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When you are still at school, your major pre-occupation is to raise you GPA score as much as you can. How ever, when school is over, there is another GPA score that can have an even greater impact on your life, it is the FICO Credit Score.

At Juniorcreditcards.com, we believe credit is such an important issue that depending on how you manage it, it can make or break your financial life. To make credit work for you, it is essential that you understand your own credit and what your credit information says about you to the growing number of companies that use credit information to make life impacting decisions about you. These companies include lenders, insurance companies, employers and utility companies. The objective is to help you better understand and, therefore, leverage your credit history in order to get the most out of this essential force throughout your life.

Benefits and hazards of credit cards

Student Credit cards enable online purchases, from text books to concert tickets, make it possible to rent a car, and help with medical emergencies or vehicle breakdowns. Used wisely, credit cards can be helpful throughout college, and can assist you in the development of financial management skills. Also it is vital to know that your credit score affects your ability to get, car loans, and home mortgages after graduation. Future jobs and insurance premiums can also be influenced by your credit score. By paying your bills in full or in a timely manner, a credit card will help you establish a good credit score.

Late payment or no payment will earn you a poor credit score. With a poor score, you find it difficult to make important purchases like your first car or that condo, if you get the loan; it will be at very high cost. Also it is important to know that Banks make money by charging annual fees, late payment penalties and interest fees on unpaid credit card balances. Therefore, card holders with revolving debt (those who do not pay their balances in full each month) are desirable to the bank.

Understanding your credit report

Your credit report or credit history is a record of your past and current credit obligations including your debts and payment history. Your credit reports, widely recognized as the official record of how you shop for and manage credit obligations, are maintained by three national credit reporting agencies, or credit bureaus: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian.

Information reported on your credit report

Your credit reports contain a detailed record of your accounts and payments to banks, credit unions, finance companies, mortgage companies, credit card companies, retail stores, and a variety of other creditors. These trade lines detail your account and payment history, balances, credit limits, debt burden, and the age of your accounts.

The report also includes inquiries or authorized credit checks. An inquiry is a posting on your credit report that occurs whenever it has been accessed. Each credit reporting agency is legally obligated to maintain a complete record of all inquiries for, in most cases, 24 months. This record can be as simple as who pulled your credit report and on what date. Credit related public records including bankruptcies, judgments and tax liens will also be found on your credit report.

The credit report also include your personal data, this includes your name (including previous names and any variations of your name that are reported by your lenders), telephone number, address, Social Security Number, birth date, and current employer. Typically, previous addresses and employers are noted as well. This information, for the most part, is used for nothing more than identification.

Information not reported on a student credit report

Your credit report does not include your level of education, your medical history, purchases paid by cash or check, your gender, national origin, race, or religion, your investments or brokerage accounts, your income and your alimony commitments.

Who decides what goes in your student credit report?

Information on your credit reports does not actually originate with the credit bureaus at all. In reality, the credit bureaus function more like warehouses: they store data, which is reported to them from a variety of sources including your mortgage and auto lenders, credit card issuers, student loan companies, public record vendors, retail stores and finance companies.

Understanding your credit score

Credit scores are generated from models that read the data from your credit reports to generate a three digit number ranging from 300 to 850. The resulting credit score is designed to assess your level of credit risk by predicting whether or not you will pay back credit obligations in a timely manner. Despite the fact that anyone can build a credit scoring model, the industry standard is the FICO credit score.

Note also that at any specific moment, the information at each of the three credit bureaus is likely to differ, due to different reporting schedules. As a result, the FICO scores generated from the three credit bureaus will also differ. Since lenders may review your FICO score and credit report from any one or all three credit bureaus, it’s a good idea to verify that the information in all three credit reports is accurate so to ensure a valid score.

It is important to realize that your credit scores are in constant flux, changing each time information changes, is added to or deleted from your credit reports. Making a mortgage payment, applying for a department store credit card and opening a new line of credit will all trigger changes in your credit report and, as such, a change in your credit score. A late payment or the closure of a credit card account will also have an immediate impact to your credit score.

