Target credit-card debt. It “feels good” to pay down a car loan or mortgage, but you get more bang for every buck you apply to knocking down your unsecured debts.
Ignore the radio ads. Most firms that pledge to slash your debts simply dispute valid charges, which lowers your debts briefly—until credit bureaus reverify them.
Pick your fights. Do dispute records of late payments made to banks or companies that no longer exist. “If the credit reporting bureaus cannot verify the accuracy” of a black mark, “they are required to remove it.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Request better terms. Ask your credit-card issuers to create a new payment schedule at a pace you can handle. Once they have, get it in writing that they will report to the three major credit bureaus that you are “paying as agreed.”
Source: The New York Times
-
Home Depots are the new epicenters of ICE raidsIn the Spotlight The chain has not provided many comments on the ongoing raids
-
Why does Trump keep interfering in the NYC mayoral race?Today's Big Question The president has seemingly taken an outsized interest in his hometown elections, but are his efforts to block Zohran Mamdani about political expediency or something deeper?
-
The pros and cons of banning cellphones in classroomsPros and cons The devices could be major distractions
