how should i build credit?

[thai_creeper 10+ year member]

i dont know much about credit but i think if you just use a credit card to pay for things (**when you have the money already**) then you won't have a problem paying it off each month, so interest wouldn't matter if you plan to pay it off on time anyways

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

To get a car.. you dont really have to have good credit, or any at all. Just downpayment, maybe a co-signer. I had no credit.. so I got a 99 Eclipse.. liked it.. but not really what I wanted with a co-signer. But, with no credit can't be to chosey. A year later, no late payments. Go to another dealership, they pay off my loan and I get a 03 Eclipse, In my name alone. And it about 2 years, this car will be gone for something new. Once you get a car, just keep all payments current and your credit will be awesome. CC's dont hurt either, as long as you're current. I also got a small loan in my name for 750 dollars just to pay it off and increase my credit. Alot of small things can add up, if you can manage your money.

This is true, but if you have bad credit problems and they accept you, most likely they will put you in an outrageous interest rate. That is the reason I just got a new car, due to me paying on a 23% interest rate. I was paying on my cavalier 1 year and got the car for 6900 bucks. In a year, I checked to see how much money has come off the loan. 200 BUCKS. Thats right, I said 200 bucks went towards the principal of my loan. That was when I started to crack the whip. I finally got into a decent car with a better interest rate, thank god!

So just remember, that if you have really bad credit and know your credit score is under 720, then you will be paying on a lot of interest.

 

[Chevillac 5,000+ posts]

Right along with the gas station cards, try department store cards. You are less likely to charge a lot in department stores, so when you do youll be able to pay it off right away.

 

[Expy2K 10+ year member]

Well it helps to have a card that reports to all 3 companies, not just 1 or 2.

It is possible to raise your credit score up to 50 points in 6 months, but you do it in a special way. Search google for it, there have been countless reports on how to do this.

Also remember to keep your oldest credit card you recieved, ALWAYS! Because Your credit is measure by your oldest open account. Remember to purchase something on that account from time to time so they have something to report other than a zero balance owed.

You will earn more points for paying more than the minimum than for having a zero balance.

Don't have a revolving balance over 2g 5g 7g and 10g depending on your income bracket.

Those are the biggies, but basically ALWAYS over pay you min. amount due!!

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

several diff options,
get a small credit card for say gas purchases and pay it off each month,

get a small loan from a bank and pay it off early or pay it each month

those are the 2 quickest ways to build up pos. credit. also paying off all old debt is a good thing also

Paying a loan off early is actually counterproductive if you are trying to build credit. The only way to show you can handle a monthly payment is by paying a monthly payment. If you take out a 2 yr loan and pay it off in 6 months to a year, you just hurt yourself more than holding that loan out for the full two years. The point of a credit score is to determine your ability to make monthly payments on a debt on time each month.

Paying a debt off early does not help you if you are trying to build your credit. It's a common misconception that it "looks better" or helps your score to pay the debt off early. In reality, that isn't true at all.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

You will earn more points for paying more than the minimum than for having a zero balance.

While I agree that making a small monthly payment on a revolving debt is better than having a zero balance (again, your credit score is based on your ability to handle monthly payments...if you have no payment, you can't prove you can dependably pay it), but paying more than the minimum doesn't really help you any. AFAI am aware, the only thing the credit agency is aware of is that you made the payment before the account went 30 days past due, they do not know how much you paid or whether or not it was above and beyond the minimum due.

Minimum payments are fine, just make them each month on time.

General rule of thumb is to have a balance less than 20-30% of your available credit, but never more than 80%.

Don't have a revolving balance over 2g 5g 7g and 10g depending on your income bracket.

For credit scores, income brackets are completely irrelevant as the credit agency does not use your income or your income bracket as a basis for it's scoring.

It does use things like the amount of your balance in relation to your available credit. You can have $10,000 worth of balances on revolving debt and still receive great scoring, as long you likewise have a high available credit limit. But having $10k on a $10k limit card will do harm.

Those are the biggies, but basically ALWAYS over pay you min. amount due!!

Again, as far as I am aware, this won't affect anything.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Here's something I typed up a few years ago on another forum, that might come in handy here:

Well, there about a month ago there was some questions regarding credit scores and some ppl interested in their scores. I recently attended a seminar on Consumer Lending and learned a few things on the Fair Isaacs Credit Scores that I thought I would pass along because 1) Most ppl are interested and 2) I think it is important in this day and age for ppl understand credit and financing. FYI: The instructor runs a bank consulting firm and has ACTUALLY visited the Fair Isaacs facilities and spoke with the mathematicians, statisticians, researches, programers, etc that developed the F.I. scoring system.

