Getting Credit Cards Back After Bad Credit

So you had a bad time in your credit past. It happens to the best of people. A few bills get out of hand and then there is a snowball effect with more and more of your finances becoming a mess. While this is not something you wanted to have happen to you, you can't just sit there and pout about it. You have to pick yourself up.

Maybe you thought the way to do that was to get a new credit card and start over. So you started applying for cards, but kept getting rejected because of the messes in your credit past. Each time you get a rejection you send out another application hoping this time you will get accepted.

STOP!

Sending in a stack of applications for credit cards is a bad idea. Every time you send in an application for new credit cards, it comes up as a blip on your credit report, since the credit card companies look at your credit. In actuality, the more times you apply for a card, the more damage you are doing to your already ailing credit rating.

Unfortunately, most credit card companies don't tell you this. They'll just let you keep putting in applications and doing more damage to your credit rating.

Getting Things Back in Order

Start with getting your finances sorted out. The only way you are going to get credit cards to look at you is to make sure your credit report looks a little better.

Start with making a note of all the debts you have right now. Whatever bills you haven't paid and creditor notes you may have piling up, you need to sort through. You need to start paying them down and get those debt items back in line before you can expect the credit card companies to allow you to open a new line of credit.

Get to Work

If you don't have a solid job right now, you need to get one. Credit card companies want to know that you are working so you will have a way to pay for any debt that you put on their cards.

Bad Credit Credit Cards

Once your credit starts looking better, you need to look into bad credit credit cards. Bad credit credit cards are not fancy rewards cards that a lot of people like, but are instead cards that are meant for people recovering from bad credit times. Bad credit credit cards are going to have higher interest rates and most likely lower credit limits than other cards, but if you use them wisely, and pay them off on time, they can help to build your credit rating back up to where you can get any credit card you want.

Prepare For Financial Emergencies to Protect Your Credit Score

Financial emergencies happen to almost everyone at some point and they can have devastating impact in your credit. This is particular true in today volatile economy conditions.

Many people have to declare bankruptcy due to huge financial disaster such as sudden unemployment, huge medical bills, a lawsuit or divorce. If they have prepared for such emergency, the adverse effect will be dramatically reduced.

If you want to keep your credit score in good shape, you should start planning what you would do in case of an emergency. Put your plan down in written form so you can review and refine as time goes on.

Here are some items that should be on your financial emergency plan:

1) A list of all assets you could convert to cash quickly. An example will be gold.

2) A list of all extras which will not affect your life during an emergency. This includes magazine subscriptions, cable television, Friday nights at the movies, spa and others.

2) A list of resources you can turn to could to in case of an emergency. This includes insurance or professionals such as a lawyer who deals in financial facets of the law or a severance package in case of retrenchment. Whatever it is writes it down.

3) A list of ways you could raise money in the short term, which includes renting part of your house, mowing lawns for others, giving tuition and so forth.

You should also consider overdraft protection for your bank or credit accounts. This will prevent you from getting a negative record on your credit report or a charge for insufficient funds. In most cases, you have a day or two to add funds into the account to cover the excess withdrawal. Some credit cards companies also offer a similar service, which can protect you in case you lose your job, and are unable to pay for a few months.

Another area to consider is insurance. You should have some form of insurance for your own health, your car, your home, and for liability incurred from an accident or other sudden financial problems. For a small monthly fee, you are covered against unexpected events that can drain your finances and leave you with a huge debt.

If you do not have a plan yet, start today. It is never too late to prepare for emergencies. You will thank yourself should you ever encounter a financial disaster in the future.

5 Ways to Avoid Credit Card Fraud

It seems every day there is a new story about identity theft and credit card fraud somewhere. Sometimes there are hundreds of these stories in a day. With so many people out there desperate to take our credit card numbers, how do we keep them save? Here are five tips that will give you a good start.

