There’s a piece of advice my dad gave me 30 years ago and it is still relevant today.

There was a time prior to my divorce that due to “circumstances“ my credit rating had to take a hit. Incredibly frustrating and embarrassing when I needed to get things done that required credit.

Over the past few years I have worked exceptionally hard to put things back to normal and today was approved for an $8000 interest free loan to get my house painted.

It feels so good to be back to “normal”.

Congrats Sir

I tell my kids the same, a lot. Along with keeping debt in check. I got beat down hard back in 09-10

Outstanding!

I've always been serious about building and keeping good credit. And having an excellent credit score made a huge difference in being able to capitalize on the ridiculously low interest rates to buy my own house last year, immediately post-divorce. Literally had lenders fighting over me, trying to beat the competition, compared to my ex-wife who had middling credit and was frustrated because she was struggling to find lenders willing to work with her, and getting quoted noticeably higher interest rates to boot.

(Though funnily enough, utilizing my excellent credit to buy that house dropped my credit by nearly 10%, from lower-mid-800s to mid-700s. )

$8,000 to paint your house? Who is doing the work, Michaelangelo???

That's about normal for around here. Prior to selling my last house, I got several quotes to have the exterior repainted, to see if it was worth it before listing. All were ~$8k.

Great news on your credit, back in the late 80's my live in fiance decided to handle all money matters and after 6 months I found out she didn't pay any of the bills and destroyed my credit. Tossed her out and it took about 7 yrs to get it back on track. In the lower 800 now.

Agree that one should not just "protect" their credit, but actively cultivate it by opening, using, and maintaining a variety of credit accounts responsibly.

I will also add that every time this topic comes up, someone will chime in that credit is the devil, that nobody needs credit, and therefore, nobody needs a credit score or rating.

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Agree that one should not just "protect" their credit, but actively cultivate it by opening, using, and maintaining a variety of credit accounts responsibly.

Over the past couple of years and I’ve really learned how to manage and maximize my credit rating, I learned that the higher your credit limit on a particular card or number of cards the more “open Dubai“ ratio you have.

Recently I tried to increase my credit limit on a capital one card that I’ve had for years but have not used for sometime because I have not needed to.

My request was declined because as they put it, “you are not using the credit you have available now”!

LOL

Similar to what we just witnessed in the stock market, it’s only fun and games if the big companies are winning. Sure, they’ll give me more money if I want to use that money so I can pay them interest, but if I want to “play the game” just to increase my credit rating, they’re not so interested in that.

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I will also add that every time this topic comes up, someone will chime in that credit is the devil, that nobody needs credit, and therefore, nobody needs a credit score or rating.

Agreed, and I’ll probably just report that post to Para for disrupting the thread, rather than trying to get into an argument.

Just because you have a great credit rating does not mean you need to overextend yourself.

In this case, I’m essentially taking an $8000 loan and paying it off before it comes due, interest free.

I did the same thing with my peloton, small payments every month, interest free.

That is essentially free money, if my good credit can get me 0% and keeps me from having to dip into my cash savings, all the better.

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Originally posted by Ronin1069:
My request was declined because as they put it, “you are not using the credit you have available now”!

Which is funny, because the limit on one of my two credit cards goes up every year or so, despite me never carrying a balance month-to-month, or ever using anywhere near the limit. I've had it for ~20 years, and it's up to like $27k now, but I only ever use it for a couple recurring charges totalling ~$28 monthly (like streaming subscription fees). Basically 1/1000th of the current credit limit.

So there are at least some credit cards that don't care if you "aren't using the credit you have now".

*shrug*

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Originally posted by Ronin1069:
In this case, I’m essentially taking an $8000 loan and paying it off before it comes due, interest free.

I did the same thing with my peloton, small payments every month, interest free.

That is essentially free money, if my good credit can get me 0% and keeps me from having to dip into my cash savings, all the better.

Yep. I did the same the last time I bought a nice mattress. Lets me keep all my savings and investments money, and just pay a small amount monthly at 0%.

I watch mine and get irritated when, even though there are no charges or new accounts opened, the numbers vary. It often changes 10 or 15 points with no real accounting as to why it changed.

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Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I watch mine and get irritated when, even though there are no charges or new accounts opened, the numbers vary. It often changes 10 or 15 points with no real accounting as to why it changed.

Most likely, the swing is your reported credit card utilization.

