The New Year — it's full of potential and promise.
It's also a great time to take control of your finances
once and for all. And to help you do just that, we've
compiled these tried and true credit management tips.
1. Take time to really study your credit card statements.
What are your statements trying to tell you? If you simply
file your monthly statements in a box, you'll never know.
Try sitting down with them and find out exactly where your
money is going each month. That will help you identify
problems areas and where you might be overspending. You may
find out that your dry cleaning is taking you to the
cleaners or that you spend more than you should eating out
each month.
2. Create ways to save money.
After some quality time with your credit card statements,
you'll usually find that there's some room for improvement.
The first thing to do is make the necessary adjustments to
curb any spending habits you see as problematic. Next, try
pay down or at the very least, transfer your high-rate
balances to a 0% card or to a card with a lower APR than
the one you currently have. Then try to use your cards only
for emergencies, even if that means going without that
perfect pair of shoes or that gotta have it gadget. A
little discipline goes a long way.
3. Make your money work for you.
You work hard for your money, so make it do the same for
you.
If your credit cards aren't too bad and your debt is paid
down — congratulations. Now, it's time to make money
with your money. Step one is to make sure you have roughly
three months salary saved in an account you can dip into
without any penalties and without any waiting period, just
in case the unexpected happens and you need cash quickly.
Next, instead of taking an extra vacation or a buying that
little red sports car, you should look at long-term savings
plans such as Individual Retirement Accounts. Your
financial planner can help you find the one that's right
for you. Just remember that the earlier you start this
process, the easier (and earlier) you can retire.
4. Regularly review your credit.
Finally, it is imperative to regularly review your credit
to make sure it's healthy, helping you become wealthy, and
that's wise.
Be sure to check your credit report and credit score at
least quarterly. You should also check them and do a debt
analysis 30-60 days after changing your behavior to see how
much you have improved. If you find any inaccuracies, write
in and have them taken off your credit report. You can even
have your side of the story added to your credit file.
Simply send in a written statement.
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TransUnion's TrueCredit.com provides millions of consumers
with tools to manage their own credit health and achieve
greater control over their finances, through easy-to-use
educational materials, free monthly newsletters and
personal credit reports. TrueCredit.com's online products
include 3 bureau credit monitoring services, insurance
credit scores, debt management and identity theft
protection tools.
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