CALL NOW (412) 564-5370
Schedule Your Free Review

Tag: How to improve your credit score

Posted on

Is Credit Repair Worth It? MAYBE!

Woman confused if credit repair is worth it.

Credit Repair can be a great investment and it can also be a complete waste of money.

It is important to understand that every credit repair company sets their own pricing.  In fact, one of the reasons Cure My Score was started in 2008 was due to pricing issues within the industry.  Over my many years in this industry I have seen pricing all over the board.  I have seen quite affordable programs, like our $89 monthly unlimited credit repair, and very expensive programs.  Interestingly enough, I have not seen where a consumer would benefit more from an expensive program.  One thing is for certain, if you are looking into hiring a credit repair company, understand 100% on how their pricing works before engaging their services.

Who WILL benefit from Credit Repair?

Happy people that did credit repair.

Answering this question based on the services offered at www.curemyscore.com and our 14 years of experience, our clients who are most successful and receive the most value:
1. Follow their Custom Game Plan and advice from our team.  Credit education is a key part of why our clients succeed.
2. Collaborate closely with our team who is dedicated to helping all our clients.  Credit is unique for everyone, so we encourage our customers to be active with our team.
3. Take responsibility for their credit.  We provide every tool we can to help our clients but at the end of the day, our clients’ actions will determine how successful they are with their credit repair efforts.

Who WILL NOT benefit from Credit Repair?

Sad man that did not benefit from Credit Repair since he did not follow their advice.

Answering this question based on the services offered at www.curemyscore.com and our 14 years of experience, the consumers who get very little help or value from any credit repair service:
1. Have a pattern of missing future payments and/or experience new derogatory credit events.
2. Do not want to listen and learn how to improve their credit.  Credit scoring is complicated, and we do our best to educate each client what steps they need to improve their score.  A consumer typically will not benefit if they do not follow the advice and education they are given.
3. Blame everything and everyone else for their credit issues.  Some consumers want to blame the credit system for not being fair.

Credit Repair Advice

Credit Repair advice.

Like it or not, if you want to borrow money now or in the future, there is an exceptionally good chance your credit will be used in that transaction.  For those who feel that the credit system is unfair, they would still greatly benefit in taking the actions they need to improve their credit rating and score.  If you choose to work with a professional credit repair company, understand their program, billing, and fees to get your money’s worth. Follow the credit advice you get and be sure to stay current on all your future financial obligations.

CREDIT REPAIR HELP IS AVAILABLE.

Credit Repair help is available.

If your credit needs help, take action.  There are a lot of resources available on steps to improve your credit.  You can get free information from the FTC or contact a professional credit repair company like CureMyScore.com for help.  By taking action to improve your credit, you may qualify for the home of your dreams or a new auto while paying less in interest charges.  Call us at 412-564-5370 with any questions / comments or schedule a free program review.  Like us on Facebook to receive future consumer credit tips.

Posted on

Credit Cards – USE them or LOSE them

Credit Cards – USE them or LOSE them

Like it or not, credit cards have a big impact on your credit score, so it is important to understand how this all works.  As an educator of credit for a credit repair company, I often teach consumers how to open credit and effectively use it to help them improve their credit scores.

Many companies will close your credit cards if you don’t use them.

Banks issue credit cards to consumers to make a profit from them.  If a consumer does not use their credit cards, the banks stand no chance of collecting their interest charges, hence no profit.  It costs the banks money to keep credit cards open so most require some activity on the card to keep it open.  Notice I said they require activity, you do not have to pay them interest where they make a profit, to keep your credit card open.  Banks know that they will eventually make a profit off the average consumer if they are using their credit cards.

Picture of a credit score.How often do you need to use your credit cards to keep them open?

Based on my 30+ years of experience working with consumers and their credit, I can say there is not an exact answer to this question.  In my experience, most banks will keep credit cards open if they see activity at least once a year.  Personally, I try to use my revolving credit cards at least once every 6 months.  As an example, I recently went to a department store and bought a tee shirt ($10 or so) with their credit card purely to keep activity on the card.  Once I received the statement, I paid the bill in full and will repeat this process in 6 months or so.

Why do credit score models care about my credit cards?

Credit scores are designed to predict the risk of a future payment default.  The higher the score, the lower the risk; the lower the score, the higher the risk.  Credit cards give consumers fast access to credit so in times of financial trouble, a consumer can lean on a credit card to get by rather than defaulting on a current payment obligation.  Therefore, consumers who have open credit cards with low to no balances relative to their credit limits do well in this category of the credit score.

Your actions determine if your credit cards stay open.

At the end of the day, you can’t force your credit card company to keep your credit card open.  Banks can close a credit card if they choose to.  By keeping regular activity on your credit card, you are giving the credit card companies a reason to keep the card open.  My advice is to keep all your credit cards active.  If you have one that you have not used in a while, I suggest you dust it off and go make a small purchase to generate a statement.

Credit repair help is available.

If your credit needs some help, take action. There are a lot of resources available on steps to improve your credit. You can get free information from the FTC or contact a professional credit repair company like CureMyScore.com for help. By taking action to improve your credit, you may qualify for the home of your dreams or a new auto while paying less in interest charges.

Call us at 412-564-5370 with any questions / comments or schedule a free program review.  Like us on Facebook to receive future consumer credit tips.