Archive for September 22, 2010

DFWMoneyMatters | September 22, 2010
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How To Save BIG money or Make BIG money using Craigslist.org

craigslist.org

Craigslist

Craigslist is a great site to go to to find great local deals online. If you are looking to sell or buy anything, I strongly recommend using www.craigslist.org .

Here is a quick list of things I have used craigslist to buy, and save a lot of money.

1.) Adobe Creative Suite Software Retail price: $2,000 Craigslist price $200

2.) My Car’s starter went out.  Labor at a shop $350 Craigslist price $75, and the guy drove over to my job to fix my car for me, without having to tow it!

3.) Bunk Bed for my son Retail Price: $500 Craigslist price $175 for a really nice one that the guy delivered to my house at no extra charge!

These are just a few examples of how I have saved thousands of dollars just by using Craigslist in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area. The cool thing about it though is that you can use craigslist anywhere in the whole entire world!

Ways Craigslist can Benefit you if you are looking to buy :

* Contact multiple providers and get the best price

* Save time by hiring someone to do your lawn, move your stuff from one place to another, or fix your car!

*Keep it local, and avoid scams

*You can find anything! From puppies, to ad space to moving services, I mean anything!

*Call the seller, it is usually the best way to get a hold of them. Also if they display a phone number, they are more trustworthy.

Ways Craigslist can Benefit you if you are a seller :

*Sell Your Products

*Sell Your Services

*Advertise online business

*Capture leads

*Generate more traffic to your site

*If you are looking for big exposure, you can hire someone to list your service/product on every state.

Craigslist Money Making Tip:

Have nothing to sell? But need money? No problem, login to Craigslist, look in the free section, and a lot of the time you can find appliances, furniture and just random stuff people don’t want that you can turn around and sell.

Craigslist BEST Tip when looking for digital Products:

Looking for an itunes gift card? Or the key to some software? Or looking for a service that can be sold/delivered online? The quick way to search ALL of Craigslist.org, and not just by your local area, or state is to use google. Here are the steps.

1.) Go to www.Google.com

2.) Click on “advanced search” to the right

3.) Where you see ” all of these words” type in what you are looking for. Example Web Design

4.) Go to the last option that reads “Search within a site or domain:” and type craigslist.org

5.) Click on the “Advanced Search” to the right

6.) Bingo! You now have a TON of web designers, or whatever you are looking for. This tip is also good if you are looking to sell something, because you can type in an exact phrase of what your customers would be looking for, and find them and contact them!

Craigslist Safety Tips:

Never post your phone number, there are a lot of robots that crawl the site searching for them. If you do want to sell something, make sure your phone number is on there as an image, and not as text.

Do not post your e-mail address, again, a lot of spam, let craigslist generate one for you.

When dealing locally only accept cash, no checks!

When dealing with digital products/services, use a safe service like paypal and make sure that they are paypal verified.

When selling something, use pictures, otherwise, no one will view your listing. (Trust me on this one!)

When selling or buying be very specific as to what you want or what you are offering. But don’t write too much, or people will not bother to read it all.

Be careful, if you are meeting someone locally, try to meet at a local gas station, or public place if possible.

Take someone with you, try not to be alone when picking up or delivering products.

Good luck! Most people have good intentions, but you can run into scams on  Craigslist, so be careful! Another good site to use is Backpage.com. For only $15 or so, you can also publish your ad in a local newspaper and reach up to 50,000 readers!

Any Craigslist success stories, or tips anyone would like to add?

Category: Budgeting, Money Matters, saving money |
DFWMoneyMatters | September 22, 2010
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Money Tight? 10 Things To Consider Before Applying for a a Personal Loan

Top 10 things that are very important to take into consideration  if you are looking for a personal loan…

1.) Do you really need a loan? Do you have anything of value that you could sell? Maybe an old camera or some old furniture you haven’t used in a long time. I promise, if you look around, you will find something of value in your home that you have not used in over a year.

2.) Is it a loan for something necessary? Are you getting a loan to pay off your debt? Because this could actually be bad. Also AVOID payday loans and title loans at all costs, they will end up costing you way more in the end.

3.) Credit Score With the economy being so tough lately, your credit may have taken a hit. Make sure you know you can be approved for one, by checking your credit score. Otherwise you will have yet another ding on your credit, for no good reason.

4.) How will you pay it back? Its easy to make a personal loan a quick fix or the easy way out of things. But can you afford to have yet another payment stack up to your already too high bills? If you already can’t afford the debt you have, it is a smart idea to not add to it.

