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Sigh, I have done so much work on my finances and I checked my credit score. It is really low. My factors of paying bills on time (great), getting my student loan managed (showing no negatives) and having about 20K in accounts still doesn't add up to a great score. The only advice was to have some credit. I literally have no debt other than the student loan and few bills. My last apartment building started something where you could pay a monthly fee to have your rent reported to the credit agencies. I may have done that if they started it when I was planning on being there a year or so but it was right before I was moving.
So I am going to check out the credit cards with my credit union and my online checking bank that has all my laddered CD's. It would be convenient such as when I rent a car, to have an actual credit card.
iris lilies
9-9-18, 12:15am
Yeah, I think you should have a credit card for emergencies and car rentals.
I just applied with Ally bank since I have a 2nd checking account with them that I put $50 a month in for emergencies and all my IRA CD's. My other option is the credit union where I have a few thousand, at least before I go to the cards that help you rebuild credit which are generally bad deals on rates and fees. That is a last resort but may be temporarily necessary.
Best of luck raising your credit score. THEY don't like zero debt people. Our story?
We've been zero debt since 2010 when we paid off our 2nd home. 3y ago we went to buy a new tempurpedic bed and replace our 23yo leather sectional. Made our choices and went to order/write the check. They offered us 0 interest for 24 months. Well that should not be turned down when our investment accounts are doing well. So we completed the app. 10" later the finance person came back "I don't know how to tell you this".. well, tell us! "They won't approve you for $8500, only $5500" We started laughing....she was stunned. "we have zero debt and can write the check 10x over right now".
It's laughable that one who lives below their means, spends money responsibly can have a trashy credit score. Fact of life! Doesn't matter if you make $20k or $200k. My (retired) sister who has 20% of our retirement account balance has an 820 credit score. Go figure!
So, to raise your score significantly, buy every thing possible on credit with monthly payments to show fiscal responsibility (by their definition). If you pay everything monthly like we do, it will NOT go up.
iris lilies
9-9-18, 10:39am
My credit score hovers just below 800 and has for years. DH’s is always around 826.
We have not paid a dime of interest in 30 years, so the formula for credit score isnt soley about carrying and paying interest charges but I dont know how the score is calculated.
Edited to change DH’s score
I can't imagine not having a credit card, but recently found out neither my sibling or a nephew have one, being proponents of cash-only financing.
My credit score hovers just below 800 and has for years. DH’s is always around 810.
We have not paid a dime of interest in 30 years, so the formula for credit score isnt soley about carrying and paying interest charges but I dont know how the score is calculated.
Well that is very interesting since we paid interest until 2010 and still have significant employment income. Makes no sense ours our lower than yours.
iris lilies
9-9-18, 3:24pm
Well that is very interesting since we paid interest until 2010 and still have significant employment income. Makes no sense ours our lower than yours.
How do they track income? We dont report it to them. Our income dropped significantly when we retired.
It is somewhat of a mystery how the credit score is calculated, but certainly carrying a buttload of debt, and making each payment on time seems to factor in heavily to a high score. Our friend who was paying 3 mortgages and who was on a super tight budget had the highest credit score possible.
Our other friend who carries $20,000 in revolving charges has a higher credit score than mine.
It is somewhat of a mystery how the credit score is calculated, but certainly carrying a buttload of debt, and making each payment on time seems to factor in heavily to a high score.
We don't carry debt other than my wife's car but we do use credit cards for virtually all purchases other than food. The card balances are paid off on time each month and we both have scores in the 800's. I'm no longer sure of the exact number but when she bought her car last year the dealership finance manager told her she had the highest score he'd ever seen, although he may have just been flirting. I do know that her score is slightly higher than mine. She's the family CFO and is kind of sneaky, if something is ever paid a day or so late she ensures it's something in my name.
We put all we can on our credit card as we get free (well, we do pay an annual $90 charge) airline tickets. Pay it off every Friday. Haven't paid interest in years and years. Credit score usually just about 800.
Haha--I got a similar assessment when I was angling for a car loan (paid off within six months), too. It was the first time I knew what my rating was; I haven't checked on it since.
My wife and I haven’t had earned income for years, but we put everything on the credit cards. And pay them all off at the end of the month. We never paid credit card interest.
We did take out a loan for the wife’s new car, at 1.9% it was a little less than we were making in our money market account. We could pay it off if we chose to.
Her score has bounced between 835 - 845 for years. Mine for some reason is a little less, or so she tells me. But the credit cards are all in her name so that may have something to do with it.
We have never had a problem with getting a loan if we wanted one.
This is a screenshot from my wife’s credit card company.
2496
Evidently she has 21 accounts and 26 years of credit. I imagine most of those accounts are store credit cards, I know she has quite a few for some reason. I carry a discover, American Express, and Visa myself.
It’s kind of hard to read but it says what helps is no missed payments, and revolving utilization is low.
My wife and I haven’t had earned income for years, but we put everything on the credit cards. And pay them all off at the end of the month. We never paid credit card interest.
We did take out a loan for the wife’s new car, at 1.9% it was a little less than we were making in our money market account. We could pay it off if we chose to.
Her score has bounced between 835 - 845 for years. Mine for some reason is a little less, or so she tells me. But the credit cards are all in her name so that may have something to do with it.
We have never had a problem with getting a loan if we wanted one.
So our problem may be that we have only 1 credit card even though we use it heavily and pay it off every month? Interesting that if we spread those dollars over 10 cards we might have a better score? Insane.
It doesn’t make any sense to me either. We have the ability to rack up a huge amount of debt over various cards, but since we don’t utilize them to their fullest she gets a higher rating.
But mine is also in the 800+ range and I have no cards that are in my name. But I am on the 3 cards that I use. I’ve been told that it really doesn’t matter as long as your score is 750 or so. You don’t get anything extra for it being higher.
Ouch mine is under 600, i do have a foreclosure so I didn't expect great. I have been good with credit over the years so I am not worried about getting in trouble, for foreclosure was out of my control
Teacher Terry
9-9-18, 9:54pm
Ours is 780. We use our cards for big purchases or vacation. Someone stole our CC number and Capital 1 knew immediately because all the purchases were small.
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