Credit Archives - Poorer Than You
type: channel
description: Money: It's Not Just For Rich People
date: 2017-10-07T14:54:21Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: How to Share a Credit Card with Your Spouse
items: Check Your Credit Score and Credit Report Today, for Free!
items: Rebuilding Your Credit
items: 5 Situations Where You Should Leave Your Credit Card in Your Wallet
items: College Students: Get a Credit Card RIGHT NOW
items: How to Use Credit Cards Properly and Be a Deadbeat
items: It’s Time! Check Your Credit Report
items: Erasing Negative Credit History: 5 Strategies You May Not Have Heard About
items: Parents Bamboozled by FreeCreditReport.com
items: 18-Year-Olds and Credit Cards: Discussion Continues

How to Share a Credit Card with Your Spouse
type: item
creator: Guest Author
date: 2016-08-10T11:05:07Z
subject: Credit
subject: authorized user
subject: building credit
subject: credit cards
subject: credit score
subject: marriage
subject: relationships
subject: spouse
description: [It was only recently, after a year and a half of marriage, that my husband and I got our first shared credit card. We’re still working out the kinks, and considering adding my husband as an authorized user to some of my frequently-used rewards cards as well. So I was over the moon when Joshua […] The post How to Share a Credit Card with Your Spouse appeared first on Poorer Than You.
encoded: [It was only recently, after a year and a half of marriage, that my husband and I got our first shared credit card. We’re still working out the kinks, and considering adding my husband as an authorized user to some of my frequently-used rewards cards as well. So I was over the moon when Joshua Heckathorn of Creditnet.com reached out and offered to write a guest post on the very subject. Take it away, Josh!] You probably share your home, bed, and maybe even your toothbrush from time to time with your spouse. But what about your credit cards? If you haven’t quite taken your financial relationship to this level yet, but feel like you’re finally ready to take the leap, follow these tips to make sure you do it right and avoid the most common mistakes. <img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-1990" src="https://poorerthanyou.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Share-a-Credit-Card-Spouse.jpg" alt="How to Share a Credit Card With Your Spouse" width="467" height="700" srcset="https://poorerthanyou.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Share-a-Credit-Card-Spouse.jpg 735w, https://poorerthanyou.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Share-a-Credit-Card-Spouse-200x300.jpg 200w, https://poorerthanyou.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Share-a-Credit-Card-Spouse-683x1024.jpg 683w" sizes="(max-width: 467px) 100vw, 467px" /> Add Your Spouse as an Authorized User The easiest way to share your credit card with a new spouse is to call your credit card issuer and simply add your significant other as an authorized user. Your spouse will then receive a new credit card in his or her name, although you will both share access to the same account and the same credit limit. Before making the call to your credit issuer, it’s always wise to sit down and have a conversation with your spouse about what types of monthly expenses will be charged to the card and how much of the available credit limit you plan to use each month. In order to maximize each of your FICO credit scores, you’ll want …

Check Your Credit Score and Credit Report Today, for Free!
type: item
creator: Stephanie
date: 2016-04-22T12:00:00Z
subject: Credit
subject: credit report
subject: credit score
subject: FAKO
subject: FICO
subject: lending club
subject: loans
description: Updated as of April 2016 April is one of the months that I have designated to check my credit report. Since you’re allowed (by law) a free credit report annually from each of the 3 credit reporting agencies, that gives you an opportunity to check one report every four months. Here’s the schedule I recommend: […] The post Check Your Credit Score and Credit Report Today, for Free! appeared first on Poorer Than You.
encoded: Updated as of April 2016 April is one of the months that I have designated to check my credit report. Since you’re allowed (by law) a free credit report annually from each of the 3 credit reporting agencies, that gives you an opportunity to check one report every four months. Here’s the schedule I recommend: April (because everyone’s thinking about money anyways because of the tax deadline) August (four months after April) December (another four months later, and also the end of the year, another convenient time) So consider this your reminder for April to pull your credit report from one of the three agencies this month! You’ll need to assign one credit reporting agency to these months, to make it work, since you’re only allowed to pull each report once a year. So do something like this: April — Experian August — TransUnion December — Equifax Remember, despite what TV commercials starring singing characters might tell you, there’s only one authorized source for getting your federally-mandated free annual credit reports: AnnualCreditReport.com. You can verify this fact at the Federal Trade Commission’s website. Getting Your Credit Report, 100% Free Information You’ll Need to Have Handy When pulling one of your 3 credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com, you’ll be asked a short series of questions to prove your identity (so that, in theory, no one else can pull your reports). You’ll need to know (or have handy to type in): Your full name Your Social Security Number Your current address Any addresses you’ve lived at in the last two years Once you hand over this info, you’ll be given the opportunity to request your report from any of the 3 credit rating agencies: Experian TransUnion Equifax If this is your first time pulling your report, it doesn’t really matter which one you pull. For simplicity’s sake, I recommend pulling Experian, as it always seems to be at the top of the list, so it will be easier to remember that it’s the one you pulled if you forget. Now’s the…

