[M_Six]

Originally Posted by MrRoboto

Do you guys have mandatory grace periods on interest like we do in Canada? Minimum 21 days.

Pretty much, I think. My billing cycle ends on the 4th and my due date is the 28th. So if I buy something on the 5th of May, that billing cycle will end June 4th. I then have until the 28th of June to pay the bill in full and avoid interest.

Is that what you mean?

For cash advances it's different. I think interest there starts immediately. I've never done that, though, so I can't say for sure.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by John 070

I agree, the only thing it does is to ensure you get a loan, and at the best rate.

Both my wife and I have 880+. Does it mean I can get a M3? Yes it does. Does it mean I have one? No, it does not. Does it mean I can afford one? Negatory.

The way I see it, one place you can overextend within reason and justify, is on your home. So having a high FICO will enable banks to overextend to you, at the lowest rate. Other than that, if you deal cash only, who cares about your credit...

That's not how credit scores work... The credit score determines the rate that you will receive. It does not mean that you will be approved for a certain amount... that's dependent on your income. Granted, it won't hurt your chances but the amount and rate are two completely different things. You can have an 880 but if you make 40K per year, you aren't getting approved for a $75k car.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by ASAP

That's not how credit scores work... The credit score determines the rate that you will receive. It does not mean that you will be approved for a certain amount... that's dependent on your income. Granted, it won't hurt your chances but the amount and rate are two completely different things. You can have an 880 but if you make 40K per year, you aren't getting approved for a $75k car.

But sadly if you have no job, they'll still approve you for a $150k student loan.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by M_Six

But sadly if you have no job, they'll still approve you for a $150k student loan.

Kind sir... this is the beauty of capitalist market...

Education and making money could have correlation or they completely could not...

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by ASAP

Kind sir... this is the beauty of capitalist market...

Education and making money could have correlation or they completely could not...

Yeah, that $150K MSW ain't paying for itself anytime soon.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

It is remarkable to see how hard Americans work at getting and maintaining a credit rating. It's kind of unheard of here or back home (Australia).

It's a bit odd doing business in the US too, vendors want a credit card or up front payment and i'm like, what planet are you on buddy, it's 60 days.

Weird.

I have never paid much attention to my credit score. For example if I don't use a credit card, I close it, I don't concern myself with half the stuff mentioned in this thread like ratio of credit extended vs credit used etc etc. Only thing I do is pay my cards off in full at the end of the month (usually multiple times per month for the business).

My score was close to 800 and then I did a short sale. That dropped it to like high 500s low 600s I think. Anyways that was like 3 years ago and its back up to like mid 700s already. So honestly apart from common sense stuff like not having late payments or accounts in collection, I'm personally not convinced all the other stuff matters all that much.

Additionally I'm sure theres a point of diminishing returns with your score anyways. Back when I was younger and still financed cars and stuff I always qualified for whatever promo rate was being offered. 0%, 0.9% all that stuff the car dealers always offer. My credit score at the time was probably 700ish so lets just say 700 was the cut off to qualify for the primo rates (pulling number out my ass) what would be the benefit of having an 800+ score?

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by John 070

I agree, the only thing it does is to ensure you get a loan, and at the best rate.

Both my wife and I have 880+. Does it mean I can get a M3? Yes it does. Does it mean I have one? No, it does not. Does it mean I can afford one? Negatory.

The way I see it, one place you can overextend within reason and justify, is on your home. So having a high FICO will enable banks to overextend to you, at the lowest rate. Other than that, if you deal cash only, who cares about your credit...

There's other benefits to having good credit.

How credit affects you:
1. Affects your car insurance rates, lower your credit, higher your premium.
2. Affects your ability to get a cell phone plan. People with poor credit will have to pay a high deposit just to qualify for a cell phone plan.
3. Renting a condo, home or apartment? Any landlord worth a damn will pull your credit prior to offering you a lease. Poor credit? Probably not going to be extended a lease.
4. Every job I've ever had has required a credit check. I was almost declined employment due to an error on my credit report. I never cared much about checking my credit until that happened. Got it fixed and got the job. For government workers and contractors, most positions require security clearances. Biggest reason to be denied a clearance? Poor or lack of credit.

But yeah after almost being denied a job because of an error on my credit report, I began paying attention to it much more closely.

Your credit score tells not just lenders, but potential employers, the government, and landlords a lot about you. Working with sensitive information? Poor credit score reflects irresponsibility and a habit of poor decision making and a probability that you may be inclined to sell sensitive information for money to competitors.

