Credit Card Question

Im triggered! Unbeknownst to me, I guess I was grandfathered into the $5 discount with my credit card with Verizon. When my credit card was skimmed last month, I lost my $5 discount. I was very irritated as I am very particular about my debit card or bank information being exposed on the internet or corporations being compromised by hackers.

 

Nah. The mathematics of interest charges have not changed this year.

You almost always get charged higher interest on the C.C. than you can ever make in a savings account. It'd be more like $1500 in an aggressive hedge fund to try to even the vig on most C.C.'s.

PS -- But I did not sleep in a Holiday Inn last night, and I'm embarrassed to say my rough draft calculations of my household's federal tax in 2018 turned out to be a little off. Ooof, it's hard out there on a Californian.

 

Certain things affect your score at different levels. Some take more time to stop affecting your credit than others. When I was 21ish I had 5-6 thousands of dollars of debt. I made a decision to let it go off of my credit and not pay it. It took forever but my credit scores are now in the low 800's and I don't plan on ever have that coming down again hopefully.

 

Depends on your ongoing and anticipated cash flow, and your current credit score's affect on your ability to get more credit.

If you can get another credit card with at least a $1500 limit, then just sticking with your current payment plan to stay current and chip away at enough of the principal to not incur too much interest would be fine, while focusing on saving $1500. $1500 should be easy to save over the next year if you cut a streaming channel or skip eating out for lunch or dinner a few times a month, then auto-transfer $30 a week from checking to savings.

 

Credit cards are an amazing tool for people with discipline. With like 4-5 cards, NY combined linits maybe over 50k. Doesn't mean I just build up balances. I rarely use cash and I keep about 20 bucks in my wallet. Other than that, swiping the card all day everyday, doesn't matter how small or large the purchase. Whatever my statement balance is, I pay it off without accruing interest.

Best advise for Credt Cards:

Use Credit Cards like you would cash, can't spend cash you don't have in your hands.

Now there maybe times you can take advantage of 0 interest introductory rates. But be sure to pay the monthly minimum or else that rate will fly out the window and yoully have to pay. Even with introductory rates, if I purchase something large that I'll pay over time with that 0% interest rate, I still make sure I have the cash to back it up .

 

Does anyone know what happens to those retail store credit cards once they are paid off? I bought my wife's engagement ring using Synchrony bank and paid off the deferred interest plan before the promotion ended. I called them to ask and they noted after 2 years of inactivity they will close the card from that purchase. Doesn't this mean it will hurt my credit and thus, taking out 0 interest plans is a bad idea?

 

They do close on their own but I've opened a handful of retail cards and approximately 4 have closed over like 10 yrs. However my average score between the 3 bureaus is probably 790ish. It maybe once you build high enough credit and maintain it for some time, its hard for it to go down by opening and closing accounts. I think missed payments and collection marks hurt more than anything else. Just my two cents..

 

You're falling for a misconception many people tend to fall for. Lenders in different industries weight credit history different. When you see your score via Credit Karma, its a generic compilation of your history. Any type of revolving credit effects your credit in a negative manner. Having a total credit line of $1000 and utilizing 75% of it is not the same as having $500,000 line of credit and utilizing 5%.

A & B are essentially the same in a generic reporting. There may be some situations where consolidating on one card is more beneficial and vice versa.

Keeping a high score is pretty simple. No derogatory reports. The lower the credit utilization, the better. A modest open line of credit. Length of credit history. (Dont cancel that 15 year old account and dont open new accounts for the sake of getting a measly reward. Opening new accounts reduces your average length of credit history)

 

I would open more CCs providied they don't have annual fees. Do autopay for a known subscription (spotify etc...) then clip the card.

Increases the avg length if you start early and know how to manage several unused cards

 

Chase just gave me an extra $10,000 to add to my credit limit. Not sure why they gave me that much, it's usually $5,000