I wanted to write this post as a dedication to the hardworking firefighters out there. Their lives are on the line everyday with all those crazy fires out there lately.
I experienced their courageness firsthand today as I was driving North on Hwy 17. There was a blaze on a steep grade right by the freeway at the top of the summit and I saw about 10-15 firefighters climbing up the mountain trying to get the fire out. I’m intimidated of heights for one, so you wouldn’t catch me scaling the face of the mountain especially with fire on it.
So a BIG Thank You to the thousands of firefighters who save lives everyday!
In order to help raise your credit score, you need to kill off your 10-15 of your credit cards and narrow it down to around 2-3 cards.
“But cee.mo I like to shop at Macy’s and I have a frequent flyer card with so and so…” What’s cool about credit cards today is that there are TONS of rewards type of cards. I don’t know about you, but I’ve managed to go from having 10 cards down to about 4 (Yea, I know that’s still a lot). Back in the day, I had cards for every occasion because they all had little perks [that's how the retail stores suck you in]. I was rockin’ Dell, PayPal, Amazon, Best Buy, NewEgg, you name it I probably had it.
After researching the tons of rewards cards out there, I’ve managed to “consolidate” those cards into cards that give me all-around benefits. Like I said before, I am a geek when it comes to technology and I had to have access to all of my resources [I was hooked on credit!]; I had balances on all of those cards. What I did to consolidate was to pay off every single one and kill them immediately until I narrowed down my card options.
“Why not just do a balance transfer?” Balance transfers cost money and it really all depends on your situation. I remember a couple years back credit card companies were giving balance transfers away with incentives like “0% interest for 12 months” or “Free Balance Transfers and get 2% interest for 6 months”. Those days are long gone and balance transfers are not as good as they were a couple years ago. Using the balance transfer is another way of “extending” payments on your credit card debt. I would recommend using wisely and not relying on it on a constant basis because they do show up on your credit report.
Close off as many cards as you can and keep ones that actually have some benefit to you. I have a 2 Visa and 2 American Express cards now which all give me great reward benefits [plus you can get rid of that extra plastic in your wallet!]. However, I would highly recommend that you do NOT close off your oldest credit card. The oldest card is extremely important to the health of your credit score because when creditors look at your credit report, they want to see how far back your credit history goes. The longer your credit history, the better!
Gas prices are no joke and it’s burning a bigger hole in my wallet. I filled up today at the 76 Gas Station near Tully Rd. in San Jose, CA and I paid nearly $58 for gas today at $4.83/gallon. FYI, this is for premium gas. The price for regular gas was $4.67.
I own a 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII. It is not an economy car by any means; I can get an average of 20-22MPG with a light foot. I have debated many times with myself on if I should keep the car or not. The car is very expensive to upkeep! I’ve asked myself many times if I should trade it in and get a hybrid, get a beater, or get a motorcycle. There are lots of ways to approach this.
I could trade the car in and take an extension of paying car payments for another 5 years, but that defeats the purpose of trying to get out of debt. I have about 2 years left until the car is paid off. I could buy a beater for under $3000-$4000, then again the vehicle could become a money pit. Or I could get a motorcycle which certainly would be most ideal but puts my life at more risk.
I’ve been asked by a lot of my friends on how they can improve their credit scores. First off…..
STOP USING YOUR CREDIT CARDS AND STOP APPLYING FOR MORE CREDIT!
Ahem…
Anyhow, back on topic. So basically do the step above for starters. Why? Because you won’t stop accumulating debt and it’ll just keep piling up right before your eyes.
Just wanted to put a post on here to make sure that this is working right. I’ve created this site with the purpose of saving money and making money through anything (by legal means of course!). This site was inspired by all my friends who came to me for advice after graduating from college asking me what the hell to do with their school loans!
Topics that will be discussed on this blog will be how to save money, invest money, and make money. I’ll also put my personal touches on this blog as I continue to build upon it so you’ll see random news on technology, sports, and just whatever will come to mind. A lot of work will be going on so please excuse the mess. So here’s to the new blog!
Cheers!
You are currently browsing the Cee Mo Money weblog archives for the month June, 2008.
So here’s to the new blog!