Creepy Credit Tales and Avoiding the Credit Score Scaries – Credit Sesame

Summary:

• Fixing your credit score doesn’t need to be scary. Check out these pointers how you can raise your credit score.
• Don't allow the ghosts of missed payments scare you. You may be in a position to settle a debt if you are paying less than what was originally owed.
• Creating a budget and sticking with it'll keep money-sucking vampires at bay.
• Don't be haunted by mortgage repayments on your house. If you are eligible to refinance your home, you are able to potentially save 100's of dollars.

Halloween is creeping up, meaning it's the perfect time for carving pumpkins and telling scary stories. Hopefully, your scary stories are more about creepy crawlies and never your credit. But, they're, you're probably not alone. Here are some of the very most common credit ghouls and how you can fend them off.

Ghosts of the Past

Have you missed any payments in your credit card? Have you got a collections agency haunting you for past delinquent payments? Don't let these ghosts scare you.

A missed or overtime can end up on your credit history for seven years and decrease your credit rating. If you've got a few missed payments, and you're trying to determine which to pay off first, pay the newer ones first. That can be a may sound counterintuitive, know this – older delinquencies usually start to carry less weight.

Consider settling a debt. Contact your bank or the collections agency and get them when they will accept an inferior payment. This might involve some negotiation but ask if they will accept 50 percent. They might accept this, which can potentially save you tons of dollars. This enables you to clear the debt after which inquire if the creditor will delete the delinquent charge out of your credit report. Separately, if you believe that the delinquent payment would be a mistake, it is your to dispute it.

How can you stop this from happening again? Try setting up automatic payments so you do not possess to remember every month that you have to pay.

Money-Sucking Vampires

Watch out for vampires, situations which suck the money from you, such as eating out, impulse buying, overpaying on auto insurance, paying high rates of interest, and much more. What else could you do to address this?

Create a financial budget and stay with it. Here are some things to consider:

• Monthly Income: How much income are you currently getting every month? You want your budget to mirror your net income, not gross since you want to be realistic using what you really have after taxes.
• Essential Expenses: What expenses must you pay for example rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, phone, insurance, and much more. Once you determine what you have to pay, just how much have you got leftover?
• Nice-to-haves: Before taking a look at your nice-to-haves list, first consider a buffer of 20 % in the event of anything unexpected. Then, help make your list of your non-essential items, and discover what you really can afford. However, before purchasing anything, look for promotions and merchant rewards to save cash, such as discounts at the favorite retailers and restaurants.

Here is really a handy budget calculator that will help!

Haunted House

This credit ghoul isn't related to actual ghosts within your house. Rather, it’s about how your mortgage can haunt you.

Have you recently evaluated your mortgage? Are you struggling to create monthly payments? If that's the case, you might want to refinance your mortgage. Even if you are making your payments with no issues, refinancing can save you hundreds of dollars monthly. If you have an excellent score (generally above 720), you may entitled to the best interest rates. And for those who have over 20 percent in home equity, you should be able to refinance.

You can check your credit score free of charge on Credit Sesame.

Misleading Witches

Beware of witches. They can cast spells to control you and help make your life harder. They may offer you credit cards and high-interest loans that could be detrimental to your financial health in the long run. For example, a retail store offer a great discount in your purchase should you subscribe to their charge card. Prior to signing up, understand what the interest rate and limit are. Some retail a credit card has a higher interest rate and a low credit limit that can negatively affect your card utilization and credit rating.

This Halloween, don't let goblins, ghosts, or ghouls scare you about your credit score. Look at your score for free at Credit Sesame. That, plus some garlic, could keep the money-sucking vampires away!