Thrifty Thursday: Tips for a Great Credit Score

If you’ve applied for an apartment, car, or loan you know how essential having good credit is. In fact, last week (was it really only last week?) when I applied for my awesome new eastside apartment, I was approved instantly solely based on the fact I have awesome credit. Same thing happened last year when I decided to lease a car – I think the qualifier’s exact words were, “An 815 credit score and you’re twenty five? That’s unheard of!” I felt pretty awesome, and now have a great car and great apartment because of it. Now, before you go thinking I’m the ultimate saver and financial guru, let me assure you that is far from the case. In fact, my mother will be the first to admit my biggest problems is indulging on shopping sprees. But, here are some tips to ensure good credit:

1. ALWAYS pay on time. Even if it’s the minimum amount. Set an alert to remember. If you’re late more than 30 days on a payment, your score will take a plunge. Plunge.

2. Try to pay more than the minimum. It will help you pay off your debt faster and help you incur less finance fees.

3. For vendor credit cards (like specific stores i.e. Victoria’s Secret, Best Buy, etc) try to pay off the full amount. In my experience, these cards tend to have a higher APR, and you don’t want to get stuck paying for a $150 bill for the rest of the year. A trick I’ve learned, when you charge on these accounts treat it like a debit card transaction. If you don’t have enough funds, don’t spend.

4. Try to have no more than 5 credit cards. It’ll keep you debt down, but it also proves to creditors that you’re capable of paying things off. I have a main card that I keep some debt on, and 3 vendor credit cards.

5. Do not start applying for a bunch of credit cards at once. It sets off a red flag that you’re stocking up for a reason.

6. Do not cancel credit cards – especially ones that you’ve had forever and especially ones that don’t incur a fee. Just don’t use them.

7. Keep balances low. If you’re more than half your credit limit, you’ve gone too high.

8. Check your credit score about once a year to make sure it’s airtight.

Follow these tips and you could be on your way to a great score. 

Lust vs. Must: Book Review of "Bitter is the New Black" by Jennifer Lancaster

Now that summer is right around the corner, I’ve been stocking up on my poolside reading. I had the pleasure of reading Jen Lancaster’s HYSTERICAL memoir, “Bitter is the New Black – confessions of a condescending, egomaniacal, self-centered smart-ass, or why you should never carry a Prada bag to the unemployment office” (see the humor already?!) Basically, the book is her recounting of being a high-powered executive at the turn of the century and pretty much acting like a stuck-up bitch as a result of her fortune. Then, the whole economic crisis happened and she found herself without a job and thus having to skimp on all her normal essentials – including prada and (gasp) professional cuts and color!

Not only was the book laugh out loud funny, it was heartwarming (a tough feat to pull off considering she comes off as such a bitch in the beginning), and extremely resonating. I’m not going to lie, I grew up in a really wealthy town and my family took care of a lot for me (um, I got a brand new car when I was sixteen – thanks Grandpa!) But, thanks to my mom and dad’s determination to make my brother and I appreciate the value of a dollar (along with that new car I  was encouraged to get a job to pay for gas and to keep the car looking pretty). As much as I proclaimed my parents as “like, so unfair!” thank god for that! It is so easy to overindulge, especially when you’re used to it, but you also have to ground yourself otherwise things can spiral out of control.

One of my favorite parts of the book is after her unemployment checks run out, she goes through her closet and starts comparing her upscale items to utilities she could’ve paid for instead. Fortunately I’ve never been in fear of not making a payment on something, but I’m sure we can relate to going through our bills and expenses at the end of the month and wondering – hmm, did I really need those black wedges (and it’s ok if sometimes the answer is yes). But, in today’s economic world we should be thinking about what we can skimp on. I know I’ve made a serious effort to not get my nails done every month and to try and do them myself (and they aren’t half bad!) It ends up saving me close to $60/month which is close to $720 a year!

So, I gotta ask: What are your “must” items that you’d be better off giving up?

Thrifty Thursday: Tips for Saving Big on Parties

Now you have all the tools to throw an awesome spring holiday party, but in a world where we’re constantly trying to save money, how can you throw an awesome bash without breaking the bank? Lucky for you, I have a few ideas:

Set a Budget… and Stick to It

In the early planning stages, come up with a realistic budget. For Eassover we try not to spend more than $200 TOTAL (including food, alcohol, and activities). If you can spend a little more, great. If not, then you may need to cut some stuff out of your planning. For example, alcohol tends to take up the most in terms of budget so ask your attendees to pitch in and bring their favorite wine. There are lots of way to avoid going over your budget, but you need to know how much you’re willing to spend first!

