2008-07-27 In this modern time where the economy has been such a challenge for everyday people like you and me to keep up, itís easy to get into credit trouble when your credit bills begin to stack up. So if you are in the position to just start learning the ropes of the world of credit cards, there are a lot of things you can do to avoid credit card debt before it sneaks up on you and keep your nose clean, as they say.
This is an outstanding goal for you if you are just getting your first credit cards. If you know or talk to anyone who is battling tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt, you know what a jail sentence it can be. Once that credit card debt gets that high, the time it will take even under the best of conditions to bring it down runs into the years if not decades. And for all that time, thousands of dollars of money goes down the drain to credit interest that doesnít buy you any food, tickets to the movies or new clothes. It just goes away with no value to you at all. But if you are new to the world of credit, getting a credit card is a good thing. But once you get one, keeping it under control is job one. You will find it amazingly easy to use a credit card once it comes. In fact, the retail world makes it difficult to conduct transactions any other way. You can pay for gas at the pump that way and even charge your groceries at the grocery store. And while all of these great uses for credit are helpful, you can end up with a whopper of a credit card bill at the end of the month. And if you donít pay that bill off, that is the first step on a lifelong jail term in credit card debt jail. So there are some guidelines you should follow to both use credit responsibly but also to keep building your credit rating which has a real value to you. Remember that what the credit card companies donít tell you is that making a charge on a credit card is a loan. Even if you just charge ten bucks to go to the movies, you took out an unsecured loan to finance that movie ticket. So once you start using a credit card, keep in mind that you will be paying back everything you run up on it. It is NOT free money. A good practice is to save every receipt every month and keep a running tally of what you have spent on credit. Now only can you use that to cross check your credit card, it keeps you honest because each time you add a charge to your credit card, you can update your tally so you know for certain that you will be able to pay it off when the bill comes. Paying off the credit card each month is the number one best way to keep your credit problems under control. Now it isnít a bad idea to let a little bit of the debt drift from month to month. This builds your credit history and credit rating which will pay you well down the road when you want to buy a larger purchase. But by staying on top of your credit and what is going onto your card, you will start out with the kind of habits that will lead to a life of good credit use without credit card jail. And that is a wonderful gift to give yourself early in life. "Clear and concise.Among economists of the past thirty years, [Sowell] stands very proud
indeed."Wall Street Journal "Basic Economics is not only valuable for a general lay-person audience, it would also benefit lawyers, politicians, and, yes, economists, as well."Washington Times Basic Economics has been written with the thought that learning economics should be not only a relaxed experience but also an enjoyable one. This is the revised and expanded edition of a new kind of introduction to economics for the general publicwithout graphs, statistics, or jargon. However, the enlargement of this edition is not just more of the same. In addition to being updated, Basic Economics has also become more international, with the inclusion of economic problems from more countries around the world because the basic principles of economics are not confined by national borders. Each chapter reflects the experiences of many different peoples and cultures. Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and the recipient of many awards, including the Bradley Prize in 2003. During his long career at numerous academic institutions and think tanks he has taught and written about economics and a wide variety of issues and controversies. His articles have appeared in various journals and newspapers, including Forbes, Fortune, Newsweek, Time, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post, among others.
2008-07-25 With the economy teetering on the verge of a recession and peopleís budgets and lifestyles being altered, having a high credit score isnít quite as easy anymore. With the mortgage crisis still lingering and some financial institutions stepping up their requirements for borrowing money, it is becoming harder and harder to get ahead in this country. Little do people know or realize, your credit score is affected by so many factors and can change in no time at all.
Now is a great time to purchase a house. It may not be the best of times to be a seller, but if you can be a buyer right now ñ there might be more room for bargaining. So many people start the process of house hunting without knowing where they stand in regards to their credit and end up getting turned down for loans without even knowing why they were rejected. It may not seem important to know your credit score or see your report, but it can help you in ways that you never imagined. One of the best things that you can do before starting a loan process is to find out how to obtain free credit reports. Once you have the free credit report in your hands, you will be able to see your scores and any blemishes that have been posted. Even if you arenít looking to get a loan, the government has made it so that you can obtain free credit reports once every twelve months. Quite a few people look at their reports and realize that there is incorrect information. It may be a simple fix or one that requires some complicated fixes, but at least you will be able to find out what is being reported under your name and credit. Thanks to a new amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you are entitled to obtain free credit reports every year from all three reporting companies. Equifax, TransUnion and Experian must provide a free copy to you once each year, if you request for them to do so. The Federal Trade Commission has warned the public against the numerous scams that have come about promising people the ability to obtain free credit reports. Most of them, indeed, end up being a scam and you end up giving some personal information out to others for either their own personal gain or a hidden fee or agenda. You may suddenly find that some of these sites require you to join something or purchase another product in order to obtain free credit reports. You can, however, get a no-strings attached free credit report from the legitimate site ñ www.annualcreditreport.com. This online source is where the government recommends that you search in order to get your free report in your hands. If you did pay or feel that you were scammed in trying to obtain free credit reports, you can report your experiences to the Federal Trade Commission. You may not be able to get a refund, but reporting a scam just may help someone else from becoming a victim as well. Michael Masterson
It's like getting your master's in financial independence without the midterms and textbooks! Listen to sample of Automatic Wealth for Grads Audio Book
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