Free From Broke

A Personal Finance Blog for Regular Folks

Credit Scores, Reporting, and Use

Your credit scores may be some of the most important financial numbers you have. Really. They can control the rates you get on loans; even determine if you get a loan, and so much more. You need to protect your credit scores and watch your credit reports like a hawk. These articles help you learn more about your credit scores and histories.

Freeze Your Credit To Protect Your Identity

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Two years ago, my online identity was compromised; I have an eBay account, and someone hacked into it and bought $1,000 worth of electronics.  Luckily I caught the theft the very next day, and eBay was wonderful and took care of the charges.  However, that spooked me and my husband, so we decided to take the radical step of freezing our credit to protect our identity, in part because we plan to buy a home in the next few years and do not want anything to compromise our credit score.

Benefits of Freezing Your Credit

When you use a security freeze, you essentially lock down your credit.  If your information is stolen and thieves try to open up an account, they will be thwarted.  Ultimately, this is the best way to protect your identity.  Credit monitoring may help you recognize theft has occurred, but a freeze keeps the theft from ever occurring.
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Building Credit From Scratch – Are Young Adults Doomed for Financial Failure?

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Young Adults: Doomed for financial failure?

Young adults are faced with a unique set of challenges that cause many to struggle with credit. Inexperience, school loans, social pressures, and financial optimism all lead down the path of least resistance – a really bad credit score.  However, it’s important to remember that there are long-term consequences of bad credit, and restraint today can pay off big time down the road.
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Ways To Increase and Improve Your Credit Score Without a Credit Card

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When we think of improving a credit score, we often think of using credit cards.

Indeed, one of the fastest ways to build credit is to open a credit card account, and use it regularly, paying down the balance on time.

However, many people are wary of credit cards, and would prefer not to use them.  Unfortunately, some sort of credit history is needed in order to qualify for some loans, especially home loans and many auto loans.

The good news is that it is possible to establish and build up your credit score, even without credit cards!

Improving Your Credit Score without Credit Cards

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Guaranteed Ways To Lower Your Credit Score – 5 Steps

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We know how important a credit score is these days, don’t we? Yet many people still insist on doing what they can to destroy their score.  Since some want to have a train wreck of a credit score here are five guaranteed ways to lower your score:

1) Pay your bills late. Here’s a good one to lower your score.  Pay your bills late, especially loans and credit cards.  And I’m not talking a few days late, I’m talking 90-plus days late.  Wait until you get a collection notice, why dontcha? (According to Credit.com, accounts 90-days late can damage your score up to 7 years. Bingo!)
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How Can I Improve My Credit Score? 8 Ways to Increase and Raise Your Credit Rating

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Maybe you’re sitting at home looking at your credit card statements, realizing that your APR’s [Editor: Annual Percentage Rates] aren’t quite as low as you’d like, or you’ve recently checked your FICO score and notice it’s low.

Credit Score Ranges
You want your credit score in that Excellent check box up there!

Perhaps you want to refinance your home, and want to get the best rates possible before looking into loans.  Or maybe you have a very low credit score, getting deeper in debt and need to do some real work to improve your credit score.
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