5 myths today are about to disappear…

1/ If you check your credit, you will lower your score

This will not affect your score! You are entitled to one copy of your credit score per year. You can order multiple scores and it won’t affect your score. However, when you fill an application for a credit card, that can affect your credit score.

2/ If you don’t use your credit card, you will lose points…

Your lender will stop reporting your trade if you stop using your credit card as a fraud measure. To improve your score, it’s better to use all of them even for a few bucks.

3/ You can’t dispute to dispute information on your credit file

That’s false! The credit bureau has to check your complaint within 30 days and provide you with an answer.

4/ If you use credit counseling, this will affect your credit score…

Again, this is false! There is no space on your credit score to provide such information…

5/ If you look for a loan, this will affect your credit score…

Absolutely not! You have a 30-day window to compare rates but you apply for too many things at the same time (house, credit card, college,…), the underwriter would like to understand why you apply and why you were denied.

Making sure you credit score is also important so that you can get the best mortgage rate possible and get more money and pay less finance charges in you want. First, be sure you financially responsible. When you are young, paying off your credit card on time, opening bank accounts, and doing other financial things may not seem like a priority, but if you do not, you may not be able to get a good mortgage rate when you apply for a home loan. You mortgage rate correlates directly to your credit score in most cases. Therefore, by learning how your credit score is calculated and doing your best to be responsible about it, you can ensure you will be able to get a good mortgage rate in the future. You should always try to think ahead when it comes to finances. If you have good financial planning, it will make a huge difference.

When you approach a lender to apply for a mortgage, he or she will run a credit check in order to see if you qualify and to know what kind of mortgage rate to offer you. The better your credit score, the lower your mortgage rate will be. Therefore, it is extremely important for you credit score to be correct. Without a correct credit score, it may appear lower than it should, and your mortgage rate will be higher.

Before you begin apply for a mortgage rate, you should check your own credit score to make sure it is correct. You will be able to get a fair mortgage rate this way. You can look at your credit history by going online and requesting your credit history. If everything is correct, you should be able to apply for a mortgage rate fairly. However, if you see something that you believe to be an error, you can fix it before applying for a mortgage rate. That way, you’ll be sure that you have the best chance possible of getting an excellent mortgage rate.

You may not see the big picture but when you will have to repay your debt, this is when problems happen. At this moment, personal debt consolidation comes into play. One of the great things about student loans is that when times are tough, you can employ forbearance. Forbearance essentially puts off the payments on your loans so that you can get yourself financially prepared for paying off your debts or taking care of some other debts before focusing on your student loans.

The next strategy to regain your financial freedom is to develop a personal debt consolidation plan. Contact your lenders and get all of your loans into one place. This will allow you to begin making one payment on all of your loans. This is typically the same as you would any other type of debt consolidation loan.

Typically, students do not necessarily have to worry about their interest rate too much when it comes to consolidating their student loans. If the loan is a government-subsidized loan, the student will generally have a pretty low interest rate. Students should look into having their loan payment automatically drafted from their checking or savings account. This will allow them to save even more on their interest rate because many banks are reducing them because you are saving them postage. Another benefit to this is that your payment is always on time providing that you have the funds available in your account.

People should always alert the lender before missing a payment. The consequences of default on student loans are much worse than they are for your credit cards, for example. If you default on your student loan payment, the bank can garnish your payment from your paycheck and scar your credit rating. It can also make it very difficult to get loans in the future, which can be devastating to a new college graduate that is looking to get a good job, buy a new car, buy a new house and start a new family.

Be disciplined and you will be independent!

1/ Take care of your car and you will save gas, money and the environment!

You fill your tires, you reduce your MPG and you make money!

2/ Replace Starbucks with your own coffee
Why pay $2-$3 for a coffee when you can make a coffee for $.15. You can save $100 a month!

3/ Eat at Home and pay off your debt
You eat at home, it’s cheaper and it’s quieter! Why bother going to a restaurant!

4/ Switch to VOIP and Save Money
VOIP is a great technology today and you can make long distance calls for free. Why bother? Use VOIP and you will reduce your debt!

5/ Rent a DVD and don’t use cable
Don’t go to the movies or pay for cable. It’s so expensive and you can get more fur for your money!

Enjoy!

1/ Have a plan:
Figure how much a week or a month how much you can use to repay debt. Have a list of priorities to repay your debt: the more expensive, the first your repay!

2/ Think before you buy:
You want to buy this item but are you really sure you need this item? If not, don’t buy it and preserve the cash to repay your debt. Do you really need to spend the weekend in Miami with your friends?

3/ Make more money but don’t improve your lifestyle:
You made more money recently. This is not a good reason to improve your lifestyle. You had a great life before, why change?

4/ Buy in advance:
You want to spend a long weekend outside the country. Don’t book your tickets 3 days before the departure but 3 weeks before. You can save a lot of money and use that cash to repay your debt.

5/ Negotiate, negotiate and negotiate:
There is always a discount available but only if you ask. Don’t be scared, the money that you don’t spend is all yours!

Moneychump, a great website about making good money offers advice on make money with $0 investment. Don’t forget that if you spend time understanding your market, there are thousands of opportunities to make money and repay credit faster!

Good luck

To solve that, they are several things to do: education is first. We need to educate teenagers to make a change and make them learn how to manage their finances and money. This would be an introduction to money management but it is necessary to make them feel how to manage money the right way.

Then, we should not give them credit cards but debit cards. If you give debit card, they will have to pay back quickly their debt and they willl have no choice. Right now, using credit card, they feel thay have a free lunch and they can do whatever they want but that’s a BIG MISTAKE!

Finally, we should give them credit card limit. If they have a limit, they would have to control their expenses which is the whole point about managing money wisely.

Good luck with your kids!

- Sign on receipt, the card with a ballpoint pen.
- Modify the code received.
- Choose a code that is not easy to guess, and is still easy to remember for you. Avoid a series of numbers like 1234 or date of birth. To remember a more complicated invent a story (1830: Belgium’s independence, 2044: 20 years together at the age of 44 years, etc.)..
- Keep a copy of the ticket until you get your bank statement.
- In case of disagreement on the amount, ask your credit card for refund (American Express is really good at that…)
- Notify the card issuer of credit in case of trouble (faulty card, magnetic read, etc.)..
- In case of loss or theft, call as soon as possible your card issuer.
- Remember your PIN!

You can try to make money online (but do not be fooled by the “Get Rich in XX days”, they are numerous on the internet and they do not work).

2/ Enjoy the Internet. It’s the best resource in the world. With the internet it is so easy to get information to manage their money. So before buying anything, compare prices online.

3/ Before buying anything, compare prices online. There is always a way to save money!

4/ Once your credit card accounts are fully paid, close these accounts.

5/ Check your credit file at least once a year to make sure that there were no errors.

6/ Do not give up. The first few months, it is very difficult to adjust to a budget.

Once past the initial shock, it becomes easier and when your debts start to decrease, it is very encouraging!

1/ If you do not have a budget, you will not be able to reduce your debt load. The best tool to manage money is a budget.