Great article Jhon, thank you so much for sharing! Mobile Notarization has proven to be such a MAJOR benefit and convenience, especially during this time of the pandemic. 😀

It can be a scary thing at first, but ALWAYS work with your ORIGINAL creditor when you get to the point that the bills are getting too high and the due dates are coming too fast! Never work with a collection agency, they are a third-party company that collects a debt for the creditor while also charging you a hefty fee for the collection service. I am familiar with some debt management companies, but have not actually worked with one personally. The best practice for me when I was working on re-establishing my credit was to call each of my creditors and work out a repayment plan with the best lower interest rate they could give me so that I could start paying down my debts before any delinquent payments hit my credit report. Shockingly, the customer service reps are really nice and will work with you since their goal is to collect the money and get the accounts back in good standing. They rather collect what they can then to have to charge the account off, which causes them to lose money in the end.

This may seem strange, but I like to plan ahead before spending money. Especially when it comes to vacations. I always plan 12-18 months in advance since a vacation for a family of 6 can become pretty expensive once you add everything up. My biggest challenge will be planning a trip out of the country with my family where I may have to buckle down and use a travel agent. But, I am willing to do the research to see how much money I can save before booking an agent and kicking out those expensive booking fees!

I first started out with a secured credit card from Open Sky and Capital One. My initial deposit for Open Sky was for $200.00 and my Capital One secured credit card initial deposit was for $300.00. Over 12 months, I've deposited a total of $800.00 to my Capital One card. After roughly 6-12 months of on-time payments, I asked for a $500.00 increase on my Capital One secured card and they approved it. Another 6 months later I got another $200.00 increase that I did not ask for. After 2 years, I was eligible to get unsecured credit cards for 3K and up, but maintained my 2 credit cards since my current credit limits is all I can comfortably afford to have.