1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt, 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:06,160 Speaker 1: and today we're talking about how to rebuild a rough 3 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: credit score. Yeah, Joel, you know, having a good credit score, 4 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: it is so important these days. We're gonna talk about 5 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: why it is so important, and of course, how to 6 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:35,920 Speaker 1: rebuild it if your scores in the gutter a little bit. 7 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: But speaking of credit score, let's talk about Equifax, because 8 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:40,519 Speaker 1: did you did you look it up and see if 9 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: you were one of the people affected. Yes, I did, Matt. 10 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 1: And by the way, that free money, right, yeah, exactly. 11 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: So it seems like based on the numbers, almost every 12 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: adult American was affected. Half of the adults in the 13 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: United States, like half of anybody that had a Social 14 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 1: Security number was affected. So it's a big problem, right, 15 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 1: And so we talked a while about freezing your credit 16 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: and how important that is, and especially in light of 17 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: essentially all of our information with the Capital One breach, 18 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: with the Equifax breach, breaches everywhere, and I think there's 19 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: just breach fatigue essentially exactly. And that was episode thirty eight, 20 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:14,960 Speaker 1: by the way, that we talked about freezing your credit, 21 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: and that is incredibly important because that is the only 22 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: way to actually prevent fraudulent accounts for being opened in 23 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,639 Speaker 1: your name. Yeah, and now, because of the Equifax breach 24 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,400 Speaker 1: and laws that were put into place, credit freeze is 25 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: free for us. So that's great. So everyone should be 26 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: freezing their credit. But now at least you know what 27 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:33,120 Speaker 1: we can get recompense. We can get a little bit 28 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 1: of payout from the Equifax breach for our information just 29 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:39,120 Speaker 1: being leaked out there, and so people need to know 30 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 1: about this. The website where you can go to make 31 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:44,479 Speaker 1: a claim is Equifax Breach Settlement dot com. We'll link 32 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: to it in the show notes as well. Essentially, they 33 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: allow you to choose from free credit monitoring or up 34 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: to a hundred and twenty five dollars, but there's also 35 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: a cap on the overall amount that Equifax is going 36 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: to pay under the settlement that they reached with the FTC. Yeah. 37 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: Well it was seven million dollar payomp, but only a 38 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: small percentage of that is actually going to us as 39 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: those affected. So basically the more people that sign up 40 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: and make that claim, well the payout decreases per person. Yeah, 41 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 1: so it actually being is is actually there's a slim 42 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:17,640 Speaker 1: chance of that happening. Yeah, it's unlikely for sure. But 43 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: and the other thing is that people instead of choosing 44 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: the bucks, you can choose four years of free credit monitoring. 45 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 1: And I've read some stories from papers around the country 46 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: and they're basically pushing people in that direction. They're saying, 47 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: like the Washington Post is like, here's why you need 48 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 1: to choose the free credit monitoring over the money, and 49 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 1: I have to respectfully disagree. I think if you were 50 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:40,919 Speaker 1: affected in any way by the Equifax breach, you should 51 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: be applying for the cash payment, not the credit monitoring. 52 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: And that's because if you just basically assent to the 53 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: fact that you have credit monitoring, that you have some 54 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:53,640 Speaker 1: sort of credit monitoring, you can take the cash instead. 55 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 1: And there are awesome free options for you when it 56 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: comes to credit monitoring. And on top of that, if 57 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: you have the at it freeze in place, you really 58 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:05,239 Speaker 1: almost don't even need credit monitoring either. YEA monitoring is 59 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 1: basically pointless at that point, because let's just watch something 60 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,919 Speaker 1: that's completely locked down. Yeah. Yeah. And by the way, 61 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: that a couple of our favorite websites for you to 62 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: sign up for free credit monitoring on if you do 63 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: want to go that route, Our credit sesame and Credit Karma. 64 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:23,119 Speaker 1: Will link to both of those in the show notes 65 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: as well. But those are just great sites for being 66 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:28,880 Speaker 1: able to monitor your credit and it's free. There are 67 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:30,799 Speaker 1: all these services out there that want to charge you, 68 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 1: especially from the credit bureaus. Don't do it. Get the 69 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 1: free stuff, that's all you need, and then get your 70 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: five dollar check in the mail when it finally come. 71 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: I hope it's more than five bucks. But you mentioned 72 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: the Washington posts telling everybody to actually take the monitoring instead. 73 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: That's because they want their money. They're thinking, if we 74 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: tell enough people to go with monitoring, that means we 75 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: get a bigger check. Yep, it's true, it's true. But 76 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 1: people need to know, man, they need another truth. And 77 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: also on that website, when you go there, you will 78 00:03:57,520 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: see some other options there if you to make a claim, 79 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 1: you can see if you can actually prove that you 80 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: were damaged somehow, and you can prove it, you could 81 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 1: be eligible to up to twenty thousand dollars and damages 82 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: and that's a lot of money. That's that's no joke 83 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 1: right there. However, I think the ability to prove that 84 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: might be extremely difficult, and if that's something you want 85 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: to pursue, though, be sure to check that out. I 86 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: think the standard of proving that the Equifax breach was 87 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: responsible for some sort of major identity the problem in 88 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: your life, it might be a hard standard to prove. 