Scope Out Deals Weeks in Advance

Remember way back to Monday when I created a checklist of when to do stuff? One of the reasons you want to come up with your menu so far in advance so you can start scoping out deals that far in advance! With holidays especially, local supermarkets will offer specials on items associated with that particular holiday. For example, I bet you can find eggs right now for cheaper than you will all year! You also want to compare and contrast the supermarkets. I’m more of a Vons girl, but last year my neighborhood Ralph’s had the best deals in terms of meat, so that’s where we went for our Easter Ham and Roasted Chickens. Trader Joes tends to be more cost effective (and fresher) for produce, so we went there for that.

Also, if you pay close attention to the weekly circulars, they go crazy with coupons and 3-day specials during the holidays. I usually like to do my grocery shopping on a Sunday, but if Vons has a special where I can get Ham for almost 50% on a Wednesday, I’ll find a way to get to the store during the week. Coupons and specials can really help your grocery budget.

Consider DIY

Especially when it comes to activities and decorations, you don’t need to do store-bought. Sure, there are lots of pre-made easter egg dye kits, but you can accomplish the same thing with food dye, vinegar, and plastic spoons. And you can be all fancy and get the special easter plates and decorations, or you can use everyday plates and make a sign off the computer. Think about if you really need something, or if you can do the same thing by yourself. You’ll save a ton!

Happy Thursday everyone! For those of you that have tomorrow off, enjoy :)

Thrifty Thursday: Balance your Budget!

I feel like the two things I’m constantly struggling with are weight and finances. Apparently this is the norm, for us twenty-somethings. Fortunately, I have an awesome way of staying on top of my finances so I don’t get so overwhelmed (and stay tuned for tomorrow’s post on weight loss tips and tricks!) But, first the finances.

It wasn’t too long ago that I was first branching out on my own and suddenly had a ton of expenses (bills, dinner dates, the latest fashions!) that I wasn’t expecting. I also didn’t have the biggest paycheck to support these expenses (and sadly, still don’t… but that’s another story), and relied on my credit card for EVERYTHING. I remember looking at my bill one month and thinking there must’ve been some sort of mistake. How did those zero’s get there?! Anyway, after a proper scolding from my dear old Mom and Dad, I sat down and made a budget sheet.

It’s relatively simple – in fact it looks a lot like a checkbook registrar (does anyone still use these, by the way?), and I just plug in all my projected spending as well as my projected earnings. Back when I was in credit card debt, I had another column that showed how long it would take to get myself out of debt (which wasn’t that long, thank goodness). Now, I use it nearly every day and even have a second one for my fiancé and my joint account (I think he secretly loves and loathes my weekly updates). But, it paints a good picture of where I am financially and how much I need to save or splurge each month.

(screen capture of my budget sheet- with actual amounts omitted, duh! Black is what I actually spent, red is what I projected to spend, and I update it weekly for accuracy)

There are also several helpful tools online that can help with this. In my opinion, the easiest and most simple to use can be found at: http://www.mappingyourfuture.org/money/budgetcalculator.htm

You just plug in your monthly income and expenses and it tells you how much you can save or spend each month.

If you do online banking, many banks offer free online tools which can show you where you’re spending the most money and where you can cut back. My friend just made her own excel sheet doing the same thing and realized she was spending too much in the food category, so now she’s cutting back in order to save.

No matter which way you do it, keeping track of your monthly finances through a personal excel sheet or a website is a very valuable tool. Plus, it’ll make you feel a lot more on top of things!

Thrifty Thursday: Crazy about Coupons

We’re all trying to save a little money, right?  Well, no one does it better than my best friend. She never ceases to impress me with the amazing deals she gets. When I asked her what her secret was, she said: coupons. Now, we don’t need to get as intense as the new TLC show “Extreme Couponing”, but by printing a few coupons every week to help save with groceries and essentials it can really go a long way. Here are some of her favorite sites for savings:

-coupons.com: offers printable coupons on a variety of products, and you can even digitally add manufacturer’s coupons to your Grocery store savings card

-redplum.com: printable grocery store coupons

-smartsource.com: another printable grocery store coupon site

-restaurant.com: great deals up to 50% off on local restaurants

-groupon.com & livingsocial.com: you can sign up for daily deals on fun local activities like the spa, restaurants, and more

-Stores like vons.com, cvs.com, ralphs.com, target.com offer weekly specials

Happy coupon clipping!

Contributing editor: Sam