I gotta tell ya since starting my new job with this company that deals with online loan approvals I've been learning all sorts of cool and interesting things about credit history, how loans are approved, and mortgage loans. For instance: 1) You should pull a credit report on yourself at least once a year to make sure nothing got reported incorrectly thus preventing you from getting that loan or better interest rate. 2) If you're a freshman entering college this semester DON'T go crazy and apply for every credit card app out there just for that stupid free t-shirt. They all show up on your report as a line item. And the amount of line items on your report is a criteria that some banks use to decide whether or not to approve you for a loan or not. 3) Always pay your credit card bills on time and Charge Offs can really, really hurt your credit. 4) If you're buying a house, ARMs might be better in the long run then Fixed rates. Anyway, that's just my two cents on the matter. ------------------ Ni ai chou mei!
The best way to avoid credit card debt is to NOT HAVE CREDIT CARDS! ------------------ Things do not change; we change. - Henry David Thoreau
My girlfriend has a job working for a company that handles the credit-checking software that banks use and she has been telling me all kinds of good inside-scoop credit stuff. None of which I can divulge here.
Jeff: But all those nifty internet-impulse buys would become impossible ! ------------------ Lacking inspiration at the moment...
Not if you have money in the bank and use your debit card. ------------------ Things do not change; we change. - Henry David Thoreau
Ah ah ah-- depends on what kind of checking you have. Mine limits me to 10 transactions per month and then charges 75 cents for every additional transaction. My girlfriend got me weaned off using the debit card. Now I use my AmEx and pay whatever I owe at the end of the month. I love my girlfriend.
ah man jeff.. i guess I can't use my credit card to buy that 1,000 dollar worth of jewerly from your site ] I always get letters saying that since I'll be going to college next year I need a credit card so i can build up good credit and get cheap student loans etc.. any truth to that? ------------------ Shane "Save Our Rockets" "Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be"
Amex charges you $50 per year just for the "priveledge" of using their card. It is RARE for banks to charge for "credit card" uses of your debit card. Some limit debit card transactions where you have to enter your pin like at an ATM or a grocery store, but very few that I know of limit actual credit card transactions where the card is used like a credit card with the money coming out of your bank account. The great thing about cash and non-credit credit cards is that they cost you ZERO to use. ------------------ Things do not change; we change. - Henry David Thoreau
That's a funny thing to say because, in all honesty, I actually struggle with the very decision to accept cards that generally do nothing but create debt for someone else while increasing my personal bottom line. The problem is that I would lose a tremendous amount of business if I didn't accept them. The only way I've been able to reconcile it is to remember that I can't be held responsible for the acts of others. They can always pay me with cash or write a check if they like. ------------------ Things do not change; we change. - Henry David Thoreau
Amex charges you $50 per year just for the "priveledge" of using their card News to me! I don't pay a yearly fee for mine. As for debit cards not costing you anything, that's like saying it doesn't cost me anything to get in my car and drive home. Technically true-- I don't have to put a quarter in the car to start it up-- but I'm using gasoline, which I have to pay for at another time. Similarly, as I've already mentioned, a lot of checking plans incur charges for transactions over a certain number. So I don't pay interest on whatever I buy, and there's no fee for using the card, but at the end of the month the bank tallies up my transactions and then charges me 75 cents for a bunch of them. [This message has been edited by BrianKagy (edited June 15, 2001).]
I have a debit card with a small credit line. I like it, since it gives me a small cushion, but doesn't let me carry a balance. I'm one of those people who tends to spend what they have , but so far I've been good about not going over. Rocket Fan: NO TRUTH AT ALL! You're actually in better shape if you don't have any credit history. Many banks now count your credit LIMIT as debt for the purposes of mortgages, etc. A relative of mine got a better deal on his mortgage than his perfect-credit-record parents because of this. BrianKagy: What girlfriends make up in cost-saving ideas, they make up for in restaurants . My girlfriend hates alcohol mostly... but she's always sure that $8 dollar lounge drink will just be wonderful! *grumble grumble* ------------------ Lacking inspiration at the moment...
In case anyone's interested: MyFICO.com is a site where you can purchase your Equifax credit report and your numeric credit score, for $12.95. As a site note, that credit score was not available to consumers until very recently.
That's the beauty of the Amarillo National Bank checking account. It's always free no matter what. No monthly fee. No transaction fees (Other than the standard out-of-network ATM fee if you use an out-of-network ATM), no checkcard fees. More banks should be like Amarillo National. I use my Amarillo National Checkcard for most transactions where I would normally use a credit card. But for things like car rentals or hotel incidentals or things were my card is being used for a deposit, I use the credit cards, and I just pay 'em off every month. I think my total credit limit for both cards together is only like $700. When I was married, though, we had a lot more credit. And that kicked out butts when we got divorced (actually it kicked mine. I ended up paying the outstanding bills. I think we had over $25K in debt, including a car loan, when we divorced) ------------------
I think this is the 3rd thread in which you've praised the Amarillo National Bank. Either your dad owns the joint, or they're one hell of a bank to have such a happy customer. When are they expanding ? I want a no-fee checkcard! Gimme gimme gimme (I'm a liberal remember, I like freebies!) ------------------ Lacking inspiration at the moment...