89 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:29,840 Speaker 1: But if you believe that's the case, and you've had 90 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: trouble since the breach and you've had to do a 91 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: lot to repair those issues, I would say it's totally 92 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: worth filing the claim on the website and trying to 93 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,040 Speaker 1: get payment for the damages that you've incurred. Let's go 94 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: ahead and get to the beer for this episode. Man, 95 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: we have Whitelaw wheats. Uh. This is by crank Arm 96 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: Brewing Company. Cody and Raleigh sent this one to us 97 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:49,720 Speaker 1: and it's crank On Brewing because that's a bike part. 98 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:52,720 Speaker 1: Did you pick up on that bike, especially because the 99 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: label has bikes all that has got bikes all over it. 100 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: And he sent it to us as well because he 101 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,040 Speaker 1: is part of a nonprofit called Oaks and Spokes and 102 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: they promote bicycling there in the city of Raleigh, North Carolina. 103 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 1: So be sure to check them out. And I'm excited 104 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 1: to share our thoughts on this beer at the end 105 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 1: of this episode. Yeah, Cody, sounds like my kind of guy. 106 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:10,880 Speaker 1: This sounds like my kind of beer. Can't wait to 107 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: drink it and let people know what we think. And 108 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: by the way, this was a gold medal winner in 109 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: the wheat category at the Great American Beer Festival. Here 110 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: has got some hardware on its shelf, right, I like it. Yeah, 111 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:25,160 Speaker 1: it's a good one to be trying today. So all right, Matt, 112 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,720 Speaker 1: Now let's get onto the topic at hand. For this episode, 113 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,719 Speaker 1: we're talking about how to rebuild a rough credit score. 114 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:34,599 Speaker 1: And we've talked before about the problems of having a 115 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: bad credit score. You know, you and I both agree 116 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:39,040 Speaker 1: that it is probably not good how much of our 117 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:42,280 Speaker 1: lives revolver on this one score that these three bureaus 118 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 1: create on us without our permission. That's just not a 119 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 1: great system. But because the system is currently set up 120 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:49,840 Speaker 1: the way it is, it's really important if you have 121 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:52,840 Speaker 1: bad credit that you work towards rebuilding it. And so 122 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: we we've got a lot of information to share about 123 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 1: how you can get your kind of credit back up 124 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 1: on its feet after a rough patch, and gonna try 125 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,280 Speaker 1: to hit a lot of important points today on that subject. Yeah, Joel, 126 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:04,840 Speaker 1: you just sort of touched on this, and it's kind 127 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:07,039 Speaker 1: of unfortunate, right, Like you said that so much of 128 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: our life revolves around the credit score, but it really 129 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 1: is so important. A couple of reasons is that great 130 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:13,920 Speaker 1: credit can be used to secure just a really good 131 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,080 Speaker 1: term for a home loan, versus if you have poor credit, 132 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:19,159 Speaker 1: you might end up with a crappy loan, or you 133 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: just might get turned down altogether. Bad credit could also 134 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 1: cause you to pay more of your car at home 135 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: insurance as well, And we've actually mentioned this on previous episodes, 136 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: but if you have bad credit when it comes to 137 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: government jobs, there's certain security clearances that they will not 138 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:33,920 Speaker 1: allow you to have because of your bad credit because 139 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:36,840 Speaker 1: of the potential for security issues. So that's definitely something 140 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: to keep in mind. Yeah, you might even have a 141 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:42,680 Speaker 1: hard time getting a place to rent because landlords are 142 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:46,599 Speaker 1: often pulling your credit and making judgments about you based 143 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: on that. So yeah, bad credit just all around makes 144 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:51,200 Speaker 1: things harder for you. Actually pulled your credit before we 145 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:53,599 Speaker 1: became friends, just to make sure, like you know, you're 146 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 1: of my ilk, just to make sure that we can hang. 147 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: You know. There have been studies about dating relationships and 148 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: how people different credit scores mixed. I find that so 149 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:06,480 Speaker 1: fascinating that typically when asked the question about their potential 150 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: mates and their credit score, oftentimes people want someone of 151 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: a similar credit score to them, right, They want to 152 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:14,880 Speaker 1: be with someone who's responsible in that way. So, and 153 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: by the way, some issues of credit will linger longer 154 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:20,160 Speaker 1: for you. Like let's say you've had a bankruptcy in 155 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: the last seven to ten years or a foreclosure in 156 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 1: the past seven years. Well, those things are going to 157 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 1: affect your credit for longer periods of time. Some of 158 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: the steps that we're going to talk about today, you 159 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 1: know what, they'll still be able to help you if 160 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: you've had a bankruptcy or a foreclosure, but what they 161 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: can't do is wipe those completely off your record. Also, 162 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 1: if you've been divorced, it doesn't necessarily impact your credit score, 163 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:43,120 Speaker 1: but it can depending on how things are divided up 164 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: in the divorce and how your former partner treats joint 165 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: accounts that you're on together, it can affect your credit 166 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:51,960 Speaker 1: score as well. So they're all these things that could 167 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: affect your credit score and could send it plummeting. But 168 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 1: there are a lot of ways to kind of write 169 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:58,880 Speaker 1: the ship. Yeah, Unfortunately, there could be some malicious spending. 170 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 1: Is that what you're referring to. It comes to, you know, 171 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 1: relationships going south, or just even in the divorce decree, 172 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 1: right the finalization, where maybe there's a lack of understanding 173 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:09,679 Speaker 1: over who's supposed to tackle what, or your former spouse 174 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: has issues with income and whatever. They've been tasked with 175 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:15,400 Speaker 1: paying the bills they've been tasked with paying that you 176 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: still are joint on. They don't pay, and so that 177 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:20,960 Speaker 1: can lead to hardship for you, even though that's not 178 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 1: supposed to be your responsibility. Man, Yeah, that's a huge bummer. 