Last week’s class on How to Read a Credit Report was fantastic!  We learned how long items can be on a credit report, different tips about items that affect your credit report, hard and soft inquiries and how those affect your credit score differently, and the different ways to go about correcting errors.  Those who did not attend really missed out on some great information.  We also had two great groups come out and volunteer with us over the weekend.  Zachery Engineering helped us out with a remodel and cleaning while Bank of America came to our office and helped with some construction here.  As the child of an engineer, I could not help but smile when I arrived on time Friday morning to see that their whole group was already there, signed in, almost finished with breakfast, and discussing the wobbly mail box that need to fixed.  Someone even pulled their own tool box out of their truck to address the mailbox before our construction supervisor arrived.  Both groups worked very hard and we appreciate everything they accomplished! 

Tomorrow night is another one of our Financial/Family Stability classes titled “On the Cheap.”  Everyone wants to have a home that they are proud of and that is comfortable, and our goal for this class to show how to make this possible by simply using items you already have in your home or that you can get from garage sales and thrift store, by recovering, repainting, repairing, and thinking outside the box.  We will learn simple techniques to redecorate at little or no cost, and who wouldn’t want to learn how to do that?!  This class will be tomorrow the 19^th from 6:30-8:00 at our office on 2700 S. Wilson and everyone is invited to attend!

Here at Habitat for Humanity we offer free Financial/Family Stability classes on Tuesday nights from 6:30-8pm at our office located on 2700 S. Wilson.  Now before you think to yourself, “I pay my bills on time and my family is stable, so that does not apply to me.”  You might be surprised at what you can learn at our classes.  Do you know how far back your credit report monitors your financial behavior? Seven to ten years.  Is it smart to close unused credit cards? Not usually.  Can your employer or prospective employer see your credit report? Yes, and if you will be handling their money you can be sure they will.  How many different types of credit reports are there? Three-TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax.  Tomorrow night our class is about reading credit reports and correcting errors that appear on your report.  Despite commercials in recent years, most Americans still do not realize that they are entitled to a free credit report each year, or the importance of checking for errors.  It is important to monitor for errors because not only could that affect your ability to be approved for a loan, but will affect the amount of interest you pay.  If that is not reason enough to start checking your credit reports once a year, then maybe this next reason will be.  It is these reports can give you early warning signs that your identity has been stolen.  Think of identity theft as cancer.  If we have only learned one thing from cancer, it is that early detection is key.  The same applies to your credit score.  If you see that suddenly ten months ago several strange credit cards were opened in your name and are not being paid off you can act immediately to put a hold on your information and to stop the charges.  However, if you never pull your credit report and ten years later when you are trying to buy a new home find out that your identity has been stolen, your credit has been already ruined.   Are you interested in your credit report now?  Remember you are entitled on a free credit report every year, and the best site to use www.annualcreditreport.com.  This site will give you access to all three different reports and is completely free.  If you are interested in attending our class tomorrow please call and reserve your spot.  Our phone number is 383-3456.  Oh, and do not forget to bring a copy of your credit report so you can apply what you learn.

Hello Everyone!  There are going to be some very exciting changes going on around here and we just wanted to take a minute to let all our very special volunteers know about them.  If you have looked around our website you might have noticed that we have not had much time to upload pictures, keep a blog, or keep our calender up to date.  We are hoping to change this because we want to keep the community involved.  If you are not following us on Facebook then you should “like” us and hopefully you can also subscribe to our blog updates.  Our goal is to update this blog at least once a week, so we hope you will enjoy hearing all about the happenings of Amarillo Habitat for Humanity!

Thank you for visiting the new Amarillo Habitat for Humanity website! Please take a look around and let us know what you think!