The following categories drive your FICO credit score:

• Your payment performance history (35%)

• Your current level of indebtedness (30%)

• The age of your credit history (15%)

• Your pursuit of new credit (10%)

• The type of accounts in your credit report (10%)

As you can see, payment performance and level of debt account for 65% of the points in your FICO score. The remaining categories are worth fewer points but are still very important especially for those who are aiming to earn the highest scores.

Taking Control of your credit

Your credit record stays with you wherever you go. Future loans, credit card accounts, employment, and housing, they all require clean credit. To create good credit and maintain it you need to actively manage your credit accounts.

Study your card agreement

Note the grace period, annual fees, cash advance fees, finance charges, and annual percentage rate (APR). If you plan to carry a balance on your account, shop around for a lower APR, even if it means paying a higher annual cardholder fee.

Use credit wisely

Keep track of your current purchases. Avoid large impulse purchases. Do not use a cash advance to cover normal daily expenses.

Know your limit

Exceeding your credit limit is usually considered a violation of your account agreement and may result in additional fees or penalties, or the freezing or cancellation of your account.

Make more than the minimum payment

If you can not pay off your total balance each month, then at the very least, try to pay more than the minimum required

Pay on time

Be sure to get your payment in by the due date to avoid a late fee and possible credit damage.

Keep in touch

If you change your name, address, or job, notify your lending institution immediately. You do not want to risk a late payment. Also contact your lender if you cannot make a payment on your account for any reason. They might be able to arrange special payment options that help you avoid credit problems.

Enroll in a personal finance course

If you are not a finance or business major you should enroll in a personal finance class as soon as your schedule allows. If it is not required coursework, take it as an elective. You will learn a set of life skills that will not only help you right now, but also after college and for the rest of your life.

Lovemore Ncube

Website: http://www.juniorcreditcards.com

Blog: http://juniorcreditcards.blogspot.com

There’s a question that pops up in my email inbox at least once a week, from clients asking, “Why are some businesses far more successful at getting paid on time than others?” Having worked with clients and Fortune 500 corporations over the years, I’ve heard this question asked over many cups of coffee. In my experience, the reason why a small business can easily leave their competition in the dust is because they have identified and understood better then their competitors exactly what their clients will do anything and pay anything to solve, and they provide it.

So, you not getting paid on time? You’re not alone. With companies and individuals all now holding on to their money for as long as possible, asking a client for payment is a challenge you’re likely to come up against as a self-employed professional.

I used to sweat it out, waiting for checks to arrive on time. You know that feeling, when you sort through the mail looking for the envelope of your client? Then, I came to a point with my business that I would no longer accept checks for the programs we teach. So many of my clients enjoy re-enlisting in our programs, that it became a no-brainer to accept credit cards that we could bill on a re-occuring 3 month cycle. My clients wanted to pay with credit cards, and I provided them the means.

Now, sometimes I will hear my clients tell me that the charitable pledges weren’t paid by their members, or the condo dues are late again. When it comes to not paying on time, frequently there has been just a clerical mistake, or the loyal client will at least pretend that there has been one. Peoples lives are so busy, that they forget to pay you. This often means you will have to go easy on them and let the client look into-or pretend to look into-the matter and schedule a follow-up call. Now, the attitude to take in the first call is that, since you are, in effect, business partners, and the client’s failure to pay you promptly is probably a mistake that can be corrected. If you still value this client, and you need to make a second call, you should then push for closure without being nervous or confrontational.

Remember you are merely following normal business practices to collect your payment from a loyal client. So, follow these four steps to get your hard-earned money paid on time.

1. To appear professional and confident on the phone, have the invoices in question in front of you. Print their statment and highlight the amount due, their payment history and thank your client for any advanced payments. Make notes on the past due invoice of any positive responses they received from working with you or your products. Note any special payment agreements as well.