179 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: And regarding timing of this entire thing, right, it's it's 180 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 1: important to note that change like your credit score isn't 181 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 1: gonna change and it's not gonna happen overnight. You could 182 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:35,440 Speaker 1: likely see some movement in thirty to sixty days, but 183 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: it's not going to be an immediate thing. But as 184 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: you are rebuilding your score, it's best to go ahead 185 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:42,440 Speaker 1: and keep track your score. And it's sort of like 186 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:44,680 Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier, that's gotten so much easier these days. 187 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: Many credit card companies will offer you just free monthly updates. 188 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:51,560 Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure all the major card carriers offer that. Yeah. 189 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: For we talked about this before too. It used to 190 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:55,840 Speaker 1: be shrouded in secrecy. I remember back in the day, 191 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 1: I had like the one card from Washington Mutual. They 192 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:00,079 Speaker 1: gave me access to my credit score every month. I 193 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: was like, this is so great. But now it's almost 194 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:04,800 Speaker 1: readily available through through almost everywhere. Yeah, they're all offering it. 195 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 1: But if you don't have a card, or if you 196 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 1: happen to have a card that doesn't offer that. Again, 197 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:10,719 Speaker 1: like we mentioned at the beginning, be sure to check 198 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: out either credit Karma a site like that, or even 199 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:15,480 Speaker 1: the credit score card dot com. Joe and I are 200 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:18,440 Speaker 1: both a fan of that. That is discover cards separate sites, 201 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 1: and if you have a discover card, you can actually 202 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 1: linked to it from your credit card homepage or your 203 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:25,440 Speaker 1: dashboard whatever you wanna call it. Yeah, and even if 204 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: you don't have a Discover card, you can use the 205 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:28,960 Speaker 1: site for free, which is really exactly gives you your 206 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 1: FICO credit score, which is really nice. And just keep 207 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:33,040 Speaker 1: in mind though that every time you check that score, 208 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:35,360 Speaker 1: it doesn't hurt your credit. This is just your score. 209 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,319 Speaker 1: This is different than having your actual credit report being 210 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:40,600 Speaker 1: pulled by a creditor, So don't feel nervous that this 211 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:42,280 Speaker 1: is actually gonna being your credit a little bit. You 212 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:43,559 Speaker 1: can go in there and look at it three or 213 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 1: four times a day if you want to. But maybe 214 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:49,440 Speaker 1: that's unhealthy too. Yeah, maybe don't obsess over the credit score. 215 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:51,400 Speaker 1: It is a nice thing to start getting under control. 216 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: To to have a good credit score is important, but yeah, 217 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:55,880 Speaker 1: don't obsess every because you know, there are those people 218 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:57,880 Speaker 1: out there to who want the eight hundred fifty credit score. 219 00:09:57,880 --> 00:09:59,199 Speaker 1: They want it to be perfect, and we've said to 220 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: that's kind of a full You know, anyone that has 221 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,680 Speaker 1: an eight fifty Have you ever met anyone that's even 222 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 1: if you achieve eight fifty for a second, what's the point. 223 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:09,680 Speaker 1: It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. And then on top 224 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:11,360 Speaker 1: of that, there are all these little things that could 225 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:13,840 Speaker 1: bump it down five, six, ten points and then you 226 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:15,400 Speaker 1: have to bump it right back up again, and so 227 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:18,840 Speaker 1: there's just really no point to strive for perfection here. Yeah, perfection, 228 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 1: that's not what we're going for. We're going for like 229 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:23,840 Speaker 1: really good or good enough, and we're gonna talk about 230 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 1: how you can actually achieve that right after the break, 231 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:37,080 Speaker 1: all right, Matt we're back. We're talking about how to 232 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 1: rebuild if you've got a rough credit score. And you 233 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:42,199 Speaker 1: mentioned right before the brake buddy that good enough is 234 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:44,800 Speaker 1: a good thing to be aiming for, not perfection exactly. Yeah. 235 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:46,800 Speaker 1: What is good enough though? Right? Yeah, And that's that's 236 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:48,680 Speaker 1: a question I think that would pop up in people's minds. 237 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:50,720 Speaker 1: So let's say you are rebuilding a rough credit score. 238 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:52,480 Speaker 1: You're you're in the five hundreds or something like that. 239 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:54,600 Speaker 1: A couple of mile markers to keep in mind on 240 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:58,000 Speaker 1: your journey are scores of six eight and seven forty 241 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:00,559 Speaker 1: and six eighty kind of gets you it east into 242 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:02,840 Speaker 1: this kind of mid tier of being able to to 243 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:05,880 Speaker 1: get good rates, of being back into a state of 244 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:09,680 Speaker 1: like credit decency. Right. And then another great mile marker 245 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:11,640 Speaker 1: to set your sights on is getting that score of 246 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:14,199 Speaker 1: seven forty. That's when you're gonna really qualify for pretty 247 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:16,880 Speaker 1: much the best rates from almost any lender out there. 