Rebuilding Your Credit
type: item
creator: Guest Author
date: 2011-05-16T12:00:00Z
subject: Credit
subject: building credit
subject: credit cards
description: Jim Wang writes about personal finance and other money issues at his personal finance blog Wallet Hacks. Many of us have made money mistakes. Additionally, some of us have had financial disasters to contend with. In any case, once the debts start to pile up, and payments are missed, the damage to your credit can […] The post Rebuilding Your Credit appeared first on Poorer Than You.
encoded: Jim Wang writes about personal finance and other money issues at his personal finance blog Wallet Hacks. Many of us have made money mistakes. Additionally, some of us have had financial disasters to contend with. In any case, once the debts start to pile up, and payments are missed, the damage to your credit can be substantial. If you have tried to get a credit loan recently, and you have poor credit, you probably know that your credit report can result in being turned down for a loan. Even if you aren’t denied, you will have to pay a higher interest rate in order to offset the risk you represent to the lender. Even applying for insurance with poor credit can mean higher premiums. If you want to be considered for the best terms when it comes to loans, and if you want the best insurance rates, you need to consider repairing your credit. If you are serious about rebuilding your financial reputation, here are some steps you can take to make improved credit a reality: 1. Modify Your Habits If you have made money mistakes, you need to acknowledge them, and then work to change your financial habits. If your poor credit is the result of an unforeseen disaster, you need to change your money habits so that you are building up a good emergency fund to serve as a safety net. You might also need to change your mindset to help you get out of your current funk. Begin practicing the basics of personal finance: spending less than you earn; setting aside money for emergencies and for the future; and paying down debt. 2. Start Small Your next move is to try to obtain some small amount of credit. In some cases, you might be able to get approval for a credit card with a small credit limit of $250 or $500. In other cases, you might have no choice but to get a secured credit card. You have to be careful to ensure that your secured credit card is a true credit card, and that the issuer reports your regular payments to the credit bureaus. Be wary of fees, high interest rates and other cost…

5 Situations Where You Should Leave Your Credit Card in Your Wallet
type: item
creator: Guest Author
date: 2010-02-25T13:01:00Z
subject: Credit
subject: bills
subject: credit cards
subject: gambling
subject: going out
subject: relationships
subject: Taxes
description: This week’s guest post comes from Fred, personal finance writer at Credit Card Finder. He helps people to compare credit cards online. There are smart ways to use your credit card: you can keep your wages earning interest in a savings account while you spend on your credit card and pay it off at the […] The post 5 Situations Where You Should Leave Your Credit Card in Your Wallet appeared first on Poorer Than You.
encoded: This week’s guest post comes from Fred, personal finance writer at Credit Card Finder. He helps people to compare credit cards online. There are smart ways to use your credit card: you can keep your wages earning interest in a savings account while you spend on your credit card and pay it off at the end of the month, you can even accumulate meaningful points or take advantage of cash-back offers. However, there are times when using on your credit card is going to cost you more than the purchase could ever be worth. Here are five situations where you should not use your credit card: 1. Don’t take your credit card for a night on the town When you have a big date (or just a big night out with friends) planned, it can be easy to burn through your cash as you pay for drinks, dinner, dessert, or entrance fees, drinks, drinks, and drinks. But what happens when your money runs out at the end of dinner or after the second round of drinks and the night is still young — plus you have to be able get home? It can be tempting to lay down your credit card and start a tab, but you are going to end up with much more than a headache and a woozy stomach in the morning. You’re going to have a credit card hangover too, and those can’t be placated with a few aspirin and a greasy breakfast. Instead, think about the interest you will be paying on all those rounds, and all the rounds you shouted your ‘new friends’ in the excitement of the evening; is a monster hangover really worth a credit card hangover? 2. Don’t use credit to pay bills If you have lost your job or are just having trouble making ends meet, a credit card is not the answer. A credit card may solve your problems in the short term, but it is really only making things worse for you down the track. If you don’t have enough money coming in to keep your household running, then you need to find another way. A way that isn’t going to add another bill to the list at the end of the month, and one which will not charge you interest, ma…

