of charge, you will have to pay for any follow-up sessions. For this reason, you need to determine how much you can afford to pay for credit counseling. Before working with a credit-counseling agency, inquire about their fees and costs. Ideally, you should get the prices or quotes in writing.
Find out about confidentiality
Most people who get credit counseling want to keep their information confidential. If you’re one of them then find out if the credit-counseling agency you’re thinking of working with keeps consumer information confidential.
Finding the right credit counselor is not easy. However, by using the 5 ways to find the right credit counselor mentioned above, you can make the task simple.
by admin | Bankruptcy, Consumer Proposal, Credit Counseling, Credit Repair, Debt Management
Today, the average American has more than a single credit card. This coupled with the American lifestyle of “gotta have it now” has led to a lot of problems. Specifically speaking, it has led to a lot of debt. In fact, in many cases, the debt has gone out of the control and individuals have been forced to file for bankruptcy. Believe me, bankruptcy is something you’d want to avoid. After all, living at the mercy of others is never a good feeling.
Are you facing financial difficulty and pondering filing for bankruptcy? If yes then you’re not alone. Make it absolutely clear that your debt has got nothing to do with your personality or way of living. Even the very finest of people may go bankrupt at some point in their lives. Most people who suffer bankruptcy are regular, hard-working people who encounter some sort of blockade. A single blockade whether it was an accident, reduction in wages or the loss of job can send you in the wrong direction.
Come what may, you cannot prevent the aforementioned blockades. What you can do though is limit living on credit. Your debt will start to multiply as soon as you start using your credit cards to pay for what you can’t afford. Eventually, your debt will cause you to go bankrupt. The best thing you can do to prevent such a situation from occurring is avoiding the things that lead to bankruptcy in the first place. Following are 3 tips to avoid bankruptcy that credit counselors recommend.
Develop a budget
This is a no brainer. If you don’t have a budget, there is a 90% chance that you’ll go bankrupt. Basically, you need to list down all your monthly expenses and allocate resources/money to them based on their importance. Limit the money you spend on unimportant things such as home décor, branded clothing, designer shoes, and so on. This will help you to better manage your debt and avoid bankruptcy.
Pay off your debt over time
If your debt hasn’t yet gone out of control, sit down and determine how much you owe. In such a situation, it is more than possible for you to pay off your debt on your own if you re-adjust your budget and use a debt management plan. Also, taking to a credit counselor would be a good thing to do in this situation.
Take help from credit counselors
As mentioned above, credit counselors can help you to better manage your debt. Additionally, they can advise you how to avoid bankruptcy. Knowledgeable people, credit counselors have a sound financial background and can tell you anything and everything you’d need to know about avoiding bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy is not a good situation to be in. Luckily, you can avoid bankruptcy by using the tips mentioned above.
