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Thread: Someone teach me about credit!

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    Default Someone teach me about credit!

    As of today I am $150 from being debt-free. I paid all my debt except a few medical bills that I'll be taking care of later this week. My problem right now is ...

    1.) I see there are still somethings that I have paid off that are still on my credit. I have sent dispute letters and they are still on there. How do I get OFF of my credit for good?

    2.) I don't want a credit card.. EVER EVER EVER AGAIN. However, I want to start working on NEW credit.. How do I go about doing this? When should I start doing it?
    I was thinking about getting a secured credit card with my bank.

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    Well, the thing about credit is that to really raise your score and be considered having good credit, you have to actually have a track record/proof that you can be trusted with credit.

    An unsecured card (regular credit card) counts for much more than a secured one (which is associated with those who have bad credit, but can definitely help the situation if thats the position someone is in)

    Other things you can do is buy a car, buy furniture and put that on credit, things like that. Pretty much...any sort of situation where you borrow money and then can build a track record for being able to pay it back and on time raises your credit score.

    All items on your credit report stay there for 7 years whether its paid off or not. The only way it can come off if if its not yours. As long as its paid off then it doesnt hurt to have on your credit report,and it actually helps because the longer amount of time youve had credit history, the better your score. Now if its collections type stuff, yeah, thats not good....but they still stay on 7 years.

    Now, if theres anything wrong with the info, like the amount, any of the date info, etc..you can write in to have it corrected. I did that and they just removed the line completely...I guess it was easier to hit delete than edit the info, or someone was feeling generous that day, who knows...but I hear that happens a lot. So if any details on the line is incorrect, Id ask for an ammendment and cross my fingers that its removed instead.

    ETA: Bankrupty stays on your credit report for 10 years..thats the only exception to the 7 year statutation. Also, when that 7 years is up it should come right off your report. Collection agencies will oftentimes re-date your account to keep it on your credit report. Make sure you keep an eye on that and let the CRA's know if that happens, and they will remove the line entirely.

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    I agree with BlkSharpie, buying a car, getting rent to own furniture, buying a Kirby vacuum.. you can't raise your credit score if you don't use credit- my credit is so bad because of identity theft.. someone stole my SSN and got all kinds of cell phones and cards in my name. It is a hassle to get stuff off of your credit report. I pressed charges, filed police report, and it's still on my credit. I thought it was only 5 years though! 7 years is crazy!

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    If you paid it you can't get it off your report that I know of. (Not that this helps you much now but) If you didn't pay it yet you can basically "negotiate" with who you owe money to for a "pay for removal" which you guys make a deal that if when you pay they will remove it from your credit report completely. Another way to do it is you file a dispute with the credit card company and they only have a certain number of days to respond (i think 30) and if they don't respond, you can get it removed from your credit report.
    You might consider signing up with those "we fix bad credit" places because they will do all the paperwork/disputing for you.
    "Achieving success is a challenge but so is struggling so you may as well choose success."

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    Oh she can most certainly get it off-- it just takes writing the right letters and knowing the law. I got both mine and my boyfriends credit completely cleared. Takes 6 months to a year, but it can most certainly be done before the 7 year statute.

    Don't sign up with a company thats gonna charge you. PM me, I'll show you some kick ass resources for "do it yourself".
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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    Quote Originally Posted by pixiepower329 View Post
    Oh she can most certainly get it off-- it just takes writing the right letters and knowing the law. I got both mine and my boyfriends credit completely cleared. Takes 6 months to a year, but it can most certainly be done before the 7 year statute.
    This is exactly what I have been told in the past.

    Thanks blk sharpie!

    Don't sign up with a company thats gonna charge you. PM me, I'll show you some kick ass resources for "do it yourself".
    I know better than to sign up with those place. Even the credit counselors tell you not to sign up with them. I know I can do it myself. I will PM you. :-)

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    What a lot of companies do is the backdoor method. They find someone with great credit and they have that person add you as an authorized user and issue them a card in your name. Essentially, their good payment history will become linked to your credit score. The credit card companies were forced to allow this because in the old days divorcees wouldnt be able to obtain credit cards because they had all been in the husband's name. The intent of allowing this was so that the wife would gain the same credit score as her husband.

