Debt Payoff
Debt to Income Ratio Explained and the Numbers Lenders Use
Lenders divide monthly debt payments by gross income to decide what else you can borrow. How to compute yours, which payments count and how to lower it.
6 min read
The library
17 plain-English reads on budgeting, saving, investing, debt, credit and taxes. Newest first unless you say otherwise.
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Housing & Renting
FHA vs Conventional Loans for First Time Home Buyers Today
FHA accepts lower credit scores but charges mortgage insurance that may never drop. Compare total borrowing costs, down payments and private insurance rules.
6 min read
Credit
Secured Credit Cards and How They Turn Into Real Credit
You place a $300 cash deposit and receive a $300 credit limit. How secured cards report to credit bureaus, what features to avoid, and how to graduate to unsecured credit.
6 min read
Credit
Becoming an Authorized User to Build Credit Quickly
Becoming an authorized user on an established credit card imports account history and limits in thirty days, provided the issuing bank reports user trade-lines.
7 min read
Credit
How Long Late Payments and Collections Stay on Your Report
Late payments and collections stay on credit reports for seven years from the original delinquency date. Paying does not reset the clock under federal law.
8 min read
Debt Payoff
Debt Consolidation: The Honest Version
Consolidation lowers monthly payments but often increases the total interest paid over time. Here are the three legitimate forms, predatory traps to avoid, and the math that matters.
7 min read
Banking
Credit Union vs Bank
A credit union is owned by its members, which changes where the profit goes. What that is worth in a year, and where a bank genuinely wins.
6 min read
CreditGuide
Disputing an Error on Your Credit Report
You have a legal right to an investigation within 30 days. The letter that gets results, what to enclose, and the step where most disputes quietly fail.
7 min read
Credit
Hard vs Soft Credit Inquiries
A soft pull never touches your score. A hard pull costs most people under five points for a few months, and three mortgage applications in one fortnight count as one.
6 min read
Credit
Should You Close an Old Credit Card?
Closing it raises your utilisation the same day and shortens your average account age much later. Usually keep it. Here are the three cases where closing is the right call anyway.
7 min read
Credit
Does Checking Your Credit Score Lower It?
No. Checking your own is a soft inquiry and never affects the score. The belief comes from something true about a completely different kind of check, and that one costs under five points.
5 min read
Credit
Credit Utilisation and the Statement-Date Trick
Your card reports the statement balance, not the balance after you pay it. Moving the payment two days earlier can turn a reported 61.7% into 6.2% without changing a thing you spend.
6 min read
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