College Students: Get a Credit Card RIGHT NOW
type: item
creator: Stephanie
date: 2009-10-02T15:30:47Z
subject: College
subject: Credit
description: I’m a big advocate for college students having at least one credit card. Which is funny, because I got myself into a decent amount of trouble and credit card debt in college. But I do strongly believe that responsible credit card use in college is possible… and even necessary! But new government legislation is going […] The post College Students: Get a Credit Card RIGHT NOW appeared first on Poorer Than You.
encoded: I’m a big advocate for college students having at least one credit card. Which is funny, because I got myself into a decent amount of trouble and credit card debt in college. But I do strongly believe that responsible credit card use in college is possible… and even necessary! But new government legislation is going to make getting a credit card and building a credit history very difficult for some college students. If you’re one of them, you’ll want to get a credit card now, before the new laws take effect! You Need to Build a Credit History I just graduated from college this year. I’m starting to build my life and get all of the “adult” things that go along with that. Including some really dull things like “renters insurance” to protect my belongings in my new apartment. But when I got my renters insurance a few weeks ago, it came with a letter stating: Thank you for trusting us as your insurance company. We are committed to your satisfaction and providing you with a competitive rate. Many factors are taken into account to rate insurance, including a credit based insurance score. We recently accessed data from the consumer reporting agency… to price your policy. In part, based on the information provided, you did not receive our lowest rate… [emphasis added] In plain English: my credit history wasn’t long enough, and my credit score not high enough, to get the lowest rate they offer on renters insurance. And I’m no “credit spring chicken!” I’ve had student loans on my report for five years, and I have two credit cards, each with more than two years of history. Someone with no credit history at all would probably pay far more than I do for renters insurance. Why? Because no credit history is viewed as just as bad as a bad credit history! Unproven customers are scary to insurance agents and loan officers. Just like a 16-year-old with no driving record is charged a lot for car insurance, a new borrower with no credit history is going to be charged a lot for a loan. N…

How to Use Credit Cards Properly and Be a Deadbeat
type: item
creator: Guest Author
date: 2009-09-16T16:14:05Z
subject: Credit
description: This is a guest post from Mr Credit Card. He recently had me on his radio show. He is going to write about not to take advantage of credit cards and how not to get abused by them. You could apply for a credit card at this site. I just did a radio interview with […] The post How to Use Credit Cards Properly and Be a Deadbeat appeared first on Poorer Than You.
encoded: This is a guest post from Mr Credit Card. He recently had me on his radio show. He is going to write about not to take advantage of credit cards and how not to get abused by them. You could apply for a credit card at this site. I just did a radio interview with Stephanie and one of the topics we touched upon was how she got into credit card debt and how she managed to get out it. Today I would like to highlight how credit cards can be taken advantage of and how you can actually get sucked into it. The real key to making sure you never carry a balance in your credit card is actually to have a solid budget. Stephanie has talked a lot about it on her blog. In our radio show, she revealed that as part of her assignment in her personal finance class in college, she had to actually make a 1 year budget, and she has clearly spelled them out here. There are 2 things that I think are very important when you are making a budget for yourself. They are: budget for contingencies – things like a car breakdown, an unexpected out-of-pocket medical bills can wreck your budget budget for things you have a weakness for – I know that there are probably occasions when you should refrain from buying frivolous stuff. But each one of us has a hobby (some might call it weakness) like buying the latest sunglasses, collecting comics. There must be room in your budget for these stuff otherwise you might just go insane Understanding the purpose of your credit card – Obviously, credit cards offer consumers convenience of not carrying large amounts of cash. Furthermore, if you ever lose your card, just one phone call will stop all future transactions. In there is a merchant dispute, your credit card company will normally handle it for you. But different types of cards serve different purposes. Build a credit history – Credit cards are one of the simplest ways to build a credit history. And if you are in college, credit cards for college student is relatively easy and simple. However, if you want …

