It’s difficult to get exact answers to this important question. Every expert, credit bureau, and loan officer has a different opinion as to where the threshold between good and poor credit lies.
In addition, “good” can be a relative term. Do we mean “good” as in excellent, or “good” as in “good enough”?
For an individual, a debt ratio describes the percentage of your income that goes to debt payments. You’ll often see this described as a Debt-to-Income Ratio.
Your ratio is usually calculated based on your gross income. So if your salary is $3,000 per month, and your total debt payments every month are $300, your debt ratio is 10%. (3000 divided by 300 is 10).
For most people, reliable transportation is about as important as food and shelter. Unless public transportation is really convenient from your home and work, or these two places are really close together, it would be difficult to live without a vehicle of your own.
When we educate consumers about achieving financial freedom, goals come up early and often. Setting goals is an essential early step for anyone who wants to achieve success, whether that involves financial, personal, career, spiritual or any other area of individual achievement.
One cannot put a price tag on the love and companionship a family pet offers, but pet ownership does carry a financial cost that can make it harder to balance a household budget.
Making regular monthly payments on your debts is the best way to improve your credit score, and late payments are the most significant cause of bad credit. That’s why we stress making your payments on time every month as the most important thing you can do to build a positive credit history as you work your way to financial freedom.
The best tool for teaching your kids about money is an allowance. If you want your children to grow up with good financial sense, you need to start early with…
When it comes to signing the back of your card, you’ll get different answers depending on whom you talk to. Your credit card company requires you to sign your card for it to be valid.
We frequently see married credit counseling clients who come to us by themselves and do not want their spouses to find out about their debts.
Either one partner has secretly been using credit cards without his/her spouse’s knowledge and has gotten in too deep, or one person in the relationship is responsible for managing all of the family’s finances and, having failed to keep debt under control, doesn’t want anyone to find out.
In short, your credit utilization is the percentage of total credit used in comparison with the total credit available. Calculate your utilization by dividing your balance by your limit. For…
Do you want to close a credit card account but are unsure how it will affect your credit score? There are many reasons why we may want to close a credit card, such as avoiding annual fees, too many fees, high interest rates, or unsatisfactory customer service. Whatever the reason, please review the following to determine what is best for you:
The Fair Isaac Corporation FICO™ states “They would never recommend closing a credit card for the sole purpose of raising the score.”
Consumer credit reports can vary in the way they look and the order information is listed depending on which of the three major national credit-reporting bureaus provided the report. Consumers…
Get advice on options to reduce your debt and improve your credit.
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