Search Results for “three-alternatives-to-a-budget/budget-lesson-part-5/debt-burnout/budget-lesson-part-3/budget-lesson-part-1/travel-expenses-why-i-splurge/medical-costs-and-choices/budget4/future-dreams” — Page 68

What Can Cause Damage to Your Credit?

Factors contributing to someone's credit score... — Factors contributing to someone’s credit score, for Credit score (United States). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Credit scores move up and down as new financial data is collected by the credit bureaus. Many factors can cause a credit score to rise or fall, but most people don’t have a clue what they are. Understanding what affects credit can help keep your number in a good score range, where it should be. But, even a bad score can recover more quickly than most people realize, even after a bankruptcy or default. Here are some factors that can help you understand why credit moves up or down:

Late Payments

About 30% of your score is made up from your payment history. This is comprised from things like credit card bills, auto loan payments, personal loans, and mortgages. At this time, bills like utilities or rent are not factored into your score, unless they are sent to a collection agency. If you are late to pay your credit card bill, it will show up on your credit file. One late payment will probably not have much of an effect, but a history of this over time can drop your score. It is very important to keep bill payment current as a courtesy to creditors and the benefit of your own financial history.

Credit Inquiries

One of the most misunderstood factors that can cause a credit score to drop are “credit inquiries”. An inquiry takes place anytime your credit is checked. This makes up 10% of your total score. What most people don’t know is that there are two different types of credit inquiries, “hard inquiries” and “soft inquires”. Only hard inquiries affect credit and happen when you apply for a new credit card, loan, or mortgage. Soft inquiries on the other hand happen when someone like an employer, landlord, or yourself check your credit report. These are not factored into your credit score at all. Hard inquiries are a necessary part of applying for a loan or credit, so an occasional inquiry will not cause damage. It can only cause problems if there are many hard inquiries in a short period of time. This can be a signal to creditors that you are in financial trouble and are desperately seeking cash.

Credit to Debt Ratio

Your total amount of available credit compared to the amount of credit you use each month, makes up your credit-to-debt ratio. FICO suggests that you use no more than 30% of your available credit before paying off your balance each month. For example if you have $10,000 of available credit spread across 3 different credit cards, the optimal amount to charge would be $3000 or less each month. Maxing out your credit cards can cause your score to drop even if you pay them off completely each month.

Age of Your Credit History

The length of time you have had an open credit account is a major factor of your credit score. It can help to open a credit card when you are younger by getting a co-signer. If you are the parent of a teenager, it may be helpful to open a credit card in their name, but only allow them to use it for emergencies. Having an open credit card in good standing for a long period of time can help build this history. The length of time that you have had credit makes up about 15% of your score.

Different Types of Credit

The last major factor that makes up about 10% of your score comes from the different types of credit that you use. These credit types include revolving, installment, and mortgage. The ability of an individual to successfully handle all of these credit types can show that they are financially well-rounded. This makes up about 10% of the total credit score.

About:
Ross is an investor and website owner.

Make Money Blogging and a Carnival Roundup

Finance

As I mentioned last month, my friend Crystal has launched a book about making money blogging. This is the book where the biggest blogger ad rep out there shares her price list. That alone is worth the price of admission. The rest of the book is gravy and includes things like setting up a blog, disclosures, and connecting with other bloggers.

Because she rocks, she’s offering a $10 coupon. Use code “thankyou10”.

Because I also rock, I’m offering a bonus.

If you buy the book through my link during the month of August, I’ll hold a webinar showing you exactly how to set up a blog. It will be a thorough walkthrough of everything you need to get started. I’ll use one of you as the demo model, so the lucky one will get their site set up for them on the webinar*.

I will show you how to easily get started.

You won’t find a better offer out there. Get the book. Get started.

* This does not include graphic design, because that’s not my talent. It’s also not going to include custom programming.

Live Real, Now was included in the following carnivals recently:

Yakezie Carnival hosted by Tackling Our Debt

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by Portfolio Princess

Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #40 hosted by My University Money

Carnival of Retirement #27 hosted by Good Financial Sense

Yakezie Carnival: TUJ Summer Heat Edition hosted by The Ultimate Juggle

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by My Family Finances

Yakezie Carnival hosted by Passive Income to Retire

Festival of Frugality #346 hosted by One Smart Dollar

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by 101 Centavos

Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #42 hosted by Modest Money

Yakezie Carnival hosted by Kylie Ofiu

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by Making Sense of Cents

Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #43 hosted by My University Money

Lifestyle Carnival #13 hosted by Mom’s Plans

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by Finance Product Reviews

Carnival of Retirement #31 hosted by Debt Black Hole

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How Much is Too Much?

