Increase FICO score

Increasing your FICO® score may take time and often there is no quick fix. FICO scores reflect credit payment patterns over time with more of an emphasis on recently reported information than older information. Below are some general tips to follow that may increase your FICO score:

• Focus on the negative factors provided with your FICO score. These represent the main areas where your score could be higher.
• Apply for and open new credit accounts only as needed. Don’t open accounts for the purpose of providing a better credit picture – it probably won’t raise your FICO score and, in some instances, may even lower your score.
• Pay off your bills on time. Delinquent payments, even if only a few days late, and collections can have a major negative impact on your FICO score.
• If you have missed payments, get current and stay current. The longer you pay your bills on time after being late, the more your FICO score should increase. Older credit problems count for less, so poor credit performance won’t haunt you forever. The impact of past credit problems on your FICO score fades as time passes and as recent good payment patterns show up on your credit report. And good FICO scores weigh any credit problems against the positive information that says you’re managing your credit well.
• If you are having trouble making ends meet, contact your creditors or see a legitimate credit counselor. This will not improve your FICO score immediately, but if you can begin to manage your credit and pay on time, your score should increase over time. And seeking assistance from a credit counseling service will not hurt your FICO score.
• Keep balances low on credit cards and other “revolving credit”. High outstanding credit card debt can negatively impact your FICO score.
• Pay off debt rather than move it around from one credit card to another. The most effective way to increase your FICO score in this area is by paying down your total revolving (credit card) debt.
• If you have had problems in the past, re-establish your credit history by opening new accounts responsibly and paying them on time.
• Manage credit cards responsibly by keeping balances well under the credit limit. In general, having credit cards and installment loans (and making timely payments) will raise your FICO score. People with no credit cards, for example, tend to be higher risk than people who have managed credit cards responsibly.
• Do your rate shopping for a loan within a focused period of time. FICO scores distinguish between a search for a mortgage or auto loan, where it is customary to shop for the best rate, and a search for many new credit cards.
• Don’t close unused credit cards as a short-term strategy to raise your FICO score. This approach could backfire and actually lower your FICO score.
• If you have been using credit for only a short time, don’t open a lot of new accounts too quickly, as rapid account build-up can look risky to a lender.

*www.myfico.com

Payment History Tips

Pay your bills on time.
Delinquent payments and collections can have a major negative impact on your FICO score.

• If you have missed payments, get current and stay current.
  The longer you pay your bills on time, the better your credit score.
• Be aware that paying off a collection account will not remove it from your credit report.
  It will stay on your report for seven years.
• If you are having trouble making ends meet, contact your creditors or see a legitimate credit counselor.
  This won’t improve your credit score immediately, but if you can begin to manage your credit and pay on time, your score will get better over time.

*www.myfico.com

Summer Creativity Boost

Big news!  Best-selling author and artist SARK (aka Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy) has just announced a new session of Dream Boogie with SARK, starting Wednesday September 22.  If you sign up by August 15, you save $20 with the “Early Dreamer Discount”, and you also get a bonus jump-start workbook called “SARK’s Purple Dream Crayon: A Playbook for Naming Your Dream”

SARK has been teaching workshops all around the world for over 25 years, and now you can work with her directly in this a dream productivity program that is packed with inspiration and innovation to help you move from dreaming to DOing.

You can enjoy some fun, free “Dream Boogie” samples, including interview audio snippets, plus colorful SARK videos, workbook downloads, and other funky little goodies for your dream.

Buddy up with the bank

The purpose of a bank is for THEM to pay YOU for doing business with them.  Being able to manage everyday cash flow with the lowest fees will increase the amount of wealth you can hold on to.

Your money needs to be working as hard as you do. That’s why you need to look at the interest that you earn.

If you are not earning interest on your money than you are at the wrong bank. Paying fees is not acceptable! Look at what your bank offers–and hold on to your wealth.

Relationships for life…and business

Guest Blogger for Rich Chicks, Cathy Paper of rockpaperstar and Dream Job Lab

Most people want more sales and more career success.  Growing healthy relationships is the key to making a stronger impact as a business person.  Yet, 9 out of 10 people think expanding their network means pushing themselves on other people and feels “slimy.”  There are several ways to grow your relationships and heighten your reputation without becoming a slick image of your authentic self.

