Tell my audience about yourselves. What made you want to start your website moremoneythanmonth.com?

For most of my adult life I was like most Americans. I didn’t have crushing debt, but I also found that generally speaking we were just barely getting by from month to month. Always thinking if we could just get ahead a little bit we’d be OK, but just when it seemed like we made some progress, some new emergency would crop up and we’d slip right back to where we started. In the midst of that I always had this little voice in the back of my mind asking what would happen if you were to lose your job or had something major happen? I had a stable IT job for 21 years at a good local company, but I knew if something were to happen we’d be in big trouble in just a couple months.Sometime around 2004 or 2005 I started listening to Dave Ramsey on the radio. I finally got a copy of his book The Total Money Makeover from the library and for the first time I found hope that maybe we could finally get ourselves out of debt.

We followed that plan and in March of 2009 we paid off our last debt and were debt free except for our mortgage. Well, everyone knows what was happening in the economy in 2008-2009. I believe now that “little voice” was God telling me that a storm was coming and I needed to make some changes to be prepared, because in June of 2009, just 3 months after we paid off that last debt, I was laid off from that “stable” job of 21 years. Had we not been debt free we would have been in real trouble. But without all those debt payments and with some part-time teaching work I did at a local college, we were able to survive that time in pretty good shape. Eight months later thanks to some very cool circumstances I was able to find a similar job at another local company.

God was with us through it all but I can tell you that those eight months would have been so much more stressful had we not been debt free. A result of these experiences is that I have developed a passion for helping others escape the bonds of debt. I have led Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University six times at my church now. These experiences were also the impetus that led me to start More Money Than Month. It’s one more way for me to reach out and try to help those who are struggling.

Please name some quick and easy ways for a person to improve their credit even if they’ve recently been through a divorce or some type of financial calamity?

My advice here may come as a surprise to most as it runs contrary to what our society often teaches. I would say don’t worry about “building credit”. Not unless you enjoy spending your life making payments to others. A good credit score really has very little to do with whether you are successful financially. First, the credit score is based solely on how good you are at borrowing money and paying it off. There are 5 factors that go into your credit score. It is based on your payment history, how much credit you are using, how long you have had that credit, if you have recently obtained credit, and what type of credit accounts you have. There is nothing that relates to how much you make, how much you have saved, or whether you have a stable job. For that matter, even some kinds of debt do not appear on your credit report. For example, medical debt does not appear because of HIPAA laws. The bottom line is I could give you a million dollars and it would not change your credit score 1 point. Would you be more able to pay your bills? Of course you would. But nothing of that is reflected in the holy grail of the credit score. This is why a good credit score has almost nothing to do with whether you are successful financially.

My advice if you have been through some kind of financial calamity would be to make whatever sacrifice is necessary to get yourself out of debt. Find some part-time work. Sell stuff. Drastically cut back on your lifestyle. Do a budget. Go a little crazy at least for a short time to get those debts paid off and then when you reach that point you will be in a position to save up and pay cash for the things you need. Your greatest wealth building tool is your income. But you will never succeed as long as most of that income is going out in payments as quickly it hits your account.

Just to be clear I would never suggest you do anything to purposely sabotage your credit score. But at the same time don’t become so in love with your credit score that you spend a life in debt trying to build it.

When a person walks into a car dealership what are some credit questions you recommend that consumer ask the salesman or finance manager?

Ideally, my advice would be to not deal with them at all. Most dealers do not really make that much on the sale of a vehicle. The two biggest profit centers at most dealers are the service department and the finance desk. They sell cars for the financing and to get you to come there for repairs.

If you insist on financing. I would recommend you shop around ahead of time to find where you can get the best rates. Do your own leg work to line up the financing ahead of time before you ever set foot on the dealer’s lot. If the dealer finance manager can beat the deal you have pre-arranged then so be it, but by doing your homework ahead of time you put yourself in a position of power.

I would also recommend that you be very careful about things like extended warranties and other special offers the finance manager will be working hard to push. These products are huge profit centers for the dealer and rarely make sense for the consumer. They will often try to suggest that it’s only a few more dollars per payment. Problem is those “few dollars” add up. Just say no.

How long does the credit restoration process take?

