Smart Credit Management Ideas

Smart Credit Management Ideas
  • Opening Intro -

    How is credit working for you?

    Or is it? C

    redit can come in handy, especially in emergencies, but credit can also become a noose that hangs you financially.

-------------------------------------

Control credit or it will control you.

Smart credit management ideas can help consumers maintain very good credit, by controlling it instead of the other way around. Let’s explore some ideas on how you can make credit management work for you.

Know where you stand

— Managing credit starts with knowing exactly where your stand financially. This means reviewing you credit card and loan statements, and knowing how much you owe. It also means obtaining your personal consumer credit reports and examining these to see what creditors are saying about you. Incorrect or outdated information can harm your credit score — obtain your free annual reports from AnnualCreditReport.com to review your reports. If mistakes are present, follow each bureau’s procedures for challenging these errors.

Eliminate or reduce your balances

— Big credit card balances will suck your finances dry. Even if your rates are low, that money could be better spent elsewhere or saved toward the purchase of a larger item. Determine to reduce your credit card debt this year — employ the snowball plan to tackle your credit card debt bit by bit.

Consolidate your debt

— Eliminating credit card balances may be difficult to do if your interest rates are high. This is where you will want to consider moving your balances to a lower interest rate credit card in a bid to pay your debt down faster. Should you consolidate your debt with a home equity loan? That usually is not a good idea — you’ll put your home at risk if you default.

Put a lid on credit card use

— Simply put, if you can’t keep your credit card usage under control, then you’ll never exert smart credit management. Determine to use your credit cards only in emergency situations. At very minimum, promise to pay off your balances monthly.

Practice sound spending habits

— Big purchases are easy to weigh, but it could be all of those small buys you make that test your spending habits. A coffee and biscuit here, a nail salon visit there and you’re quickly wracking up your bills. Better to pay with cash and work under the premise that when the money is gone it is gone.

If your debt problems are too huge to overcome without some assistance, than consider talking with a debt counselor or a financial advisor to gain an upper hand. Personal bankruptcy should always be treated as a last resort option, one that will wreck your credit for many years to come.

Credit Managment reference:

what you need to know about credit

 

Last update on 2020-03-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

 

end of post idea for home improvement

 

Helpful article? Leave us a quick comment below.
And please give this article a rating and/or share it within your social networks.

facebook linkedin pinterest

Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: SayEducate.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. The commission earnings are used to defray our cost of operation.

View our FTC Disclosure for other affiliate information.

Categories: Credit Management

About Author

Matthew C. Keegan

Matt Keegan is a freelance writer and editor as well as publisher of "Matt's Musings", his personal blog. Matt covers campus, consumer, business and financial topics on various websites and blogs, and has been published in the "Houston Chronicle", "Sam's Club Magazine" and "Wisconsin Golfer".