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Sunday, February 15, 2009

5 Suggestions for Maintaining Great Credit

By Linda Seamore

The quality of our credit is a big concern for a lot of us these days. If you're worried about the state of your credit, you should know that you're not alone. There are lots of others out there who want to know what they can do to improve their credit. Here are the five most important things you can to to keep your credit in top shape and avoid problems.

1. Buy LifeLock Identity Theft Protection You are probably wondering whether identity theft protection really helps. Many people feel that it is helpful in protecting you from fraud and identity theft. It is a relatively inexpensive service that give you a great sense of security that is invaluable these days. Moreover, identity theft is one of the most prevalent crimes now and is the reason that many people have bad credit. If you want to save yourself time, energy and money trying to get fraudulent charges off of your credit, you may want to invest a little money in LifeLock Identity Theft Protection.

2. Review your credit with your FREE report Resident of most states have the right to receive one free credit report from each of the three bureaus annually. To retrieve your free reports, all you have to do is write, call, or go online. You can find the actual contact information through a google search or via a phone book. You can use these reports to dispute any claims that may be inaccurate or that may be the result of identity theft. Remember that you won't get your credit score on these reports, but you can tell what good things or bad things are listed.

3. Call credit companies if you are going to be late on a payment, and get deadline extensions One thing that many people forget is an option is contacting the credit company. If you know you're going to be late on a credit card or utility payment, notify the company. That way, you'll be able to get an extension on your deadlines and you won't get the same kind of impact on your credit. Communication goes a long way toward keeping your credit in top shape.

4. Try to limit your use of credit One of the biggest problems that we are seeing in this country now is that people use credit for everything, even for grocery shopping. The fact of the matter is that credit should not be abused, and should only really be used for major purchases like homes, cars, home appliances or in emergency cases. The interest rate on credit cards is usually really high and most times the things we purchase with our credit cards are frivolous items that aren't necessities.

5. Pay on time. It doesn't get much easier than this, and yet many people break this cardinal rule. Late payments definitely get reported on your credit, unless you have talked to your creditors in advanced and made arrangements. Also, try and make more than the minimum payments when you do pay your credit cards. It will help you get out of debt faster, and help your credit score too.

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