Saving Money – Part 2 

By Michelle Black

Have you ever found yourself in a place where you have more bills than money? Money shortages lead to a poor credit rating, marital stress, and the inability to provide the things your family needs.  One of the first things you will want to do if you find yourself in a situation where your budget is unbalanced is look for a way to start saving money. We hope today’s tip will be helpful.

Tip #2: Ask for your bills to be lowered.
Similar to yesterday’s tip regarding asking for your credit card interest rates to be lowered, you can also request for many of your monthly bills to be lowered as well.  Try calling your cable company, explain that you have seen some great offers for satellite TV and that you are considering switching services. However, before switching, you wanted to check with them to see if they could offer you a lower monthly rate. While you are at it, ask for your internet service bill to be lowered as well. I have personally saved money off both of these monthly services just by calling and kindly making the request.

Other monthly bills you may be able to get lowered with a request include your cell phone bill (even if you are currently under contract), your lawn care bill, your newspaper subscription, your insurance bill, etc. By calmly and politely making the request you can save yourself a lot of money. When making the request for your bill to be lowered please keep the following in mind:

1. Always be polite and calm. Getting angry will most likely insure that you do NOT get the bill reduction you need.
2. Explain why you need for the bill to be lowered. For example, “I have seen an offer for a better rate” or “I cannot afford to continue making such high payments and I’m trying to balance my budget.”
3. Ask for a supervisor if necessary. The first customer service agent you speak with likely will not have the authority to lower your bill.
4. Don’t take no for an answer. If the supervisor refuses your request politely explain your reason for needing the bill lowered again and ask “What can you do to help me please?”

Remember to check back with us again for part 3 of our money saving blog series. Saving money can help put you on the path towards a balanced budget and even a healthier credit report! If you need personalized credit or budgeting advice please feel free to give our friendly staff a call at 704-499-9696.

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Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft
Part 9
by Michelle Black

As I begin to wind down this informative blog series (just 1 more tip to go!) I would like to share one of the more alarming statistics I came across during my research. According to the ITRC Aftermath Study, over 43% of identity theft victims know the person who stole their identity! Unsurprisingly, it is not uncommon for a child to steal a parent’s identity to open utilities accounts, apply for credit cards or other loans, or even use a parent’s already established credit card or checking account to make unauthorized purchases.  However, believe it or not, it is also a very common phenomenon for parents to steal the identities of their children, especially in the case of underage minors with clean or un-established credit reports. Roommates are another common source of identity theft.

Since credit card theft makes up a whopping 26% of identity theft here is another tip to help you:

#9:  Monitor Your Statements Every Month.

It is extremely important to monitor all of your bank statements and credit card statements every single month.  You should read through your statements, line by line, to check for any unauthorized or suspicious charges.  If you find anything that looks “fishy” you can contact your bank or credit card company directly to investigate the charges further.  This proactive step could potentially help to keep you from paying someone else’s bill!

Be sure to check back this week for my final tip on how to avoid identity fraud.  If you haven’t done so already, please check out parts 1-8 of the Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft blog series.  Learning the tactics used by identity thieves can help you to protect yourself from becoming victimized!  Have you already become a victim of identity theft?  HOPE is here to help! Please give us a call at 704-499-9696 to learn how the HOPE Program can help you to reclaim your good name.  No credit problem is too big!

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The HOPE staff would like to congratulate Mr. Melendez of Charlotte, NC today for his recent success and credit report improvement!  Since joining HOPE, Mr. Melendez has seen his credit scores go from zero on all 3 credit bureaus up to the 600s with all 3 credit bureaus! To top off this great success he has also had $3,527 in negative, unverifiable debt erased from his credit report!

Every week the HOPE Program is proud and thrilled to help our members achieve their dreams of healthier credit and home ownership.  It’s true that the economy has damaged the credit reports of many, many good people in our country.  However, the great news is that, even if your credit scores are low, you have the legal right to work to improve them! We at HOPE firmly believe that having bad credit does NOT make someone a bad person. It gives us great pleasure to help our members recover their good names!

For more information about the services offered by the HOPE Program we please email us or give us a call at 704-499-9696.  Our friendly staff is standing by to receive your call. We would love to show you how the HOPE Program can help you to achieve your clean credit goals!

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Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft
Part 6
by Michelle Black

I want to begin today by thanking our readers for their great positive feedback on our current blog series: Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft.  I especially want to give an extra big “thank you” to those readers who have taken the time to share these great tips with their friends and family members via email, Facebook and Twitter.  The best way to arm yourself and others against identity theft is by increasing awareness.  We at HOPE appreciate you sharing these articles with others and helping us to expose these scam artists before they have a chance to strike!

Continuing on the theme of identity theft, today I’m going to talk about a new, all too common scam that thieves are using online to take advantage of unsuspecting victims:

#6: Don’t Fall for Phishing Scams.
Wikipedia defines phishing as “a way of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.” In other words, identity thieves employ phishing techniques by trying to get you to reveal your personal information online – via email, chat, or social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.).  The would be thieves will often pose as your bank, credit card company, PayPal, a charity or even a sweepstakes give-away and will try to get you to respond with personal information or click on a link.  Don’t do it! I repeat – do not reply or even click on a link included in the email or instant message.  In fact, you can even go one step further (I know I do) and refuse to open any emails unless they come from someone (or some business) that you know.  In other words, if the subject line of your email reads “Congratulations! You’ve Won a Free Vacation!” you want to go ahead and click the delete button – fast!

Be sure to check back with us soon for tip #7 on avoiding identity fraud.  Remember, if you enjoyed today’s tip, please feel free to share it (using our easy “share” buttons below) with your friends and family.  Thanks again for helping HOPE to spread awareness about the tactics of identity thieves!

If you or a loved one has been a victim of identity fraud the credit experts at HOPE would love to assist you in regaining your good name.  Please give us a call at 704-499-9696 and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have plus give you more information about the services offered by HOPE.

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Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft
Part 5
by Michelle Black

There are few things I hate more than identity fraud.  I have seen identity thieves wreak tremendous havoc on the lives of good, innocent people.  Thankfully, during my years working at HOPE, I have also seen our team of credit experts help many, many people overcome identity fraud and take back their good names.  Unfortunately, even with professional assistance, it takes time to undo the damage that an identity thief causes to a credit report.  That is why I am continuing this week to share even more ways that you can protect yourself and hopefully keep from ever becoming a victim of identity theft in the first place!  On that note, here is my next tip:

#5:  Never Leave Personal Information in Your Car.

“Car prowling” is another common way identity thieves target their victims.  You should never leave your checkbook, wallet, purse, credit cards, credit card purchase receipts, social security card, credit card statements, or any other personal information in your vehicle.  If an identity thief gets their hands on any of these items you could be in serious trouble.  So, don’t make it any easier for the dishonest to abuse you!  Lock up these personal items in your home or keep them on your person at all times.

There are still more tips to come so check back with us again this week! By the end of this blog series you too can be an expert at preventing identity fraud.  Plus, you can help to increase awareness regarding one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States by “tweeting,” emailing, or sharing a link to this article with your online friends.  Our easy to use “share” buttons below make this easier than ever.

Have feedback regarding our blog series? We would love for you to drop us a quick comment on Facebook or Twitter!