People with good credit scores tend to be smart enough to know that having good credit doesn't mean you should over leverage yourself....if they did...they'd end up with poor credit scores anyway. Besides, a lender isn't going to give someone who makes $50k/year and no other assets a loan for a BMW M6 Gran Coupe. Your credit score is merely an indicator of how well you manage debt, the overall amount of credit you receive is a function of your job, your income, and the your total net worth.

Example? My brother is 23 and bought a new car last year, a 2014 BMW 328i. His credit score is excellent and he was initially denied credit. Why? Because his credit history only reflected managing credit card debt well. They initially wanted him to either get a cosigner or put down $3,000 (which he didn't want to do since it's a lease). The dealer worked with BMWFS and got him approved though.

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

I have never paid much attention to my credit score. For example if I don't use a credit card, I close it, I don't concern myself with half the stuff mentioned in this thread like ratio of credit extended vs credit used etc etc. Only thing I do is pay my cards off in full at the end of the month (usually multiple times per month for the business).

My score was close to 800 and then I did a short sale. That dropped it to like high 500s low 600s I think. Anyways that was like 3 years ago and its back up to like mid 700s already. So honestly apart from common sense stuff like not having late payments or accounts in collection, I'm personally not convinced all the other stuff matters all that much.

Additionally I'm sure theres a point of diminishing returns with your score anyways. Back when I was younger and still financed cars and stuff I always qualified for whatever promo rate was being offered. 0%, 0.9% all that stuff the car dealers always offer. My credit score at the time was probably 700ish so lets just say 700 was the cut off to qualify for the primo rates (pulling number out my ass) what would be the benefit of having an 800+ score?

Honestly not much and like you said, it doesn't matter much if you don't plan on making a large purchase or have jobs that don't require a credit check.

It doesn't take long to bounce back credit wise so long as you're responsible for a year or so. Exception is something big like a bankruptcy.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by fecurtis

There's other benefits to having good credit.

How credit affects you:
1. Affects your car insurance rates, lower your credit, higher your premium.
2. Affects your ability to get a cell phone plan. People with poor credit will have to pay a high deposit just to qualify for a cell phone plan.
3. Renting a condo, home or apartment? Any landlord worth a damn will pull your credit prior to offering you a lease. Poor credit? Probably not going to be extended a lease.
4. Every job I've ever had has required a credit check. I was almost declined employment due to an error on my credit report. I never cared much about checking my credit until that happened. Got it fixed and got the job. For government workers and contractors, most positions require security clearances. Biggest reason to be denied a clearance? Poor or lack of credit.

But yeah after almost being denied a job because of an error on my credit report, I began paying attention to it much more closely.

Your credit score tells not just lenders, but potential employers, the government, and landlords a lot about you. Working with sensitive information? Poor credit score reflects irresponsibility and a habit of poor decision making and a probability that you may be inclined to sell sensitive information for money to competitors.

People with good credit scores tend to be smart enough to know that having good credit doesn't mean you should over leverage yourself....if they did...they'd end up with poor credit scores anyway. Besides, a lender isn't going to give someone who makes $50k/year and no other assets a loan for a BMW M6 Gran Coupe. Your credit score is merely an indicator of how well you manage debt, the overall amount of credit you receive is a function of your job, your income, and the your total net worth.

Example? My brother is 23 and bought a new car last year, a 2014 BMW 328i. His credit score is excellent and he was initially denied credit. Why? Because his credit history only reflected managing credit card debt well. They initially wanted him to either get a cosigner or put down $3,000 (which he didn't want to do since it's a lease). The dealer worked with BMWFS and got him approved though.

I know what you're saying, but short of paying late, why would anyone have a credit score below 800?

My wife almost dealt only via cash, before she met me. Meaning, she has only used credit cards since 2008? Yet her FICO is 830. One of the negatives was actually never having had an installment loan for a long duration.

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by John 070

I know what you're saying, but short of paying late, why would anyone have a credit score below 800?

My wife almost dealt only via cash, before she met me. Meaning, she has only used credit cards since 2008? Yet her FICO is 830. One of the negatives was actually never having had an installment loan for a long duration.

Not much really, if you have a couple credit cards and they're a couple years old, even if you never use them there's no reason to not have a score above 800.

Not having an installment loan for a long duration, as far as I know, won't actually hurt your score as it's mainly a metric used to measure how well you handle revolving debt, but lenders will take into account things outside of your actual score, such as like you mentioned, long term installment debt.

