Penny Cleaning

Credit Report Scores - Who Determines Them?

There are three major credit reporting agencies: , , and .

Each of these credit reporting agencies receives information from credit grantors such as credit card companies, stores granting credit, mortgage companies, and banks. They compile your credit history and compute your credit report scores.

They provide your history and credit report scores to others who have a genuine interest in your credit worthiness.

A Penny Saved is (NOT) a Penny Earned

Ben Franklin was right to say that "A penny saved is a penny earned." This was true until 1913.

The Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed in 1913 states: "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census of enumeration."

Now, with federal, state, and local income taxes, your money doesn't go as far as it did in Ben Franklin's day.

About a third of your earned money goes to income taxes. To make a dollar of spendable money, you need to earn $1.50. The first 50¢ is removed by income taxes leaving only $1.00 for spending.

So, today, Ben would have to say: "A dollar saved is a dollar and a half earned." You can see how budgeting, saving, and being frugal is much more important than it used to be.

Making a Personal Budget

A personal budget helps you take control your future. There are simple techniques to gain control over your finances.

A personal budget is a money plan. Think of your family as a business.

Every successful company has a budget. It's a plan involving income and expenses.

To be financially successful, you need one too.

A personal budget helps organize your money to achieve financial goals. It helps control your financial resources. Your personal budget will show how your money will be used for your benefit. A personal budget is really simple but powerful.

To create a person budget for your financial success please visit Financial evaluation of your income and spending.

Cleaning Up Your Credit Report

A good score helps you get the best loans. The loan officer will be glad to see you because you will:

• Qualify for a larger loan
• Get a loan faster
• Get the best interest rates.

There are basically three ways to clean up your credit report.

• Dispute You can dispute items on your credit report. This may or may not remove the item from your report.
• Negotiate Arrange with your creditor to pay off the debt in exchange for them requesting the credit bureaus to remove the negative item.
• Pay and Wait Pay off the debt and wait (up to 7 years) for the item to be dropped.

In addition, a bankruptcy can remove negative items, but the bankruptcy can remain on your report for 10 years.

For a Powerful One-Time Upgrade of Your Credit Report

Lexington Law is a Law Firm specializing in credit report repair. They have helped over 80,000 Americans improve their credit scores by removing inaccurate, misleading, or unverifiable information from their credit reports.

"It's amazing what a letter from an attorney can do!"

The Lexington Law Firm is member of the online BBB and offers consumers a performance warrantee. From bankruptcies to charge-offs to tax liens, Lexington Law Firm has challenged virtually every credit problem under the sun and deleted over 600,000 such items to date.

Lexington Law's service is backed by a warranty which entitles you to some or all of your money back if enough disputed items aren’t deleted. Put simply, they don’t believe you should have to pay for ineffective service. "If we can’t deliver, you’ll be reimbursed."

Credit Report Scores - How to See Them

Each of the three credit reporting agencies can provide you with a one-time copy of your credit report. Equifax, Experian, for example, will provide your report online for a fee of $9. Trans Union charges from $7.50 to $9 for your credit report.

All three credit reporting agencies will also provide a one-time copy of a "3-in-1" credit report. This contains your credit reports and your credit report scores from all three reporting agencies. Trans Union charges $34.95 while Equifax and Experian each charge $39.95.

Credit Report Scores - Improving Then

A good score helps you get the best loans. The loan officer will be glad to see you because you will:

• Qualify for a larger loan
• Get a loan faster
• Get the best interest rates.