248 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:19,120 Speaker 1: So those are just good things to keep in mind. 249 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:21,400 Speaker 1: If you're looking low, you're in the five hundreds, low, 250 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 1: six hundreds, strive for six ad make that your goal 251 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:26,559 Speaker 1: and uh, and we're gonna tell you how you can 252 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:29,839 Speaker 1: hit that goal right now, yeah, Joel. Basically, there's a 253 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 1: hierarchy of of things that affect your credit score, and 254 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: we're gonna start with the things that affect your score 255 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:36,959 Speaker 1: the most. The number one thing is to make sure 256 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:40,559 Speaker 1: that you are paying your existing accounts on time. Uh. 257 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:43,680 Speaker 1: This is gonna have the biggest impact making up of 258 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:46,360 Speaker 1: your credit score. What that means is you do not 259 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:49,720 Speaker 1: want to miss a payments on anything. It's easy to 260 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:53,280 Speaker 1: set a recurring calendar reminder. And even easier is that 261 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 1: you can go to your credit cards, for instance, and 262 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:57,200 Speaker 1: you can set it up on auto pay. It's not 263 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:00,440 Speaker 1: hard to you just like full statement balance or it'll 264 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:03,320 Speaker 1: say total new balance. But that's a way if you 265 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:05,840 Speaker 1: are forgetful to make sure that you never miss a payment, 266 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: make sure you have that set up to automatically pay. Yeah, 267 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:11,280 Speaker 1: it just makes sense that that's the number one thing 268 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 1: influencing your credit score, right, and if you can pay 269 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 1: your bills on time over a long period of time, 270 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,360 Speaker 1: that's gonna have great ramifications on your credits. Have banks, 271 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:21,160 Speaker 1: credit cards, lenders, they all like to see that you 272 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:23,079 Speaker 1: pay your bills on time because they like to get 273 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 1: paid on time. Another thing is prioritized paying down your 274 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:30,319 Speaker 1: balances to keep them under a utilization threshold of thirty. 275 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:34,560 Speaker 1: That might have sounded a little fancy utilization threshold, but essentially, 276 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:37,320 Speaker 1: the less of your available credit that you're actually using, 277 00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:39,720 Speaker 1: the better it looks on your credit score. So let's 278 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:41,959 Speaker 1: say you have a credit card that has a ten 279 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:45,240 Speaker 1: tho dollar available credit limit and you're using eight thousand 280 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:49,040 Speaker 1: dollars of that available credit limit too much? Too much? Right? Yeah, 281 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:50,840 Speaker 1: that doesn't look good. It makes it look like you're 282 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:54,240 Speaker 1: using your credit irresponsibly or that you just need that credit, right. 283 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:56,560 Speaker 1: I mean, the banks don't mind having high limits of 284 00:12:56,679 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 1: say ten thousand dollars, even maybe on a business card, 285 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:01,240 Speaker 1: but they to see you just use a little bit 286 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: of it because that looks like, oh, I've got all 287 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 1: this available to me, but I only need just a 288 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:06,839 Speaker 1: little bit, don't you worry? That's what makes you look 289 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:09,280 Speaker 1: the best. Right. If you have a ton of available 290 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:11,880 Speaker 1: credit but only use a little bit, your credit score 291 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:15,120 Speaker 1: goes up. One way to kind of game the system 292 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:17,920 Speaker 1: and make it look like you're using less of your 293 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:20,440 Speaker 1: credit then you actually are, is to pay your bills 294 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:23,560 Speaker 1: twice a month, especially on those credit cards, right, instead 295 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 1: of paying just once a month, pay money towards that 296 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:28,720 Speaker 1: credit card balance before the statement even comes. If you 297 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: do that, it looks like you're using less of your 298 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 1: credit when the credit card company reports your balance to 299 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: the credit bureaus. So that's kind of just a way 300 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:38,360 Speaker 1: to gain the system a little bit, make your utilization 301 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: look lower and enhance your overall credit score. And personally, 302 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:43,000 Speaker 1: that's actually how I pay my credit card. I don't 303 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:44,640 Speaker 1: pay it twice a month, but I just pay it 304 00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:46,320 Speaker 1: off at the end of the month. I actually don't 305 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: wait for the statement to come through. Uh. To me, 306 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:51,000 Speaker 1: the statements are completely worthless because by the time that 307 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 1: statement actually comes out, I've already paid the previous balance 308 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:56,520 Speaker 1: for that specific calendar month. And for us, that's just 309 00:13:56,559 --> 00:13:58,439 Speaker 1: a way that we're able to keep our spending in 310 00:13:58,559 --> 00:14:00,360 Speaker 1: check and make sure that we are sticking to the 311 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:03,480 Speaker 1: amount that we've budgeted for that specific month. Yeah, the 312 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 1: two things we just mentioned, Matt are are really good 313 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:08,000 Speaker 1: for people even with good credit. And so now we're 314 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:09,640 Speaker 1: about to kind of get into some of the things 315 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:13,640 Speaker 1: that are really applicable to folks with poor credit right now. 316 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 1: And getting a regular credit card can be helpful if 317 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: you don't have enough available credit. But the problem is, 318 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:24,400 Speaker 1: if you have poor credit, actually being approved for another 319 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:27,680 Speaker 1: credit card is in all likelihood outside of your reach. 320 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:30,800 Speaker 1: You're gonna get turned down because your credit is really poor. 321 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:33,280 Speaker 1: So if you don't qualify for a regular credit card, 322 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:35,960 Speaker 1: there are other ways to begin building that credit back up, 323 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:38,600 Speaker 1: the first of which is to get a secured credit card. 324 00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 1: Your local credit union is a potentially great place to 325 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 1: turn for secured credit card. Walk in there and talk 326 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:47,080 Speaker 1: to someone at your local credit union branch. Ask if 327 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:51,000 Speaker 1: they have some sort of credit builder program available. If so, 328 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:54,320 Speaker 1: strongly consider applying for a card through them. Amazon actually 329 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:56,920 Speaker 1: has a new credit Builder card as well. And what 330 00:14:57,080 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 1: doesn't Amazon have these days? Right? I know, right? It's 331 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:02,160 Speaker 1: in edible in. One other place to turn for a 332 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:05,160 Speaker 1: credit card if you have really bad credit is a 333 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:07,800 Speaker 1: website called pedal card dot com p e t a 334 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 1: l card dot com and pedal Card offers a regular 335 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,880 Speaker 1: credit card to people with poor credit by using other 336 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:17,720 Speaker 1: factors to determine your credit worthiness and the way secure 337 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 1: credit cards work. Uh, you know, you can get those 338 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:22,800 Speaker 1: again through your credit union or even Amazon evidently, but 339 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:27,160 Speaker 1: they require up front deposits because basically you have bad credit, 340 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:29,120 Speaker 1: and so they want you to put money down essentially 341 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:31,240 Speaker 1: to prove that you have something on the line that 342 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:33,560 Speaker 1: you're not just