Ring In The New Year With A New View On Your Credit
Congratulations, you've made it through another holiday shopping season. All the members of your family are happy with their gifts and you have a feeling of great satisfaction after another successful holiday in the books. Now it’s time to survey the damage. “So, how far over budget did we go this year?” seems to be a common phrase uttered among many of us just after the holiday season. Well, whether you've completely blown out your budget or you've managed to stay within your limits, there are a few things that you may want to think about when it comes to finances, specifically, monitoring your credit profile and protecting
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It’s important for us as consumers to keep control of our credit, not just as we see it from our own point of view, but from a potential creditor’s point of view. When lenders review a loan or credit application and its accompanying documents, they’re usually looking for answers to a few basic questions:
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Has this person had credit in the past and has he paid it back in a responsible manner?
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Does this person have enough or too much outstanding credit based on his financial means?
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Does this person consistently pay his bills on time every month?
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Does this person open up new credit accounts very frequently?
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Has this person had any major trouble with his credit in the past and if so, why?
The answers to these questions could highly influence the decision of whether or not to extend new credit to a consumer. The majority of these questions may be answered by looking at a consumer’s credit report and credit score. Now, if you've done well with your credit in the past and you believe that your answers to the questions above are all favorable, you may be in good shape when it comes time to apply for a mortgage, car loan or credit card.
However, what if your credit report and score paint a slightly different picture of what your credit looks like? What if there’s something listed on your credit report that you were unaware of until now? Perhaps a few missed payments on an unknown credit card account or an account that you closed years ago that still shows activity and a balance. Unauthorized activity or errors like these can cost you both time and money, especially if they are allowed to linger for an extended period of time.
If you find that you have issues like these on your credit report, you may now be faced with the arduous task of going through your credit history and trying and correct these problems before they have a chance to further damage your credit report and score. So, how can you help prevent a small problem from turning into a big headache down the road? Is there a way that you can find out if any activity has taken place in your account without your knowledge? Enter credit monitoring.
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service can help you keep an eye on all three credit reports (Experian, Transunion, Equifax) on a daily basis. It can also serve to advise you of other activity such as inquiries that may be made into you accounts, new public records or derogatory information that may have been added without your knowledge. As you can see, this type of service can help you stay in control of what happens with your credit and empowers you to maintain your credit report and score at the level that it deserves.
So, if you’d like to do something for your credit in this New Year, you may want to consider using a daily credit monitoring service like the one offered by PrivacyGuard. It can help you protect your credit profile and help you start out this New Year on the right path toward a safer, more secure credit profile.