Money Mistakes To Avoid

Watch this video to learn ways to avoid some common stock buying mistakes.

In no particular order, the following are viewed as being the top 10 common credit card mistakes:

1. Applying for a card and limit you cannot afford to repay

Most people have bad debt management skills and are swept away with the fact that they have ‘x’ amount of pounds as their limit. They rarely consider paying the card and have “maxed” the card out in a few months. They then spend years trying to repay the card!

2. Applying for too many cards

Not content with having one credit card that has reached its limit, most of us jump at the chance to apply for a new card as soon as it is offered to us. Then, having learnt nothing from our previous experience, we rush and buy all the things we couldn’t because we had to save money to repay the first card. Suddenly we have twice the trouble!

3. Using the emergency cash advance function

At least with purchases made for goods and services we should get around 50 days interest free credit, but with a cash advance we start to pay interest from Day 1. Using your credit card to cover your day-to-day cash needs is a very costly mistake!

4. Only paying the minimum repayment

Credit card companies love us and it has to be their favorite of the common credit card mistakes, but with credit card interest rates as high as they are, if you are only making the minimum monthly repayment then you should know it’ll take you years to repay the debt and you’ll have repaid the debt many times over in interest payments!

5. Maxing out the card

Another common mistake and one that half the country is at fault of is maxing the card out. If you have maxed your credit card out it’s a sure sign that you are living beyond your means, so what hope have you got of repaying the debt without a radical overhaul of your debt management skills!

6. Late payments

Late payments subject you to extortionate interest rates and set fees, very profitable for the credit card company and a very unfortunate mistake for you to be making!

7. Not checking your statement

A common error when we start to feel the pressure of a debt burden is to start to ignore the fact that the debt exists in the first place. If this happens, the chances are the fees and charges will start to accrue and the next thing you know you are not making the minimum repayments. Suddenly you are the subject of more fees and charges. And so the cycle goes on!

8. Adding a secondary user

Although some may not consider this a mistake, if you add a secondary user to your credit card account you’ve suddenly lost control over the spending on your card – no matter who the person is. Now bills can rack up on your account without your normal controlling self, as they are being transacted by a third party (who you authorise). A credit card company’s dream.

9. Using your card overseas

For every overseas purchase you make you could be subject to fee and a lousy exchange rate. So, even if you are the perfect credit card customer and pay your bill in full and on time, suddenly the card issuer is making money out of you!

10. Not reading the credit card agreement

In your haste to get a credit card you have not read the terms and conditions of the agreement and so you are not aware that if you act in a certain way or do something you should not, then you are likely to be paying for it. But the real reason why this is on of the common credit card mistakes that issuers love to see is because if you don’t read the agreement carefully they can charge you for additionals you may have been able to opt out of – such as credit card insurance (a big earner for card issuers!).

Joseph Kenny is the webmaster of the credit card comparison sites http://www.credit-cards-info.com/ (US) and http://www.creditcards121.com/ (UK). These sites are updated regularly with news and advice regarding proper credit card use.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Kenny

By Liz Pulliam Weston

Applying for a mortgage can be a daunting experience.

It’s not enough that you’re agreeing to take on the biggest debt of your life, one that represents two to three times your annual income. You’re also confronted with piles of paperwork, flurries of fees and a tidal wave of terms, from amortization to title insurance, whose meaning is fuzzy at best.

“Whether it’s a professor at Stanford or a ditch digger,” said San Francisco mortgage broker Leon Huntting, “most people don’t understand the loan process.”

In this confusing and pressure-filled atmosphere, it’s easy to make some mistakes. Here are some common ones that lenders and mortgage brokers see, and what you can do to prevent them.

Not fixing your credit
Mortgage brokers say they’re confounded at the number of buyers who apply for a mortgage with their fingers crossed, hoping their credit will allow them to qualify for a loan.

Before you even think about applying for a mortgage, obtain copies of your credit report and your FICO credit score. Your FICO score is the three-digit number that’s used in 75% of mortgage-lending decisions. You can order your FICO score on the Web for a fee of $14.95, which includes a copy of your credit report.

Doing this at least six months in advance should give you plenty of time to challenge any errors on your report and ensure that they’re removed by the time you’re ready to apply for a loan. You can also see the legitimate factors that are hurting your score and do something about them, such as paying off an overdue bill or paying down credit card debt.

Not looking for first-time home buyers’ programs

These programs, typically sponsored by state, county or city governments, often offer better interest rates and terms than you’ll find among private lenders, said mortgage consultant Diane St. James. Some are tailored for people with damaged credit, while most can help people with little saved for a down payment.

