Managing and Understanding Your Credit

On my way into the city to work this morning, I received a call from my son, he is frustrated. As quickly as he pays down the balances on his credit cards, the creditor reduces his limit to match the new balance. This has happened on a couple of his cards, the more he pays, the lower the limit. He has learned that to raise your credit score, you need to reduce your debt to credit ratio; he feels like he can't get ahead. He works in finance, he pays his bills on time, he has an excellent income, especially for someone his age. The problem is, he has too many credit cards with balances. It is the same creditors today who are systematically shrinking their exposure in consumers like him, who were all too eager to send him credit cards and continuously raise his credit limits when he was in college.

A friend of mine was complaining about another frustrating situation she is dealing with her creditors. She has a couple of credit cards she rarely uses, in fact, she rarely uses credit at all. She has now received letters from two creditors closing her credit cards for "inactivity". She is frustrated as well. She is in the market for a new car, she fears the loss of available credit will hurt her credit score.

We have long been advised to pay down our high interest credit cards before we pay ourselves with savings. What if you are concerned about losing your job, should you rather make minimum payments and stash your cash?

Each of these scenarios is timely in our current economic environment, it seems as though we are in an entirely new credit landscape. Everything we thought we should be doing, or were doing, may not be working out quite the way we had hoped. How will the changes to credit and lending policy your creditors are making today, affect you tomorrow? What can you do to improve your credit profile? MoneyMothers is hosting a "Focus on Credit" discussion to answer these questions and more on June 24, 2009 at 9:00 p.m. ET and 6:00 p.m. PT. Registration information to follow.

2009 and Beyond: Budgeting and Saving for Moms

Just about everyone I know is struggling with money right now. We hear about the high rate of unemployment, we watch a friend or family member lose their job, we wonder, will I be next? If ever there was a time to focus our money management energy into saving and budgeting, it's now. That rainy day may be here sooner than you think.

Financial experts have long stressed the importance of budgeting and saving, in light of the current economic environment and tough job market, most of us agree, now it is absolutely essential. Many of us manage households and are responsible for meeting the financial needs of our family, needs we can't always predict. It may be that all of your income is spent meeting the basic necessities of life; housing, food, gas, etc., with the expectation that there will be money left over for savings, seemingly out of reach. What to do?

Moneymothers.com contributing expert Steven Shagrin is hosting a 1 hour, live online workshop to discuss the topic of "Saving and Budgeting" on Thursday, June 11th at 8:00 p.m. ET (5:00 p.m. PT). This event is the fourth in a series of workshops specifically targeted towards "Managing Your Money for Moms". In this workshop Mr. Shagrin will discuss developing a plan he calls your "Map of Intentions," he will share tips for helping you determine where your money goes and discuss ways to help you make better spending decisions.

This live online event is free, seating is limited, register today to reserve your seat. Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn more about this timely topic. Register - "2009 and Beyond: Budgeting and Savings for Moms". To Register - http://2009budgetingandsavingstips.eventbrite.com/

In my family, when we are discussing our desire for something that seems entirely out of reach financially, we often begin with "when I win the lottery'... i.e., "I'd like to take a 10-day cruise to Alaska"! In light of current responsibilities and financial obligations, it never seems reasonable to hope that we could afford to take such a nice vacation. In reality, the odds that we will win the lottery are fairly slim, developing a money plan to save for a dream vacation will likely yield better results.

Perhaps your dreams are more practical; a hope to purchase a home, a promise to send your children to college, a desire to buy a new car, etc. As practical and necessary as our plans for the money we need to save are, they often elude us, remaining nothing more than dreams or good intentions.

In "Managing My Life: Planning My Money" financial expert Steven Shagrin writes "Why is planning so important? Because without setting down a vision for what you want to obtain from your hard efforts at bringing money into your life, you will never know if you've reached your objectives."

In Money Mothers we strive to help you understand your relationship with money. This involves identifying your own unique money personality and financial habits. We offer workshops with ideas for saving and budgeting, and tips for tax planning and investing. At Money Mothers, our goal is to help you achieve your financial goals.

Perhaps it is that dreams are simply goals without a plan.