Bad Credit – How Bad is Bad? Part 1
You have been told you have bad credit, but what does that
mean?
Most people think it’s, ‘I won’t be able to get a mortgage,
car loan, credit card or bank account for the foreseeable
future’. But bad credit doesn’t have to mean the end to
your financial future; there are many companies and lenders
that will take on people who have had credit problems and
without taking all your income in payment.If you have been made bankrupt, had property repossessed
or defaulted on a loan there will be someone who is
prepared to consider you for credit.
What you have to understand is the mainstream lenders will
not be offering you credit at the normal rate, you will
have to use specialist lenders who are used to assessing
bad credit and offering a suitable product to fit your
circumstances.Having said that many people atomically think they have a
worst credit history than is actually the case and that it
is not worth talking to the mainstream lenders. In the past
this was probably the case but in the last 5 years many
‘ordinary’ lenders are prepared to take on borrows who have
had only minor credit problems so it’s worth asking!WARNING – If you are searching around for new credit after
having bad credit, do not let the lenders do multiple
credit searches. If you have lots of new credit searches
done your credit report will show these and it can affect
your credit score making the situation worst.
What you need to ask for is a quotation based on your
credit history and not a search.For more details of ‘footprints’ left by credit search see
my other article;
‘How to understand you credit report or Credit repair – a
step by step guide’.If your bad credit history is not too serious many brokers
and lenders operate a cascading system to find the product
to fit your credit history without going straight to a high
charging product from the start.
The way the cascading system works is the lender will try
and get your bad credit history to fit there main product
and then move down through their adverse credit products
until their product fits your credit circumstances. This is
especially good for mortgage products as it saves having to
pay more for your mortgage than necessary.Who ever you get to provide you with a bad credit loan you
will almost certainly have to pay a higher rate than you
would with a standard credit history. This is to be
expected as lenders always assess people for the level of
risk of the loan not being repaid. This is what they use
your credit report for and what gives you the ‘bad credit’
history.
For more details see; ‘Credit Report – Your most valuable
financial asset’Lenders also base their rates on whether the bad credit
loan will be ‘secured or unsecured’. If the loan is secured
they will require you have an asset that they have a charge
over which they can use to sell and repay the loan if you
default. Typically the asset would be property but it
doesn’t always have to be.
Unsecured means you have no asset that can be used to
offset the loan if you default and so tend to have higher
interest rates reflected by the higher risk to the lender.
Sometimes you can have a guarantor for the loan which
reduces the lenders risk and so means lower interest rates
charged.
A guarantor is someone who agrees to cover your loan and
would become liable if you were to default on the loan
agreement. Family members can often be used as guarantors.When agreeing to new credit don’t just take the first
offer you’re given as lenders are more flexible on bad
credit than they ever use to be.
You need to be checking what interest rate you are being
charged and for how long the rate will apply. Also be
careful of any conditions applied to the credit loan i.e.
what happens if you want to pay extra off the loan or get
out. Check the charge for setting up the loan as this is
often added to the loan so tends to get glossed over but
you still have to end up paying it back.One reason for checking the get out clause for the loan
is because as you repay your new loan and hopefully
everything goes well and you maintain the payments as
agreed, you are rebuilding your credit history. After a
couple of years you may well be able to apply for a new
loan using your improved credit score to a lender that
would not charge such a high rate of interest. You would
then be able to pay off the old loan which is charging a
high rate of interest and move it to the new lender at a
new lower rate. This will then reduce your monthly
outgoings on payments. This may not be financially viable
if your existing loan has high redemption penalties if you
pay it off early, so check first.You have bad credit but why? There are a number of reasons
and I have already highlighted the main reasons, bankruptcy,
repossession, defaults etc but to a lot of people bad
credit come as a surprise. The first they know about a
credit problem is when they try and get new credit and are
refused.
A number of small things can add up to you having a bad
credit history;Your debt to loan ratio – this may be high due to you
borrowing at or near the credit limit agreed for the
account. Lenders look at this and may feel you are
overstretched.
A credit problem has wrongly been entered on your credit
report -you need to check your credit report for accuracy.
Your employment history – if you are new in a job on
temporary contract or self employed lenders may feel that
you may loose your income and not be able to repay the
loan.
How recent loans have been handled tends to be more
important than older problems. If you have had no credit
problems in the past but suddenly there have been missed
payments this can have a major effect on your credit
score.
Not being registered at your current address – if you
have recently moved or move around a lot and the lender
cannot trace you to a known address they will be reluctant
to lend. Make sure you get registered to your current
address.As separate things these may not be a problem but added
together they can lead to a bad credit situation. Lenders
usually use a credit scoring system which gives each area
of your financial situation a score and then make a
decision based on the total score.
The first stop with any bad credit problem is to get your
credit report and check what is recorded in it. Quite often
people find things are recorded on their credit file that
they knew nothing about and that is what is causing the
problem. By getting this sorted out they no longer have a
bad credit problem.
