Understanding Credit Report Score

Understanding credit report scores is important when you see your credit report because you need to be able to make some sense of it. Your credit score is used by anyone loaning you money such as credit card companies, home loan lenders, auto loan lenders and finance companies. They all use your credit score to determine your credit risk. The interest lender charges you is based on your credit risk. So you can see how understanding credit report scores is information that can save or cost you money. You need to find out what your credit score is before you talk to any lender in case there is something on your report that you may question. You don't want lender to find a mistake that you aren't aware of. If you find a mistake, it takes at least 30-60 days before you see corrections in your credit reports and scores. You have probably heard that checking your credit will bring down your score. But checking your own credit report and score is counted as a "soft inquiry" and doesn't harm your credit score at all. Only "hard inquiries" from a lender or creditor, made when you apply for credit, will bring your credit score down a few points. Your credit report should have three main credit services Experian, Trans Union and Equifax and each service will give you a different credit score. The credit scores will range between 300 and 870 with each credit service giving a different score. The higher your score is better, because as your credit score increases, your credit risk decreases. The average high approval score where best interest rates are offered is 680 or above. The credit score lender uses comes from middle score or an average of all three scores is sometimes used.

Disco Stu's Top Tips to help Students Save Money

The biggie, of course, is GO HOME. You can eat free there. And Mum will probably do laundry (if you crawl / look pathetic enough). It pays to save up your laundry till trip is worthwhile - you can even take in laundry from your richer student pals for cash and you mum will do that too, not realising it isn't your stuff. Plus, you will find that your dad has filled fridge with beer, expecting you to be away till holidays. Sucker! The downside, of course, is that they won't want you smoking around place, so you will have to hang out window with a rollie. But when you balance this with fact that fogies will act like an unpaid taxi service, and even give you a little 'pocket money' - well, hey, you can't go wrong now can ya?

Can't go home? OK. Not a problem. Start by TRACKING YOUR EXPENDITURE. Where's cash going? You would be gob-smacked to see how much you spend on crisps and rizlas. If you keep a list of little things, you can start to weed them out. No one NEEDS a Snickers bar, do they? So why are you buying 15 a week??? I'm not saying you can't have fun, but you just need to BUDGET for it. If you always go out on a Friday night, make sure you have listed 12 pints of cooking lager you always quaff down student bar into your budget list. If you don't, then come Sunday you don't have enough for KFC and Fries. Use spreadsheets available for free on www.noDebtEver.com and you won't go far wrong.

Budgeting properly is doubly important when you realize that most students run out of cash half way thru term. If you budget, you will still have some dosh left by last week, and won't have to hang around bins in car park looking for scraps. And don't imagine you can use your 'credit cards' to pay your way. Despite name, and what your friends say, they are actually 'debt cards', and you actually have to pay back money you take off them. Really. I know, I was gob-smacked too. But it's true. If you don't pay it back, they hassle you, and then your parents, so just stay away from them. Shysters. If you MUST use plastic (say, to impress girlies) set a strict limit and DO NOT go over i t. They charge you something called 'interest' which actually isn't very interesting, but does make final bill bigger, which is really naff - this is explained on www.nodebtever.com but you probably won't understand it cos I didn't either.