Credit Made EZ

A very important point to remember in having the best credit and using it wisely is that creditors are interested in making and not losing money on you. This means they are very interested in whether you are willing and able to repay your debt. Ability is based on your income versus your expenses(including debt). Willingness is determined by your credit history(how willing you've been in the past to repay debt.)

In the past, sub-prime lenders expected charge-offs, but with a higher interest rate and fees, they expected to make enough extra to still be profitable after the charge-offs. During and after the credit crunch these companies losses increased sharply and the government requires more reserves for these accounts so they are less profitable to banks. This has increased the desire for good credit, high spending individuals.

If you have more expenses than income, you will, sooner or later, end up with bad credit because you won't be able to pay your bills. Learn how to save money and make wiser use of your credit cards and you can start earning more than you spend, pay down your debts and improve your credit to the point where it makes you money instead of costing you money.

I initially created this site in response to answering the same questions, over and over again, from various friends and family. If you have questions of your own, please email them to me.

One of my goals is to create a database of credit cards and mortgages that you can do more advanced searching on, but for now you can only get the best cards in the most popular categories.

The best cards:

• Cash Rebate Cards - American Expresss Cash Rebate card with up to 1.5% back
• Low Rate Cards - USAA - as low as 6% (and special offer of 1.8%)
• Low Intro Rate Cards - Discover Card - 0% for 10 months

Have you heard about the changes for Educational IRAs and the new Saver's Credit, a credit for putting money away for retirement?

If you have any comments, suggestions or better deals, please email them to me. - Thanks, Charles!

Miscellaneous:

• Consumers may opt-out of pre-approved offers of credit or insurance by calling one toll-free number: 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688).
• New York residents may contact the New York State Banking Department to obtain a comparative listing of credit card rates, fees and grace periods. 1-800-518-8866.
• FTC's Consumer Credit File Privacy: The Real Deal
• FTC's information about credit
• FTC's Fair Credit Reporting Act
• The SEC's Financial Facts Tool Kit

• EXCELLENT: No mortgage late payments, no late payments on car loans, credit cards, or other sources of credit.
• GOOD: No mortgage late payments, 1 - 2 late payments on other forms of credit over past 3 years.
• FAIR: 1 mortgage late payment over past 3 years, 2 - 5 late payments on other forms of credit.
• POOR: Bankruptcy in last 5 years, multiple mortgage late payments, multiple late payments on other forms of credit.

Credit Information