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    Quote Originally Posted by thedunlap View Post
    What a lot of companies do is the backdoor method. They find someone with great credit and they have that person add you as an authorized user and issue them a card in your name. Essentially, their good payment history will become linked to your credit score.
    I heard that method doesn't really work much anymore. There's a lot of conflicting stuff online.

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    Quote Originally Posted by TouringGirlfriend View Post
    I heard that method doesn't really work much anymore. There's a lot of conflicting stuff online.
    It depends on the credit card company. I added my husband to my Discover Card and his score shot up and he got all the credit history that I had. Before that, he only had $1000 in student loans on there.

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    My roommate in college got 20 years of his father's credit history through an American Express Gold card. He was 18 and had a 820. But you need to be careful because if something happens to the primary card holder... it can knock your score out also.

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    There is a chance that building credit and credit bureaus are a little different in Canada and the USA

    The key thing is if you have credit now (phone service, internet, rent) pay it on time if your not able to make a payment arrangment.

    secure credit cards are good to build your credit if you have no credit history or if your re-building your credit from bankruptcy.

    What got me in my credit mess was not knowing when to reject being approved for credit. just because your allowed credit does not mean you have to accept it.

    Rule of thumb is that you should have no more then 15% of your total income in debt repayment, and if your using your credit is should be used at 15% as well. you do not want to have any credit usually revolving to be maxed out because it doe snot look good on your credit report.

    1 credit card, 1 car loan, and avoid getting things on buy now pay later (rent to own)
    if you can buy it cash then buy it cash.
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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    My credit is not the best. My boyfriend got a Macys card for me, and I used it twice so far. I paid the balance off in full both times before the due date. Recently he got a letter in the mail that they were lowering the limit for online purchases. I thought it was odd because I don't order online at Macys, just in store.

    I thought about it, and I think they sent that letter because of MY credit score. I really hope this is not affecting his credit score, but I assume it is. He is not worried about this, but I am. I know how bad things can be when your credit is rock bottom. I hope everyone can lend some advice on how to make credit better.
    Taking a break from all unproductive shit will prove to be the best choice you can make.

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    About getting added to someone elses card to help your credit score...

    A girl came into work last week literally in tears... shes 19 and signed up for her first credit card and was denied which blew her away because she figured she had perfect credit. When she got her credit report, it was because of her debt to credit limit ratio...

    When she was 14, her mom got a credit card and added her to it so that she would have a card for emergencies. She never used it, but her mom did and though shes paid on it and such, the card has a $10k limit that she has about $8k on.

    Its not harming her moms credit because she has other credit cards with next to little to no balance on it...so her debt to credit limit ratio is below 50%... But since this is the only card on this girls credit report, it looks like shes at about 80% which is very, very bad especially at that high an amount.

    Her mom has promised to pay down on that card immediately which will help a lot...which if she does this girls credit will actually be pretty stellar, since she would have credit history of 5 years already plus her mom has paid on time every month. I tried to explain to her that once its paid down to at least half she will be in a way better place than someone with no credit, but she was still balling her eyes out she was so upset....

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    Your credit score will generally decrease if you ever go over 40-50% of the available limit on the card(s). You should also keep in mind that the credit bureau(s) supposedly take a snapshot of your available balance at a random day at some point in the month.

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    Quote Originally Posted by BlkSharpie View Post
    About getting added to someone elses card to help your credit score...

    A girl came into work last week literally in tears... shes 19 and signed up for her first credit card and was denied which blew her away because she figured she had perfect credit. When she got her credit report, it was because of her debt to credit limit ratio...

    When she was 14, her mom got a credit card and added her to it so that she would have a card for emergencies. She never used it, but her mom did and though shes paid on it and such, the card has a $10k limit that she has about $8k on.

    Its not harming her moms credit because she has other credit cards with next to little to no balance on it...so her debt to credit limit ratio is below 50%... But since this is the only card on this girls credit report, it looks like shes at about 80% which is very, very bad especially at that high an amount.