2. Call your client during normal business hours so that the client doesn’t have an excuse that bookkeeping staff aren’t available. And of course, call the day that you expected payment. Remember, you have no leverage with your client’s accounting department, partner or spouse. Your agreement is with your client, and it’s THEIR job to get you paid NOW!

3. Have this conversation on the phone, and stand up when you speak to your client so that your voice sounds clearer. Be ready to ask for a date when you can pick up the check. Or, consider getting a merchant account so that your past due client can give you a credit card number right on the phone. If you use an accounting software like Quickbooks, you can even set up a re-occuring payment plan using their credit card. That way you get paid, and your client can continue enjoying their life.

4. You also need to resist the suggestion that your client just doesn’t have the power to pay you at this moment. Yes, you can sympathize with your client, but don’t get drawn into their personal situation.

Overall, your goal here is to make it as easy as possible for your client to pay you on time. If you keep attracting deadbeat clients, perhaps you need to re-define who your ideal clients are.

Hurricane Ike came roaring on shore in September 2008 with Galveston and Surfside Beach in its bullseye. Galveston and Bolivar Island, on the “dirty” side of the storm, suffered significant damage. Surfside Beach on the good side of the hurricane, fared the wrath of nature amazingly well.

A scant 4 months after the storm, Surfside Beach is up and thriving. Very few reminders of Ike are visible, with the possible exception of a closed Kitty’s Purple Cow. Kitty’s was a Surfside Beach as well as a Texas institution with a reputation of serving up some of the best hamburgers this side of the Rio Grande.

The damage to Kitty’s is so severe since it was on the ground level rather than elevated on posts, that permanent closure is more than a possiblity. A permanent closure would be a real loss to the locals and visitors to Surfside Beach. Children, now grown, were bringing their children to this fabled restaurant of summer Texas beach memories. It would be the end of an era.

The Red Snapper Inn with its great gumbo is open along with the Valero station and quick stop. Hammerheads Bar and Grill hardly skipped a beat and was open soon after residents were allowed back into the Village of Surfside Beach. Castaways Club and Grill is back to rocking with the locals favorite of karoke on the weekends. The Jetty Shack is back to serving up its famous jumbo Angus burgers. Life on Surfside Beach is good.

Beach house rentals are back on track and seem to be only a little slower than is normal for the winter months. That could be more due to the economy than fears that the town is crippled. Word travels fast and Surfside Beach devotees soon learned that their favorite surfing, fishing, beaching spot was back and as good as ever.

Surfside Beach is the best kept secret in Texas - nearer than Galveston to Houston, yet close to all that Galveston has to offer. And, the City of Galveston just didn’t do the job in getting back up that Surfside did. Galveston was known for its boisterous crowds, and for being less than family friendly. This is one charming beach town with no high-rise condos or hotels & 21 miles of unspoiled shoreline where relaxing is the order of every day.

Whether it’s birding, fishing, surfing a few waves, or just relaxing on the beach, Surfside Beach is the perfect Texas coastal destination. It is nestled between Galveston, Freeport, the Gulf of Mexico and the Intracoastal Waterway, where highway 332 meets the sea.

While the town’s beaches stretch only 4 miles from the Freeport jetty, to the east of the town limits are miles of windswept sandy beaches where it’s only you, the salty breeze, the birds, and other wildlife. Birders are amazed at the abundance and variety of birds that gather in and around Surfside (Southern Brazoria County has been ranked number one 12 times in the past 20 years for migratory bird sightings).

Surfside Beach also is home to the Beach House. Hundreds and hundreds of multi-colored dwellings line the gulf, ready and waiting for you to call home, for a week or a weekend. Most all of them are ready for occupancy.

The great condition of the town stands as a stark testament to the “can do,” close knit community. While the summer population swells into the thousands, the 900 or so year round residents are what causes Surfside Beach to tick. They are what make the village so warm, inviting and comfortable for anyone fortunate enough to find this gem of a vacation spot.