Keep in mind, there are 3 different scoring systems: Fair Isaacs, Beacon, and some other I can't think of right now cause it is 2am. This only relates to Fair Isaacs scoring.

- Your credit score is NOT and indication of how well you have paid in the past, it is to determine the likelyhood that you will pay creditors in the future to aid lenders in determining risks involved with loaning you money. Only 40-45% of the score is determined by past credit performance, the other 55-60% of the score is determined non-payment data (balances, # of credit cards, # of inquiries, etc).

- It is optimal to have 2 Bankcards (Visa, Mastercard, Discover). Only having 1 or 3-6 puts you in a moderate risk category. Seven or more and you are in a high risk category.

- If you have more than one travlers card (Diners Club, American Express, etc) then you are in a high risk category.

- If you have ANY loans out from a personal finance company (Household Financial, etc) you are in the high risk category. This does not include GMAC or Ford Motor Credit.

- If you have more than 1 installment loan you are in a high risk category.

- If you have more than 5 inquiries within a 6 months period, you are in a high risk category. However, if you any # of inquiries within a 7 day period (which often happens when you apply for a loan at a car dealership), then all of those inquiries will only count as 1 inquiry total.

- If your credit card and equity line-of-credit balances are less than 20% of your total limits, then you are in a low risk category. If your balances are 80% or more of the total limits, then you are in a high risk category.

- If you have had delinquencies in the past, then the longer ago they are, the less they affect your score. For example, if you are currently past due, then your score will be very affected by that delinquency. That "very affected" counts for anything past due up to one year ago. From then on, the longer ago the delinqueny, the less it will affect your score. In 72 months (6 years), the delinquency will no longer affect your score. And 7 years after the delinquency BY LAW the delinquency can no longer be reported on your credit report. This does not count for things that have gone into legal action (judgements, foreclosures, etc)....those stay on the report for 10 yrs.

- FYI: Fair Isaacs uses over 600 criteria to judge your score, and they will not tell anybody how the arrive at the numbers. They will only divulge if it is a "high risk", "low risk" or no affect.

That's all I can think of right now.

 

[noob with an RS 10+ year member]

chump

.

this coming from a guy with two old ***** guys in his avatar. fucing fag, go make a **** thread and debate on why you think queers should be able to marry each other, sissy.

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

Paying a loan off early is actually counterproductive if you are trying to build credit. The only way to show you can handle a monthly payment is by paying a monthly payment. If you take out a 2 yr loan and pay it off in 6 months to a year, you just hurt yourself more than holding that loan out for the full two years. The point of a credit score is to determine your ability to make monthly payments on a debt on time each month.
Paying a debt off early does not help you if you are trying to build your credit. It's a common misconception that it "looks better" or helps your score to pay the debt off early. In reality, that isn't true at all.

That is strange, when I traded my cavalier in, the dealership paid off my car, well put 6000 towards it and added 600 bucks of negetive equity on my new loan. My credit score was in the low 600s and just was told by my cc company that I am over 700 now. So I think it helps to pay things off early sometimes.

 

[Eugenics 5,000+ posts]

this coming from a guy with two old ***** guys in his avatar. fucing fag, go make a **** thread and debate on why you think queers should be able to marry each other, sissy.

dont talk so soon, you'll need to be selling your body for gay **** until you can get a line of credit that dosen't consist of foodstamps

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

dont talk so soon, you'll need to be selling your body for gay **** until you can get a line of credit that dosen't consist of foodstamps

Ouch!

 

[noob with an RS 10+ year member]

hey im banking with Calcoast credit Union and when i search for credit cards all i see that they have available to apply for are Platinum cards.. isn't that way out of my league? should i just get a Exxon/Mobil gas stationsince i favor their gas most?? i checked the web site where i could apply for it but i dont understand the numbers. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif and is there a general differnce between visas and mastercards?? mobil only has mastercard credit cards

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

visa and mastercard are jus 2 diff company's. they both are accepted almost eveywhere

 

[noob with an RS 10+ year member]

dont talk so soon, you'll need to be selling your body for gay **** until you can get a line of credit that dosen't consist of foodstamps

uhh im not gay.. but you must be insinuating that's the route you took to establish credit.. again, you're a fag

 

[noob with an RS 10+ year member]

i dont know if i should apply for a credit card in-store or if i should look for one on-line..