Credit Card Info Hub

Are you looking for a credit card but dealing with bad credit?  If that’s the situation you find yourself in then the first thing you need to do is make some financial improvements, get rid of some debt and get back on the right track with your credit.  If you find that your credit is in poor standing and you’re having a tough time getting a loan or even an approved credit card you need to make some immediate changes.  Getting an additional credit card with bad credit should be secondary.  Here’s a few tips that can help improve your poor credit situation before you apply for a credit card.

First thing you need to do is get a copy of your credit report from all three credit agencies.  You are allowed a free copy of your credit report once a year or if you get rejected when applying for a loan or credit card, you are also allowed a free copy of your credit report.  Once you have your credit report, review it to see where the problems are.  Did you make late payments or forget to pay the final phone bill at your last apartment?  Once you find out where the source of the bad credit comes from, contact the company or collection agency (hopefully it hasn’t gotten that far) and see what you need to do to make things right.  Most companies will work with you to remedy the bad credit situation.

Here are a few things that you can do to avoid Bad Credit:

• Pay your bills on time, late payments can trigger alerts on your credit report
• If you have a credit card that you want to cancel - don’t.  It negatively affects your credit score.  Instead of canceling the card, make sure to pay off the entire balance and then cut up your card so that you won’t be tempted to use it again.
• Make sure all your bills are settled and services canceled before moving.  Leaving the telephone connected for your roommate before you part ways might seem like a nice gesture but if the service is in your name, YOU are responsible for the monthly payment.
• Don’t apply for too many loans or credit cards in a short period of time. Every time a company gets your permission to access your credit report, it affects your credit score in a negative way.  The higher your credit score, the better your chances of getting a loan or good credit card rate.  So do your research on a loan or credit card you want to apply for before applying.
• Make sure you check your credit report frequently so that you can nip your credit cards bad credit and other bad credit in the bud.  Credit reporting agencies make mistakes (more often than you might think) and checking your credit report will also help prevent identity theft.

Once you get yourself on the right track with your credit report, your credit score will follow.  The twist to all this is that in order to build good credit you need to have some credit to work with!  If you don’t have a credit card, getting and using a credit card responsibly is a great way to build good credit.  There are credit card offers out there for people with poor or bad credit but these cards usually come with a higher annual percentage rate because the credit card companies are taking a higher risk by lending money to customers with bad or poor credit.  So if this is the case, you need to be extra careful about paying your credit card bills on time and not getting into a huge hole or incurring large financial debt.