    Her mom has promised to pay down on that card immediately which will help a lot...which if she does this girls credit will actually be pretty stellar, since she would have credit history of 5 years already plus her mom has paid on time every month. I tried to explain to her that once its paid down to at least half she will be in a way better place than someone with no credit, but she was still balling her eyes out she was so upset....
    She probably got denied because she's only 19. They recently passed a law that requires that you must be 21 to get credit on your own. If you are between 18 and 21, you have to get a co-signer. They passed it to cut down on the amount of college kids with credit cards.

    http://www.bankrate.com/finance/cred...-to-get-1.aspx

    Her mom's card definitely brought her score down but probably not as much as she is assuming. Even if you're using 99% of your credit limit, your score isn't always really bad. When I first got married, my husband lost his job and we actually had to live on our credit cards for awhile. We totally maxed them out. My score only dropped about 40 points. I went from an excellent score to a good score. What DID make my score go down is when we had trouble paying them back. When I went over 30 days without making a payment, my score started to plummet.

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    Quote Originally Posted by khakigirl View Post
    She probably got denied because she's only 19. They recently passed a law that requires that you must be 21 to get credit on your own. If you are between 18 and 21, you have to get a co-signer. They passed it to cut down on the amount of college kids with credit cards.
    Thanks love.

    Interesting. I got a credit card when I was 17 so yeah must be very recent law about the 21 thing. I tried to google where it said you had to be 21 to get credit but couldn't find anything. Can you please send me links? I need something recent that'll help me.

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    A ha...Thanks khakigirl that is very good to know... Touring, heres a link that I found:
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_471462.html

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    Quote Originally Posted by TouringGirlfriend View Post
    Thanks love.

    Interesting. I got a credit card when I was 17 so yeah must be very recent law about the 21 thing. I tried to google where it said you had to be 21 to get credit but couldn't find anything. Can you please send me links? I need something recent that'll help me.
    It was passed in 2009 - it's called the "Credit CARD Act of 2009". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_CARD_Act_of_2009

    You can get a card if you're 21 without a co-signer but you must be able to demonstrate your ability to repay the balance. I guess you'd have to send in income verification of some sort.

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    You've got some good advice in this thread! Here's my advice on credit cards:

    A secured credit card or cosigning on someone else (with good credit and a job) card is a great idea. When you look into a secured card make sure you check out the fees and agreements that come with it. They can have a lot of hidden fees and they can be dicks about it.

    Don't rent furniture or anything to try and improve your credit, it actually drops your score.

    If you apply for credit for a lot of things at once it'll drop your score because it looks like you're suddenly desperate for money.

    There's a difference between a "soft" inquiry into credit score and a "hard" inquiry. Soft doesn't effect your score and hard does, so you may want to ask which a company uses before you get it done.
    http://www.lendingtree.com/credit-re...-vs-hard-pull/

    Store credit cards are easier to get than regular credit cards and credit cards that run through your bank are easier to get than just random credit cards. Three cards is the perfect number to keep for maximum score building. What I did was I got a secured card and used it to establish a history (6 months) then I got a Ross' card (you can use those to get discounts at Ross, TJMaxx and Marshals, btw) and kept that for 6 months. With those 2 cards, paying them off in full every month I applied for a Jet Blue amex card. At the time I was traveling a lot so I used it all the time for the free miles. After I had that one for a year I never used the store card and they shut the account b/c I never used it. I closed the secured card b/c I hated the fees.

    I learned that your credit goes up based on the kind of credit you have, the standing that you have on each account, the amount of credit you have and the length of time you have that credit. This is why I set up some small bills to pay on the Jet Blue card. It's my oldest card and it's in perfect standing, so it boosts my credit score. You have to keep it active and always pay it off. I have 2 other cards now that I had no problem getting, one through my bank.

    If you have a hard time paying off your cards when they come in the mail you have 2 options:

    1) don't use 'em. Set up a bill to auto pay on that card and then set up your checking account to automatically pay that amount every time the bill comes in (and send you a warning if it's not the same amount, like rent or a cable bill). Then freeze the card in a block of ice in your freezer or hide it in the back of your desk. I taped mine to the back of my desk.

    2)Use 'em. For everything. Keep a tally of what you've spent just like you would on your checking account. Pay the bill off entirely at the end of the month. Do that with automatic payments from your checking account. "When this bill comes in, pay it off. All of it."


    I

    Quote Originally Posted by Renton View Post
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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    Oh, and if you know you're going to miss a payment on a credit card, call the company and let them know. Sometimes you can negotiate into a lower payment or a later payment. It's worth the hour on the phone of "butter wouldn't melt in my mouth" to not have a big red mark on your credit report for that month. If you've had good scores for a while you can also call the company and negotiate down a better APR or a higher balance limit. That will raise your credit score. The former because it looks like you're more trusted and the latter because you're artificially raising your debt to credit ratio, which is the amount of debt you're currently carrying to the amount that you could have.

