If you have a bad credit rating, then you might find that your ability to get financing, loans, and even some jobs is greatly diminished.

Once you have a bad credit rating, it might seem like there’s nothing that you can do about it? but you don’t have to believe that. It’s not as difficult as you might think to get by with a bad credit rating; with a little work and time you can even repair it! Of course, before you do that it’s important to realize exactly what a credit rating is.

What your credit rating says about you
Every time a lender or other creditor makes a report concerning your payment history to them, this report affects your credit score.

Your credit score is a numerical indication of the positive and negative reports that you’ve received from creditors and lenders; if the number is high then you have a good credit rating, and if it’s low then you have a bad credit rating.

Since many creditors and lenders report either monthly or quarterly, the overall score is very fluid and can change over time? a fluidity that allows you to change and improve your bad credit rating as time goes by.

Basic credit repair

If you’re looking to repair your bad credit rating, the first thing that you need to do is obtain a copy of your credit report.

Once you have your credit report, you’ll be able to see the creditors and lenders that have made the negative reports for late payment and non-payment that caused you to have a bad credit rating.

Contact the lenders who have reported you for non-payment to arrange a repayment schedule, all the while making sure to keep current accounts up to date and not falling behind on your current payments.

As you gradually repay your old debts, they will be reported as being paid satisfactorily? and at the same time your current accounts will continue to report positively as long as you make on time payments.

Within six months to a year a definite change should begin to show in your credit score as the positive reports begin to outnumber and encompass the old negative reports.

It may still take a while longer for your bad credit rating to disappear entirely, but as long as you work to maintain your credit and make your payments on time you’ll find that the day will come when having a bad credit rating is nothing more than a memory.

You may freely reprint this article provided the following author’s biography (including the live URL link) remains intact:

About The Author

About the Author

John Mussi is the founder of Direct Online Loans who help homeowners find the best available loans via the www.directonlineloans.co.uk/
www.directonlineloans.co.uk website.

micamica

When looking over your investments, do you ever wonder how the value of the companies you’ve put your money in is determined? What factors decide how well a company is really doing? What’s the source of the company’s financing? Will it meet or exceed this quarter’s projections? While some consider the stock market to be little more than a house of cards, subject to the whims of individual investors, there are, in fact, some very real and measurable things that can help you to diagnose the financial health of a company.

Take a statement

It’s not an interrogation but you’ll want to ask the hard questions before you invest. Only by examining and drawing conclusions from a financial statement, will you truly know how well a company is doing. At first glance, you will see that a financial statement is made up of three main sections, the balance sheet, the income statement and the cash flow statement. Each statement depicts a different aspect of the overall financial picture of a business. The balance sheet details companies’ current assets such as cash and prepaid expenses. It shows the financial position at a particular date. This statement tells you what the current liabilities or existing debt the company has, that has to be paid within that year. Examples of debt include accounts payable, salaries payable or income taxes payable. The amount of current assets over current liabilities determines the amount of working capital or leftover cash the company has to cover other operating expenses. Whether or not there is enough money left over after the current debt is paid off, tells you whether the company is on solid financial ground or might be headed for destruction.

The income statement is a summary of the profits a business has earned for a specified period of time. This is where you would see the amount of revenue or profits obtained for a companies’ products or services and the expenses incurred for salaries, supplies or income taxes. The difference between the revenue and expenses gives you the net income, which when compared over a period of say two years shows you how the net income is rising or falling, a fairly good indicator of how profitable the business is. Basically, this statement tells you if the company has revenue coming in.

The cash flow statement is particularly important when considering new ventures such as an internet startup. The ability to balance cash flow now is a sign that the business has a long and profitable future ahead of it. This reports the cash going out and coming in from operating, investing and financing activities. In this statement, changes in the net cash flow indicate the company’s ability to meet its debt obligations and pay dividends, how much external financing the company is using and its ability to generate cash flow in the future. Operating cash flow can be described as the cash effects from revenue and expense transactions. Investing cash activities comes from the purchasing and selling of properties or assets and financing cash activities shows how owners of the company have used loans from creditors to finance their business.

