Credit

[mperry]

Morning all. I’m just curious if anyone else worried about their credit score? Mines not perfect by any means. Less than 800. If you make a purchase on your card it seems that my credit score drops the same day but when I pay it off it seems like it takes weeks before it goes back up. So I was just wondering if anyone else keeps much of an eye on your credit score?

[BP in ME]

I don't pay that close attention to it but mine's good. Listen to Dave Ramsey for a while--he's anti-credit score

[skeeterator]

No clue what mine is and don't care, cash is king.

[rds_nc]

Mine was so bad for so long that I do now keep it in mind but not anything I worry about regularly. Mostly I know when there's been movement by how many pre-approved mailers I get.

[mperry]

I don't pay that close attention to it but mine's good. Listen to Dave Ramsey for a while--he's anti-credit score

I try not to worry about mine but I hate seeing it go down. Goes down quick but takes forever to come back up. �� I know I shouldn’t worry about it. Not planning on buying anything major and I have cash if needed. I only have 2 credit cards, 3 if you count Home Depot. It also seems like they exist to try to get you to get another card or a personal loan.

[jbassman87]

Many years ago, I found out that I had no credit history. All the bank loans with my local bank were not reported, so there was no "Credit History" for me. I was trying to get a new loan and had to get a credit card. Charge something and pay the minimum payment for 6 months to build credit. In essence, I had to waste money paying interest, to build up a credit score so that I could get a loan, that I would be paying more interest on.

[PJ-Rohlf]

Credit scores are a joke IMO. You get penalized for paying off a loan, but rewarded for a rising score slowly paying of credit cards.

[okskeetertzx190]

The credit limit makes a difference when you make a purchase with the card. You do not want any balances that are utilizing a large amount of the credit limit. So if your Lowes card has a $1000 limit and you use it to purchase a refrigerator at 0% interest that cost $900 out the door it is definitely not good for your credit score. If that same Lowes card had a $5000 limit and you used it to make the same purchase it would not have near the negative effect on your credit score.

[fishin couillon]

I keep a watch on mine at times.....it will fluctuate between 830-850....not sure why but everything is the same throughout the month.....

[Mark Perry]

Heck yeah I pay attention to mine. I check it at least weekly via my banking app. I feel like I've done my part to earn an excellent credit score and I monitor it regularly. I might not need to use it very often but its a good feeling knowing that I am able to use it if I desire. You don't get one by being foolish with your money.
People acting like you just get an 800 or better score by just waking up and breathing....

[Bass in the grass]

It’s how they make their money, of course they want you paying interest. Pay your bills on time and don’t think too hard about it, you will never have a perfect score, they won’t let you.

[Mark Perry]

It’s how they make their money, of course they want you paying interest. Pay your bills on time and don’t think too hard about it, you will never have a perfect score, they won’t let you.

Yep. My score has stayed pretty much the same for a good while now. I carry zero credit card debt and that keeps my score kinda stagnant. I use my cards but I just pay them off each month before any finance charges. The rewards cash on them is too good to not use them when I can. It takes 30.seconds to pay them online in full so it's a win-win to me.

[MMyles]

I do not pay much attention to my credit score after my first divorce and finding out just how corrupt the banking system is. Once I realized the absolute corruption, my goal was to get myself in a position to never rely on a loan again.

M

[Kevin R.]

I watch mine once a month. I don't have much credit debt at any given time, and just one loan out. I'm keeping my eye on it now since I plan on buying a new bike soon and watching interest rates on loans.

[mean_dean]

It's a good way to monitor your credit in case of identity theft, if your score changes and you have not used any credit you can investigate and respond in a timely manner.

[mikeky]

I don't and never have worried about mine, don't even know what it is. CC gets paid off at least weekly. Bought a car 2 years ago, borrowed some of it just to get the "supposed" discount and paid it off after the 3 month minimum. Otherwise debt free for several years. If I need to borrow money I feel like I would have no problem.

[Mark Perry]

It's a good way to monitor your credit in case of identity theft, if your score changes and you have not used any credit you can investigate and respond in a timely manner.

Exactly. Especially in this day and age.

[n2ratfishin]

Your credit scores have an affect on most everything. I wish more people understood how much they affect, things such as paying for a car. I did not grow up being able to pay cash. When we were younger I would pay MUCH less total for transportation than others.

Think about it: Using a loan calculator I took one person buying a 30K car and using their income tax return of 5K for a downpayment financing 25,000. In TN we pay about 9% on a vehicle in sales taxes. The calculator used 7%. and I used the popular 1.99% rates at 60 months for 438.08 a month. The total on that loan was 36,085.08. Next we'll take the 600 credit score person: The same loan at 9% for 60 months is now 518.96 with a total of 40,937.53. That credit score just cost the family 4,852.45 over the next five years. That does NOT include all the families insurance rates which can also be tied to their credit scores.

While the BBC Paradigm may be pretty much debt free and making better choices we ALL started out with little knowledge of how credit affects our finances and opportunities much less the freedom of being debt free. Teach our younger citizens how important credit is vs "cash is king" because most of us are not born into wealth.

P.S. Right now America is at all time highs of credit card and student loan debt. You're sticking your head in the sand if you don't see how this may have a bearing on the rates owe are all complaining about.

[billnorman1]

My credit score sucks. I got duped into giving my identity away and immediately closed all 3 of the credit reporting bureaus. Since then, my score has steadily dwindled.

[Mark Perry]

Your credit scores have an affect on most everything. I wish more people understood how much they affect, things such as paying for a car. I did not grow up being able to pay cash. When we were younger I would pay MUCH less total for transportation than others.

Think about it: Using a loan calculator I took one person buying a 30K car and using their income tax return of 5K for a downpayment financing 25,000. In TN we pay about 9% on a vehicle in sales taxes. The calculator used 7%. and I used the popular 1.99% rates at 60 months for 438.08 a month. The total on that loan was 36,085.08. Next we'll take the 600 credit score person: The same loan at 9% for 60 months is now 518.96 with a total of 40,937.53. That credit score just cost the family 4,852.45 over the next five years. That does NOT include all the families insurance rates which can also be tied to their credit scores.

While the BBC Paradigm may be pretty much debt free and making better choices we ALL started out with little knowledge of how credit affects our finances and opportunities much less the freedom of being debt free. Teach our younger citizens how important credit is vs "cash is king" because most of us are not born into wealth.

P.S. Right now America is at all time highs of credit card and student loan debt. You're sticking your head in the sand if you don't see how this may have a bearing on the rates owe are all complaining about.

You better stop with the facts. It could upset someone....