Credit 101 Thread

Post by **columbia** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 9:53 am

Something being "common knowledge", doesn't mean it's rational.

I use my CCs for groceries and gas and pay off my bill every week. Why that is somehow worse than carrying a 30% balance is silly.
Well, I know the reason, because that's means some are willing to pay interest to the lenders, whereas I am not.

Post by **tifosi77** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 9:55 am

I think optimum is maintaining something like 25%-30% usage. It shows that you're actually managing credit, not simply opening accounts and not using them. Instead of paying them off at the end of the week, pay them off at the end of the billing cycle. You'll maximize the chance that your debt will be pulled while there's a balance on them, but you won't incur any finance charges or interest. We do this with our two rewards cards; nearly every transaction we make in a month goes on to one of those cards, then we just pay 70% of that amount at the end of the billing period.

Post by **columbia** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 11:51 am

I have OCD about carrying debt....I just can't do it (outside of my car loan).

Post by **tifosi77** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 12:55 pm

Well, technically speaking if you wait til the end of the month you won't be carrying the debt.

bhaw · Post by **bhaw** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 8:32 pm

columbia wrote:
Something being "common knowledge", doesn't mean it's rational.

don't disagree at all.

Post by **shafnutz05** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 10:42 pm

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

I remember those days, until we bought our home last year.

That being said, it was well worth it, but I can't wait until the debt is paid off. The child credit/new home credit, etc will help with that.

On an interesting note, when we bought a home last year, I discovered a shocking fact. Apparently I owed $110 to.....wait for it.....

BMG Music

Apparently I moved and never got the notices....

mac5155 · Post by **mac5155** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 10:37 am

Got my credit score update today. 784. insane, considering the large amount of debt I have.

Post by **tifosi77** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 1:23 pm

Over the past four months, my credit score has yo-yo'd 22 points each month. Up 22, down 22, up 22, down 22. There has been nothing remarkable about my credit activity during this period or any variance from one month to the next. It's very frustrating and confusing.

shafnutz05 wrote:
BMG Music

The record clubs were the minions of Satan. I admin'd their deal with UMG for a year and a half, and they were complete slimeballs. I have a Pavlovian urge to break things when I see them mentioned.

bhaw · Post by **bhaw** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:41 am

mac5155 wrote:
Got my credit score update today. 784. insane, considering the large amount of debt I have.

And they can't wait for you to get more!

mac5155 · Post by **mac5155** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:14 am

bhaw wrote:
mac5155 wrote:
Got my credit score update today. 784. insane, considering the large amount of debt I have.
And they can't wait for you to get more!

lol, yeah i hear ya. no new debt for 5 years is my plan. I've been doing pretty well the past year.

Idoit40fans · Post by **Idoit40fans** » Mon Mar 31, 2014 5:36 pm

Is lending club legit? Is it actually just a loan, is it like other debt consolidation where you close your credit cards, or is it a scam? Is using it going to crush my credit? Discuss.

mac5155 · Post by **mac5155** » Mon Mar 31, 2014 7:16 pm

I thought of asking for an increase in my discover card limit. Anything negative about that? Other than the urge to spend more,

Idoit40fans · Post by **Idoit40fans** » Mon Mar 31, 2014 9:29 pm

mac5155 wrote:
I thought of asking for an increase in my discover card limit. Anything negative about that? Other than the urge to spend more,

If they do a credit pull, theres that. Otherwise no.

bhaw · Post by **bhaw** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 4:14 pm

Idoit40fans wrote:
mac5155 wrote:
I thought of asking for an increase in my discover card limit. Anything negative about that? Other than the urge to spend more,
If they do a credit pull, theres that. Otherwise no.

They shouldn't. The credit card company will usually just base it on your history with them.

Firebird · Post by **Firebird** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 6:41 pm

In appreciation of your history with us, you're invited to increase your credit limit by $2600 on your American Express® account

Will it help credit rating at all if I accept? I pay off my 2 credit cards every month.

dodint · Post by **dodint** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 7:36 pm

If the rest of your history is good, it should help. It shows you're trusted with relatively higher credit. But the other side of that sword is that it's more credit to hang yourself with so if you have prior negatives on your report an underwriter might look at it unfavorably. But if you're just worried about FICO I'd go for it. Especially since they're offering it to you without a hard pull, I presume.

A few months ago I completely split my wife off of my USAA account because my credit cards were showing up on her credit report. We started getting our stuff together to buy her a new (to her) car and I checked our credit monitoring services. Turns out USAA did everything except actually take her off my cards as an authorized user.

Now we have to wait another month or so for the credit reports to catch up before we can go shopping. Boo.

Post by **columbia** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 7:41 pm

USAA is great for auto insurance, but I've noticed their customer service going downhill in the last 10 years. You can't talk to them about a banking issue without them trying to sell you on something else.

dodint · Post by **dodint** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 7:44 pm

Yeah, every single time I call for help with an IRA or something they try and upsell me some life insurance. It's worth it in the end, though. Their website is pretty capable and my only other decent alternative is PSECU and they're lightyears behind.

Also, from what I understand USAAs mortgage application experience is pretty horrendous.

Post by **columbia** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 7:51 pm

"So I lost some checks and need to make sure they are voided."

"We can take care of that, sir. Would you be interested in renters insurance?"

bhaw · Post by **bhaw** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 7:53 pm

columbia wrote:
USAA is great for auto insurance, but I've noticed their customer service going downhill in the last 10 years. You can't talk to them about a banking issue without them trying to sell you on something else.

We just refi'd a car with State Farm. Rates are really good and they have GAP insurance built in.

Idoit40fans · Post by **Idoit40fans** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 8:51 pm

Im really tempted to refi with state farm. Thy mentioned it when i last changed my coverage...how was the process?

bhaw · Post by **bhaw** » Wed Apr 02, 2014 5:49 pm

Idoit40fans wrote:
Im really tempted to refi with state farm. Thy mentioned it when i last changed my coverage...how was the process?

I have home owners, auto, and life for me, wife, and kids through them. Not sure if that impacted the process b/c they had everything on file, but it was extremely easy. Just needed my info, got the approval, sent them my current lender info for the payoff, and I came in and signed that Saturday. Very hassle free.

dodint · Post by **dodint** » Wed Apr 09, 2014 2:09 pm

What is the deal with FICO score availability lately? Seems like this year banks are making them more available. Discover has that credit card where you get it on your bill automatically, and PSECU tells me mine every month after I opted in. I'm not going to drop my credit monitoring service because it is more versatile, I'm just curious if the FICO thing is because of new legislation or just the marktet reacting to higher demand by consumers. Anyone know?

thehockeyguru · Post by **thehockeyguru** » Wed Apr 09, 2014 2:18 pm

dodint wrote:
What is the deal with FICO score availability lately? Seems like this year banks are making them more available. Discover has that credit card where you get it on your bill automatically, and PSECU tells me mine every month after I opted in. I'm not going to drop my credit monitoring service because it is more versatile, I'm just curious if the FICO thing is because of new legislation or just the marktet reacting to higher demand by consumers. Anyone know?

No my best knowledge this is something FICO started to offer as long as your financial institution is on-board as well. I dont think there was any govt intervention.

mac5155 · Post by **mac5155** » Wed Apr 09, 2014 10:21 pm

I love getting my score from PSECU monthly.

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