September 2, 2009 – 1:47 pm
Identity theft is a terrible crime and it happens to thousands of people around the country every day. With the onslaught of technology and the sophistication of the identity theft industry, you can often fall into a trap without even knowing it’s right in front of you. The best way to protect yourself and your families are to follow a few easy tips that can protect you from identity theft criminals and the mind-blowing damage they can cause both emotionally and financially.
1. Protect your pieces of identity.
It’s important to protect the items that share your identity. This includes you social security card, your state identification, your work identification, your car registration and insurance cards, your birth certificate, stocks, bonds, investments, banking information, credit information, vital records and anything else that can be used to gain more information about you to use against you. If you are a mother, or even a single parent, you likely carry the same information for your children. They are most vulnerable because they have not yet entered the credit world and though their date of birth will be accessible to potential creditors, it is often not checked. You should only keep copies of your social security, vital records and all investment or banking information in your home. These should be kept in a fire-proof safe that is bolted to the floor of a closet or secured to the house in some other way. The originals should all be in a safety deposit box with a bank you can trust.
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August 24, 2009 – 3:29 am
Credit can be a fickle thing and complicated to those who are unsure of how credit works. Credit is a billion dollar a year industry and while most of that represents debt that families and individuals are struggling to get out from under, it also represents the possibilities that credit can offer. When handled appropriately and with smart decision making, credit can be a great thing that offers opportunities and advancement to you. Most people thing of credit as how you are able to get a house, a vehicle or other loans for items of value, but credit is also used to judge character about a person when they are applying for a rental, a job or other life advancement.
Take the time to choose and create the right accounts to reflect good credit and then maintain those accounts to boost your credit rating and score for the ultimate level of possibility in the future. So, how do you know which are good accounts to have and which are ones to avoid?
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August 14, 2009 – 4:50 am
So you can’t get a loan. It was probably your credit score that clinched the deal to the wastebasket. You see, when you apply for a loan, financial institutions and lending companies look at your credit score for guidance. People with low credit scores are more likely to be rejected for a loan or at best be given a small amount for a loan, with a high interest rate and a shorter time frame to pay the loan.
In contrast, people with high credit scores are given higher amounts of money for a loan, lower interest rates and longer time frame to pay the loan. This is because people with a good credit score are perceived as less of a risk, more responsible, more able to handle their finances and worthier to be given a loan.
Here are some tips that can help you improve your credit score.
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Good credit is something that has to be worked at and maintained. While, it is difficult to rebuild good credit after financial stumbles, good credit from the start can be maintained much easier. When you turn eighteen you will notice a barrage of credit card and other loan offers coming in the mail, calling you on the phone and popping up in your email. While, some may be tempting with high limits and promises of low interest rates and payments, these can be the traps that walk you straight into large amount of suffocating credit card debt in the future.
To navigate through these offers, you should open them all and read all the information carefully. It’s important to understand the information included with the offer. While, they may be offering you 0% interest or some other enticing bit, the fine print will often reveal that the promotion is only for a short period of time or through certain restrictions. To help you decide which offers to pitch, which to keep and how to protect yourself from overwhelming numbers of offers, here are a few simple steps to follow.
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Some people think that one of the best ways to save money is by borrowing it through a credit card. But, not many people realize that borrowing money—either through a credit card or cash—doesn’t help them to have stable finances. In fact, these would only make their problem bigger because later on, they will be paying more than they have borrowed.
If you are one those persons who are thinking that a credit card can help you somehow save the cash you have at hand, then now is the time to think twice. This is because credit cards—no matter how enticing and convenient these might seem—may be the most expensive loans made by banks, department stores, and gasoline companies for you. And if you don’t say “any” to the temptation as early as now, you might experience financial burdens that can be hard to deal with in the future.
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Not everyone believes that credit card debt counseling is beneficial and there are various reasons for that. Some people just read articles in the newspapers or find advice on the internet and take that as the final thing. So they don’t feel the need for credit card debt counseling. Some others feel that credit card debt counseling companies are just trying to make quick money by telling you the obvious i.e. by telling you something that is being advertised everywhere.
However, the most important reason arises from the fact that not all credit card debt counseling companies are genuine and of those that are genuine, not all credit card debt counseling companies provide good advice. So, choosing a proper credit card debt counseling company becomes a critical factor in determining the success of credit card debt counseling.
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