Saturday, December 13, 2008

Credit Cards To Help Rebuild Credit

By Dan Moskel

Getting a credit card to help rebuild your credit history is a very wise decision. A credit card can help you create a positive payment history.

This is how you will build positive credit to your damaged score. Unfortunately because of your low score you will have to pay higher interest rates.

You should still make efforts to remove derogatory items off your credit report. However it is rumored that once a derogatory item ages four years it will not impact your score as dramatically.

On your card you will have to pay an annual fee and a high interest rate. Unfortunately this is an unavoidable cost, however with proper use you can ensure this is the last time you will have to pay high interest rates.

On your card you will be given a credit line of $300. Your other choice is to get a secured credit card.

With a secured card you will have to put an initial deposit down and how ever much your deposit is that will be your available credit. The benefit of a secured card is that they approve everyone.

Both of these cards offer online approval. However before you apply for any card double check and make sure that card does report monthly to all three bureaus.

Another tip to help you get the most benefit to your credit is to keep your balance at roughly 10% of your credit limit. For example a credit limit of $300 you will want to keep the monthly balance at $30.

This will show the bureaus that you use your credit, and you use it responsibly. In addition having this new line of credit will improve your ratio of available credit to debt. This is a very important factor when your score is calculated. It is the bureaus method of checking to see if you are in over your head.

There is one other option that we strongly discourage and that is a shopping or catalog card. This is a credit card that is only able to make purchases through a catalog or a website online. We discourage this option because there is often a large down payment required and the card typically only reports to one credit bureau.

A prepaid debit card is another option. We suggest this option to individuals in chexsystems because it will work just like a bank account.

In sum we suggest you open a sub prime credit card for your credit score to get the most benefit. This card will help improve your score by creating a positive payment history and improving your ratio of debt to available credit. - 2364

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