How Are Your 2012 Financial Resolutions Going?

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling’s (NFCC) December online poll asked consumers to rank their 2012 financial resolutions.   This poll was conducted at their web site from December 1 to 31, 2011 with 2319 individuals responding to it.  The same poll was also conducted in December 2010. Decrease debt was the number one priority for the majority of those responding in both years.

Survey question

The question asked was: What was their number one financial New Year’s resolution for 2012?  The four choices were: decrease debt, improve credit score, increase savings, and decrease dependence on credit cards.  Here is how they responded:

Responses

1. Decrease debt was the number one resolution for 62%, compared to 69% in the December 2010 poll.  Even though it was still number one, there was a 10 percent decrease from the previous year.

2. Improve my credit score was number one for 24%, compared to 18% in the December 2010 poll.  This was a distant second, but 33 percent more saw the importance of improving their credit score in 2012 compared to the prior year.  Reducing debt, which was number one, is a key way to improve your credit score.

3. Increase savings was number one for 8%, compared to 7% in the December 2010 poll. This was a 14 percent increase over the prior year.  Savings is important for the future and to make it through job loss and emergencies, but was ranked third in the priorities.

4. Decrease my dependence on credit cards was the priority for 6%, compared to 7% in the December 2010 poll.  This was a 14 percent decrease from the prior year. They didn’t view credit cards as the top priority and were ranked last.  Dependency on credit cards isn’t an issue, if they aren’t abused and you don’t get into debt over your ears. Was this the lowest priority because they were already less dependent on credit cards or that they were going to continue to depend on them?

The priorities did not change from 2010, but there was a large increase in those planning to improve their credit score. Both decreasing debt (number 1) and decreasing dependence on credit cards (number 4) can contribute to improving your credit score (number 2).

Credit Damage Expert, John Ulzheimer, is the President of Consumer Education at SmartCredit.com, the credit blogger for Mint.com, and a Contributor for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.  He is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring and identity theft. Formerly of FICO, Equifax and Credit.com, John is the only recognized credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry.  Follow him on Twitter here.

Categorised in: Credit Cards, Credit Report, Debt, Debt Consolidation, Debt Management, Getting Credit, Improving Credit, Money & Identity

This post was written by John Ulzheimer