Business, Finance, Life, Parenting, Relationships

I work.

A lot.

Aside from my day job, I’ve got my gun training classes, this site, advertising and online marketing for a few companies, and a large custom software project. I’m working 60-70 hour weeks and have been for at least 2 years.

When it all started, it was all necessary. We were in debt, I was underpaid for my industry, and we couldn’t make ends meet. Today, our debt is nearly gone, our savings has grown, and I make considerably more money that I did 2 years ago.

But I’m still running as hard as I can.

My wife is unemployed, but I don’t think that matters much. I probably make enough at my day job to cover our lifestyle. I’ll know for sure in 2 weeks when my benefits all kick in.

But I’m still hustling.

When someone calls me up to ask to pay me for a project–a highly skilled, high-margin project–how can I turn them down? When the headlines drive people into my classes, how can I say no to the money?

I’ve been accused of being a workaholic, and I can’t argue with it anymore. I’m working all of the time, and the rest of my life–my marriage, my kids–is suffering for it. I’ve spent so long with not enough, is it possible to just enjoy what I’ve got?

I’ve got no hobbies. I rarely spend time with anyone. I quit working an hour before my kids are asleep, and see them in the morning just long enough to get them to daycare.

I’ve got to scale back. That means my plans to go self-employed are getting paused, but that was mostly an exit strategy for my last job. I enjoy my current job. I’m doing what I love in an industry I care about.

What can I cut?

This site. I could sell this, make a bit of money and reclaim that time, but I need this vent. I need to be able to talk about my finances and release whatever pressure is building up.
Gun classes. This business takes up about 10 hours per class, with 1-2 classes per month. It’s not a huge time sink. Right now, business is booming. There is an old saying: “You have to make hay while the sun is shining.” Eventually, the market will slow down, but for now, we’re one of the most successful businesses in our market. I can’t turn this tap off.
Marketing company. This is the biggest time sink I’ve got. It’s also the most profitable. This is where I spend my time every evening, and where I think I need to wind down. I’ve got a couple of major commitments I can’t back out of, but when they are done, I think this has to go. I simply can’t keep going like this. We’ll keep the business entity, so we’ll be able to say yes to the right projects and be ready to go with the next brilliant idea….crap, there I go again.

My name is Jason, and I’m a workaholic. The idea of shutting down my business hurts, but the idea of losing my wife and kids hurts more. I don’t know how painful winding some of this down will be, but rest assured, I’ll be sharing the progress here.

Fat guy running

Life

As part of my effort to improve every part of my life, I have decided to get back in shape. Twelve years ago, I worked in a factory during the day and cooked in a resaurant in the evening. I didn’t have a car, so I biked 5 miles in between my jobs. Fast forward 3 kids, a desk job, and 100 pounds later. I don’t enjoy getting winded on three flights of stairs and I like running while my daughter rides her bike. I’m going to get back in shape.

As a part of that effort, I recently bought a bike. I thought I was getting it for a steal, until I took it out. The chain kept slipping, the shifters were difficult, and it was too small for my frame. I took it back. A bike that would work well for me would cost $200-300, more than currently fits in my budget. Running is cheap, right? It is, unless I go for the runner-geek purchases. Every hobby and activity can become expensive if you let it. I may invest in some running shoes, but that will be the extent of my runner-geek shopping.

My plan was to run according to this this schedule, running every other day. Run one day, rest the next. The first day in week 3, I got petellofemoral pain, or “runner’s knee”. I went to the doctor and got x-rayed. There is nothing even hinting at major damage, which has always been a fear of mine, due to my barometer knee pain. The doctor gave me a sheet of stretching and strengthening exercises to do and told me to put running on hold for a bit. I will be doing the exercises every day this week. Next week, I’m starting over with my running schedule. I will be giving my knees an ice massage after each run and doing the exercises on the off days.[ad name=”inlineleft”]

I am writing this in October and have been running for half of September. Hopefully, the city will keep the roads plowed enough that I can run all through the winter. The schedule may slow down a bit, depending on weather, but I’m hopeful. By the time this posts, I will have a lot more information about how well I am doing.