Know the facts

Investing should never be based on emotion. While you might be tempted to invest in a company because you like its products or because you’ve just read a favorable article about it in a magazine or newspaper, you should make sure you’ve done your research before ponying up your hard earned cash. Think of the financial statement as a kind of scorecard that helps you determine which company is the one you should invest in. What you’ll find is a hard look at the financial structure of a business that shows you what it’s really made of. Ask yourself a few questions and see if the statements help answer them. Does the revenue exceed expenses in the income statement? Does the amount of assets exceed liabilities on the balance sheet?

Notes often accompany financial statements. Read these notes carefully as they disclose information that can help you interpret the financial information on the statements. The notes reveal any changes that could have an impact on the company’s finances. It can provide some startling insights such as what type of debt the company purchased, for how long and for what purpose. For example, the notes might state that company A entered into a two year term note of which the proceeds were used to purchase the company’s out of state manufacturing facility and headquarters. Essentially, the notes are a complement to the statement providing more details. If you’re a shareholder, it’s your company. So you’ll want to make sure you know as much as you can about it.

Frugal Travel Guy Gets Lounge Benefits and a Delta Visa (check card)

Richard Ingersoll, also known as the Frugal Travel Guy has laid out this strategy for attaining lounge access.    Apparently the expensive American Express Platinum card is offering 25,000 Membership Rewards points for new sign ups as well as membership in the business lounges at three or four major airlines.   Those include Delta/Northwest, American, and Continental.

To get the 25,000 Membership Rewards points, you need to use the card for a mere $1,000 in spending over the first three months.     The lounge access comes free.   While one or the other is not worth $450 by itself, together they do make sense for frequent travelers.   I would highly recommend this to travelers who do not live in a hub city, and are forced to change planes to get to their destination.   It is these travelers who are the most likely to make use of the lounge facilities coming and going.

Elsewhere, he also points out that Delta is finally offering a Visa that earns SkyMiles, kind of.    The Suntrust Delta SkyMiles Visa check card can be used at places that do not take American Express, a boon for hard core Delta SkyMiles aficionados.   Since this a check card, I would be loathe to use it any time you are paying for goods or services to be received in the future. This includes air travel, pre-paid hotels, services, or even Internet purchases.   Since you have very little chargeback ability on a check card, you are really just handing them cash electronically.    If the company should fold, or just fail to deliver, you are essentially out of luck this side of a courtroom.    Finally, only people in the states that Suntrust Bank operates are eligible for this card.

American Express Charges You For A Negative Balance?

Here is a story from The Consumerist about someone who claims that American Express is charging them a finance charge on a negative balance.    As with any story in the Consumerist, you have to treat it with some skepticism.    On one hand, never underestimate the powers of a bank’s computer system to make a mistake.    On the other hand, I happen to have a negative balance on one of my American Express cards, as a result of a credit I did not get due to a mistake no less.   I just received the statement with the negative balance and no finance charges applied.

My theory is that the individual carried a balance one month, and then had a net credit the following month.   Since the banks are still allowed to use double cycle billing for the next eight months, that would explain how he could have a finance charge on a negative balance.    The story is also another  good example of why you should always call your credit card company to make reasonable requests.   The customer did that, and got the credit.

A Quick 100 Miles From Continental Airlines

Follow the link from this website and take a quick lesson on all of the Continental OnePass credit cards and you can earn a quick 100 miles.    It is not much, but at the very least, you will extend your mile’s expiration date.

Here are a few benefits they may or may not mention.    Most Continental cards offer the benefit of waived baggage fees.    That feature alone can pay for itself very quickly on a long trip with a lot of luggage.   Also, Continental is joining the Star Alliance, making it another great alternative to earning miles on the infamous United Airlines “Mileage Plus” program.    This is the program that has taken loyalty programs to a new low by actively blocking you from redeeming miles on it’s partners, even when members make awards available to other members of the Alliance.     For the latest update on this absurdity, see the invaluable View from the Wing blog.

Speaking Of The View From The Wing

They have come up with almost a Master’s Thesis worth of information on choosing the best reward card.    I have touched on much of this over time, but it is nice to see it all compiled in a single post.