Having, say a mortgage you've had for several years with no missed or late payments (FYI, on your credit report, a payment isn't counted as missed or late unless it's 30 days or more past due, so they give you some leeway on forgetting to make a payment) won't help your score nearly as much as handling credit cards, but lenders will see the mortgage as a plus when reviewing your creditworthiness.

[jophish17]

Originally Posted by John 070

Both my wife and I have 880+.

Please share your secrets!

I dig my Sapphire Preferred, but I'm worried that eliminating the points dividend and some other changes are a sign of things to come

[John 070]

Originally Posted by jophish17

Please share your secrets!

I dig my Sapphire Preferred, but I'm worried that eliminating the points dividend and some other changes are a sign of things to come

Interesting....from following this thread, I thought someone said the highest true FICO score is 850. So how come my wife and I are 880+

Apparently, those numbers are "bankcard enhanced."

Kind of like when you see pics of Kate Upton and the artist has touched up the images.

Also, I logged-in to my credit union portal and those bastards lowered my number to 876. WTF?

Seriously we never ever pay late. Why would we, or anyone for that matter? Due date = due date. Actually, I used to pay my mortgage 2-7 days after the due date, that's not counted as late, because there is a 15 day grace....

[John 070]

Hey outta nowhere I read a junk email from AMEX.

We can get a $50 credit if we spend $200 at the vet (he has his annual plus shots coming up). SWEET.

Also, I can get $10 x 3 times, if I pay my wireless bill of at least $75.

That's $80 outta nowhere.

p.s. I noticed there is a section on the portal, called my offers, I just never looked at it before this email.....

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by John 070

Hey outta nowhere I read a junk email from AMEX.

We can get a $50 credit if we spend $200 at the vet (he has his annual plus shots coming up). SWEET.

Also, I can get $10 x 3 times, if I pay my wireless bill of at least $75.

That's $80 outta nowhere.

p.s. I noticed there is a section on the portal, called my offers, I just never looked at it before this email.....

Oh man, you've been missing out!!! Those offers are great!

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by John 070

Why would we, or anyone for that matter? Due date = due date.

Simple...




Hopefully every human on earth can go without a late or missed payment. But nothing in life is guaranteed. And hardships can affect anyone at any moment.

I'm perfectly fine with mid - upper 7's. As long as I can keep getting incredibly low rates, insurance costs, etc. it's all good.

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by jophish17

Please share your secrets!

I dig my Sapphire Preferred, but I'm worried that eliminating the points dividend and some other changes are a sign of things to come

Same here, and it is too bad about the changes they are making.

[TXSTYLE]

If you're on the fence over a new REWARDS card, may want to read this:

http://blog.credit.com/2015/02/credi...Blog_2_23_2015

[TXSTYLE]

Going on my 4th month with the Citi DoubleCash card and REALLY enjoying this cards and the plethora of perks it offers! Not to mention the 2% cash back on ANYTHING you buy! One of those perks I just realized (I recall hearing or reading about it) and have been using lately is their "Virtual Credit Card/Account Number".

How does it work? Pure awesomeness, that's how! So once you log into your account, there is an option from the home screen to create your virtual account. It essentially allows you to specify a dollar amount and expiration date! Once you have, it generates a image on-screen of the card info including 3 digit security code. So that is a extra layer of protection to your account AND no more worrying about those pesky 'Auto Renewals' like several services require these days.

[capt_slow]

Originally Posted by fecurtis

4. Every job I've ever had has required a credit check. I was almost declined employment due to an error on my credit report. I never cared much about checking my credit until that happened. Got it fixed and got the job. For government workers and contractors, most positions require security clearances. Biggest reason to be denied a clearance? Poor or lack of credit.

This...

Amongst all my friends graduating, most are a bit shocked that credit can affect their ability to get a job.

There are several reasons why, but for jobs requiring Secret or TS/SCI clearance, having good credit says you are less likely to be bribed to divulge information. (Off-topic: these jobs also pay better too). Probably the same logic goes for any other job.

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by capt_slow

This...

Amongst all my friends graduating, most are a bit shocked that credit can affect their ability to get a job.

There are several reasons why, but for jobs requiring Secret or TS/SCI clearance, having good credit says you are less likely to be bribed to divulge information. (Off-topic: these jobs also pay better too). Probably the same logic goes for any other job.

Especially once you already have an active clearance. Positions that will pay for you to get one, in my brief experience in government contracting, tend to pay less due to the big upfront expense in paying for you to get the extensive background check done.

[Sara]

Anyone have the capital one venture card?

[TXSTYLE]

Thought I'd bump this due to the Holidays and recent posts.
My "Go To Cards" : Amex Everyday and Citi Double Cash still.