    Like, me, I've got 5K and some change in student loans, 14K and some change in a car loan and a little under 1K in credit card debt. The student loans and car loans are fixed credit, so I can't boost the ratio using them. However, my "revolving credit", the credit cards, have a ratio on them. My Jet Blue card maxes at 3K, my Barclay card maxes at 500$ and my Virgin card maxes at 5K. So I'm at 1K out of 8,500 available. If I ask for a credit increase on my Jet Blue card and they give me 2K more now I'm at 1K out of 10,500 available. That's a much smaller ratio, I look better and I haven't paid shit for it!

    ...wow, I thought I didn't have anything to add to this topic but it looks like I know a lot, doesn't it?


    I

    Quote Originally Posted by Renton View Post
    Him: we could meet... im 5ft 9 sexy italian with a 8 inch love stick...imagine playing with me... how would you do it
    Me: I would cut off your dick and feed it to the pigs

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    Oh, and totally congrats on paying off your debt and I'm sorry that after you said, "I don't want a credit card" I spent so long yammering about credit cards. They really are the fastest and easiest way to raise a credit score but here are some non credit card ideas.

    Refinance something. Yes, I know, go back into debt to avoid debt. If you can refinance your car or your home (if you own one) with a reputable cosigner you can start showing credit history with something new. Or get a new car, trade in the old one, get a cosigner, get a new one. Pay it off more than the minimum every month.

    Go back to school, get a student loan. If you must get a private loan make sure you choose one where you pay the interest off while you're in school as opposed to not paying until you leave school. You'll have less interest to pay off and less total balance to pay off when you start paying after school.

    Get a personal loan that you can afford to pay off immediately. It's TOUGH to get a personal loan these days but tell them that you're taking a vacation or paying for a wedding ring or some dental surgery or something. Make sure that you have the amount of money in the bank to pay off the loan when you get the loan. Deposit the check you get for the loan into your account. When you get the first bill, pay it off in full. I did this on accident once, just happened to get the money right then to do it. My credit score JUMPED!

    I know your parents aren't in the US but if they own anything here and they have good credit, ask them if you can be put on any of their bills as a cosigner.

    Oh, and what another poster said earlier. Negotiate the rest of those medical bills down! Medical bills don't go on your credit history unless they've gone to collection so there's no downside to it. If they've already gone to collection sometimes the companies are willing to take it off your report and shut it down just to get most of the money back. They paid pennies on the dollar to get your bill from the medical company so any money they get back from you is straight profit. I've had great success negotiating with both medical companies (if I self paid the bill, not using insurance) and collections companies. Collections companies are best if you say, "I know I owe 700 but I have 500 in my account right now and I can give that all to you right at this moment if you close the account and remove it from my credit score."


    I

    Quote Originally Posted by Renton View Post
    Him: we could meet... im 5ft 9 sexy italian with a 8 inch love stick...imagine playing with me... how would you do it
    Me: I would cut off your dick and feed it to the pigs

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    Oh, lastly. I know, everyone's going, "Isobel, shut up and stop hogging the thread", find out what -if any- utilities near you report on your credit history. A lot of people think that payments for everything you do go on your history. Very little does, actually. Buying a new phone sometimes does, getting a nice internet connection, again, sometimes does. Though they'll check your score to get both, they'll rarely report unless you don't pay! Rent, never, utilities, only if you don't pay! If you're trying to build credit it's worth it to get an extra phone line from whatever company does report monthly or switch your home internet connection to someone else.


    I

    Quote Originally Posted by Renton View Post
    Him: we could meet... im 5ft 9 sexy italian with a 8 inch love stick...imagine playing with me... how would you do it
    Me: I would cut off your dick and feed it to the pigs

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    Default Re: Someone teach me about credit!

    I fully support using a credit card monthly to reap the rewards.
    This month, my bank card stopped offering 3% cashback- so I'm going to apply for a credit card with the perfect set or rewards.

    Then I will use it as a bank card, and pay off the balance every month.

    I'm going debt free too though! slow going, but soon!

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