Customer Reviews

The Insider's Guide to Managing Your Credit

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

At last a book that can be used as a guide and tool to understanding the credit industry. Everybody has had unique situations that may have had an impact on their ability to keep their credit in good standing, but one thing is certain, the industry can not and will not distinguish between individual circumstances, if you missed a payment, end of story, you have a negative mark against your credit history. This book helped me gain an understanding of the credit terminology and assisted me in learning how to read and understand my credit report. You can't hide from your credit history and the mistakes you made in the past. So, learn "tricks" that will help remove negative marks on your credit report, learn that too many inquiries against your credit report can actually hurt your ability to obtain credit, or learn the differences between the credit agencies, plus a lot more. This book is a must for all people who have or will, try to obtain credit. Give yourself an advantage that few people have, learn your second identity, your credit history!

Credit management expert Deborah McNaughton shows the reader how to establish, maintain, repair and protect his or her credit in The Insider's Guide To Managing Your Credit. The first half of this superbly presented "how to" book is on establishing credit, including information on the various types of credit, qualifying for credit, dealing with credit denials and credit reporting agencies, the credit application process, and even the use of credit to make money. The second half of The Insider's Guide To Managing Your Credit focuses on dealing with credit problems, working with collection agencies, getting out of debt, and repairing damaged credit. The informative, "reader friendly" text is enhanced with a section on "The Most Frequently Asked Questions and Their Answers"; listings of "Federal Government Publications" and "Regional Offices of the Federal Trade Commission"; a glossary; and an Index. Highly recommended!

This book is very general and doesnt give very much advice on how to actually repair your credit. It doesnt really cover the different types of credit problems that people have.

Ask anyone, and they will tell you that the American system of credit is one of the toughest schemes for an individual to understand. If, as it is my case, you are a foreigner, the problem only gets escalated to the maximum degree. This is the type of book one turns to when in serious need of credit advice. It is also, unfortunately, not as helpful as I was expecting it to be. At one point, it honestly made think that I'd suddenly become the "expert" Ms. McNaughton claims one should be on the subject (Page 119). And I hadn't even been halfway through the book!

The book is divided into three major parts:

- Establishing credit
- Dealing with credit problems
- Credit restoration / Credit repair

I found its main value in the numerous spreadsheets offered as a tracking tool for credit establishment and repair. Thus, we have timed sheets to achieve different goals, forms to track current and applied for credit cards, reports to the local and major credit bureaus, debt tracking, etc.

On Pages 116 through 118 there is an interesting but still kind of far-fetched idea about using 20 credit cards - yes, you read correctly, twenty! - to make money out of a calculated scheme to obtain downpayment for a mortgage. The process; however, seems complicated, and although I would agree with Ms. McNaughton that credit cards can actually be a good thing if used wisely, I found such suggestion on a book that technically has the purpose of teaching people how to better handle their credit issues a bit dangerous. Moreover, the world of credit has changed since 1998 (when the book was written), and some information is inaccurate. For example, Equifax no longer uses the criteria described on pages 84 and 85 in their reports.

Overall, save your time and your money and research the web or contact Consumer Credit Counseling Services. Your credit will appreciate it.

This book has put me on the right track to repair my credit. It has taught me how to deal with my credit problems. There is a lot of helpful information about credit, information that everybody should know. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is like me and could use some expert credit advice!