http://www.gacsolutions.com Elevate your Credit. Elevate your Life.™ Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:19:46 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en We are about to dissect the confusing and complicated credit system, and the cycle in which it entails. The credit reporting system consists of three different factors. First, there are consumers, then credit bureaus, and finally the financial companies or creditors. Detailed specifications about loans, credit cards, and derogatory line items ... http://www.gacsolutions.com/back-to-the-credit-basics/ How To Spend Money Spending money is easy. The tough part is getting the best value for your money. When it comes to our lifestyle, it’s not so much what we earn that counts, but how we spend it. By paying attention to why and how we spend money, it may ... http://www.gacsolutions.com/how-to-spend-money/ Do Money and Happiness Go Hand-in-Hand? How many times have you said to yourself: If I only had a few extra thousand dollars a year, all my problems would be solved? The truth is that money usually has very little to do with your personal level of happiness. In and of ... http://www.gacsolutions.com/money-and-happiness/ Credit cards, loans, debt, credit histories and scores, overspending, balances, interest rates, repayments – these are all words in the dictionary of credit. It’s easy today to buy anything you want, without having to pay a single cent – the catch, you’ll pay later, literally, for your indiscriminate spending, usually ... http://www.gacsolutions.com/the-dos-and-don%e2%80%99ts-of-good-credit-behavior/ 1. Your lender wants you to pay late. Did you know your credit card company can change your payment due date each month hoping you’ll miss your payment?  And lenders can charge that $39 late fee even if you’re only an hour late. 2. You can’t win. If you have a problem with ... http://www.gacsolutions.com/ten-reasons-why-you-should-care-about-predatory-lending/ If your credit score has plummeted and you desire to get out of debt and increase your credit rating; budgeting and financial planning can help. Here are some tips: Budgeting This can be an effective strategy to paying off debt and controlling credit card spending. When you are creating a budget take into ... http://www.gacsolutions.com/budgets-and-financial-planning-can-turn-bad-credit-to-good/ FHA loans are loans that are insured by (HUD) Housing Urban and Development. FHA loans have been around since the 1930’s right after the “Great Depression." This was when 4 out of 10 households owned a home. (FHA) Federal Housing Administration is the savior for our current market just like ... http://www.gacsolutions.com/fha-loan-basics/ • In medieval Italy, when a businessman did not pay his debts, it was the practice to destroy his trading bench. From the Italian word for broken bench, "banca rotta," comes the term bankruptcy. (Source: BankruptcyData.com.) • Bankruptcy costs the average U.S. family $500 a year through higher consumer prices. (Source: National Retail ... http://www.gacsolutions.com/bankruptcy-facts/ • The $2.3 billion recovered by third-party collection agencies on purchased accounts in 2005 represented 19 percent of total receipts in the industry. (Source: Value of Third–Party Debt Collection to the U.S. Economy: Survey and Analysis, PricewaterhouseCoopers, June 2006.) • Over $110 billion in face value of debt was purchased in the United ... http://www.gacsolutions.com/collection-agency-facts-statistics-and-facts-for-the-collections-industry/ 1.  Pay off your credit card balance each month. You'll avoid frittering away hundreds and even thousands of dollars to interest and fees every year. 2.  Think before you charge. Unless you're in the habit of paying your credit card bill in full each month, don't use the cards for anything ... http://www.gacsolutions.com/19-things-you-can-do-to-cut-credit-card-costs/