Some of these resources are listed on St. James’ educational Web site, ABC Mortgage Consulting. You can also call the housing agencies for your state, county and city to see what they offer.

Not getting pre-approved for a loan

Many first-time borrowers confuse being “pre-qualified” with being “pre-approved.” Pre-qualification is a pretty casual process, where a lender tells you how much money you probably can borrow based on how much money you make, how much debt you already have and how much cash you have for the down payment.

Getting pre-approval, by contrast, is a much more rigorous process and involves actually applying for a loan. You typically submit tax returns, pay stubs and other information. The lender verifies the information and checks your credit. If all goes well, the lender agrees in writing to make the loan.

In a hot or even warm real estate market, the house hunter who is only pre-qualified is a cooked goose. Home sellers and their agents give much more weight to offers being made by buyers who already have a loan lined up.

Borrowing too much money
Many people take out the biggest loan they possibly can, figuring that their incomes will eventually increase enough to make the payments comfortable. But few first-time buyers have any clear idea of how expensive homeownership can be. Not only will you shell out more for mortgage payments than you probably did for rent, but you’ll also need to cover property taxes and homeowners insurance, as well as higher bills for utilities, maintenance and repairs than you faced as a renter.

Lenders are perfectly willing to let you overextend, knowing that you’ll probably forgo vacations, retirement savings and new clothes for the kids rather than default on your mortgage.

“Mortgage money … is way too easy to get,” said Ted Grose, president of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers. “People tend to overbuy … and that can really stress family life. It’s also a formula for foreclosure.”

Continued: Stay within your means

Instead of going to the edge of affordability, consider limiting your housing costs — mortgage payments, property taxes and homeowners insurance — to 25% or so of your gross income. That’s a much more sustainable level for most people, financial planners say, than the 33% lenders are typically willing to give you.

Not shopping around for rates and terms

Mortgage broker Allen Jackson of Bristol Home Loans in Bellflower, Calif., sees too many borrowers with decent credit getting stuck with loans meant for people with poor credit. So-called “subprime” loans are often more profitable, so less ethical mortgage brokers may push them.

If the borrower doesn’t know what the prevailing interest rates are for someone with their credit standing, Jackson said, they can easily pay thousands of dollars more than they need to. You can see a listing of loan rates by credit score at MyFico.com, and a comprehensive listing of prevailing rates and fees can be found in MSN Money’s mortgage loan center.

Even people with a few dings on their credit can often qualify for better loans than they’re typically offered, said Grose of 1st Mortgage Advisors in Los Angeles. He believes most of the people being shunted into government loan programs, such as Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, would pay less if they used mortgages now being offered by private-sector lenders.

Paying junk fees
Lenders can boost their profits by adding on a variety of fees. Some may be legitimate, some may be inflated and others may be pure fluff. Lenders may charge for “document preparation,” for example, when all that involves typically is having a computer spit out a form. Or they may charge $150 for a credit check that cost them $15.

The time to challenge junk fees is not when you’re about to sign the loan papers. Use a mortgage broker or call a number of lenders to compare their loans. Ask about the interest rate, the “points” charged to get that rate (each point is 1% of the total loan amount) and any other fees the lender charges. Then you can compare terms.Once you’ve selected a lender, you’ll be given a good-faith estimate of closing costs, which should include any fees being charged. Ask about each fee, and try to negotiate down the ones that seem excessive.

If the lender won’t negotiate, “take that estimate to someone else,” St. James said. “I’ll bet they can beat it.”

Unfortunately, this doesn’t absolutely guarantee you won’t face junk fees when it comes time to sign the loan. Many borrowers complain that they still face higher costs than were originally estimated, and so far the federal government has done little to prevent the practice. You can try challenging junk fees at this point, but most likely you’ll have to bite the bullet and pay the fees to get your loan.

Not planning for closing costs
The day you’re scheduled to get your loan, known as closing, you’ll also be expected to write a check for a number of expenses, which typically include attorney’s fees, taxes, title insurance, prepaid homeowners insurance, points and other lenders’ fees. Together, these are known as closing costs, and the total can be eye-popping: somewhere between 2% to 7% of the selling price of the house.

“Usually, when people see the closing costs, they’re like a deer in the headlights,” said mortgage broker Huntting, who works for Pacific Guarantee Mortgage. “It’s much more than they ever think it’s going to be.”

Plan for closing costs by getting a good-faith estimate from your lender as early in the loan process as possible. Make sure you have the cash on hand (or rather, in your checking account) and that it doesn’t “disappear” before closing because of sloppy bookkeeping or a last-minute emergency.

source: moneycentral.msn.com