Lets talk money

[jaymegriffiths]

Ok so recently i've been attempting to establish a credit rating somewhat aggressively and i've been having a fun time. bank wants about 5 grand down on a 18,000 dollar loan. fair nuff. i dont have it. lol so i've been thinking about buying something in the meantime to help solve my lack of credit situation. im curious tho, on my credit card i pay it out every month. since im payin no interest is this bad for my credit?
i also had 1 insufficiunt payment on my plates cause i forgot to put money in the account but went and payed it right away.

 

[Shran]

Have somebody co-sign if you can I guess... that is how I did it anyway. Having credit is not really the miracle to everything that people seem to think it is though. It's just a measure of your ability to get into a lot of debt.

 

[mini274]

the way i started i found a good credit union, got a 1000 buck loan then added another 500 to it... and after about 6 months added another 500 to it paying on time.. that was 2 years ago since then i added another 5000 to that at the same bank... so thats 7000 bucks i now owe 3200 on it to pay it off and their giving me 14000 to get my car out of my moms name with a 7 percent interest rate which is damn awesome... it takes time to get big loans without a co-signer your screwed... hence my mom put the car in her name till i had good enough credit... and i showed i had been paying on it with checks i wrote to my mom... credit unions will give you the best interest rate and will work with you... i missed a payment on a loan called them and it doesnt show up anywhere...


oh yea CREDIT CARDS ARE THE DEVIL get it paid off and cut it up... i have a card through my credit union with 1000 buck limit and if i miss a payment they under stand

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

If you have a credit card and pay it off every month, then you do not build credit (as crazy as that sounds). But if you do carry a monthly balance, credit card companies get a greedy look in their eyes and try to give you enough rope to hang yourself with. They WANT you to owe them for the rest of your life. Thus, I have no credit cards after a misadventure years ago (all were paid off except for a bogus claim... HSBC is responsible for that one)

A better way to build credit would be to get a small loan and pay it back on time or ahead of time.

 

[TheBeast]

I borrowed 800 from my bank to buy wheels for the mustang. He said leave it in there for 6 months atleast, and you'll build credit

 

[jaymegriffiths]

or i could make the 25 percent and pay on my loan until its gone then start again. i've been told credit cards do build credit, but u cant get a good rating unless u have a fixed amount loan. i might try buy a cobalt or small truck ie colorado or and older gm or f150 (04+)
I'VE been told credit company's have to report to the credit beuroux so even if im not paying interest its helping.
i might try a gic

 

[adsm08]

If you pay your balance every month you do build credit. If you carry a small balance each month you build credit faster. If you pay your bills (cell phone, rent, insurance, etc) you build credit. If you save up some money, go get a small loan for that amount to pay for it and then make a payment or two and then dump the balance, that is a great way to do it.

3 years ago I couldn't qualify for anything more than a $500 student card. Even that was from my own CU.

My girl and I had some money put back, I needed a new tool box. My Snap-on guy had a trade in unit on his truck for about 2 months that he was really itching to get rid of so he told me $3500 plus tax. It was easily worth $4k. I got a loan through snap-on at 25%, horrendous I know, but it only came to $80 a week. I made two weekly payments, then paid off the entire balance on week 3. Now I qualify for a Sears Gold card. Don't want it since I can't afford it, but I could get it.

 

[93rangerXLT4x4]

i cant really tell you what you to do... but i can tell you what NOT to do..

im 22yrs old, 2 years ago i got a loan for 5000 bucks on a credit line, its 140 bucks a month (70 bucks every 2 weeks).. when i first bought the truck i had some decent income (aka had a job making 9.00/hour) and i could afford it.. the bank was taking 70 bucks every 2 week out of my regular bank account and the insurance company was taking 1 payment of 120bucks every month.then back in the beginning of august 2009 i wanted to cancel my insurance because i didnt have the money for it.. (keep in mind my account was at like zero dollars) i called them they told me i didnt have to bring my licence plates in to cancel and they werent going to take money out of my account anymore.. i said sweet.

later that month when the time came for insurance (if i was going to get it) they took their money out of my account, i said wtf thats not right.. and said whatever, the next month comes around and they take it again, now im getting pissed off because im now 300 bucks in the hole in my account and there was NO way i could pay that back as i just got cut off of EI at that time and had no income.. went into the insurance company they said i had to bring my plates in.. i said wtf i was told i didnt have to... whatever brought them in and cancelled it (well the back plate anyways lost the front one and got charged for it, i knew i would)... i applied for welfare and now im getting 610 a month but 375.00 goes to my parents for rent so i only get 235 of it.. 140.00 for the truck, 70.00 is going in the account and since a friend and i sell firewood i got 30 bucks for a credit card payment...

course all while this is going on my truck loan payments were still coming out making me deeper in the hole.... now im 700 bucks in the hole, owe 3300 bucks on the truck, owe 1300 bucks on a credit card with a limit of 1000 bucks.


what im saying is keep on top of the bills if you can... i have a truck up for sale right now (not the ranger) and im hoping i can sell it soon. if i get 600 bucks out of it i'd be happy but its "already spent" haha.. 200 bucks each for the loan, CC, and the account. i dont wanna sell my ranger because its only worth prolly 2000 bucks, so i'd still owe 1300 dollars on something i dont own.. which im not doing...

and to sum it up, my credit rating aint good!!! haha

 

[TheBeast]

Damn thats tough. Just be careful on what you do. Don't spend to your limit, spend only a small portion, or borrow a small portion. I stay away from loans in general.