 Here are five ways I’ve seen people quickly become effective at increasing the power of their relationships:

1.  Define your style.  What kind of a person do you want to be known as? A giver, a taker, a connector, a writer, a self-promoter, a volunteer etc.  Spend half an hour defining your personal brand.  Ask someone you trust and respect what they think about you and how they would describe you to someone else.  If they hesitate and can’t answer the question, you have some work to do to be seen as a value-add.
2.  Get involved and give back.  Building relationships is not just lunch after lunch or 50 cold calls to grow your contact list.  One of the best ways to get to know other people is to serve on a committee or a volunteer team.  You can make a difference to an organization you are passionate about and meet great people along the way.  Making connections starts with thinking about someone other than yourself.
3. Start small.  Five nights a week out with high hopes of business development and networking and you’ll burn out.  Everyone gets busy and needs to hunker down with billable time or project deadlines.  The best relationship people know that being a consistent but authentic presence out and about is one of the ways to stay top of mind.  So pick one night a week or a Friday lunch to get to know someone new.  
4. Find a wingman or wingwoman.  I first learned of this concept through a New York Times article on dating.  A pair would scope out a “prospect or potential date” and send one of the other people over to ask questions and talk up the other person.  Brilliant.  Find a person to attend an event with you and they can do your promoting for you. It’s much better to have someone else say what you do and why you’re amazing than to toot your own horn. 
5. Be strategic.  Who do you want to meet?  Do your homework.  Sam Richter, author of Take The Cold Out Of Cold Calling, has a toolbar where you can research people and companies in great detail using the “invisible web.”  Before an event, research people and study the guest list if possible.  You will make the most of your time and the people you meet will be impressed by your thorough knowledge.

 These are just a few of the ways to build strong relationships in today’s virtual world of connections.  I recommend a combination of virtual connections and face to face to cement what you want most, a lifelong network to champion your work and serve as your best business development tool.

Cathy Paper is a guest presenter at the May 19 NW2 Mastermind Group   

  RockPaperStar acts as a growth catalyst for authors and small businesses. Current clients include Harvey Mackay, #1 New York Times Best Selling Author of Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive, Virtual Officenters, MorseKode and Fruitshare. As one customer said, “We are thrilled with the results of our business consulting work with Cathy Paper of Rock Paper Star. She helped us come up with new revenue sources and ideas based on our business planning and strengths work.  She provides a fresh, fun and enlightening perspective to our business planning. We imagine calling on her again and again.” Char Mason- Coleman Mason Events

Ten things that other teens have done to save at college- Part two

6)      I opted for a big name college and it had a big price tag, so I would go home every summer and take classes at the community college near my hometown to ADD credits. I could take a full load during the summer and it cut my tuition requirements down by almost 10K a year for three years. I had those community college credits transferred in each year. NOTE: You have to know in advance if the credits are transferrable. Check it out–it saved me more that I could have earned in a summer job- Maijja

7)      I learned to cook and every Sunday I made a plan about what I was going to eat all week. Then I packed my own lunch and snacks.  It was fun to try new recipes and have healthy food and it also helped me stay out of the fast food places. -Mua

8)      I made a blog and a wish list online that anyone in my family or the friends of our family could log onto. I would talk about what was going on at school and I would ask for what I needed like care packages of laundry soap, quarters, and fun stuff like movie passes.  It became a way for me to be closer to my family than I was at home because they could also comment back. Linsday

9)      Finding a skill that you can trade to other students is crucial. My aunt was a hairdresser and she taught me how to wax my own eyebrows and then gave me a wax machine to take with me to college.  I was able to trade eyebrow waxing for all sorts of favors and Friday Night fun money. -Serina

10)      Never underestimate the power of a coupon or online search engines. I was able to get many of my reading books for my literature classes online for a tiny fraction of the bookstore rate and they ship in just three- five days usually.   Double coupon grocery stores are totally worth finding because those days will save you a TON of money and you can get coupons online.  -Grace

Ten things teens have done to save money at college- Part one

Ten things that other teens have done to add to the dollars needed to survive away from home:

 1)      Since my senior year in high school, I have asked everyone in my family for gift cards ONLY ( no gifts or trinkets) to help with living expenses. What a bounty– I got cards to Target, coffee shops, restaurants.I felt like I was getting the stuff for free every time I used them.  TIP: Make a copy of the back of the card–then if you lose it, the company will refund it if you know the code on the back. Jannine

