Friday, March 18, 2011

Planning a budget

Here we will discuss few tips on how you can plan your budget.

Understand and estimate your current spending patterns: Track your monthly spending and try to account for every dollar spent. For the next month or two, think very closely about how your money is spent. Every time you buy something, pay a bill, or dispose of any of your money, make a strong mental note of what it is being spent on. Better yet, at the end of each day write down a list of each expenditure and what it was used for on a piece of paper or a spreadsheet.

Create your current budget: Now it's time to create your current family or personal budget budget. To do this, you need to quantify all of the spending patterns you observed in step one. Start by downloading our rather detailed Free Excel budget template spreadsheet or go to our browser based sample budget (a very simplified version). If you use the Excel spreadsheet you'll have to know how to use Excel well enough to tweak the formulas yourself. After downloading the personal household budget template, proceed to fill in the cells by classifying all the money you currently spend into the appropriate categories.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

How to boost your credit score

At a time of financial turmoil when credit is hard to obtain, it is crucial to have your credit score in the best possible shape. There are numerous ways in which you can boost your score if you put in a little effort. It is a major deciding factor when you are trying to apply for loans or mortgages. Following are the few steps that will help you boost credit score fast.

1. Deleting errors from your credit report

This is the fastest possible way to boost your credit score. Credit bureau will send copies of credit report to you across mail if you request it. You must go through the credit report diligently. If you identify errors on your credit report, request the loan officer of the credit bureau to conduct a Rapid Rescore. Credit report errors can be easily removed by writing a simple dispute letter. Sending copies of the paperwork along with the dispute letter that proves the errors will make the credit bureau's task simple and you will obtain results faster.

2. Pay off Bills on Time

This is another most important way to boost credit score. Customers should make a habit of paying off bills on time. Late payment or overdue of the bills have adverse affect on the credit rating of an individual. It affects their payment history and eventually has negative impact on the amount of loan he wishes to borrow.

3. Don’t Pay Down All Your Debts

Your credit rating is an expression of how well you can manage your debt. Paying off all revolving debt at the same time leaves you with zero balance. Always pay off the urgent, oldest debt first and leave the balance to manage it well. This way you can maintain your credit score in a better position.

4. Don't Close Accounts

It will be easy to boost your credit score if you do not close all the existing account. It reflects a better financial position if your account is kept open for a long period of time with no negative reports. The ideal balance is suggested to be 30% of your overall credit limit by the credit experts.

5. Don’t Obtain New Credit

In order to boost your credit score you must be watchful about acquiring no new credit unless it is of utmost requirement. Your credit report undergoes an enquiry every time you ask for a new credit from moneylenders. This slightly drops your credit score. If you wish to obtain more credit other than housing, college or transportation expenses it is a good idea to ask for more credit limit on your existing credit card rather than applying for a fresh credit.