If you have poor credit score the only valid way to fix it is time. There are credit repair companies that promise to fix your credit. Most of these are either rip-offs or are unethical in their methods. What they do is challenge items on your credit report. If the credit issuer does not respond with in 30 days then the item can be removed from your report. They simply continue this process until they get negative items off your report. If the items are true however, this is a dishonest practice.

I would recommend that you do check your own credit report at least once a year. You can get one free copy of your credit report per year from each of the three credit bureaus at Annual Credit Report. The FTC reports that as many as 42 million Americans have errors on their credit reports. 5% of those are severe enough to cause them to be denied credit. This is why it is advisable to check your report at least once a year. Additionally, this is a good hedge against identity theft. If you find credit accounts there that you know nothing about you may be the victim of identity theft. If you find items that are legitimately in error, there is a valid process for disputing those items and getting them removed.

All that said, time is really the only way to heal your credit. In general, negative items will disappear about 7 years after the last activity on the account. Practically speaking though they will have less affect on your score after 3-4 years. Use those years to pay off debt and gain real financial strength.

If a person can’t purchase a vehicle in cash, what’s the ideal down payment you recommend they have? Does a larger down payment mean a shorter loan and APR?

I will challenge the idea that you can’t purchase a vehicle for cash. I believe the lie that “you will always have a car payment” is one of the primary factors that keep people from achieving financial independence. The average new car payment is somewhere around $450. What if you were to invest that $450 from age 20 to age 65 instead of giving it to a bank or a car dealer? Assuming you averaged an 8% return (pretty conservative given the market has averaged just under 12% in its history), how much do you suppose you would have when you reached retirement age? $2,389,366.02!!! Hope you liked driving that new car all those years.

But no one can buy a car with cash unless they are already a millionaire, you say? Let’s say you save up $500 and go buy a cheap clunker that will at least get you from point A to point B. Now, for the next 10 months, you save that $450 a month you would have been paying in car payments. You can now sell that clunker and take the $4,500 in cash you have and buy a $5,000 car with cash. Repeat and 10 months later you are driving a $10,000 car. One more time, and you now have a $15,000 car, paid for with cash! So in just 30 months. 2 and a half years. You are driving a $15,000 car completely paid for. And here’s the thing. When you are buying with cash, that $15,000 will in many cases actually get you a $18,000 to $20,000 car. It can be done. It just isn’t the way most people think.

In your a first time car buyer and you’ve never shopped for insurance before, what are some tips to get the lowest payment possible? What are some questions you should ask your insurance agent?

The best advice I could give for a first time car buyer looking for insurance would be to find a good independent agent to shop around for the best rates. An independent agent can contact a variety of companies to find the best deal for you.

I would also suggest that if you need to cut corners to save money the best place to do so is by raising your deductible. This means that if you have an accident you may pay more out of pocket, but a higher deductible can significantly reduce your rate. This is one of many reasons it is important to have a good emergency fund. Having 3-6 months of expenses in an emergency fund will allow you to raise that deductible, because then you have the money in the bank to cover yourself if you have a serious accident.

One place I would not suggest cutting corners is in the liability portion of your auto insurance. This covers the medical bills of someone that you injure in an accident. This can easily add up to thousands of dollars in the event of a serious accident. You could easily be bankrupted if you don’t have sufficient liability coverage.

Besides moremoneythanmonth.com what are some of websites/blogs you would recommend our visitors visit while trying to improve their credit?

I believe one of the best places to learn how to build a healthy foundation for your finances is through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. It is a 9 week class and there are thousands of offerings all over the country. You can find an offering near you by going to Dave Ramsey Class Finder. I have led 6 groups through these materials and I can testify that if you do what is taught, it works. Between savings and debt paid off, the average family in those classes that I have taught has seen anywhere from a $1,500 to a $6,000 financial improvement in just the 9 week duration of the class. It is not easy. There is no magic pill. But if you follow the program and do what is taught, you will find yourself in a much better place financially.

Please visit Robert Snyder blog @ More Money Than Mouth
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This is our eighteenth interview in our “1000 Interview Challenge” If your interested in an interview, please contact me.

This interview was conducted by Shane McC. Shane currently is attending RISD studying computer programming. He enjoys traveling and plays hockey. He played for the Boston Junior Bruins of the EJHL during the 01-02 season. You can follow him on Google+