If you’re coming out of a bankruptcy or finishing up an IVA, you’ll find that the world of credit really is a different place than when you were in it. For starters, lenders are going to want to see that you can prove yourself all over again if you haven’t learned your lesson about credit, you might find that the penalties for credit problems are much higher. However, you will need to work your way back to good credit. After all, it goes without saying that you probably want to save up for a house. You will still need to trust lenders to give you a mortgage to make your dream of owning a home come true. If you can’t do that, then this dream will fade away faster than you can blink. You are going to have to make absolutely sure that you are doing something to build credit. Of course, many wonder how that can be done when it feels like everyone is just waiting to reject you. Why not go with a secured credit card?

They used to be very unpopular, but now they’re making a comeback as people realize how powerful they can be. If you have some savings, you can use it to make a bigger deposit. Generally speaking, your deposit is equal to your credit line. So if you start the account with 500 pounds, you’re going to have a 500 pound credit line. Don’t worry about the small line of credit. Over time, this will definitely grow.

The key here — and this cannot be understated at all — is that you have to make all of your payments on time. Not only that, but you have to watch your individual as well as group utilization ratios. The individual utilization ratio refers back to the percentage of credit that you’ve used against the total balance of the card. So a balance of 250 pounds against a 500 pound credit line is 50%, but a total balance of 250 pounds against a total credit line of 1000 pounds is only 25%. Managing your overall utilization is important, but you don’t want to get too crazy with each secured card that you get. You want to make sure that you keep balances low. The important thing that you’re building here is image. So if you build the image of someone that has to use their entire credit limit every month, lenders will start worrying that you can’t manage your finances without credit. That’s really not a position to be in if you can help it.

From here, the options are endless. You can shop around for a secured credit card that works for you. Once you get it activated, you can go about using it like you would normally. The “secured” part only comes in if you happen to avoid making the payments. If that happens and you default, the deposit you put down for the card will be used to pay off the card. What’s left will be pursued by any means necessary. So clearly, you don’t want to go down that road. Credit card companies want to take a chance on you if you can prove to them that you’re worth it. Otherwise, they don’t want to deal with you if they can help it.

You have the power to turn over a new leaf and make better financial decisions than ever before. Why not check it out today, while it’s still on your mind? Good luck!

Starting over can be hard. Actually, getting started can be hard too. However, no matter how hard it seems, it is quite possible to reach any and all of your financial goals in good time. You don’t have to think that you won’t succeed. The truth is that a lot of people worry about building a great financial future because they feel that there’s no way that they will be able to take the steps that need to be taken in order to reach that future.

Yet the beginnings of the future that you want can be found in a single tool: a secured credit card. Now, a lot of financial circles debate about whether or not the secured credit card even has a place in the world of credit repair, but the truth is that secured credit cards are much more beneficial than you think. Let’s cover just why they’re so good.

First and foremost, secured credit cards are disliked because you have to pony up some cash. Generally speaking, it’s done in a 1:1 format. For example, if you wanted a credit card with a $250 credit line, you will need to put up $250. This is the same for higher credit card limits — if you have the ability to repay that credit line and you can put up the money, and then you will be able to get a secured card very easily. After all, it’s your money that’s going to be opening up the account. Given that point, it wouldn’t make sense for any credit card company to give you a secured card. Now, you might wonder what happens to the money. It goes into an escrow account that’s held onto until a certain amount of time passes. Then you get your money back, and you can possibly have the card converted to an unsecured credit card. When it comes to your credit, you really want an unsecured card. That way, you don’t have to give up cash that could be used in a variety of different applications — or invested for the future, which is always a good idea.

Instead of trying to get a secured card from the bank down the street, you might want to think about getting your credit card online. This will give you the best chances of getting a secured card with a nice rate, rather than having to put down not only a large deposit but also having to pay a higher interest rate.

Yet that isn’t the only reason why you want to use the Internet to look for the best secured credit card. You want to make sure that the card actually reports to all three credit bureaus. Now, you will find that a lot of cards report to one bureau, but not all of the others. This creates a troublesome problem that needs to be corrected as soon as you can. You need to just make sure that the card reports to all three credit bureaus. If you’re not sure, then you will need to make a quick phone call to the company and get your questions answered. If no one will answer your question, then you want to go with another company — that’s really all there is to it, so why not apply for a secured card today?