Top Ten Ways to Mess Up Your Credit

1. Pay your credit card bills, at least, 30 days late.
2. Don’t bother keeping balances low – make sure your credit cards are maxed out! What is credit for, if not to use it!
3. More late payments! Pay car, home, or student loan payments, at least, 30 days late.
4. Rather than save up for things you want, grab it now by opening up new lines of credit! (Spring is just around the corner and you could use a new wardrobe/barbecue/vacation!).
5. Who needs to pay traffic tickets, medical bills, or even utility bills? Forget about them and they’ll end up with a collection agency – a definite black mark on your credit report.
6. Never check your credit report. Doing so will only alert you to problems on the report and give you time to correct those issues before they hurt you.
7. Co-sign on loans for friends and family. It’s okay if they pay late – it doesn’t hurt you…right? (Wrong.)
8. Having trouble paying your bills? Ignore creditor phone calls! What could they do to help you anyway? There might be something…
9. Overdraft your bank account. It’s okay if you don’t have enough money in the bank to cover your outstanding debts. They bank will cover it and charge you an overdraft fee. No big deal.
10. Forget about budgeting. Budget’s are for people who do not know how to manage their money…, or are they for people who definitely manage their money? I forget.

Later this week…Top Ten Ways to Improve Your Credit. Stay tuned!

Published Feb 28, 2011.