Week 9 - Carpool & Credit Checks: Annual Savings $980
This week, my husband and I carpooled. Now, we do work at the same company, but due to work schedules, varying work loads, our desire for freedom and the children, we typically found it easier and more convenient to drive separate. Carpooling with your spouse, neighbor, friend or a co-worker that lives close to you saves money in gas (obviously), helps the environment and also saves money on your car’s maintenance. Carpooling can result in less annual mileage (increasing the value of your car) and more time between oil changes, tires, batteries, etcetera which all adds up. And I will admit, yes you give up some freedom when you forgo your own means of transportation, but in the end it’s really not that much of a sacrifice, especially if you start slowly and every once in a while. Throughout this process, you will see that I occasionally picked weeks to evoke the carpool. The savings varied based on the gas prices at that time – but averaged at $34 per week. As the year went on, we found ourselves carpooling more often. For the year, we drove together a total of 29 weeks, for an annual savings of $980.
In the end, my husband and I actually enjoyed carpooling together. It gave us some extra time together during our busy work week and allowed one of us to “relax” during the drive time – an extra bonus. My kids benefited as well, because it guaranteed both parents at the dinner table.
Credit Check:
It doesn’t matter if you have 15 credit cards or 1, you should be checking your credit report on a regular basis. Having a good credit rating has become exceedingly important in the modern world. The concept of credit and credit reports is complex, and several factors go into your credit score. This includes outstanding loans, paid loans, credit card accounts, employment history, your credit to debt ratio, and even your medical history. Companies that prepare credit reports and track consumer credit history are called Consumer Reporting Agencies, or credit bureaus. These bureaus sell credit reports to businesses and lenders and they also offer them to consumers like us. The FACT Act entitles you to one free credit report a year from the major credit bureaus; Equifax, Trans Union, and Experian. If you utilize each bureau, that means you can request up to three free reports a year.
Typically there is a small fee (around $8) to check your credit score, which is not included on your free report. It is good to not only know review the findings on your report, but to know your score as well (at least once a year). Be careful when entering these sites, because many offer monitoring services with monthly fees. If you sign up for a free trial and determine it’s not an expense you want to assume, make sure to cancel it as soon as possible.
Your credit score plays a key role on interest rates charged by banks for loans, insurance premiums, and your credit card rates, which are monitored and adjusted. The lower/worse your credit score, the more interest you will be charged to obtain credit. The reason for this is because if your credit score is low, you are considered more of a risk and the banks/ credit cards/ lenders require more compensation for the risk they carry. So, although I could not directly correlate this to an actual figure – I can assure you that maintaining a good credit score will save you money!
The largest advantage of checking your credit report is finding errors and correcting them. Ensuring your credit report is accurate is the first step to make sure you are not paying extra premiums for mistakes or outdated information. You and you alone are responsible for correcting any mistakes and this can be done by contacting the Consumer Reporting Agency. They will work with you to rectify the manner.
Another key advantage to checking your credit report on a regular basis is to make sure your identity has not been stolen. Unfortunately, in this day and age where much of our information is available for the world to find, identity theft is rising. Make sure you can verify every open account on your credit report and immediately report any suspicious activity.
To improve your credit score, there are many actions you can take. The most important is to pay your bills on time. If you do this one thing, over time, eventually you will achieve a high score. You can also reduce your balances on credit cards, spread your debt around to several different cards, or close accounts if they are inactive and excessive (too many open accounts). As long as you stick to a solid financial plan, your credit score is guaranteed to consistently rise.
www.annualcreditreport.com
All data found on this website is Copyrighted by MOMTHATSAVES. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.
This week, my husband and I carpooled. Now, we do work at the same company, but due to work schedules, varying work loads, our desire for freedom and the children, we typically found it easier and more convenient to drive separate. Carpooling with your spouse, neighbor, friend or a co-worker that lives close to you saves money in gas (obviously), helps the environment and also saves money on your car’s maintenance. Carpooling can result in less annual mileage (increasing the value of your car) and more time between oil changes, tires, batteries, etcetera which all adds up. And I will admit, yes you give up some freedom when you forgo your own means of transportation, but in the end it’s really not that much of a sacrifice, especially if you start slowly and every once in a while. Throughout this process, you will see that I occasionally picked weeks to evoke the carpool. The savings varied based on the gas prices at that time – but averaged at $34 per week. As the year went on, we found ourselves carpooling more often. For the year, we drove together a total of 29 weeks, for an annual savings of $980.
In the end, my husband and I actually enjoyed carpooling together. It gave us some extra time together during our busy work week and allowed one of us to “relax” during the drive time – an extra bonus. My kids benefited as well, because it guaranteed both parents at the dinner table.
Credit Check:
It doesn’t matter if you have 15 credit cards or 1, you should be checking your credit report on a regular basis. Having a good credit rating has become exceedingly important in the modern world. The concept of credit and credit reports is complex, and several factors go into your credit score. This includes outstanding loans, paid loans, credit card accounts, employment history, your credit to debt ratio, and even your medical history. Companies that prepare credit reports and track consumer credit history are called Consumer Reporting Agencies, or credit bureaus. These bureaus sell credit reports to businesses and lenders and they also offer them to consumers like us. The FACT Act entitles you to one free credit report a year from the major credit bureaus; Equifax, Trans Union, and Experian. If you utilize each bureau, that means you can request up to three free reports a year.
Typically there is a small fee (around $8) to check your credit score, which is not included on your free report. It is good to not only know review the findings on your report, but to know your score as well (at least once a year). Be careful when entering these sites, because many offer monitoring services with monthly fees. If you sign up for a free trial and determine it’s not an expense you want to assume, make sure to cancel it as soon as possible.
Your credit score plays a key role on interest rates charged by banks for loans, insurance premiums, and your credit card rates, which are monitored and adjusted. The lower/worse your credit score, the more interest you will be charged to obtain credit. The reason for this is because if your credit score is low, you are considered more of a risk and the banks/ credit cards/ lenders require more compensation for the risk they carry. So, although I could not directly correlate this to an actual figure – I can assure you that maintaining a good credit score will save you money!
The largest advantage of checking your credit report is finding errors and correcting them. Ensuring your credit report is accurate is the first step to make sure you are not paying extra premiums for mistakes or outdated information. You and you alone are responsible for correcting any mistakes and this can be done by contacting the Consumer Reporting Agency. They will work with you to rectify the manner.
Another key advantage to checking your credit report on a regular basis is to make sure your identity has not been stolen. Unfortunately, in this day and age where much of our information is available for the world to find, identity theft is rising. Make sure you can verify every open account on your credit report and immediately report any suspicious activity.
To improve your credit score, there are many actions you can take. The most important is to pay your bills on time. If you do this one thing, over time, eventually you will achieve a high score. You can also reduce your balances on credit cards, spread your debt around to several different cards, or close accounts if they are inactive and excessive (too many open accounts). As long as you stick to a solid financial plan, your credit score is guaranteed to consistently rise.
www.annualcreditreport.com
All data found on this website is Copyrighted by MOMTHATSAVES. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.