5.) Be careful who you borrow from. Again, DO NOT USE payday loans or any kind of title loans place, they are the biggest rip-off ever! Instead go to a local credit union, or apply at a reliable online bank.

6.) Is it your only option? Do you have a roth IRA, or some kind of other savings to get you by? If so, use your own money before using someone else’s

7.) Interest Rates Make sure that you read the terms and conditions carefully when taking out a loan. And find out what happens if you miss a payment, and how much your interest rate will go up. Know all of the fine print, before making a commitment.

8.) Shop around Consider multiple places before making a choice, but don’t shop around for too long, because it could hurt your credit in the long run.

9.) Be honest Do you think you are actually going to pay it back? Look at your payment history, do you have a bad habit of paying your bills late all the time? Take your financial situation into serious consideration, and be honest with yourself. It is your credit that you will hurt after all.

10.) Immediate Gratification Do you really need that new computer, or whatever you are looking to do with that money right now? Could you find it a lot cheaper somewhere else?  Make sure you log in to Craigslist.org you can find a lot of products and services for way less than any retailer out there.

The actual best thing to do, is to have an emergency fund. Even if you only put $20 a month in it, you need to start somewhere. So hopefully that extra money will get you by when you really need it. Also, think  about anything that you could do better than other people.  Can you fix gutters, or do you know how to repair cars? Offer your service on craigslist, and get extra cash that way instead.

Category: Budgeting, Loans | Tags: , ,
DFWMoneyMatters | September 3, 2010
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3 Ways to Improve FICO Credit Scores Immediately

3 Bureau Credit ReportsFinding your credit scores have been steadily plummeting for the past year can be disturbing to say the least. Although that may be expected if you have had financial difficulty recently, you may be surprised to learn that your low credit scores may not be entirely your fault.

Fair Isaac decided to alter their FICO scoring system recently for the first time in over 20 years. As employers cut back during this dismal present economy, you may have found your yearly raises or bonuses have all but disappeared. The credit card companies are actively cutting credit limits and closing accounts to limit their exposure during unstable economic times.

All of these factors have commonality when it comes to your individual credit. There is nothing you can do about them and they all can negatively affect your credit score.

However, the basics of credit score improvement have not changed too much and can still be achieved by just managing your money responsibly and keeping an eye over your credit report for problems. So, of course, the first step you need to take is to request a copy of your personal credit report. Your personal report is available any time from the 3 major credit bureaus or their joint website, www.annualcreditreport.com. But, in fact, there are three ways you can implement right now to improve FICO scores and repair your credit even without your report:
Improve Your Payment History

Your payment history makes up approximately 35% of your total credit score and is the primary factor that all your potential lenders will begin analyzing. That means, you could have a laundry list of good credit references when applying for a loan, but as soon as potential lenders see one or two late payments on your record, there’s a good chance a rejection is in your near future. So, make it your first priority to start paying those monthly bills on time if you aren’t currently. Remember, even some of your utilities may report to the credit bureaus these days, so you need to concentrate on prompt payments every month. No excuses.

Start Improving Your Debt To Credit Ratio

You can improve your FICO scores by almost 1/3 (30%) just by keeping the amount of debt you carry at a low amount compared to your credit limits. Lenders like to see active use of credit each month, but in moderation (between 10%-30% of your present credit limits). For example, if you have a credit card with a $1000 limit, use it regularly without exceeding $300 per month. Your potential lenders want to see that you use credit often, but you do not rely on it to survive. So, if you can discipline yourself to use credit sparingly but often, you stand a better chance at keeping those accounts open and steadily improving your credit history.

Start Improving Your Credit History

This last method to improve FICO scores might shock you a bit, as it is not as intuitive as simply using credit moderately and paying bills on time.Keep your older accounts open. That’s right, don’t close them.Even if you’ve had a few difficulties with them in the past, if you have an older account that you are now paying promptly, just leave it be. Closing old accounts en masse can make your credit history appear much shorter and ultimately hurt your credit score. So, don’t touch.
Your personal credit history is roughly 15% of your total credit score, so it also deserves your full attention. In a nutshell, it’s best to go ahead and get your report. Then sit down and make an educated, comprehensive plan of attack before considering credit repair.

Working to improve FICO scores may not be as simple or straight-forward to do as it once was, but you can accomplish it in less time than you may think if you remain determined. And finally taking control over your finances can not only be rewarding and satisfying, but it will utlimately give you a more successful life in total as you now qualify for the home and auto loans you really want.

Category: Credit, Credit Repair, Credit Tips | Tags: , , , , ,