The Ultimate Credit Handbook

by Detweiler, Gerri

• ISBN13: 9780452277120
• ISBN10: 0452277124
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-03-01
• Publisher: Plume

Summary

Detweiler, a former director of Bankcard Holders of America, draws on her years of expertise in counseling consumers with credit problems to write the definitive handbook on how to have more credit, get out of debt, and live a lifetime of financial stability and prosperity.

Author Biography

Gerri Detweiler is the former director of Bankcard Holders of America, a nonprofit consumer credit and advocacy organization that has helped thousands of consumers solve their credit problems, and the former director for the Council for Individual Investors. She has been featured on The Today Show, CBS This Morning, and in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and Money magazine, among others. She lives in Sarasota, Florida.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(6)
PART ONE: DOUBLE YOUR CREDIT	7	(154)
CHAPTER ONE: How Do You Rate? The Secrets of Good Credit	7	(31)
CHAPTER TWO: Improving Your Credit Reputation: Your Credit Report	38	(26)
CHAPTR THREE: Credit Cards: Money-Saving Choices	64	(30)
CHAAPTER FOUR: Starting Over: How to Rebuild a Bad Credit Rating	94	(28)
CHAPTER FIVE: Get All the Credit You Deserve	122	(39)
PART TWO: CUT YOUR DEBT	161	(92)
CHAPTER SIX: Weighing In: Do You Carry Too Much Debt?	161	(10)
CHAPTER SEVEN: Low-Willpower Strategies for Reducing Debt	171	(35)
CHAPTER EIGHT: Deep In Debt? How to Survive a Credit Crisis	206	(34)
CHAPTER NINE: Bankruptcy: A Fresh Start or a Ten-Year Mistake?	240	(13)
PART THREE: A LIFETIME OF GREAT CREDIT	253	(78)
CHAPTER TEN: Battling the Bank: How to Fix Billing Problems	253	(24)
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Protecting Your Credit and Your Financial Privacy	277	(15)
CHAPTER TWELVE: VIP Credit Tips	292	(23)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: A Lifetime of Great Credit	315	(16)
Resources	331	(12)
Index	343