LAD-Life After Debt

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐭?

Let's face it, the economy is not as strong as it could be 🤷🏻‍♂️

And while it's struggling along, more and more people are finding themselves getting deeper and deeper into debt.

The sad thing is that, most likely, none of this debt is your fault.

After all, you need a place to live and food to eat, but circumstances beyond your control have now left you owing more money than you can pay back.

However, consumer debt reduction may just be the silver lining you've been looking for.

So, here are some things you can do to get yourself off to a strong start:

👉Know exactly where you are financially
👉Set your priorities.
👉Reduce the amount you owe.
👉Increase how much you pay.

𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞? 𝐃𝐦 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭!

𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝?

Curious whether you’re eligible for a credit card? 🤔

Here we go with a quick tutorial on what constitutes creditworthiness and how you can make sure that you are eligible for a credit card when you want one.

When you buy something on credit or have a credit card, the credit card company or store makes periodic reports to one or more credit reporting agencies.

Those agencies keep records of your credit history – how good you are at paying your bills on time.

Among the things that go into your credit history are:

👉 How many credit cards do you have
👉 How much you owe on each one
👉 How many loans you’ve taken out
👉 How much you still owe on them
👉 Any payments that you’ve made late

Credit reporting agencies assign a ‘weight’ to each of those facts and assign points to you based on each of those points.

The total of those points is called your ‘credit score’.

The higher your credit score is, the better your credit is.

𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝? 𝐃𝐦 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭!

𝟑 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝

If you run your own business, chances are you've thought about getting a business credit card 💳

It's probably a good idea since it makes it easy for you to separate your business expenses from your home expenses, a task that helps keep your paperwork organized and simplifies things at tax time.

When you're ready to apply for a business card, follow this checklist:

👉 Choose a card
👉 Gather up paperwork
👉 Fill out the application

𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? 𝐃𝐦 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐭 𝐍𝐎𝐖?

It will take you on average between 25 to 30 years to pay off your credit card at the minimal amount.

This will not do 🙅🏻‍♂️

Make a list of all of your credit cards.

List the following in columns:
👉 type of credit card,
👉 principle amount,
👉 regular payment amount,
👉 power down payment,
👉 interest rate,
👉 the total number of payments left on the card,
👉 estimated payoff date.

Put your list in order of how many payments are left from least to most.

If you make a minimum payment of $55/month on one of your cards until it is paid off in full, you then have $55/month freed up to add to the minimum monthly payment for the next credit card.

After you pay off the second card, the amount you were paying on that one can be applied toward the third card.

By doing this, you will decrease the number of years required to pay off your credit cards from approximately 30 years to nine years.

𝐆𝐨𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? 𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 👇🏻

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐭.

The World is in debt 🌎

Almost all people and organizations are carrying debt to survive, including the Governments of all of our Nations.

This is just a fact of life and this is the way that we were raised.

You must acquire debt to survive; there is no other way 🤷🏻‍♂️

But, this is entirely not true.

So, the key to getting out of debt is really quite simple; organization.

You cannot help yourself get out of any situation without first realizing what exactly you are into.

This indeed is the first step.

𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐭-𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞? 𝐃𝐦 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟑 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐬 & 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭?

Well, there are 3 major credit bureaus that have information on you regarding your credit history.

If you have ever applied for a loan or credit of any kind you have a file at one of the 3 major credit bureaus.

👉 You may have to request a free report online from all three to get an overall look at your credit report.

You should also note that you might have an excellent credit record with two of the 3 major credit bureaus and a poor rating with the other.

💁🏻‍♂️ So, make sure to request from all 3 of them!

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭? 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐌 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭!

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 & 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲?

The most important lesson I learned about getting out of debt is that you'll NEVER get out of debt playing by the rules of your creditors.

No matter what they say.

After all, the longer it takes you to pay off your debt, the more money they'll make 🤷🏻‍♂️

So trust me, you’ll NEVER get out of debt by just making minimum payments.

So, how do you pay off your credit card bills...especially when money is REAL tight?

👉 Work out an agreement with your creditors to pay off your credit card bills at a reduced amount.

You'll be able to pay off your bills more quickly, and credit card companies will get their money faster.

𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐭? 𝐃𝐦 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭?

The first step to repairing your credit is in understanding what happened and why you are now in financial trouble.

👉Did you lose your job by being laid off?
👉Did you get sick and lost access to your income?
👉 Or did you overspend and now find yourself with a mess to fix?

Your first step in fixing your credit is knowing and acknowledging the reasons why your credit situation is the way it is currently.

The second step is in knowing how to go about repairing your credit, and yes there is a right and wrong way of doing this!

So, fix your credit the correct way and I can help you.

𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲? 𝐃𝐦 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤.

𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫.

But there are simple things that you can do that can improve your credit almost instantly, and other things that will work but it will take months to see the results.

Of course, just paying your bills on time will help enormously, and not just your loan payments 🤷🏻‍♂️

All your bills can be reported to the credit bureaus if you don't pay on time.

👉Utilities, cable, your satellite dish company, etc.

So, pay for everything on time every month.

𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞? 𝐃𝐌 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐔.𝐒. 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞?

👉 The answer is 690.

So, how close did you get? 🤔

If you were pretty far off, that's okay.

Before you can make an accurate guess, you need to know a few things.

You need to have some idea of how the economy is doing.
You also need to know what the full range of credit scores is.

A perfect score is 850, and the worst possible score is 300. And a bit of quick math tells us that the average of those two numbers is 575.

But the national average credit score is 690.

This is mostly due to the fact that no matter how tough things get, people still do their best to pay their bills, and pay them on time. Perhaps that can be attributed to the American spirit and the desire to keep one's word.

Whatever the reason, the actual average of 690 is significantly higher than 575.

𝐆𝐨𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? 𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭 - 𝐃𝐦 𝐦𝐞.

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞?

If you have a lower credit score than you would like, the odds are that the score is caused by some small financial mistake or oversight you have made.

Not every person with bad credit has a low credit score caused by something they did, though 🤷🏻‍♂️

Sometimes, other people’s criminal activity can affect your credit score!

So, here are a few tips that can keep you and your credit safe 👇

👉 Look out for identity theft.
👉Practice safe banking, safe computing, and safe business practices.
👉 Check your credit score regularly

Sometimes, these errors are caused by mistakes made at the credit bureau, but they could be an indication that someone is using your identity.

So, in either case, such mistakes could hurt your credit score. Fixing such errors improves your credit score.

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞?𝐆𝐨𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? 𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 👇

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞?

The way credit scores are calculated, some actions you take will affect your credit score better than others.

So, paying your bills on time and meeting your financial responsibilities will boost your score the most.

🔸 It will show lenders that you take your finances seriously and pose little threat to lost money.

There here are a few tips that will boost your credit score 👇

👉 Pay your bills on time.
👉Avoid excessive credit.
👉Pay Down Your Debts
👉 Have a range of credit types.

The types of credit you have are a factor in calculating your credit score.

So, in general, lenders like to see that you are able to handle a range of credit types well.

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 - 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