Credit 101 Thread

mac5155 · Post by **mac5155** » Wed Sep 11, 2013 9:38 am

Same here, and its in the form of student loans. I have been using the waterfall method or whatever it's called. I'll have 2 loans completely paid off by December so once that happens those payments just will get lumped into the extra payment on student loans. my goal is to cut them down almost completely in the next 5 years.

Idoit40fans · Post by **Idoit40fans** » Wed Sep 11, 2013 9:50 am

Yeah I should have them paid off in a around the same time frame. I have way too much credit card debt that I ran up last year from moving and then buying out of the lease a couple months later and moving again a week before my car got totaled.

bhaw · Post by **bhaw** » Fri Sep 13, 2013 11:25 pm

I got approved for my first credit card since our BK. oddly enough I was able to get approved for a house more easily than a small credit card. It was for buying a mattress for our new bed. Will pay it off quickly and just hold the card. Should jump my credit quite a bit finally having a card.

bhaw · Post by **bhaw** » Fri Sep 13, 2013 11:28 pm

Also, my student loan is now sub $500 left to go. I might try to knock the payments down to like $20 because it is my oldest active loan and paying it off won't be great for credit purposes. Not sure if Sallie Mae will do it though.

mac5155 · Post by **mac5155** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 2:49 pm

damn, another 40 point jump in 1 month. Well over 700 now. I should buy a house

I think it's because I'm getting my credit card debt down to almost nothing.

Troy Loney · Post by **Troy Loney** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 2:51 pm

mac5155 wrote:
damn, another 40 point jump in 1 month. Well over 700 now. I should buy a house

I think it's because I'm getting my credit card debt down to almost nothing.

That's impressive. You did that by paying down your credit card?

Post by **columbia** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 2:53 pm

Mine went up 15 just from opening a best buy cc.
I thought it would go down. ?

Troy Loney · Post by **Troy Loney** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 2:57 pm

columbia wrote:
Mine went up 15 just from opening a best buy cc.
I thought it would go down. ?

I can see it helping in a couple situations. One, limited credit and adding more accounts.
Two, increasing the difference between your credit debt and available credit. that's why it's always good to increase your credit limit when they offer that to you. So having an AMEX card with 50,000 limit and no balance would be indicative of a person with a high credit score.

mac5155 · Post by **mac5155** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:04 pm

Troy Loney wrote:
mac5155 wrote:
damn, another 40 point jump in 1 month. Well over 700 now. I should buy a house

I think it's because I'm getting my credit card debt down to almost nothing.

That's impressive. You did that by paying down your credit card?

It went up 74 points in 2 months. All I did was pay down a CC from like 90% of available balance used to currently 25%, along with making regular minimum payments on my vehicle and student loans.

Troy Loney · Post by **Troy Loney** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:13 pm

Ok, that makes sense. having a credit card spent close to the limit is bad for business.

mac5155 · Post by **mac5155** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:16 pm

yeah, some short term things for the wedding that I knew would be paid off in 3-5 months.

My wife got hers today also. She has a delinquency for 60+ days late - it was a health insurance issue that went to collections. She didn't pay it and it ended up being settled via the doctor's office. How would she go about getting that removed from the report?

Troy Loney · Post by **Troy Loney** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:20 pm

Wait (7 years)

mac5155 · Post by **mac5155** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:27 pm

Thought someone was saying earlier or in a prior thread you could call and get it removed with enough pestering.

Post by **skullman80** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:28 pm

If it was legit, then I don't think there is any way of getting it removed.

mac5155 · Post by **mac5155** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 4:02 pm

It wasn't.. it was incorrectly processed by the doctor's office.

Post by **columbia** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:31 am

I've had a Discover card for about 6 months, but have never used it.
I got an email today, that they have raised my credit limit from $4K to $5K.
(Ok, I guess they really want me to use it.)

Can I expect my credit score to rise?

Troy Loney · Post by **Troy Loney** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:35 am

I wouldn't think much of a change, unless you're hovering near you're credit limit on other cards.

Post by **columbia** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:36 am

I have zero cc debt (on three cards).

Troy Loney · Post by **Troy Loney** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:40 am

columbia wrote:
I have zero cc debt (on three cards).

then i doubt any change. From what I understand the revolving debt : credit limits ratio is a factor, so that wouldn't change your ratio at all

Post by **columbia** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:42 am

Ok, that makes sense.
It's still 0% utilization.

Pitt87 · Post by **Pitt87** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:12 am

columbia wrote:
I've had a Discover card for about 6 months, but have never used it.
I got an email today, that they have raised my credit limit from $4K to $5K.
(Ok, I guess they really want me to use it.)

Can I expect my credit score to rise?

Usually they extend credit based on your usage and current score. If your ratio is high -- which sounds like its not -- it could affect your score, but isn't likely. You should, however, get a score report if you've not already to see who is inquiring. Sometimes your bank or insurance company can get you free 3 bureau scores.

ulf · Post by **ulf** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:14 am

Well there's a debt to credit ratio calc'd also. So assuming you have some debt somewhere (mortgage/student loans), that ratio will decrease, which helps.

Idoit40fans · Post by **Idoit40fans** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:14 am

Yeah Discover raises my limit like 3 times every 2 years. It helped the most recent time because I was utilizing a lot of credit.

Post by **columbia** » Sun Mar 09, 2014 10:37 am

I just looked at Credit Karma and saw this line item grade:

Open Credit Utilization: 0%
Grade: C

I'd love to know the rationale for that.

bhaw · Post by **bhaw** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 1:01 am

columbia wrote:
I just looked at Credit Karma and saw this line item grade:

Open Credit Utilization: 0%
Grade: C

I'd love to know the rationale for that.

It's pretty common knowledge. You actually have a better score if you are using revolving debt than if you have a zero balance. Credit scores basically don't count cards towards credit utilization if you aren't utilizing them. It still counts as an open account.

Not sure what your situation is, but if it's concerning for you at all, the easiest fix is to just put a tank of gas on the card once a month then pay it off at the end of the month. Then go back out and fill up the car again. No interest payments b/c you are paying off within 30 days, and the chances of your credit score being pulled at $0 is pretty slim.

In all honesty, I wouldn't worry about it.

Another, more anger inducing, reason is that you technically aren't using revolving credit properly if you leave it at $0. It's meant to be used and paid down/off. By leaving it at zero, you are misusing it

If you have a solid history, this is likely making little to no impact on your score. If you need to refi a mortgage, just to buy dinner on your card a month or so before and leave the balance so it props the few extra points up

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