It’s Time! Check Your Credit Report
type: item
creator: Stephanie
date: 2009-08-30T18:06:58Z
subject: Credit
description: You have the right to check your credit report once each year, for free. And actually, there are three major credit reporting agencies, so you get three credit reports for free each year. But here’s a great idea: Spread your credit reports out throughout the year, so that you get better coverage, and a better […] The post It’s Time! Check Your Credit Report appeared first on Poorer Than You.
encoded: You have the right to check your credit report once each year, for free. And actually, there are three major credit reporting agencies, so you get three credit reports for free each year. But here’s a great idea: Spread your credit reports out throughout the year, so that you get better coverage, and a better understanding of your total financial picture. Here’s how I do it: I get one of my credit reports in January, another in May, and the third in September. Then the next January, I repeat! I happen to do them in this order: TransUnion, Experian, Equifax, but any order would do. It’s a good thing to monitor your credit at least once a year, but a lot can happen over the course of a year. Say I checked my credit reports all at once, and the next week, my identity is stolen by someone who uses my social security number to open a ton of accounts. I might not know about it until a full year later, when I checked my reports again. But if I pull one report every four months, I have a greater chance of catching an error (or a thief) in good time. So, if you don’t pull your credit reports on a rotating schedule, consider starting. If you already do, this is your reminder to pull your next credit report now! (Assuming you pulled the last one in May, like I did.) And remember, you should always get your free credit reports from http://www.annualcreditreport.com, which is the site set up by the Federal Trade Commission. Other sites claiming to give you your “free” credit report might have singing pirates, but they’ll also try to charge you a monthly fee. The post It’s Time! Check Your Credit Report appeared first on Poorer Than You.

Erasing Negative Credit History: 5 Strategies You May Not Have Heard About
type: item
creator: Guest Author
date: 2009-07-08T10:34:57Z
subject: Credit
description: Today’s article is a guest post graciously written for the site by Kelly Oakin. About the Author: Kelly Oakin is on a mission to help others get their credit back on track after a setback. She is a staff writer for FreeCreditTrio.com, a resource that provides your free credit score from the top 3 credit […] The post Erasing Negative Credit History: 5 Strategies You May Not Have Heard About appeared first on Poorer Than You.
encoded: Today’s article is a guest post graciously written for the site by Kelly Oakin. About the Author: Kelly Oakin is on a mission to help others get their credit back on track after a setback. She is a staff writer for FreeCreditTrio.com, a resource that provides your free credit score from the top 3 credit bureaus. <img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-653 alignnone" title="Credit Risk" src="https://poorerthanyou.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/credit-trap-300x225.jpg" alt="Credit Risk" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://poorerthanyou.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/credit-trap-300x225.jpg 300w, https://poorerthanyou.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/credit-trap.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> When I first moved out on my own, I figured that managing my finances would be pretty simple. After all, I didn’t have too many bills and my income seemed to cover everything — on paper. Though I didn’t give my parents the pleasure of telling them they were right until almost a decade later, they were right… It is tough to stay on budget with the income of an entry-level professional without getting into a financial mess with credit cards and loans and late fees. We go from having an open budget with no expenses to having rent, utilities, car payments, and other expenses that come with normal daily living. Then, there are extremely high college and university expenses that just keep rising. We inevitably make mistakes. In fact, the U.S. PIRG states that 25% of students had paid a late fee, 15% had paid fees for going over their limit, and 6% had their credit cards cancelled. These statistics aren’t shocking considering our age, but we have to learn something from our mistakes and actually fix them. If you’ve made a mistake, I have five strategies for cleaning up bad credit history that will make sure you aren’t punished for these innocent errors for seven years or more. Strategy #1: Proactive Repair It’s impossible not to notice your debt load mo…