gonna walk away and continue to damage 343 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:36,040 Speaker 1: your credit over time. You can sort of take those 344 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:37,800 Speaker 1: training wheels off and you can get a regular card 345 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:40,280 Speaker 1: by proving that you can handle your credit well. But 346 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 1: essentially that you know that money down, it just access 347 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:45,960 Speaker 1: collateral and that's what makes that card a secured card. 348 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 1: Think about your home loan, that's that's a secured loan 349 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:51,360 Speaker 1: because that note is against your house. Same thing with 350 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 1: the vehicle. With a car loan, they have something that 351 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:55,760 Speaker 1: they can come after. And in this case with the 352 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 1: credit card, if you put down the money and you 353 00:15:57,720 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: get that secured card set up, well, if you don't 354 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:01,880 Speaker 1: pay your bills, well guess what they have that deposit 355 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:04,200 Speaker 1: to offset that risk. Yeah. And by the way, on 356 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:07,600 Speaker 1: that Amazon credit card, mat interestingly enough, you can graduate 357 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 1: to a real credit card through Amazon in seven months 358 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 1: of handling that secured credit card. Well, so it really 359 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:15,520 Speaker 1: is kind of this training wheels thing to get you 360 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:17,280 Speaker 1: to pedaling on your own on a bike. It's yeah, 361 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,040 Speaker 1: we love those bike analogies. By the way, always always 362 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:21,840 Speaker 1: up for using a good bike analogy. That's for sure. 363 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:24,320 Speaker 1: Something else that you need to do to help rebuild 364 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: your credit score. You want to make sure you are 365 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:29,840 Speaker 1: keeping your old cards open and active. Uh, the length 366 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:32,720 Speaker 1: of your credit history makes up of your credit score. 367 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: The previous two items we've talked about combined make up 368 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 1: sixt so definitely those are the big heavy hitters, but 369 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 1: these other aspects are really important as well. Keep those 370 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:44,720 Speaker 1: cards open. If you're attempted to overspend on those cards, 371 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:46,960 Speaker 1: you know at that point they might be worth closing. 372 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: But hopefully, if you're rebuilding your credit score, you're also 373 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,920 Speaker 1: taking control of your spending as well, so hopefully that's 374 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:54,840 Speaker 1: not a problem. And also you want to make sure 375 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:58,239 Speaker 1: that you're periodically using those cards as well, because sometimes 376 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 1: certain credit card issuers they might even close an account 377 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:03,160 Speaker 1: if there's been an activity, and they don't actually have 378 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:04,960 Speaker 1: to tell you that they're going to close your account. 379 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:07,600 Speaker 1: Some folks say to use it every quarter, like every 380 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 1: three or four months. Personally, man, I've used cards like 381 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:12,639 Speaker 1: once a year, and that's more than enough I found 382 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:14,720 Speaker 1: in my personal use to keep an account active and 383 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:17,280 Speaker 1: maintain that really long history. Yeah, you don't want to 384 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:20,040 Speaker 1: cancel credit cards, especially if you are in the act 385 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 1: of rebuilding your credit score. Closing cards takes a bite 386 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:25,639 Speaker 1: out of your score and you're working towards raising it, 387 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:28,080 Speaker 1: that's just a bad move to make. Another important part 388 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: of your credit score is your credit mix. So as 389 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:33,919 Speaker 1: you have different credit cards and different loan products that 390 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:36,720 Speaker 1: you're paying on every month, that will naturally increase the 391 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:39,119 Speaker 1: mix of your credit which is helpful to your overall score. 392 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: And doing something like a credit Builder loan can not 393 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:45,359 Speaker 1: only be helpful in establishing a history of payments, but 394 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: it can also help your credit mix look good. So 395 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:51,680 Speaker 1: there's this interesting website called self lender dot com. Self 396 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,399 Speaker 1: Lender essentially allows you to open a credit Builder account 397 00:17:55,920 --> 00:17:58,760 Speaker 1: and you choose the payment term and dollar amount that 398 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:01,960 Speaker 1: you want to spend. And every time you pay a 399 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:05,560 Speaker 1: monthly payment towards this self lender account that you have opened, 400 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:08,280 Speaker 1: you're building credit history for yourself. And once you've paid 401 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:10,840 Speaker 1: off the credit Builder account, you have this CD that 402 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:12,879 Speaker 1: unlocks and the money is yours and that CD is 403 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:15,920 Speaker 1: even earning interest. So self lender is this really kind 404 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:17,840 Speaker 1: of cool way around it. It's like getting a loan 405 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:20,200 Speaker 1: from yourself and repaying it. It's just kind of a cool, 406 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:25,120 Speaker 1: interesting tool. Man. I think this is a super cool tool. Like, essentially, 407 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:27,439 Speaker 1: you're you're kind of putting your own credit score on 408 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:30,000 Speaker 1: layaway because, like like you mentioned, you get these loans 409 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:32,239 Speaker 1: and it's held by a self lender. At the end 410 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:33,800 Speaker 1: of the term you unlock it. It's almost like this 411 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:36,240 Speaker 1: little treasure chest where you've been sort of stashing away money, 412 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:38,199 Speaker 1: except for it's your own money because you took out 413 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:40,520 Speaker 1: the loan yourself, but you haven't had access to it. 414 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:42,719 Speaker 1: Super cool. I think it's an awesome way to, like 415 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,440 Speaker 1: you said, not only establish a history of making payments 416 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:47,920 Speaker 1: on time, but to also improve your credit mix because 417 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,960 Speaker 1: this is an installment loan, which is different than revolving credit, 418 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: which is what credit cards are. So in the credit bureaus, 419 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:56,000 Speaker 1: they really like to see that you have those two 420 00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:58,880 Speaker 1: different types of debt. Yeah, that you're handling credit cards well, 421 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:01,480 Speaker 1: that you're handling and install it loan well. So rebuilding 422 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:03,840 Speaker 1: your credit score essentially in doing it on both fronts 423 00:19:04,119 --> 00:19:07,000 Speaker 1: by tackling your revolving credit and then having an installment 424 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:09,680 Speaker 1: loan that you're paying off on time in full every month. 