1. If you spend more than 50% of your credit limit every month, this indicates to the Credit Bureau that you do NOT have enough cash on hand to meet your monthly expenses. This will identify you as a high credit risk and will actually reduce your credit score by 60 - 70 points overnight (Fair Isaac).

2. If you miss 1 or 2 payments on your credit card debt, the issuing company will skyrocket your interest rate to a whopping 27% - 30%!

3. Out of a random sample of 3 million American consumers (included in Experian's National Score Index), 51% of them have at least 2 credit cards and 14% of them have 10 or more credit cards.

Good Credit Scores Can Save Money on Mortgages, Home Equity Line of Credit & Auto Loans

(June 25th, 2007)

Have you ever wondered how much money you could save when borrowing loans if you had a good credit score? Small relative shifts on your credit score can make a huge impact on your monthly payments, and these monthly payments added over time can make significant difference as well. Gail MarksJarvis, author of Saving for Retirement without Living Like a Pauper or Winning the Lottery quotes, "What if you could invest that money in a simple mutual fund that covered the entire stock market and left it until you were approaching retirement?" Historically these funds have earned on average 10 percent per year. Investing even $100 per month of money saved, thanks to a better score, over the course of 40 years adds up to over $559,500."

i) Money Saved on Mortgages

It's assumed the mortgage is for $165,000 and 30 Year Fixed-Term Mortgage.

Credit Score	Interest Rate	Monthly Payment	Money Saved if Credit Score was >760 **
760 - 850	6.274%	$1,019	0
700 - 759	6.496%	$1,042	$8627
660 - 699	6.780%	$1,073	$19,788
620 - 659	7.590%	$1,164	$52,336
580 - 619	8.905%	$1,316	$107,234
500 - 579	9.899%	$1,436	$150,192

** This is the total money one could save over the life of the 30 year mortgage term if the Credit Score was greater than or equal to 760. These rates are derived from MyFico.com

ii) Home Equity Loan

It's assumed the home equity loan is for $30,000, 15 year Fixed-Mortgage term.

Credit Score	Interest Rate	Monthly Payment	Money Saved if Credit Score was >760 **
740 - 850	8.492%	$295	0
720 - 739	8.792%	$301	$953
700 - 719	9.292%	$310	$2,562
670 - 699	10.067%	$324	$2,100
640 - 669	11.567%	$352	$10,161
620 - 639	12.817%	$376	$14,523

** This is the total money one could save over the life of the 15 year mortgage term if the Credit Score was greater than or equal to 740. These rates are derived from MyFico.com

iii) Auto Loan

It's assumed the Auto Loan is for $22,000, 36 months fixed term.

Credit Score	Interest Rate	Monthly Payment	Money Saved if Credit Score was >760 **
720 - 850	7.131%	$681	0
690 - 719	7.974%	$689	$307
660 - 689	9.444%	$704	$847
620 - 659	10.967%	$720	$1,414
590 - 619	14.360%	$756	$2,705
500 - 589	14.896%	$762	$2,912

** This is the total money one could save over the life of the 36 month Auto Loan term if the Credit Score was greater than or equal to 720. These rates are derived from MyFico.com