2)      I made a list of the stuff I wanted in my dorm and asked if anyone had those things that they wanted to donate to my college cause. It paid off, my cousin gave me a mini-fridge and my sister gave me a microwave from her dorm room, and I got a lamp from a friend. -Katy

3)      I looked up the college chat boards and asked all the questions I wanted to know about where to get books at the cheapest rate and where to buy groceries and I was a pro right from the first day. -Marcia

4)      I had friends and we opted to live OFF campus and rent a house with 6 people. We were all good friends and we all planned to cook and we made a BIG game plan before we even left our homes. It took us a year of planning but it made our food and housing budget go down to about $400 a month.  -Kristi

5)      Buy a small food plan at college, you will never use the full time food plan. –LaSonja

College Ready in 12th Grade

This is part five of a five part series on tips to get kids in the right direction toward education. It is time to start the teen- training of how to be a responsible adult. Going away to school means they will have a lot more than just book work to do.

12^th  Grade-

1)      Gather your team- Ask for formal letters of recommendation from all community service roles, past jobs, and create a formal resume.  Build a college resume- find out all you can about the college, the services, transportation, and the world surrounding the college. Where can you get dinner for $3.00 and how can you explore this new world?

2)      FAFSA- Parents need to file taxes right away to avoid delays in the Federal Application Financial Student Aid because it must be completed in January.

What Does the Word Vacation Mean to You?

Does vacation mean getting away at any cost, and slamming down the plastic to charge tickets, hotel and other costs? Or does vacation mean–no way I can afford one. Maybe it’s time to rethink what vacation possibilities are available without running up credit card debt or staying at home. See a Rich Chick story below, and get ready for change! Rich Chicks

How to Have a Truly Freeing Vacation

by Patsy Keech

As spring break and summer nears your thoughts may turn to vacation.  If you were going to write a list of words that describes VACATION what would you include?

For most of my adult life some of those words would have been: shouldn’t be doing this, guilt, can’t afford it.  And then as the departure date would arrive, I would work myself into such a state of frenzy that I always left home with a heavy heart.  I never felt that carefree, light-hearted joyfulness that I saw everyone else had when taking vacations.  I thought for a long while that I was just one of those people who didn’t like vacations.  Sure I would have fun while I was there – but a sense of guilt loomed over the trip as I knew we would be paying for everything for months– with interest.

A few years ago my sister and parents decided to go to Ireland.   Even though I knew going to Ireland with my Irish father to meet up with his relatives was the trip of a lifetime, I just knew I couldn’t afford to go, so I didn’t plan on it.

Six months before they were going I remember telling my husband that I knew not making this trip with my family would be something I would regret my entire life. I had to find a way to go!  This wasn’t just a trip, this was now a mission.  As I looked at the calendar I realized that one of the months included an extra payday – that would pay for one plane ticket. My husband received some retro pay from his contract settling – that paid for another ticket. Now we just needed to save for lodging, food and a rental car. We did some research on prices, places to stay, and came up with a trip budget. Then when we had saved enough money to pay for that budget item we would it cross off the list.  It was so fun, and freeing.  By the time we left the states – everything on our trip was paid for.  For the first time in my life, I felt immense joy and pride around this vacation.  I discovered that planning ahead and setting goals prior to the journey was an exciting part of the trip.  It allowed me to be truly free – I EARNED the vacation.

That was just the beginning – we have taken two other family trips since, both of which were completely paid for before we left town.
I challenge you to write your own list of words that come to mind when you think of the word vacation.  For me – if freedom is not on my list, then I will just wait and save until I can add it before I take off again.

College bound at 11th grade??

This is part four  of a five part series on tips to get kids moving in  the right direction towards an education. It is time to start the teen- training of how to be a responsible adult. Going away to school means they will have a lot more than just book work to do.  Help them with a head start.

11^th Grade-

1)      Put a location on the map- Start talking about location of college; this is the year to tour every college that is in the running and to create a notebook that has all the facts together in one place. Print off a paper copy of the FAFSA (federal financial aid forms) form so you know what to expect.

2)      Put your name on the dotted line- Systematically create four written statements that are flawless that you can cut and paste into a variety of scholarship and school applications: a personal statement( who are you and what do you believe in) , the reason you want to college, your role in the community, and a list of references. You will need these when  applying for scholarships