Welcome to CREDIT CARD SMARTS!

Let's face it, in today's world your name is only as good as your credit. Maintaining your credit should be one of the most important things in your life. By browsing "Credit Card Smarts" you will learn beneficial credit tips that will help you build your credit score. Enjoy all of the information that you can obtain from this site.

If you have never had credit before and are finally ready to start building a credit history, this site can help you.

If you have had credit in the past and basically "screwed it up," you may need to re-establish your credit. Let "Credit Card Smarts" help you.

If you have good or excellent credit, we can still help you by sharing the most valuable credit card tips that you can find online. No matter what your situation is, you will greatly benefit from this site.

Co-Signing for family or a friend

What do you do when a relative or good friend comes up to you ask you if you can co-sign for them on a credit card or a new car or... This can be an awkward situation. Of course you would like to help them out by co-signing for them but you also know that if they miss a payment that the negative mark will also go in your name too and affect your credit score. If the balance became due in full it would not just be on them but also on you. Keeping your credit good is hard enough but if anyone were going to mess it up you would want it to be you, not someone else.

If you are going to co-sign for someone do it with the mind set that you will soon have to take over these payments. If your mind set is that they will take care of their business the way they should and then they don't you don't want to be surprised with a payment that you can not afford.

Also, make it clear to your relative or friend that if they can not make a payment to be sure to let you know about it so you can make that payment.Nothing worse than them not telling you and just not paying.

It is really risky to co-sign for someone. Personally, the only people I would ever co-sign for would be my own kids but that's just me.


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