- Part 1 – Recognizing Your Debt Problem and Obtaining Your Credit Report
- Part 2 – Acting on Your Credit Reports
- Part 3 – How To Understand Your Credit Files
- Part 4 – Observing Your Bills and Other Debt | Secured and Unsecured Debt
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In Part 4 of this series of “How To Repair Your Credit” you were taught to use the most powerful tools you have - that being your own mind and the senses you were born with. We also talked about the fact that sometimes our “tools” were just not enough. In this case it may be time for outside help. If need be it is time to look for a good Debt Counselor to be on our side and help us with our debt load.

As with most things in life, there’s usually more than one way to “skin a cat” so to speak. This last post in this series talks about another alternative for you to think about in repairing your credit.

How To Use Pre-paid Cards To Build Your Credit

If you think about it, this credit repair alternative will not work so well if you are flat broke. If your debt load is so great that you are very low in funds, then seeking out a good Debt Counselor is still the way to go.

On the other hand, you may want to consider purchasing a pre-paid card if at all possible. This could come very handy if you have a low credit score or a bad credit rating or if you have difficulty obtaining a regular credit card. In this day and age, virtually everything can be paid with a credit card, even pizza delivery.

Pre-paid cards are offered by Visa as well as Master Card. They all work just like regular credit cards and no one will ever know the difference. All you need to do is deposit money into an account and you are set to go. The downside to pre-paid cards is that you need to pay a small fee when you open an account.

As with everything else in life, all is not equal. Some pre-paid cards are more expensive than others. Also, not only would you pay a fee to open an account, you may also need to pay another small feel every time you want to deposit funds into your account. This may be one good reason to deposit more funds in the first place to avoid constantly paying these fees for every deposit. Remember though, the reason you are purchasing pre-paid cards in the first place is to help you solve your credit problems.

Now…just because you purchased your pre-paid card, you still need to keep paying your bills on time and you need to avoid impulse buying. Do not start spending your extra money on items you really don’t need...(unless you want to buy some beer and pizza – just kidding).

You would not believe the small fortune that people spend in only one ten year period on things they never or seldom use. They may end up buying a pretty flower vase for $100 only to let it sit in the closet and then sell it at a garage sale for $5 a few years later.

Ask yourself how much junk you have in your house that you spent a lot of money on and never used. I admit that I’m also a pack rat. Of course I sold most of them on eBay and in some cases even made a profit. But don’t count on it…

…speaking of which…do you do eBay??? This may be something to consider.

SUMMARY:

Repairing your credit is not exactly easy, but it does not have to be hard either. Although you can find a lot more information on this topic, these 6 article posts should give you a good start.

In part 1, the most important thing you need to do to get your debt load under control is to recognize that you actually have a debt problem and that you need to do something about it. Once recognized, it is time to start setting yourself a goal and to initiate a plan. In getting your plan realized your next step is to obtain your credit reports from the three main credit bureaus.

After you have your plan at hand, Part 2 lets you discover how taking action on that plan is the next step in repairing your credit. Learn how to read your credit reports and how to take action on any charges you find on those reports. Sometimes these charges have no merrit and have no place in being on your credit reports. You need to take care of those charges.

They say that knowledge is power. In Part 3, knowledge is what you need to acquire. Here, you learn how to understand your credit files. The more you understand how your files work, the easier and faster will it be to fix any problems with them. You will also find the links to the three major credit bureaus you need to contact.

Part 4 of learning how to repair your credit is all about vigilance and observation. This post talks about how you need to be aware of any loans or bills you may have and the importance of each of them. If the loan is of the secured type, you need to keep on top of it or you could lose your shirt. Although important, unsecured loans, like personal loans, take a back seat in comparison to the secured variety.

Get rid of collection agencies, call today

What happens when you have bad credit? When your creditors or collection agencies come calling, do you know what to do to protect yourself? Part 5 discusses these issues. This article also talks about how and when the Internal Revenue Service gets involved when you don’t make your payments on time. Finally, we introduce to you the concept of debt counselors. A good Debt Counselor can be your best friend when everyone else is trying to get inside your wallet.

Finally, this final post, Part 6 gets a little into prepaid cards. Really, the only difference between pre-paid cards and regular credit cards is that you need to pay now rather than later.

I hope these six posts have given you a little bit of education in helping you repair your credit and lower your debt. Good Luck.  Write me a comment and let me know about your experience in repairing your own credit rating.

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Filed under: Credit Repair

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