Update: Mid-November. Where did the last month go? It’s amazing how fast time slips away if you aren’t watching it. My barometer knee pain has been back, and life has been hectic. I need to get his habit going again, before it freezes to much to start.

Be Prepared or Be Me

Finance, Life

We had some nasty storms roll through over the weekend. There was a lot of tornado-ish activity, 70 mile-an-hour gusts of wind, hail, and an electrical blackout. For almost 24 hours, we were living in the stone age, with nothing but smartphones for internet, and high-lumen flashlights being used to see. With no cartoons for the girls, we were forced to read them bed-time stories, while my son and his friends were forced to use their imaginations to entertain themselves.

Every time we called, the electric company added 12 hours to their estimated repair time. Amazingly, they came in 7 hours ahead of schedule, if you don’t count the first two revisions.

By Saturday afternoon, we were out shopping for things we should have already had ready.

For years, we had discussed buying a generator. For some reason, it never became a priority. We have a large freezer and refrigerator full of food. With no electricity, a generator was suddenly prioritized. All of the places near us were sold out of budget-priced generators when we decided it was better to drop $400 on that than to lose $600 worth of food. We did find one, eventually, but it would have been better to take it out of the garage than have to shop for it when we needed it. Naturally, 10 minutes after we got it home, the power came on. Do yourself a favor: if you own a home and have a small corner available for storage, start shopping for a generator. Pick one up on sale instead of waiting until you have no real choice.

We have a ton of batteries. It’s one of the things we stock up on when they are on sale. Unfortunately, our broadest-beam flashlight takes a 6-volt battery, and we don’t keep a spare. By the end of the night, it was getting pretty yellow and dim. Another night would have killed it completely. This wasn’t a widespread blackout, so there was no shortage of batteries, but it would have been nice to have the spare already at home. Check your emergency supplies and make sure you have replacement batteries that fit everything you need.

The one thing that would have improved the night most is a good lantern. We had our 5, plus two of my son’s friends all trying to play board games by flashlight. A lantern could have been set on the entertainment center and lit most of the room.

For everything we were without due to the blackout, the one thing I truly missed was the air conditioner. When the storm died, so did the wind. Completely. Opening all of the windows didn’t help at all. Other than that, it was nice to have everyone forced to interact. Nobody was whining about being bored and we were all having fun.

I want to schedule a pseudo-blackout more often.

6 Questions to Financially Get to Know Each Other

Finance

This topic has been blatantly stolen from Budgets are Sexy.

1) How do you spend: cash, debit or credit? I use cash almost exclusively. I live in Minnesota and have two small children, so bundling the brats up to go inside the gas station to pay is nuts. Gas stations get the debit card. Online shopping, or automatic payments set up in the payee’s system are done on a credit card that gets paid off every month.

[ad name=”inlineright”]2) Do you bank online? How about use a financial aggregator (Mint, Wesabe, Yodlee, etc.)? I bank online. I use USBank for my daily cash flow, INGDirect for savings management and Wells Fargo for business. I used Mint strictly as a net worth calculator and alerting system. I use Quicken to manage my money and a spreadsheet for my budget, but I really like the quick, hands-off way that Mint gathers my account information and emails low balance alerts.

3) What recurring bills do you have set on autopay? Absolutely everything except daycare, 2 annual payments, and 1 quarterly payment.

4) How are your finances automated? I use USBank’s billpay system, instead of setting up autopayments at every possible payee. This gives me instant total control and reminders before each payment. The exceptions are my mortgage, netflix, and Dish. My mortgage company takes the money automatically from my checking. The other two hit a credit card automatically. Our paychecks are direct-deposited and automatically transferred to the different accounts and banks, as necessary.

5) Do you write checks? If so, how often? Once per week, for daycare. Occasionally for school fundraisers.

6) Where do you stash your short-term savings? I have quite a few savings accounts with INGDirect to meet all of my savings goals. For the truly short term, I add a line item in Quicken and just leave the money in my checking account.

Who’s next?

Search Results for: three-alternatives-to-a-budget/budget-lesson-part-5/debt-burnout/budget-lesson-part-3/budget-lesson-part-1/travel-expenses-why-i-splurge/medical-costs-and-choices/budget4/future-dreams