Start 2011 off right! Here are some financial tips to get your finances back in order.

1. Get your credit score and report: Knowing your credit score can help you check for inaccuracies on your credit report. A higher credit score will get you lower rates on loans and credit cards.
2. Get Organized: Knowing where all your bills and bank statements are can help you keep track of your spending and saving.
3. Track spending: Track all spending for 30 days. Evaluate and see where you can cut spend, such as eating out less.
4. Do an insurance checkup: Meet with your current provider and see if the converge you have is really what you need. Find our about loyalty discounts and good driving perks.

These simple tips can help you get your finances back in order!

Leadpile offers many great financial offers such as Credit Score and Bankruptcy. Contact us today for info on our affiliate programs and offers!

Let’s face it, the economy is in a slump and this is affecting people being able to pay their bills amongst many other things. The good news is, that the economy is going to get better, which means lenders are going to start lending again AND credit will be extended to consumers again. However, if you do not have your credit in check, you will not be able to take advantage of this. The first thing to do, when trying to fix your credit, is understand what your credit score is AND what makes up that credit score. First, you need to understand who the credit reporting agencies are that are gathering this information. The three credit reporting agencies are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Secondly, you need to understand what a good and bad FICO (also known as a credit score) is. A credit score can be between 300 and 850. The higher your credit score, the better. Finally, you need to read your credit report and understand what is on it. To understand it, you must know the main things that make up your credit score:

1. How you pay your bills- your payment history on your credit cards and loans is the biggest factor in making up your score. This means if you have not paid your bills on time, now is the time to start.

2. What do you owe on your credit cards and loans- if you have your balances maxed out on all your creditors, this will negatively affect your credit score. Stopping charging immediately if the balances are close to their limits.

3. How long have you had each of your creditors-the newer the credit, the more it will negatively affect you. If you are applying for new credit cards, stop now to help your credit score. Keep a few creditors for a long period of time and that will help your score.

4. Do you have all sorts of creditors like car loans, credit cards, installment loans etc-the credit bureaus likes to see a diverse selection of creditors. This is not a major factor in your credit score, but something to think about if you are thinking about getting a new creditor.

Leadpile is currently working on generating this sort of lead and will welcome publishers that will eventually be interested in connecting those consumers that want to know their credit score, with the company that will be able to provide this service. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!

Do you know what your credit score is? How about do you really know what makes up the score? Knowing as much as you can about your credit score and what makes up the number, is so very important. Many employers, insurance companies etc all utilize a consumers credit score to help to determine their desire to work with you. Therefore, knowing as much as possible can only help with being able to understand and manage your credit score. For many situations, your credit score is just as important as your other personal information, so knowing it inside and out is key!

Things that should not impact your credit score:

Having a Low or High Income: How much money you make is not necessarily being reported on your credit bureau, therefor will not be a part of any decisions that third parties are making after seeing your report. However, keep in mind employer information is often times showing on your credit report.

Not Paying Insurance, Utility and Cell Phone Bills: Many insurance or utility companies will pull your credit to see your credit score, however they will not be reporting your pay history with them on your credit.

Missing Rent Payments: Similar to the insurance and utility companies, property management companies will pull your credit before allowing you to rent from them, however if you miss your rent of were a slow payer, you will generally not see any of this on your credit report or affecting your credit score.

Bank Overdraft: Banks make a lot of their revenue from bank overdraft fees, however they will generally not report any issues with overdrafting you had, unless you continued to maintain an outstanding overdraft amount owed to them. At this point they will then send the “debt” to collections who will then try and collect on this outstanding amount. At this point it will affect your credit score.

Checking Your Own Credit: Pulling your own credit score is a great thing because it allows you to know what is on your credit and who is reporting what. However, you pulling your credit score will not affect your credit score. Third parties pulling your credit does affect your credit score and you want to be conscious of who you are allowing to do this. If you have too many inquiries in your credit report, it is a red flag to those that are potentially looking at extending you credit and it is also hurting your credit.

High Interest Rates:What you are paying on credit cards or other debts is no where located on your credit report and is not affecting your credit score. Third parties will only know this if you release this information.

Credit Counseling: This could potentially affect your credit and credit score if the counseling service you are working with is not paying on your bills. Knowing what the counseling service is reporting to your credit report is key so you know what others will be seeing if they are pulling your credit.

Your Age: Your physical age in no way affects your credit score. If you are young and do not have a lot of credit, then that can affect your credit score, but your actual age is not the direct cause of having a lower or higher score.

Now go pull your credit and work on getting that score up!

In recent news, GMAC announced it would only offer auto loans to consumers with a credit score of 700+. According to Reuters.com, GMAC is only wanting to extend credit to those with good credit, and is also saying it will be doing more shorter term loans. This is in direct response to the economy and what is happening to the auto industry. GMAC expects these changes to remain in place until the economy stabilizes. In addition to these changes that are affecting consumers, GMAC says, “it has increased the rate it charges car dealers for providing standard auto financing by 75 basis points.” Therefore, this is not only affecting the consumer who is getting the car, but also those that are selling the cars.
Leadpile Lead Exchange works a lot with auto finance and car purchase leads. Situations like this, in the lending world, are going to affect the average “joe” who buys a car. This is where the auto finance lead type could become more demanded because generally you are talking about consumers that don’t have the perfect credit like GMAC is wanting. These consumers still need funding and there are still options out there for them, even though their credit is not “perfect”. Those dealers being affected by the GMAC decision should look at joining our lead exchange. We have the ability to connect you with consumers that are looking for a car and want it now.

The American way is to live beyond our means, however it is not the “right” way to live.
Think back to when you were in college and those credit card companies had tables set up to issue some new credit cards. Who didn’t want to get a NEW credit card to go shopping with. That is the problem, people don’t think past that initial “GREATNESS” about the credit card, and really this mentality helped to create the debt troubles we all face.

According to Investopedia.com there are signs to look for to determine if you are not in an ideal situation financially.
1. Your credit score is below 600.
2. You are currently saving less than 5% of your income.
3. Your credit card balances are just getting larger and larger.
4. More than 28% of your income goes towards paying for your home.
5. Your bills are just out of control (robbing Peter to pay Paul situations).

Overall, there are ways to prevent situations like this, however there are also situations in our lives that are out of our control. There are options out there to help educate consumers, help them get out these situations, and possibly teach consumers how to prevent them from happening again. Leadpile Lead Exchange generates a high volume of debt leads. These consumers are on the internet looking for this help, and want that help NOW!