Single Parents and Credit Scores – Episode #105
Single Parents and Credit Scores
According to the U.S. Census Bureau [August, 2007], there are approximately 13.6 million single parents in the United States today, and those parents are responsible for raising 21.2 million children. Approximately 84% of custodial parents are mothers who are carrying a large burden.
If you are a single parent, I realize that you don’t have a lot of time to learn about credit. So here is a quick action list.
- Make sure you are no longer “joint” financially with the absent parent. Too often, we hear about an absent parent who destroys the credit of the custodial parent by running up credit card debt on joint credit cards. If you are unsure, call your credit card companies and ask whether your credit cards are joint cards or individual cards. If they are joint cards, close them and open individual cards.
- Start pulling your credit report for free from annualcreditreport.com. This won’t give you a credit score, but you can see what’s in your report.
- Correct any inaccuracies that are in your report. If you don’t believe an account tradeline is correct, you can dispute it. Check out our free dispute form letters.
- If your credit is terrible consider credit counseling with a US Dept of Justice approved counseling agency.
- Teach your child or children about money and credit early on. Credit can make life easier. It can save time from having to make frequent ATM or Cash Checking storefront stops.
- Get “creducated” and learn how to build credit if you haven’t started or know you don’t have a credit score because you don’t have enough credit.
Without getting into a debate on credit’s benefits and drawbacks, I’ll point out that even the FTC believes that credit is necessary to help create wealth. Even if wealth is too lofty a goal right now, good credit score management can save you money and make life a little sweeter.
Avoid Cell Phone Free Trial Services – Episode #104
Avoid Cell Phone Free Trial Services
Perhaps you’ve seen an online advertisement like this – “Tim Tebow’s IQ is 129, What’s Yours?” I was curious to see what kind of business was behind this ad and was surprised to see the outcome was a quiz where by typing in my cell phone number – not a credit card – simply a cell phone number, I’d be signing up for a $14.99 per month service.
I wonder just how many $100s of millions are being made off this business model. Especially among pre-teens and teenagers, even though the product does say you need to be 18 to sign up or have parental consent. Some of these services not only charge a monthly fee, but also charge a 79 cent fee for each text message update. There’s another $23.70/month.
I remember reading a few years ago how 40% of people don’t read their credit card statements, I would assume that even less review their cellular phone bills.
Canceling is actually not that painful. Look at your cell phone bill for a charge that looks like this:
You can also cancel but texting “STOP” in reply to any received message in most cases.
In my case, AT&T offered immediately to refund the past two monthly charges with the caveat that AT&T must wait until they get refunded to get the amount before I see the refund. So, I’m forced to check my bill diligently for the next few months to see if the refund is recorded. An interesting marketing/customer service strategy as it makes me feel good [i.e. avoid filing a Better Business Bureau complaint, perhaps] yet, I’m unclear that the refund will happen. When I asked how many months I’d been signed up for, the customer service agent replied that he didn’t have that info. Sneaky.
In conclusion, with so much at stake with a weak economy right now, I’m wondering how much people can save by avoiding these types of businesses. Sure, some people might be getting their $14.99 value, but I suspect many people never use the service.