Parents Bamboozled by FreeCreditReport.com
type: item
creator: Stephanie
date: 2009-05-28T22:05:09Z
subject: Credit
description: Before I can tell you this story, a few things need to be mentioned. First of all, this is not an indictment of my parents in any way, or a mockery of them for being “stupid.” They were mislead by a clever advertising campaign, just as many other people were before them. Secondly, it is […] The post Parents Bamboozled by FreeCreditReport.com appeared first on Poorer Than You.
encoded: Before I can tell you this story, a few things need to be mentioned. First of all, this is not an indictment of my parents in any way, or a mockery of them for being “stupid.” They were mislead by a clever advertising campaign, just as many other people were before them. Secondly, it is impossible to talk about my parents in any coherent way without explaining my family situation: when I refer to my “parents,” I am talking about my mother and her partner of 14 years. Together they have raised me since I was nine years old. I call my mom’s partner my “stepmom,” because that is the word that comes nearest to describing our relationship. Saturday was my Graduation Day! As a treat for successfully completing my Bachelors, my parents took me out to eat, along with my older sister and my boyfriend. As usually happens when my sister and I are together, the conversation eventually turned toward personal finance. My mother chimed in to let us know that she and my stepmom had just pulled my stepmom’s credit report… via FreeCreditReport.com. Like many people, the web address “FreeCreditReport.com” had been drilled into my parents’ brains by a singing pirate/angry husband/subcompact car driver. Even I thought some of the commercials in the ad campaign were rather clever. But I’ve been getting my credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com for over two years now, because I know that it’s only authorized source to get the three credit reports you’re guaranteed each year by the Federal Trade Commission. The problem is that my parents didn’t know that. How FreeCreditReport.com Gets Money Out of People The name is the extremely misleading part, but there’s one bit of their commercials that you should pay particular attention to: “Requires enrollment in Triple Advantage.” As you might suspect, Triple Advantage is the not-free part of FreeCreditReport.com. It’s a “credit monitoring service” which watches your credit reports from all three reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and Tran…

18-Year-Olds and Credit Cards: Discussion Continues
type: item
creator: Stephanie
date: 2009-05-22T11:21:00Z
subject: Credit
description: Earlier this week I brought up the proposal in the Senate-passed CARD Act (Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act) which would require adults under the age of 21 to get a cosigner in order to get a credit card (or prove significant income, whatever that means — don’t we have to do that anyway?). […] The post 18-Year-Olds and Credit Cards: Discussion Continues appeared first on Poorer Than You.
encoded: Earlier this week I brought up the proposal in the Senate-passed CARD Act (Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act) which would require adults under the age of 21 to get a cosigner in order to get a credit card (or prove significant income, whatever that means — don’t we have to do that anyway?). I’m not the only one who had an opinion on this particular feature of the new legislation. Here is a taste of what other people are saying about the proposal: Man Vs. Debt: 18 Year Olds Now Require Co-Signer To Obtain Credit Cards. Still Maintain Right To Catch Bullets With Their Face! Either you are a legal adult at 18 or you are not. If you are considered old enough to fight and die for this country, you should be considered old enough to not have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get a credit card. If you don’t think 18 is mature enough to obtain a credit card or even to consumer alcohol then we should be raising the legal adult age to 21, not placing a bunch of government restrictions, exemptions, and regulations. In addition, it appears card holders will need co-signer permission before increasing credit limit and making other changes. Mommy, Daddy, please let me get a credit card… please! Independent Beginnings: Attention Students: You are Gonna Need Permission to Open that Credit Card Traditionally, eighteen-year-old freshman college students have been immediately attacked by credit card offers as soon as they start school. Lacking education on how credit cards work, many of these students jump at the opportunity of opening one of these “magic” cards and end up falling further and further into debt. It will be interesting to see how this will change now that students under twenty-one have to get their parents to cosign with them (or another adult over twenty-one). Will this allow students more time to learn about how credit cards work before amassing huge amounts of debt on them? Or, will this have little effect whatsoever? I guess it would la…