425 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:11,360 Speaker 1: These are the ways that you're going to be able 426 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:14,119 Speaker 1: to affect your score and see it rise more quickly. 427 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 1: Chances are, if you have a pretty poor credit score, 428 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:18,240 Speaker 1: you're gonna have to take a lot of these steps 429 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:21,000 Speaker 1: in order to turn your score around, which means you're 430 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:23,159 Speaker 1: gonna see your credit score actually drop a little bit 431 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:25,679 Speaker 1: in the short term because you're applying for and opening 432 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,040 Speaker 1: a lot of new lines of credit. We shouldn't be 433 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:30,640 Speaker 1: overly focused on the short term effects of our credit score. 434 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:32,800 Speaker 1: The goal is to rebuild it for the long term, 435 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:35,480 Speaker 1: because you have given your score enough time to rebound 436 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:37,720 Speaker 1: that way, it is looking healthy and strong way down 437 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: the road when the time does come for you to 438 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:42,120 Speaker 1: apply for a mortgage, maybe get some new insurance rates 439 00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 1: that are going to be lower. Again, all the different 440 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:45,960 Speaker 1: things that are going to be affected by a better 441 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:48,720 Speaker 1: credit score. Yeah, a five to seven point drop for 442 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:50,359 Speaker 1: opening a new line of credit isn't that big of 443 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: a deal when we're talking about a score in the 444 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:54,359 Speaker 1: five hundreds or low six hundreds. Like you said, we're 445 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:56,360 Speaker 1: looking at the long term, alright, Matt. And there are 446 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:59,679 Speaker 1: people also that prey on folks who are looking to 447 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:02,359 Speaker 1: raise credit scores. There are people out there promising short 448 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:05,439 Speaker 1: term fixes for upfront money. We're gonna tackle that and 449 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:07,960 Speaker 1: a few more tips on how to rebuild your credit 450 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:20,040 Speaker 1: score effectively right after the break. All right, we are 451 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:22,640 Speaker 1: back from the break, Joel. Let's now talk about some 452 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 1: more specific things that you can do when you are 453 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:27,239 Speaker 1: repairing your credit score. When you're trying to rebuild it, 454 00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:28,879 Speaker 1: let's do it. One of the first things to do 455 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:31,719 Speaker 1: is to look over your actual credit reports. Now, at 456 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:34,200 Speaker 1: the beginning, we talked about checking your credit score, say 457 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:36,720 Speaker 1: through a credit card company, but you also want to 458 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:39,199 Speaker 1: make sure that you pull your actual credit report. On 459 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:42,879 Speaker 1: the report you can check for inaccurate information, because there 460 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:45,560 Speaker 1: might be some incorrect information on there that could be 461 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:47,359 Speaker 1: hurting your credit score, and you definitely want to make 462 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:49,439 Speaker 1: sure that you dispute that to get that off of 463 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 1: your report. Yeah, more than anything, you want to make 464 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:55,159 Speaker 1: sure that it's not inaccurate information that's messing you up. 465 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 1: And the only place that you should go in order 466 00:20:57,359 --> 00:20:59,920 Speaker 1: to get your credit reports for free is a web 467 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 1: called annual Credit report dot com. So make sure you're 468 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:05,639 Speaker 1: going there and not anywhere else. Most other places on 469 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:07,920 Speaker 1: the internet you're gonna be charged money in order to 470 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:10,360 Speaker 1: get your credit report at annual credit report dot com. 471 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:12,600 Speaker 1: You get it for free by federal law, and you 472 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 1: can actually get one from every credit bureau for free 473 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: once a year. So if you spread them out, you 474 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:21,520 Speaker 1: can get a free credit report once every four months. 475 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,239 Speaker 1: So that's actually pretty sweet. Something else that you can 476 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:28,880 Speaker 1: consider is becoming an authorized user on someone else's card, Matt, 477 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,520 Speaker 1: someone who has a nicer credit score, maybe than you do. 478 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:33,840 Speaker 1: Can I join up? You've got a great score, I 479 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 1: know you do. It would be an equal three legged 480 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:39,280 Speaker 1: race if you and I linked up like that. That's true, 481 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:41,000 Speaker 1: that's true, But keep in mind that this could also 482 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:43,920 Speaker 1: hurt you if that person doesn't use credit. Well, so 483 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:46,120 Speaker 1: in that three legged race example, if you link yourself 484 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: up to someone who actually isn't that great of a racer, 485 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:51,200 Speaker 1: well they're gonna drag you down instead of actually helping 486 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:53,879 Speaker 1: you out. Yeah. If I become an authorized user on 487 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:56,720 Speaker 1: your credit card, mat and then you stop paying your bills, 488 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:00,159 Speaker 1: that's gonna hurt my credit score. But if I have 489 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:02,639 Speaker 1: a bad credit score and I become an authorized user 490 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 1: on one of your cards and you continue to pay 491 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:07,040 Speaker 1: your bills on time and in full, it's gonna make 492 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:09,040 Speaker 1: me look great, which is the whole reason I'm asking 493 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:11,440 Speaker 1: you to do that for me, right, Yeah, And what's 494 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:13,840 Speaker 1: great too with an authorized user is that you don't 495 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:16,240 Speaker 1: even have to get the card. Even just being linked 496 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:19,000 Speaker 1: to that account gives you the benefits. So that's great 497 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:21,640 Speaker 1: from the person who does have the better score because 498 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:24,640 Speaker 1: it keeps any potential risk at bay. Right. So someone 499 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,600 Speaker 1: were to be, say, an authorized user on someone's card. Again, 500 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:30,439 Speaker 1: you read the benefits of the user's credit score, but 501 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:32,240 Speaker 1: if you don't have the card, well, there's no chance 502 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:34,879 Speaker 1: of you, say, wrecking their credit and overspending causing all 503 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 1: sorts of problems. They're sure there are still risks, I 504 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:40,520 Speaker 1: would say to the person that is allowing someone to 505 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:43,640 Speaker 1: piggyback on their credit. So if someone actually like asked 506 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:46,479 Speaker 1: the question in one of our ask htm episodes, Hey, 507 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: should I let my friend jump on my credit by 508 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:51,800 Speaker 1: becoming an authorized user to help improve their score? I 509 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:54,600 Speaker 1: would probably tell them don't do it, just because there 510 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:57,719 Speaker 1: are certain risks potentially associated with it. By making them 511 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 1: an authorized user on your credit card, your giveing them 512 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 1: access to credit under your name, even if you don't 513 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,960 Speaker 1: give them plastic there are things that could potentially happen. 