Archive for August, 2008

Current credit scores

Friday, August 1st, 2008

From my earlier post here you can see I have been monitoring my credit reports and scores for several years. Primarily for fraud protection, but also to know how I look for loans, etc. to the banks.

Previous to racking up a lot of credit card debt due to my business, I had credit scores over the 790’s. (Alomost 800!) My wife was in the mid to upper 700’s as well.

As my Credit card balances increased to over 75% of available balances, my score gradually dropped to about 680, and varied between 660-690 for over a year. My wifes stayed pretty steady.

So for now, although they are not horrible, and must banks consider them pretty good, financing is getting harder to obtain. I’m at a 680, and my wife a 740.

If you are interested in watching your credit report or scores you can get a one time purchase, or like us a monthly subscription to alert you of any changes to your report or credit score. I’ll put the links below.

 

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Stigma of bankruptcy

Friday, August 1st, 2008

It appears there is a huge stigma when you talk about bankruptcy. I can’t believe I’m considering it. Most people think bankruptcy is an out for irresponsible people who leave beyond their means, or others who just don’t know how to handle money.

Well… It’s not. From my research the last few days, the #1 cause of bankrutcy is due to medical bills, #2 is business failure. So I guess I fall into Number 2. To this date (Other than my business rent) I have NEVER had a late payment in 24 years! But here I am considering bankrutcy due to overwhelming debt. I’m sure there are many others in this position as well. And we will see even more in the future if the economy doesn’t pick back up.

I need to determine whether I need to file personal bankruptcy, or business bankrutcy, or both.