While individuals with good credit can live relatively luxuriously on an average income, individuals with bad credit who earn the same amount have a notably lower quality of life. This is not only because they don’t have access to a line of credit, but also because it is much more difficult to be approved for loans, vehicle and home rentals and even job applications. Fortunately, establishing good credit from scratch is a relatively simple process that can be accomplished by following the three easy steps below.

Applying for a Credit Card

The first step in establishing credit is applying for a basic credit card with a low credit limit. Contrary to popular belief, financial institutions are much more likely to approve someone with no credit than to approve someone with bad credit. M

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Pre-approval credit card offers are becoming increasingly popular as card companies attempt to solicit new clients in the face of record profits and all-time highs in credit card debt. Although the term “pre-approved” may seem straightforward, it actually has a much deeper and more convoluted meaning than one would expect. In addition to the “pre-approval” marketing tactic, card issuers also tend to offer additional incentives such as lower interest rates, long introductory periods, low or no account fees, and rewards programs. Unfortunately, every day there are hundreds of prospective cardholders that are given the false hope of pre-approval after being declined for several credit cards in the past. The fol

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  2011 is supposed to be the year for comebacks. As more people emerge from the wreckage of the Great Recession and slowly rebuild their finances, feel-good reports are popping up everywhere, profiling the comeback kids of 2010 who were knocked down by the financial crisis, but came back stronger — with a better job, an unexpected calling or a renewed financial outlook.   But not everyone is feeling so optimistic. The March jobs report released today gave us the best jobs news we’ve heard all year after the unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level in two years. But experts caution that although the private sector is hiring, the public sector is still losing jobs right and left – and, at this rate, it will be years before unemployment reaches pre-recession levels.      Me Read full article…

People who plan to compare credit cards and new plastic should ensure they pay off their bills promptly at the end of each month, according to one expert.

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, director of Anise Consulting Heather Smith said this form of payment can be very convenient for Aussies to have in their wallets.

Indeed, she observed that when “times are tough” a credit card can be a valuable tool to aid cash flow.

However, the expert added a word of caution that those going online to compare credit cards may want to heed.

“If you let payments slip, it can be a real effort to get it back to a zero balance,” she asserted.

Aussies were recently warned to be alert to online scams designed to get credit card details and money.

Consumer Watch spokesman Paul Tully cited as an example of this a recent spate of emails offering recipients £2 million ($3.28 million), which were distributed to inboxes across the country and purported to be from British prime minister David Cameron.

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Sooner or later every credit card charges interest, regardless of the promotional benefits offered during the introductory period. However, if the card balances are repaid in full before the end of the grace period, then it is possible to avoid interest altogether. Nonetheless, the majority of cardholders only repay a percentage of their outstanding balance, and some even choose to pay the minimum amount due, which can actually have a negative effect on their credit score. Unfortunately, every credit card issuer utilizes a different APR calculation method, the most common of which are explained below.

The annual percentage rate (APR) must be divided by the number of billing periods within a year (usually one for every month) to determine the periodic rate, which actually dictates the amount of interest charged each month.

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