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Manage your credit
By Adam | October 4, 2006
- Managing your credit can be like balancing a plate in an old circus act - look away for just a moment and everything can come crashing down around you.
But the task doesn’t have to be that hard.
In fact, online credit monitoring and management tools can make it as easy as clicking a mouse.
Many consumers never think about their credit until they encounter a problem - whether they are turned down for a credit card, given a high rate on an auto loan or mortgage, or discover they’re the victim of identity theft.
But your credit history is something you should monitor on a regular basis, even if you’ve never had credit problems in the past.
People with good credit are even more appealing targets for identity thieves.
You may think managing your credit simply means not overspending, running up credit card debt and monitoring your credit report for errors.
Managing your credit, however, is far more involved - from quickly and effectively challenging credit reporting errors, to negotiating with current debtors for lower interest rates or even reductions in your debt.
Managing your credit will take time, commitment and cash.
You can, however, control how much time and money you will have to put into the task.
* First, get informed and stay informed.
Federal law entitles everyone is entitled to obtain a free copy of his or her credit report once a year at www.annualcreditreport.com.
In the days before ID theft, once a year might have been often enough to review your credit report.
Now, you should be monitoring it on an on-going basis, since changes - including errors and fraud - can happen quickly.
Enrolling in a monitoring service can give you an initial free credit report, 24-hour online access to your report, and automated alerts of key changes to your credit reports with the three major bureaus.
Spending wisely means paying attention to the many small purchases you make during a day - which can add up - as well as the big ticket items.
Create a household budget that funds all your needs, and a few wants as well.
Stick to your budget as much as possible.
If you can’t, contact the creditor to negotiate a payment schedule that will work for you.
Professional credit repair organizations have been around for years, but may be cost prohibitive for someone trying to control his or her spending.
A lower-cost, effective alternative is to sign up with a service like Consumer Direct, which allows you to manage your credit with easy-to-use online tools.
With a few mouse clicks, consumers can alert credit bureaus to credit report errors or identity theft; negotiate interest rates, debt totals and payment schedules; manage their privacy options and contact creditors about nearly anything.
And because Consumer Direct deals directly with the creditor, the process of repairing and monitoring your credit can be far faster than if you go it alone, and more cost-effective than dealing with a credit repair organization.
For a demonstration of how the service works, visit www.consumerdirect.com.
-Adam
Managing Your Credit Can be as Easy as Clicking a Mouse (Herkimer Evening Telegram)
(ARA) - Managing your credit can be like balancing a plate in an old circus act - look away for just a moment and everything can come crashing down around you. But the task doesn’t have to be that hard. In fact, online credit monitoring and management tools can make it as easy as clicking a mouse.
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Topics: Credit Report, Credit Score, Identity Theft, Personal Finance |