Shawn Lane Consumer Credit Expert Basic credit common sense tells you that paying your bills on time is essential to maintaining a good credit rating. What you may not realize, however, is that your payment history is only one component of good credit. Payment history absolutely matters, but keeping your payments on time alone is not enough to earn and …
4 Credit Mistakes You Can Teach Your Children to Avoid
Shawn Lane Consumer Credit Expert As a parent, you are responsible for teaching your kids many different important life lessons. When they are young, you help them learn how to walk and talk. A few years later, you start teaching your kids about reading, writing, and arithmetic. Yet somewhere between lessons about the golden rule and the sex and drugs …
How a Good Credit Score Can Improve Your Life
Shawn Lane Consumer Credit Expert There is no sugar-coating the fact that life can become a lot more complicated whenever you are faced with credit problems. Sure, you can get by with bad credit and low credit scores, but living like that can be expensive, not to mention stressful. On the other hand, when you work hard to rebuild your …
Why Your Credit Score Suddenly Dropped by Over 100 Points
Shawn Lane Consumer Credit Expert In my line of work, I am asked questions everyday like this one I received last week: “Shawn, I have been working hard for a while now hoping to raise my credit scores. I was making good progress, but when I logged into my credit monitoring to check my credit this month I found out …
Don’t Fall for These Credit Myths!
Shawn Lane Consumer Credit Expert The world of credit is overflowing with myths and plain bad advice. Unfortunately, when it comes to your credit, believing the wrong myth could really hurt you. Before you blindly follow the advice you received from your well meaning loved one or the credit tip you read online from your favorite financial “guru”, it might …
Break Down Your Credit Report: Understand What’s Inside
What Is a Credit Report? A credit report captures the financial behaviors lenders care about most. It is a detailed record of how you’ve borrowed and repaid money over time. Credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—compile this data from creditors, collection agencies, and public records. Each report may vary slightly, but all collect similar categories of information. Core Components of Your …