My Dad doesn't own the joint, but I will admit that the Wares (who do own the bank) are family friends. But it is a really good bank. I hate dealing banks usually. There's always some screw-up somewhere that takes forever to sort out because they have to call North Carolina or San Francisco to get anything done (and nobody knows who the right department to talk to is, so half you time is spent on a wild goose chase). They fee you to death, etc. It's just nice to have a bank where I don't have to deal with fees and where mistakes are easy to sort out, and it's easy to get hold of who you really need to talk to. I've spent so much time arguing with people at banks, that I'm finally glad to have a place that I don't have to go through that. I don't think they'll ever expand too far out of Amarillo, unfortunately. I think Dumas is about as far from Amarillo as they're willing to tread. My Washington Mutual checking account is no-service-charge, as well, and I know they're in Houston and D/FW and other parts of the state. But I haven't had an account there long enough to be impressed enough to praise. Maybe in a year or so, I'll be constantly mentioning Washington Mutual in my ClutchCity posts. ------------------
jeff.. ok i'll pay the 1000 bucks in cash then What annoys me is the government giving out info. I recnetly had to register for select service and the draft and a few days later both me and a friend of mine who also registered got phone calls for credit cards. saying they got our info from select service and like to offer us a special credit card offer.. what is the government doing? ------------------ Shane "Save Our Rockets" "Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be" [This message has been edited by Rocket Fan (edited June 15, 2001).]
When I worked for CSC (which handled the Equifax accounts for the central region), the best credit scores were had by people who had carried a large balance on a revolving credit account, but who had paid it down or off. Haven is mostly correct in that debt to income ratios can (depending on the lending institution) be affected by how much credit you have. What he means by this is that say you have a Visa with a $10K credit limit, but a $0 balance. A bank could include that in their debt to income ratio calculations as $10K worth of debt because you have access to that much debt at any time. However, I've never heard of this actually affecting your credit score. Typically, the lending institution will use your score to see IF they will lend to you, but they will use debt to income ratios to figure out how much you qualify for. As for myself, I think credit cards are awesome if used correctly. I have three of them. Two of them, a Discover and a Visa are in my wallet, they both pay me back approximately 1% on purchases though the Discover is a slightly better deal. The other sits in a drawer. It has a $6,000 balance for a large purchase, and it has an introductory rate of 1.9%--virtually nothing. I've budgeted to pay a certain amount on it so that when the introductory rate expires, it will be paid off. I've had no problem paying this budgeted amount because it was planned for, and I won't have to ever pay high interest rates on it. I NEVER use cash or check....except to pay my cc balances and monthly bills. They provide me with the ultimate in convenience, I only have to write those couple of checks each month, I don't have to go into the gas station to pay for my gas, I get to do most of my shopping in my underwear (and it's absolutely ridiculous how much money I save shopping online, but that's another story), AND they give me cash back. Do my credit card companies like me? No. They don't make near as much money on me as they do on others, but they still make money. Why? because they charge the merchant a certain percentage for the right to accept their cards. How much? Close to five percent on average. Who pays for it? We all do. Merchants have to charge more to recoup the cost of accepting credit cards. But they don't have to charge 5% more because close to half of their sales are still made up of cash and check purchases. So they only have to charge about 2 1/2% more. So Jeff, and you other staunch cash and check users: I owe you a debt of gratitude. Thank you for subsidizing the convenience and financial benefits I gain from using my credit cards. ------------------ stop posting my damn signature
BK: I'm surprised because I've NEVER heard of AMEX giving out cards for free. They yearly charge is how they stay in business unless yours is an Optima or Blue card that has a credit limit. What is interesting about credit cards is that they are the single biggest drag on our national debt. Alan Greenspan said in an interview a couple of years ago that every American can significantly reduce the national debt by paying off credit cards and interest. By doing that, the money that was used for nothing but interest can now be put back into the economy in the form of goods and services. I'm interested to hear from the economically conservative. I've found most fiscal conservatives, like my father-in-law, don't want to carry ANY debt EVER except for mortgages or maybe car loans. Most of them seem to live by the "if I can't afford it with cash, I can't afford it period" motto with few exceptions. I actually lived the opposite way for many years and rang up nearly $60,000 in credit card debt ALONE! I NEVER want to another credit card as long as I live. ------------------ Things do not change; we change. - Henry David Thoreau
Jeff: With the exception of a few times, I have always paid off my month credit card bill in full and have only once paid my bill late but it was less than 30 days so it didn't go on my credit report. I just got a late fee. But I always call the credit card company and talk them into waiving the fee. When I got laid off and couldn't make full payments on my credit card I had to go with paying only the minimum balance due and that drove me absolutely nuts! Overall, I'm a pretty frugal person so I clip and save coupons and save money wherever I can. I'm always doing comparison shopping whether it's for groceries or gas. I think I have some kind of morbid fear of going bankrupt and having to live out on the streets or something. ------------------ Ni ai chou mei!