Keep your Numbers Private

Your credit card is a personal card that is meant for you. While it may just seem like a piece of plastic, you should not freely lend your card out to people you know, or give out your credit card number for no good reason. Even when you have to pay for something at a restaurant or other location, you should try to keep an eye on what is happening to your card to make sure someone isn't copying down your numbers to use later.

Shred Receipts

Receipts are not supposed to show more than the last four digits of your credit card, but many of them do. They also have a lot of your other personal information on them. Once you are done using your receipts, or filing them away for taxes, you should shred them instead of putting them in a regular trash can. Don't make the information easy to find for someone who may be up to no good.

Shred Application

Credit card applications come in as much as other pieces of junk mail. You may see them so much that you no longer care about them and toss them in the trash without a second thought. That is not a good idea. That application has some of your information on it. You should always shred credit applications to make sure someone else doesn't fish them out of the trash and try to open a line of credit in your name.

Use Secure Websites

If you do a lot of online shopping, make sure you are using a secure online site. Look for that little padlock logo in the corner of your web browser so you know the information you are entering is secure and only going to those you want to be giving it to.

Watch Your Card Statement

The best thing you can do to keep your credit cards secure is keep a close eye on what is happening on them. If you do online banking, you should check your credit cards regularly to make sure all the charges coming through are ones you put there. If you wait until the statement comes, make sure to look at it as soon as it comes and call if you see anything that is suspicious.

Credit Bureau Report Repair Tips

As the economy continues to go through major upheaval, banks are becoming increasingly reluctant to loan money - even to each other! The lending boom in which banks and lending institutions loaned money indiscriminately has led to a huge rise in home foreclosures, financial upheaval, and near disaster.

The $700 billion bailout has been turned down, and the everyday person is left to wonder, "What's next?" It's true - there may very well be a new bailout proposal that might pass in the future and it keeps happening - first the car industry, then the credit and banking industry. Expect more bailout proposals in the coming years.

And as with everything, this financial crisis will pass. But what is bound to linger is the fact that right now, and most likely in the future, it will be very difficult to get a loan for anything unless you have a good credit bureau report.

The days of securing a loan even with bad credit are over. If you want to finance a car, a home, a boat, a pool for the back yard or much of anything else, you must have good credit! So what do you do if your credit is less than stellar?

How are you ever going to be able to finance anything ever again? Your first step has got to be to repair your credit and make sure your credit bureau reports are correct. This might take a while to do, but if you get started now, you'll be in good shape for future purchases on credit. Here are the credit bureau report repair tips you will need to use:

1.) Get a copy of each of your credit bureau reports from the three major credit bureaus - Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Without your credit reports, you can't move forward with fixing your credit.

2.) Review each report thoroughly. If you see errors, make a note of them. If any reports are missing good credit information, make a note of those as well.

3.) At this point it will be handy to start a filing system, perhaps folders, for each creditor that you need to contact to either fix faulty information or to add favorable information to you credit reports. You can keep your notes, letters you write to creditors and reporting agencies and other important information organized this way.

4.) If there are errors or omissions in your credit bureau reports, write letters to both the reporting bureaus and the creditors involved and provide them with as much detailed information as possible. You will want to include copies of any supporting documents and you might even want to include a copy of the credit report with the item in question circled if you are requesting a correction in a reporting error.

5.) Once you've contacted your creditors and the bureaus in writing, get copies of your credit reports again (you should wait 30 to 60 days to give them time to correct their errors). If the corrections you've requested aren't showing, write them again. It may be necessary to repeat this step a few times - the squeaky wheel will get greased most quickly.

6.) If you don't get the changes you've requested, you can contact the Federal Trade Commission and make your case known to them. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, they can help you get results.

7.) Be sure that once you've fixed any errors or omissions, you keep monitoring your credit report on a regular basis and that you always manage your money wisely to keep your credit score top-notch.

Making certain that your credit report is accurately reporting your credit history is your first step to credit repair. By using these credit bureau report repair tips, you will be forming the foundation for rebuilding your credit.