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Credit Report ???
grdad45
Member Posts: 5,381 ✭✭✭✭
Just for kicks I check my credit rating every once in a while. It' stayed at 823 on both Transunion and Equifax for almost a year. My question is, does anyone have a perfect 850, and how does it happen? Everything I own is paid for, and the one credit card we use is paid up monthly when the statement arrives.
Comments
Your credit report is a measurement of your ability to carry credit - not your ability to pay bills.
Our "new" society wants you to buy stuff you can't afford - not pay for stuff you have.
edit: added "pay" to second sentence - cuz it makes sense now.
I always felt that there are people out there that have what I call "super credit"
Varies somewhat from a low of 826 - 835 but no idea why it changes.
Credit cards always paid off when the bill arrives & same with utility/insurance/real estate tax or repair bills. The house paid off in 3.5 years and cars/motorcycle and pickup are paid for when purchased. Haven't financed a vehicle since 1966 as stupid to pay interest. Biggest loans in 30 years were the house and a business with both paid off early.
We have enough gun laws, what we need is IDIOT control.
Blood makes you related. Loyalty makes you family.
I thought getting old would take longer. :shock:
I hardly use cash at all any more. A hundred bucks in cash will last me for a month or more. I only use folding money when the amount is under $10 or to leave a small tip (large restaurant tips go on the card.)
I'd say have over a 12 - maybe 18/20 credit cards ... some seldom used, some only once and some never.
Only 3 used on a regular basis.
:?:
We have enough gun laws, what we need is IDIOT control.
Blood makes you related. Loyalty makes you family.
I thought getting old would take longer. :shock:
I read your OP as you use one card, and not that you have only one card.
No loans, everything is paid for. Never cared about credit, if we wanted it, we just bought it. (still do) A few years ago one of our credit cards started giving us a free credit report, I was PISSED at first. It came in at only 84? something, I thought it should be higher. I figured it went to 1000, and didn't know why ours was so low. Then I found out it only went to 850. Oops my bad.
Last year we bought a new car, we wrote a check for it. The dealer asked if we wanted them to hold the check, I said no, it's good now. He was surprised. Our credit score dropped into the 83?'s. Don't know why.
Not sure how many "active" credit cards we have, but recently we received a notice from American Express that they were closing our account because we have not used it in over a decade. So.....OK.
We use 3 credit cards regularly. Pay them off, in full, every month. We are more interested in how much cash back they are giving us. Our lowest is 1.5 %, we use the 5% quarterly ones to put over $1,000 back into out bank account every year (around Christmas time). IRS does not tax you for this, they say it is just a discount on what you buy.
It is I guess tough to be perfect LOL.
With no late pays, excellent debt to income, excellent use of avail credit etc etc you still most likely will be in the 800-840 range. I think 850 is reserved for perfect and Jesus.
Ask Dave Ramsey about this junk !!!
Thanks !!!
I Grew Old Too Fast (And Smart Too damn Slow !!!) !!!
A story: One day I took in 2 applications, both scores came in over 800. Both borrowers got their numbers and called to apologize to me for their scores. After calming them down, I looked at the top 4 reasons lowering the scores. One was "Too little revolving credit" , that guy had one card. The other was "Too much revolving credit", that guy had two cards. Neither had a huge available balance and paid their balances monthly. Crazy stuff math.
BTW, you pay history only makes up 35% of your score, which is supposedly a measure of responsibility, not creditworthiness.
KC
On the positive side, it tells me I have only a few credit cards. On the negative side, it says I don't have enough credit cards.
On the negative side, it says it has too little info about my mortgage. On the positive side, it tells me I paid off my mortgage.
As soon as I figure out what the heck they want me to do, I'll do it.
Have 5 credit cards that I pay in full, and use according to which one pays the most cash back on a certain item. I had a sixth card that I cancelled awhile back since I hadn't used it in forever. My credit score dropped about 15 points for a brief period when I did that.
No sense in trying to figure the system out based on financial responsibility. Like other have said, if it's over 750 or so, you are gonna get the best rates available.
On the positive side, I don't care.
On the positive side, I don't owe anyone a dime, for home, vehicles, tractor, toys, etc.
I have two credit cards that I use sparingly, and never run a balance.
My son Travis has followed my example, to the extreme. He wanted to buy a house but had no credit. He HATES the notion of paying interest, so he doesn't. He has no credit cards, and pays cash when he buys a car.
We went to a locally owned bank where there are still bankers. (A rare thing is a banker these days!) He put 1/3 down and financed the balance for 7 years. He paid it off in 4 years. At 27 years of age, he was in a paid off house. He also has two paid-for vehicles, and no debt. He has a job that allows him to work from home, and he gets a lot of overtime. He wants to buy a larger house one day, but he doesn't want to borrow money to do so.
Accordingly, he has saved up quite a bit of money, and will be able to trade up, way up, in a year or so.
A mortgage is the cheapest loan you can get. It is FAR wiser to have a low-interest mortgage and use your free money in investments that earn you much more than the mortgage interest is costing you. You end up with a paid house AND a large nest egg. Instead of just the house.
There may come a time when you really need a loan. Having no credit history because you bought everything with cash means you won't get that loan. Far better to use a credit card or two for most purchases and pay them off in full every month. That's virtually the same as using cash, but establishes a good credit history. It's perverse, perhaps, but in this society you can't get credit unless you use credit.
It is not only possible but desirable to live frugally but use credit wisely to do so. And that's a fact, Jack.
It sounds like Travis would have no problems using a credit card and maintaining a 0 balance every month. Also when buying a vehicle he could wait for one of the absurdly low ( sometimes 0% ) financing offers. I sort of agree with Rocky that for someone of his age he should think about putting money in investments. Yes the stock market is a gamble but in the long run it has always paid off better than bonds or savings. Most mutual funds this year are getting 15 - 20+ percent return. That being said, at this stage in my life I have reduced my investment amounts a bit and pay cash a lot. At this point I don't give a rip about increasing my credit rating, just maintaining it. A couple of credit cards that I pay in full every month accomplishes that. Bob
I have also encouraged him to take some of his money and invest it. I even offered to introduce him to my money manager.
He refused both suggestions.