514 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:07,800 Speaker 1: What if they get sent with some of those big 515 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:10,400 Speaker 1: paper checks that you get from credit card companies that say, hey, 516 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:12,359 Speaker 1: you can spend this money ahead of time. You know 517 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:14,639 Speaker 1: I'm talking about. Oh yeah, I've never used those, but 518 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:16,760 Speaker 1: me neither because they come with like a feet huge fees. 519 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,080 Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, so I'll use those. You'll. Speaking of risk, 520 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:23,520 Speaker 1: there's even more risk associated with co signing. Again, if 521 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:25,880 Speaker 1: you have bad credits, getting a co signer can help 522 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 1: you maybe to achieve getting alone with rates that are 523 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:31,560 Speaker 1: pretty reasonable, maybe even score an apartment that you wouldn't 524 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:34,600 Speaker 1: be able to otherwise. But there's even more danger for 525 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:37,119 Speaker 1: the co signer. Though. This is a pretty big ask, 526 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:39,960 Speaker 1: and like Joel said, I wouldn't ever personally co sign 527 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:42,959 Speaker 1: for somebody else. If you do realize that you are 528 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:45,640 Speaker 1: putting yourself at risk, make sure that you've got really 529 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:47,840 Speaker 1: good communication with this person. Make sure that it's a 530 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,360 Speaker 1: good relationship and that this is something that you can 531 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:53,880 Speaker 1: easily discuss where things to go sour, and that you're 532 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,040 Speaker 1: ready to pay the bills in all honesty if the 533 00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:59,440 Speaker 1: person that you co signed a loan for doesn't because 534 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:01,760 Speaker 1: if you who don't keep up those payments, you're the 535 00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:04,360 Speaker 1: one who's also going to end up in default. Another quick, 536 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:07,159 Speaker 1: potentially helpful resource for folks trying to rebuild their credit 537 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 1: score is something from one of the credit bureau is 538 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:13,000 Speaker 1: actually Experience Boost. And granted this is only one bureau 539 00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:15,240 Speaker 1: doing this, and it's probably only an eight to ten 540 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 1: point bump, but if we're talking about a low credit score, 541 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:20,359 Speaker 1: and that bump can really help, and so Experience Boost 542 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:22,800 Speaker 1: is free and it's worth considering if you're trying to 543 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 1: increase your score. Basically, what Experience is doing, it's giving 544 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:29,920 Speaker 1: you credit, an actual, actual credit and an actual credit 545 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,080 Speaker 1: boost for paying utility bills that you're normally paying from 546 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:35,639 Speaker 1: your bank account, just by essentially linking that account and 547 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:37,760 Speaker 1: letting them see that it's happening. So that's an easy 548 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:39,560 Speaker 1: way for lots of folks to to get a little 549 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:41,760 Speaker 1: bit of an improvement on their score. And if you 550 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: are rebuilding your credit, something else that you need to 551 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:46,760 Speaker 1: hear make sure that you are not paying someone to 552 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: help rebuild your credit. Those sites, those services typically are 553 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:53,760 Speaker 1: not going to be worth your money, and oftentimes their scams. 554 00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:56,840 Speaker 1: It can be really tempting because we all want that 555 00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:59,240 Speaker 1: magic bullet instead of what we need to do is 556 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:01,600 Speaker 1: just change our habits. We need to do that work 557 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:03,679 Speaker 1: in order to get our credit score back in a 558 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:06,800 Speaker 1: good range. So be warned, once you start googling how 559 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 1: to repair your credit you're just gonna start seeing these 560 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:11,320 Speaker 1: ads and just run away from them. You just want 561 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,960 Speaker 1: to completely avoid these different quote unquote services. Yeah, these 562 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:17,520 Speaker 1: credit repair firms are going to promise a lot and 563 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:21,000 Speaker 1: deliver very little often. They're going to ask for money upfront. 564 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:24,600 Speaker 1: They are going to promise that they'll remove negative information 565 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:28,359 Speaker 1: from your credit report, which isn't true. They just can't 566 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,919 Speaker 1: actually remove accurate information from your credit report. So anyone 567 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:34,920 Speaker 1: that promises these things while asking you for money running 568 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 1: the other direction as quickly as possible. It's really nice 569 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:40,000 Speaker 1: to think that you can repair your credit score really 570 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:42,280 Speaker 1: quickly for a little bit of cash. What Matt and 571 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:44,160 Speaker 1: I are telling you is that this is a process. 572 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 1: It takes a little while right to see your credit 573 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:49,879 Speaker 1: score move. It could take a year or two to 574 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:52,000 Speaker 1: get it into the range where you feel comfortable to 575 00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:54,640 Speaker 1: kind of cross those mile markers that we discussed earlier 576 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:57,160 Speaker 1: of getting to a six eighty or seven forty credit 577 00:25:57,200 --> 00:25:59,960 Speaker 1: score to see if let's say you've had a bankruptcy 578 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,440 Speaker 1: at begin to weigh on your credit less over time. 579 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,560 Speaker 1: There's no quick fix to getting your credit back on track. 