See my research, posts, and articles on credit scores, including how they work, ways to improve them, and common pitfalls to avoid. Click the link to learn more!
Bankrate.com did a story on Friday (sorry for not getting to this earlier) highlighting some of the same stuff that I’ve been pointing out here for weeks. More and more customers are experiencing credit-limit reductions and account closures. Over the course of the past few weeks, Bankrate.com readers have been chiming in with their own credit-card tales. Many of their stories will seem familiar.
“Dear Steve, I am no longer making ends meet. I have my daughters Sallie Mae $20,000 loan payments starting in one month, I can only afford to put little bits of gas in my car at a time, I have a $5,000 car loan and about $12,000 in credit cards. I have not bought anything …
Mary Lou “Dear Steve, My FICO score does not keep going up: 3/99 I filed bankruptcy-it will be 10 years next March and should come off my credit score. I owe $5,400 on one credit card and $7,300 on my car for a total of $12700. In January 2008, I owed over $26000. All bills …
“Dear Steve, How do I quickly and easily get ALL my credit cards paid off with the limited income that I have? Tony Tony, The honest answer is that while you can get them paid off, quickly isn’t going to be part of the solution. It is a classic tortoise and hare situation for you. …
“Dear Steve, I need to refinance my home in Oct of 2009. My credit score is 669. I have a mortgage of $130,000, home equity loan of $34,000, a car loan of $4,000, & credit cards of $4,000. Some credit cards don’t have balances. Do I close these credit cards and extend my home equity …
“Dear Steve, I have been divorced for one year. Our house was in my name and husbands. He never refnanced or sold the home. His late payments have started to ruin my credit report and credit score. Now it look as if the bank will foreclose. How can I repair my credit and how long …
Holly wrote in and asked her question through the GetOutofDebt.org site. You can too. “Hey there, I have been with my boyfriend awhile now, and we’ve just started to talk about purchasing a house and getting a joint credit card. We’ve never discussed finances further than how much money we make per year. I have …