Why I Must Have Kitchen Gadgets at My House
I love to cook for my family as much as I can. I like to watch cooking shows and try out new recipes all the time. I am only able to do this by using gadgets, utensils, and tools around the kitchen that help save time and effort. I can’t believe how many gadgets we use in the kitchen. Let me walk you through a typical day in my kitchen, the most popular room in my house, and show you the “Must Have” kitchen gadgets at my house.The first thing I do in the morning is I make coffee. I must have a coffee grinder and espresso/ drip coffee pot. Sometimes your coffee just needs to be a little stronger, and it is great to have the option of coffee or espresso. I like to grind my own coffee beans; it seems to taste better than using already ground coffee.Once I have my coffee brewing I am off to put something into the toaster oven. You can really make a lot of great breakfast items quickly with a toaster oven, everything from toast and bagels to eggs and bacon or sausage.For an afternoon snack I usually cut up some fresh fruit using a cutting board, knife, and/ or apple corer. Sometimes I’ll use the fresh fruit in smoothies using a blender. These are great on hot days.For lunch I often find myself using the microwave. It’s leftovers, soup, or a quick microwave meal. If I am making soup I also need a can opener. I just use a hand held can opener, but it is still one of the many kitchen gadgets that I must have in my home because I use it so often.For dinner there is a plethora of tools and utensils being used including pots and pans, graters, strainers, spatulas, pizza cutters, cutlery, mixers, and ladles to name a few. Not to say that you will use all these items in the same night, but we vary our dinner routine the most and this is when I use the most gadgets. Dinner time is also when I try out most of those new recipes.So far I have mentioned about 15 kitchen gadgets that I must have in my home. They all help make cooking in my house easier. There are still some things that I want to get, like a griddle and a wok for starters. Unfortunately I don’t have a big enough kitchen right now to accommodate all of the kitchen gadgets that I would like to have. It takes a little while to accumulate all the gadgets that we have in our kitchens, but worth the investment most of the time!
Sell Structured Settlement Annuities For Top Dollar With Professional Note Buyers
If you are looking to sell structured settlement payments, now is a great time to do it. You now have access to a nationwide pool of experienced, professional note buyers thanks to the Internet, and the increased competition means higher cash payouts for you.A structured settlement is essentially a financial arrangement set up for victims of injury cases whereby they receive monthly payments (annuities) to cover damages, loss, medical expenses, etc. As opposed to a lump sum payment, the claimant receives a set amount each month for a specified period of time. This payment is tax free, and usually works out favorably for both parties….the victim has a steady, tax-free income source to cover bills and the defendant doesn’t have to pay out a huge amount up front.However, many people would prefer to have a large payment now rather than smaller payments spread out over a period of years, and therefore look to sell structured settlements. You see this quite often with lottery winners who opt to take a lump sum rather than monthly payments, even though it works out to less money that their total winnings.Unlike with the lottery, though, you can’t ask the defendant to pay you upfront instead. It doesn’t work like that and almost all defendants/insurance companies would prefer to set up a more palatable monthly financial arrangement so they are not out of pocket a large sum of money. For this reason, you may want to sell your structured settlement annuity in its entirety or just a portion of the instrument.Of course, just like with the lottery payment, you will not get the full amount of your settlement from the buyer. Keep in mind that he or she is assuming the risk that comes with your note, and also has to take into account inflation and other factors. So it has to make financial sense for them as well.When you sell structured settlement payments it offers many benefits to you. For one, you are receiving a guaranteed amount of money right away, rather than waiting on much smaller monthly payments and hoping the payor doesn’t default. Along those lines, another benefit is the peace of mind that comes with no longer assuming the risk that comes with any debt instrument. You just never know what the future holds, so why not sell structured settlements now and be 100% sure to receive money.There are many options when it comes to selling your structured settlement and a qualified note buyer will spell them all out for you. Find someone with experience and a good reputation and figure out what will work best for your particular financial situation.
Buy Nutritional Supplements and Natural Vitamin Supplements For Your Health and Wellbeing
If you are like many people today, you are into your health. Maybe you already work out and take some types of vitamin supplements. It may also be possible that you are a healthy eater and even try to eat mostly organic foods. This is great and it’s important to be healthy which is why should buy nutritional supplements that are natural. If you don’t take natural vitamin supplements, it is possible that you are adding things to your body that you would never put there intentionally.With matters of health and nutrition, it can be hard to know if you are really “feeding” your body the right stuff. Maybe you’ve read a study here or there that advise you to take vitamin D for better calcium absorption and to take vitamin E for healthy heart and skin, but do you know which vitamins you can actually take too much of? Do you know that if you don’t have all natural ingredients in your vitamin supplements that you could be doing your body more harm than good? Do you know that where you buy your nutritional supplements could make a big difference when it comes to the quality of them?Some nutritional supplement and vitamin stores will try to sell you products that aren’t safe because it’s what sells. For instance, say you’re looking for a supplement that will help to boost your metabolism. Some retailers will try to sell you a product containing ephedrine that could be harmful to you. That’s why you need to find a place to buy nutritional supplements that is all about your health and wellbeing.There are places that offer health advice about everything from building muscle to losing weight and maintaining healthy joints. One place is eVitamins. They not only offer you top of the line natural vitamin supplements, but they have expert health advice and tips on how to get the most of your body, health and wellness.Sites like these can be extremely helpful to those who are new to the health world, too. Let’s face it, when you are trying to get yourself healthier, lose weight and gain muscle, it can be daunting finding a place to buy your nutritional supplements. It’s likely that you go to your local big box store and hope the vitamins they offer are natural. Not to mention that if you aren’t sure what you should be taking, you may wind up buying nutritional supplements that could completely derail even your best efforts.You need an expert to help you buy the best, most affordable natural vitamin supplements and nutritional supplements available. If you’re just starting on creating a new, healthy you, you probably already know how much they can cost you. At eVitamins, you can buy discount nutritional supplements that suit you’re every need without having to hurt your bottom line, so now you can get healthy and save money.Before you begin any vitamin or nutritional supplements, you should discuss with your medical professional what you should be taking and the dosage they recommend, but when you’re ready to buy your nutritional supplements and vitamins, you need to go somewhere that you know you’ll be getting great value and natural, high quality vitamins. It helps to stay on top of all the current health news and findings too, so if you’re new to the health and nutrition world, or you’re just looking for a better way to buy nutritional and natural vitamin supplements, you’ll have the answers.