580 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:09,359 Speaker 1: It's going to take your intentionality and hard work. But 581 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:11,000 Speaker 1: if you follow some of the things we've outlined in 582 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:13,680 Speaker 1: this episode, you're gonna get there, that's for sure. Yeah. 583 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:17,320 Speaker 1: Like a lot of great things in life, oftentimes it 584 00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:19,520 Speaker 1: just takes a little bit of time. True debt. All right, 585 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:21,360 Speaker 1: let's take it back to the beer. On this episode, 586 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:25,160 Speaker 1: we had White Wall Wheat, which was by crank Arm 587 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:28,159 Speaker 1: Brewing Send into Us by Cody and Raleigh. What were 588 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:30,280 Speaker 1: your thoughts on this beer, Buddy, I'm gonna tell you 589 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:32,200 Speaker 1: what I can see why. This was a gold medal 590 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:34,720 Speaker 1: winner at the Great American Beer Festival. This was a 591 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:36,920 Speaker 1: really really good beer. This is a style that I 592 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:38,360 Speaker 1: don't know if we've had it on the show, maybe 593 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:40,400 Speaker 1: only once. Yeah, if we've had it before, I can't 594 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:42,800 Speaker 1: specifically remember which one it was. Yeah. So this is 595 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:46,439 Speaker 1: a Belgian whit beer, and I will say I really 596 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:50,040 Speaker 1: really enjoy this beer. Typically these beers have a lot 597 00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:53,200 Speaker 1: of coriander in them, and I actually hate coriander. It's 598 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:56,040 Speaker 1: not one of my favorite flavors. This one avoided the 599 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: coriander and actually had a little bit more of a 600 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:04,000 Speaker 1: hot presence, So I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It was light, refreshing, 601 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 1: a little bit of juicy, a little bit of hoppy, 602 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:09,800 Speaker 1: but the Belgian yeast kind of came through on this beer. Man, 603 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:12,200 Speaker 1: I really like this one. I think it's a crushable 604 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:15,040 Speaker 1: summer beverage with a lot of flavor. Yeah. Well, Joel 605 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:18,199 Speaker 1: on the Canus says it's an American bell Goo style Wits, 606 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:21,199 Speaker 1: and I think that American there in the title. I 607 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,720 Speaker 1: think that might indicate some of that hot presence which 608 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:26,760 Speaker 1: gave it that lighter flavor profile. It's to me, it's 609 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:29,240 Speaker 1: almost like a Belgian light beer where didn't have those 610 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:31,199 Speaker 1: core inder flavors. You didn't have the banana going on, 611 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:33,520 Speaker 1: it didn't have those Belgian yeasts all kind of stacking 612 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,000 Speaker 1: up and providing this more Belgian style of beer. It 613 00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:38,520 Speaker 1: drink a lot cleaner, almost like a light pilsner or 614 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:41,680 Speaker 1: a lagger almost, but with some more interesting fresh flavors 615 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,479 Speaker 1: going on. Certainly a great beer for the summer, and 616 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:47,320 Speaker 1: I could also see how it's associated with biking, because 617 00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:48,920 Speaker 1: this is the kind of beer I would totally want 618 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:51,879 Speaker 1: to drink after a hot, sweaty long ride. Yeah, no 619 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:54,560 Speaker 1: doubt this beer. You're completely right. It's like an American 620 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,200 Speaker 1: in a Belgian got married in a nice sixteen ounced 621 00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:00,199 Speaker 1: beer can so mad. Props to Crank carm Brewing for 622 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 1: this beer. Very very good, and a huge thanks to 623 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:05,440 Speaker 1: Cody for sending it our way. We really appreciate it, man. 624 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:07,800 Speaker 1: And you know, this bright blue label, it actually looks 625 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:10,080 Speaker 1: really good sitting next to this creamy yellow glass of 626 00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:12,800 Speaker 1: beer as well. So anytime there's that interplay between the 627 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:15,159 Speaker 1: packaging and the beer, I'm always a fan of that. 628 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:18,400 Speaker 1: I always love when the beer looks tantalizing in the glass, 629 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:20,640 Speaker 1: and this one definitely did all right, Matt. But quickly, 630 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:23,760 Speaker 1: let's get to our final thoughts for this episode. If 631 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 1: you're trying to rebuild your credit, the two most important 632 00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:28,360 Speaker 1: things you need to keep in mind are paying your 633 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:32,640 Speaker 1: accounts in full on time everyoneth Missing payments is going 634 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:35,480 Speaker 1: to be one of the biggest detriments to your score. Also, 635 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:39,320 Speaker 1: prioritize paying down your balances. Lowering the amount of credit 636 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:41,840 Speaker 1: that you're actually using is going to help that credit 637 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,840 Speaker 1: utilization ratio that we discussed. That is going to make 638 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,240 Speaker 1: you look more credit worthy and it's going to have 639 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:49,840 Speaker 1: a big effect on actually raising your credit score. And 640 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:52,240 Speaker 1: one of the best ways to do both of those things, Joel, 641 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:56,360 Speaker 1: is to lane yourself a secured credit card. Those cards 642 00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:58,960 Speaker 1: will require some money up front, but that is how 643 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:01,160 Speaker 1: you score one of those. Be sure to check out 644 00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:04,800 Speaker 1: Pedal Card and Amazon's new credit Builder card as well, 645 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:06,880 Speaker 1: and also make sure that you are checking out some 646 00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:10,280 Speaker 1: of those credit builder loans suff lenders specifically, a product 647 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:12,760 Speaker 1: like that will allow you to establish that history of 648 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:15,680 Speaker 1: paying your accounts on time while at the same time 649 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:19,440 Speaker 1: improving your credit mix. But above all, don't pay anyone 650 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:22,360 Speaker 1: else to rebuild your credit score. It's not an easy fix. 651 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:24,480 Speaker 1: It takes a little bit of time, and you can 652 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:26,440 Speaker 1: do this, all right, Matt, That's gonna do it for 653 00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:29,080 Speaker 1: this episode and listeners. If you want to find show 654 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:31,400 Speaker 1: notes for this episode, they'll be up on our website 655 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:33,480 Speaker 1: at how to money dot com. And if you found 656 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:36,920 Speaker 1: this episode helpful or entertaining, or some combination of the both, 657 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:38,719 Speaker 1: we would love for you to leave a review for 658 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:41,360 Speaker 1: us over at Apple Podcasts and you know what, even 659 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:43,600 Speaker 1: if you've already left a review, just leave another one. 660 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:45,840 Speaker 1: I think Joel's left us like ten or eleven reviews 661 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:47,840 Speaker 1: already because I leave it how it works. I leave 662 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:50,920 Speaker 1: it under my grandma's account, my cousins, like anybody like. 663 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:52,440 Speaker 1: I just try to try to make us look good. 664 00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 1: You know, have you ever even used an Apple product? Joel, No, 665 00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:58,120 Speaker 1: I refuse, I refuse. I stay away, but we would 666 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:01,040 Speaker 1: love a review from you if you haven't already they alright, buddy, 667 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:04,080 Speaker 1: until next time, Best friends out, Best Friends Out.