1. Do not charge your cards to the limit. Yes, your credit line is whatever the credit card company determines it should be. Still, if you max out your credit cards your credit rating will suffer.

2. Check your credit reports. The three major reporting agencies are TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax and they all must offer to American consumers one free credit report per year. Not all states are covered by this policy until September 2005, so check to see if you are eligible now. Errors are common, so make sure you identify them and take the proper course of action to have incorrect information expunged from your report.

3. Pay off your credit cards. Your credit will improve if your outstanding balances are paid off prior to applying for credit. Consider consolidating your outstanding balances into one low monthly payment.

4. One stop rate shopping. Too many mortgage applications over a lengthy period of time can reduce your credit rating. Your best bet: shop online and get mortgage lenders to bid on your loan. Choose one company and only apply to them.

5. Use reputable lenders. If you borrow money from less than reputable lenders, including some finance companies, you may be penalized even if you have repaid the loan. Using a finance company can be a signal to lenders that you are a credit risk as these types of businesses cater to consumers who are a higher credit risk.

6. Wait to purchase household goods. If you are planning to purchase major appliances for your new home, do not make the purchase until after your loan has been approved. A spike in spending could derail approval of your mortgage loan.

7. Overcome a history of bad credit. If you have a previous history of bad credit, do not apply for any loans within the first year immediately after your credit rating is at its lowest. You will need the one year period to build your credit rating back up. Should you apply and are accepted within that first year, chances are your mortgage rate will be higher and that could cost you thousands of dollars over the life of your loan.

Lenders are eager for your business, so even if your credit rating isn’t that great you may qualify for a lower rate mortgage especially if other factors weigh in, like your income level. Still, consider taking whatever steps necessary to improve your credit rating before you apply.

Matthew Keegan writes for The Article Writer an online article writing and web management business. You can view his site at http://www.thearticlewriter.com

If you thought that home foreclosures was the chief problem for some consumers, consider that automotive repossessions are one more sting some people are now facing.

Repos Up Another 10%

According to Thomas Webb, the chief economist for a unit of Atlanta-based Manheim, which sells cars to dealers worldwide, repossessions for 2008 are expected to rise to their highest levels in more than decade, representing a 10% increase over 2007. What’s more, the repossessions for 2007 were 10% higher than 2006. In all, more than 1.6 million cars are expected to be taken back this year.

Consumers Can’t Make Payments

True, consumers may shoulder the bulk of the blame as some have were enticed to buy more car than they could possibly afford and payment terms that were longer than average. Indeed, with the proliferation of 60-month and 72-month notes out there, some drivers are wearing out their wheels faster than they can pay them off.

Stay In Touch With Your Lender

If you find yourself in trouble, the best thing to do is notify your lender that you will be late with a payment. It doesn’t take long, usually 2 or 3 months of being behind in payments, before lenders take action.

Even though repos are filling up lots across the country, lenders are usually not hesitating to take action, especially if they believe that consumers aren’t being honest with them.

Bad seed is a robbery of the worst kind: for your pocket-book not only suffers by it, but your preparations are lost and a season passes away unimproved — George Washington

Today is the birth date for George Washington, the first President of these United States. Recently, I had the opportunity to read a brief biography of our first Commander-in-Chief and realized what a humble man that he was.

Unlike so many politicians of our day, George wanted to help people and live a quiet life. Certainly, he desired to free the colonies from British rule, but beyond that he wasn’t someone with strong political ambitions.

What I am about to share with you really has nothing to do with our first president other than offering you, the reader, some good links which may be of benefit to you. Please read on as I’ve compiled a list of sites worthy of visiting:

Gather Little By Little — Personal finance with a Christian Perspective.

Get Rich Slowly — Personal finance that makes cents.

The Dough Roller — Control your money, control your life.

Where Your Treasure Is — Merging faith & personal finance.

Being Frugal — Making every penny count.

ChristianPF — Save money. Make money. Give money.

Sense to Save — Join me on my journey to live a more frugal lifestyle. Here, you’ll find common sense and not-so-common sense on ways you can save money.

Money Saving Mom — Helping you be a better home economist.

The Simple Dollar — Financial talk for the rest of us.

Working For Financial Freedom — One Family. $58,000 in debt. This is how they pay it off.

Frugal Babe — A rich life without a lot of money.

I’ve Paid For This Twice Already — From financial imprisonment to financial independence, a penny at a time. This is one family’s story.

By George, I think that I’m done!