 

[LittleHorse]

like it's been already said, carrying a balance will build your credit faster, as odd as that is.

I hit some tough times when I got out of college and had to put some stuff on cards that I'd rather not have. Got it all paid off and then got hit again with something I didn't have the money for. I'm still paying it off.

But...by carrying a balance (never more than 40% of max), my credit is pretty darn good and I've gone from having one card with a $1000 limit to having over $40,000 available to me just on 4 credit cards, most with much more reasonable rates than the 24% those crooks at Citi think they deserve...made this progress in 3 years. That has a compounding affect because when lenders look at you for a loan, they look at the ratio of your debt to your available credit, and the smaller that ratio is, the better you look.

The higher rating also helped me get things like a 4.1% rate on my used F-150.

Used correctly, credit can be a very helpful thing, but incorrectly it can wreck your entire life.

 

[hoosier1104]

The oddest thing happened to me today. I got a call from a credit card company that I did business with. They said to lower my interest rate to press 1 so I did just to find out what was going on and they hung up on me. Now I have to call and see what the deal is.

I forgot to mention that it has been paid of for 2YRS now.

 

[TaddeoEG]

But...by carrying a balance (never more than 40% of max), my credit is pretty darn good and I've gone from having one card with a $1000 limit to having over $40,000 available to me just on 4 credit cards, most with much more reasonable rates than the 24% those crooks at Citi think they deserve...made this progress in 3 years. That has a compounding affect because when lenders look at you for a loan, they look at the ratio of your debt to your available credit, and the smaller that ratio is, the better you look.

Used correctly, credit can be a very helpful thing, but incorrectly it can wreck your entire life.

Yes, and no. While banks look to your debt to credit ratio as one indicator of your financial mgmt skills they also look at the total available credit you have and assume that, since you have it, you'll use it at some point. So they may turn you down or charge higher rates in the fear that as soon as you get your loan you'll start charging the world to your cards.

I have 800 pt credit and only two cards. One is a visa (credit) and the other amex (charge). I pay all balances in full every month.

Building credit just takes time as what the banks are looking for is a track record of timely payment. You comment about wrecking your life couldn't be more dead on.

 

[jaymegriffiths]

The oddest thing happened to me today. I got a call from a credit card company that I did business with. They said to lower my interest rate to press 1 so I did just to find out what was going on and they hung up on me. Now I have to call and see what the deal is.

I forgot to mention that it has been paid of for 2YRS now.

dude that was a very bad idea. never ever press any buttons someone requests you too press. unless you call them it is 100% garunteed to be a scam of sorts.

and thanks too all for comments. i use my credit card sometimes near the 1000 dollar limit but its always paid off before i get charged interest. this month i will pay some interest but i have less then 20% used...
and im going to save up a big down payment and buy something nice. i am confident i can get a loan from my current bank they have been very helpful. my bank that ive used since i was young rejjected me so i applied at the bank ive used for 3 months gave me one instantly no questions asked, and gave me a great interested rate (19%)

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

I built my credit with a couple small student loans (2.5% interest FTW!!!) and a credit card used to buy food and gas that I've never carried $0.01 on in the years I've had it. When I applied for a $100,000 mortgage to buy my first house a year ago, they said my credit score averaged 730 (3 different scores) and that they would be more than happy to give me a 30 year mortgage at a 5.00% rate.

I pay extra on the mortgage every month. I've also been early or on time with every other bill (gas, electric, internet, phone, water, student loan payment) so I'm guessing my credit score has only gone up from where it was.

My advice to all you wanting to build credit:
1. Having good credit is helpful, but you shouldn't plan on using it. Debt is a nasty thing that should be avoided unless you can use the money to earn a better rate of return than the interest rate you're paying to carry the debt.

2. Borrowing money for something that's going to depreciate is a stupid proposition. Borrowing money for things that have a reasonable chance of appreciating (like a house or an education) makes sense because the appreciation in value offsets the interest you are paying to have the money ahead of time.

3. Given the above point, DON'T BORROW MONEY ON A DANG CAR!!!!! The car makers and dealers have been very successful at convincing the american people that borrowing money to buy a car is "normal", and that you "deserve" to drive something nice and new regardless of whether or not you actually have the money to buy that car.

My advice is to get whatever credit card you can, use it for everyday purchases, and pay it off each month. Student loans are also an excellent idea because they are usually very low interest and nearly impossible to be turned down for. Just keep it within reason. Borrowing $80,000 to get a degree that will earn you $30,000 a year is going to put you in a large hole for many years to come.

 

[88gt]

credit cards build credit-yes but they dont build the right type of credit. when i bought my wifes vw oct 2008 they said i had great credit. been paying on a card on and off for years. the dealership could finance me because i didnt have the right type of credit. For large loans, the bank wants to see a paying history of over two years on a large balance. this builds a different type of credit. Each type of credit goes twords 1 of three credit scores that you hear about on tv all the time. credit cards and large loans count twords different credit scores. so while you might have a 800 on your credit score from your card...you might have nothing on another score which is why a HUGE down payment is needed to get that first big loan. the bank will want you to have equity in the purchace. Back to the vw i bought, i didnt have the right credit and it took over a month to get financed for it. when i did, in the end i have over 1/3 equity in the car because of the amount of down payment they wanted to get me financed. 6 months after that, didnt have any problem getting a loan for 40000 to buy land.

credit cards are there and do build credit, but that credit you have from them isnt goin to get you finance thru common means. def start using a credit union or start saving mad bank for what you want. the first loan isnt goin to be easy on the pocket!