Just because you have bad credit in life, it doesn’t neccessarily mean you can’t have a set savings plan in check.  No matter if you’re $20,000 in the hole or you’re about to get yourself out of the debt hole, it never hurts to set a little money to the side for a rainy day.  Learn how you can create the perfect savings plan.

Step 1 – Pay necessary bills
The first thing we’re going to want to do is make sure that we pay all of the necessary bills each month.  This is going to include your mortgage, phone line, cable TV, etc.  Always make this your number one priority so that you can avoid debt with these companies.

Step 2 – Pay off debts
Now, I know we’re talking about a savings plan but we’re going to want to pay off your debts as well.  Since, we also want to enjoy life, my rule of thumb is to take the money you have leftover and put 75% toward your debts.  This way, you’ll have 25% left over.

Step 3 – Take 10% into savings
As I mentioned in the previous step, you’ll want to have 25% leftover.  This money is going to be your lesiure/saving funds.  Take this 10% and put it into a high yield money market account.  This way you’re collecting a higher percentage compared to a regular savings account.  Look into FDIC insured banks such as HSBC are offering high yield savings account.  

Now by following the steps above, I’ll give you a good example at what your plan should look like.  Let’s say you have $20,000 in credit card debt and you’re making $3,000 a month.  Let’s put the steps into work.

• Mortgage / Phone / Car, etc – $1,500/month (this leaves us with $1,500)
• Take 75% of $1,500 for credit card debt – $1125 / month
• Leisure money – $375 ($93/week for entertainment)
• Savings – $37.50 x 12 months = $450 x 3.75% APY = $466.88

Now, I know this doesn’t sound like a lot but when you’re in debt, you have to make sacrifices.  Don’t expect to live a rich lifestyle when you have no money.  Live poor and work extra jobs if you want to attack that debt.  If you follow this savings plan, you can potentially save $500 a year if you set aside 10%!

If you’re currently in the hunt to repair your bad credit or re-establish credit, you may not be familiar with a secured credit card and the terms that are associated with it  Below are a few terms you’ll come across and I’ll explain to you what each term means.

Credit Checks – Some credit cards on the market will require a credit check.  This is when they pull a credit report and check out your status.  The nice thing about secured credit cards is that most of the card carriers don’t require a credit check, instead they require you put down money as a deposit for a safety net.

Credit Bureau Reporting – The main reason you’ll want a secured credit card is because you’ll want to re-establish your credit.  The only way you’ll be able to do this is if the card reports to all of the bureaus.  If the card doesn’t do this, you’re not going to build credit.  Make sure that when you apply, the card is reporting to the major bureaus.

APR – The APR also known as your annual percentage rate will be the rate applied to your unpaid balance each month.  Remember, if you pay your bill off in full each month, you’ll be able to avoid this fee.  This is why I strongly recommend you pay your bills off in full each month.

Credit Limit – A credit limit is going to be the limit you can spend on the card.  So, if you have a credit limit of $2,000, you can only make $2,000 before the card “shuts off”.  If you go over your limit, you will be charged a over limit fee.  WIth a secured credit card, your deposit will set your credit limit.  The reason you have to set up a deposit with the credit card companies is because the companies need to have a back up source of cash just in case you don’t pay your bill.  Since you won’t have the greatest credit, you’ll need to redeem yourself by showing you can pay your bills off.

Annual Fee – The bad thing about secured credit cards is that most of them have an annual fee.  Once you rebuild your credit, you can slowly graduate back to a regular credit card that doesn’t have an annual fee.  An annual fee is he fee you’re going to pay yearly regardless of how much you use the card.  This fee will be applied to your monthly statement at the end of each year.

To apply for a secured credit card, visit our website at http://www.findsecuredcards.com

Renting an apartment can be hard when you have bad credit but when there are ways to get around your awful credit history, it’s not a hard process at all.  By now, I’m sure familar with the concept of a landlord checking your credit in order to get a place to stay.  Since a place to stay is crucial to living life, I’ll show you how you can get your landlord to overlook your credit.

Warn him/her ahead of time – When you apply for your apartment or place to stay, tell your landlord why your credit is going to be bad.  Is it because of a foreclosure, a loss of job, etc?  Make sure you explain in detail on why your credit is bad and what you’re doing to fix it.  The key here is to tell them what you’re doing now and how you’re improving your score.

Give numbers – Everyone loves a good reference.  So, let the landlord know of a few friends or relatives that can give a good word for you.  If they decide they want to call, let your friends and family know that you’re putting their names down so that they can expect the call.  If they hear great things about you, this will increase your chances of getting the place.

Show the money – If your credit stinks, let the money talk.  Try and save up at least three to six months worth of rent and hand that over to the landlord. 90% of the time, you’ll get approved for a small rental agreement somewhere along the lines of three to six months.  If you have the money, use it.  If not, start saving because this will be the best route to take.

Show responsibility – When you’re getting ready to apply for that apartment, try and make sure that you show some responsibility.  If you’ve had 10 jobs in the past 4 months, these are going to be huge red flags.  Apartments want to see consistency.  They want someone who has worked a job for a few years straight.  If you’ve fallen victim to not holding a job, you should work on things like this.

In the end, just because you have bad credit, it doesn’t mean you’re not going to get approved for an apartment.  Make sure you try a few places because they all are going to vary.  You’ll usually have better odds with a smaller complex than you would have with a bigger corporation type place.  As long as you work on your credit and show some responsibility, you won’t have trouble getting an apartment at all.

NOTE:  I recommend checking out Amazon’s cell phones for bad credit.

Having bad credit in life can cause you to miss out on a few essentials in life such as a cell phone, car, and even a home.  Since it’s always nice to have a cell phone to be constantly connected, most cell phone companies will require a credit check in order to sign up for their services.  If you have bad credit, you’ll probably find that it’s going to be hard to get a cell phone plan.  Here are some things you can do in order to get a cell phone with bad credit.

Getting a prepaid phone – There are cell phone services out there that don’t require a contract.  Instead, you can buy a phone from the company and then proceed to buy calling cards everytime you want to use the phone.  The nice thing about this plan is that everyone is approved since you simply buy calling cards everytime you want to make a call.  The only downfall is that you’ll find that the cards can get awfully expensive.

Try your luck – Sometimes you may think your credit is bad but it may not be as bad as you think.  It never hurts to call up major cell phone carriers such as Verizon and ATT to see if you’ll be accepted.  When you call, you usually get an answer within minutes.  If you don’t want to call, you can simply walk into one of their stores and try and sign up there.

Pay in advance – If you were denied by a cell phone company, try and negoiate with them.  See if you can pay some of the bill up front.  Sometimes a cell phone company will accept a deal if you pay 3-6 months in advanced.  If you really want a cell phone, I highly suggest you save at least $200-300 to pay 6 months of expenses.  You can get a cheap cell phone plan for around $30 a month.

Shop around – Just because you get denied by one company, it doesn’t mean you’re going to get denied by another.  There are a lot of cell phone companies out there.  Do your best to call up at least five companies.  They will all vary.  If you can’t think of any companies, here are a few you can check out –

• Verizon Wireless
• Sprint
• ATT
• T-mobile

Don’t get discouraged if you can’t find a carrier that won’t accept you.  You can always fall back onto the prepaid cell phone plans.  If you’re in desperate need for a phone, I would advise this route.  If you don’t really need a phone, I would wait for a few months until you improve your credit score.