Virtually all consumers will have a credit card at some point in their lives. Is this an understatement? Probably, as most consumers carry multiple credit cards. Selecting a credit card should not be something taken lightly; card companies are constantly looking for new consumers, but only after wisely comparing offers should you select a provider. Pick a company that will give to you a reasonable rate and one that “incentivizes” their program with some type of reward for using their card.

So, how do rewards cards work? Almost without fail, rewards cards typically give consumers money back on their purchases [usually 1-2%] or allow you to accumulate points toward prizes or discounts on future purchases. If you charge $10,000. per year [not hard to do if you charge your groceries] and your rewards card pays you a 2% reward on purchases, you will receive $200. from the company. Usually you will gain the funds in the form of several credits to your account spread out over the course of a year, but in some cases you will receive the rewards in the form of a check.

Rewards cards are free money, right? Only if you do not have to pay an annual fee and you pay your credit card off every month. If you do not pay your card off every month, your reward could easily be overshadowed by monthly interest payments, especially if your interest rate is high. Not too many companies pay rewards and give you a low rate at the same time. In theory, even if you carry balances for as little as 2-3 months before paying your card off you could find your rewards for the entire year outweighed by finance charges.

When rewards are given in the form of points that you later can redeem for prizes or take discounts on future purchases, you need to consider the following when selecting your card:

1. Is the reward program for something you know you will use? For example, if you are a member of GM’s rewards program, are you certain that you will be purchasing a GM product in the future? If so, go with this card as the return can be as high as 5%.

2. Is there an annual cap on purchases? Many rewards cards will limit to you the amount of cash back funds or rewards points you can accumulate in one year. Most people never come close to the figure, but if you are a business traveler you can quickly approach and pass these limitations within the year.

3. Do points eventually drop off? The majority of rewards cards only allow you to accumulate points for three years before they begin to drop off. If your next car purchase is five years away and you have a program that drops off points, you could find the first two years of card usage to be a waste as those points would vanish. If you still want that particular rewards card, only use it in years 3, 4, and 5 so that when it comes time to purchase your new car you will not have lost any points. You could consider getting and using another rewards card for a different rewards system to cover years 1 and 2.

All in all, rewards cards can be a useful option for the savvy consumer. Remember, points do fall off and carrying balances from month to month will wipe out the value of the card in short order. By showing plenty of discipline you can make rewards cards work well for you.

Matt Keegan is a freelance writer who resides in North Carolina, USA. Matt writes on a variety of subjections related to business, travel, and Christian themes.

If you were to tell someone that they can have a certain item for free, more than likely their response would be, “what’s the catch?” In the case of credit reports there is no catch, you can now get a free copy of this report through the three credit reporting agencies: Equifax, TransUnions, and Experian. Let’s take a look at the law and how you can benefit from it.

An amendment to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires the three national credit reporting agencies to provide one free copy of your credit report to you annually. Beginning on December 1, 2004 and culminating on September 1, 2005, the Federal Trade Commission is requiring that these agencies offer reports on a rolling, phase in basis. In other words, on December 1, 2004, if you live in certain western states you became eligible at that time and every three months later additional states were added. By September 1, 2005, residents of all states are eligible.

Fortunately for consumers, you need not contact the three reporting agencies separately to obtain your free credit report. You can order right online at www.annualcreditreport.com; or by calling 877-322-8228; or by completing the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mailing it:

Annual Credit Report Request Service

P.O. Box 105281

Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

The form is available online where you can print it out and mail it in: www.ftc.gov/credit.

If you need copies more often, you can contact the three reporting agencies and request copies. You will pay for this service.

To buy a copy of your report, contact:

Equifax

800-685-1111

www.equifax.com

Experian

888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742)

www.experian.com

Trans Union

800-916-8800

www.transunion.com

There are also private companies who will obtain all three copies of your credit report for you as well. There is a fee involved, but you may find their services to be less of a hassle than contacting the three companies separately.

So, how can you benefit from the law? By ordering copies of your reports from the companies on a four month rotating basis. Most consumers will find this plan to be sufficient and it will allow for you to compare/contrast the reports of each agency. Of course, if you already suspect fraud you will want to order all three reports at once and notify each agency to place a “fraud alert” in your credit file.

All in all, the new law is a big win for consumers. Take advantage of this “windfall” as soon as you become eligible to do so.

Matthew Keegan — The Article Writer — writes on a variety of business, financial, and personal interest topics. You can view additional samples of his work at http://www.thearticlewriter.com