Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Improve Your Credit Score

Recently I was reminded of a friend in my ward.  He and his wife wanted to buy a home several years ago, but found that it would actually take some time.  When they went in to inquire about a Mortgage the lender told them they had no Credit scores. Essentially they would have to build their credit before purchasing their home.   So, unless you are going to buy your first home or your next home with Cash it is a great idea to pay special attention to your credit score.

Another secret I recently learned reminded me to keep improving our credit scores.  Higher credit scores mean that borowers are less risky to investors.  Therefore, they are willing to loan you money at a lower interest rate.  If you don't have great credit then you will likely get charged higher interest rates.  Even worse, you may not qualify for a loan at all.  Remember if you are qualifying with both husband and wife then both credit scores need to be great because your interest rate will be affected by the lower of the two spouse's scores.

Delay Gratification

Today I just wanted to do a short post about the benefit of delayed gratification.  This principle really goes with not buying things that don't increase in value unless you have cash.  When you want to get something it pays to give it some time.  Make sure that after "sleeping on it" you still want it, you can afford it, and you can afford it now.  

Janell and I recently purchased a bedroom set.  This is something that we have wanted (especially Janell) since we got married.  Well, now that we have had a few years of saving we can afford it.  We found something we really like on sale.  So, we slept on it and decided to go ahead and make the purchase.  Wow, it really gives you satisfaction to pay with the debit card (Cash).  

In our "I want it now" world it actually means more when we put off things we want until we are truly ready financially to get them.  When considering a purchase we can ask ourselves the following questions:
Can I afford to get this?
Can I pay cash?
What do I have to give up to get it?
Does it make sense to buy it now or later?