Your credit card company reports balance to the credit reporting bureau on an arbitrary recurring day each month. Your balance on that particular day is the balance that the bureau thinks you are carrying, even if you pay your credit card off in full each month.

For example, you have a $10,000 credit card with a bill due date on the 30th. This credit card reports the balance on the 20th of each month.

On the 5th of the month, you buy a $7500 M249 from your local gun store. You pay your card off completely on the 25th. The next month, your credit core TANKS. The reason? Because on the 20th, your credit card company reported that you were using 75% of your available credit, which is a huge red flag.

The next month, no new purchases, and your credit card company reports your 0 balance, and your utilization drops back down to 0, and your score pops back up to where it was before the gun purchase.

To combat this, you should figure out when your credit card company reports the balance and pay before this date, even if it's a few days earlier than your statement due date.

Also, you should increase your available credit limit, both for the individual card and as an aggregate across all cards. A $7500 purchase that pushes your utilization up to 75% is a huge red flag, but a $7500 purchase that only pushes your utilization up 10% is just "meh" to the algorithm.

Makes sense. Thanks!

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Originally posted by blueye:
Great news on your credit, back in the late 80's my live in fiance decided to handle all money matters and after 6 months I found out she didn't pay any of the bills and destroyed my credit. Tossed her out and it took about 7 yrs to get it back on track. In the lower 800 now.

I had a GF in Miami that did same thing to me. I gave her money to sent to out of state bank to make payments on a car loan.

I didn't know she was pocketing the money until repo man showed up to seize the car.

I lost the car. Kicked her ass out, too.

Since then, I've met several women who were heavily in debt and asked me to float them a no interest loan.

They got pissed when I said NO.

Earlier this year, credit card company canceled my card for no use in many years. Score dropped 7 points and in about 3 months went back up to where it was.

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Originally posted by blueye:
Earlier this year, credit card company canceled my card for no use in many years. Score dropped 7 points and in about 3 months went back up to where it was.

Yeah, I'm pretty good about taking out some of my "legacy" cards and using them "in-person" once a year. This year, because of COVID, I didn't have many opportunities to take the cards out and use them, and lost one of my cards to inactivity. It was one of my older cards, and I lost that card from my average age calculation. Score took a little hit, but came back ok. I think, overall, my mix is a little healthier now with one fewer card to my record.

Good for you man. I've been through 7 layoffs, including right after I bought my first and only home I have ever lived in. I made a commitment to keep that credit rating, perfect, no matter what. It cost me my savings, my 401k many years ago, but whatever. That credit, at least to me, is your ass! Without it I would have never made it.

I have a friend that abused the system. Then it came time where he needed a new vehicle. He got the harsh reality of his actions. I spent the better part of 2 years coaching him through fixing it, getting him to the point where he could finance a car. Then he fucked it up even worse than the first tine. And he makes excellent money with his on call pay and overtime in a hospital system. Now he needs credit again and can't get a home loan, a property loan or a car loan. Credit may be a rigged system, but it is what it is and you have to play.

I also use 0% extensively. Tile, furniture, appliances, I'll take it every time. People like to talk financing in blanket terms and this is incorrect. They are financial tools, some of them excellent, to get shit done. "I never finance anything" well good for you. I finance a lot. Not everyone who does this is out on a shopping spree or living beyond their means. It's just a way to get things done when they need done instead of punting it off to cost more money later.

I totally get it when something like divorce, job loss or the like happens but most people make it way harder than it needs to be.

I've had one credit card my whole life and have been fortunate to pay my bills on time. The only time I have ever even looked at my credit rating is when buying a car the dealership looked it up.

The bottom line is if you pay your bills on time you will have way more credit available than you should ever spend and your favorable borrowing rates only get so good. No need to constantly create unnecessary stress.

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:

Which is funny, because the limit on one of my two credit cards goes up every year or so, despite me never carrying a balance month-to-month, or ever using anywhere near the limit. I've had it for ~20 years, and it's up to like $27k now, but I only ever use it for a couple recurring charges totalling ~$28 monthly (like streaming subscription fees). Basically 1/1000th of the current credit limit.

So there are at least some credit cards that don't care if you "aren't using the credit you have now".

*shrug*

I have a credit card too that keeps increasing. I had AmEx decrease my limit until I called them up. I told them and it was the truth that I was planning to make a big purchase soon. They restored it after the call.

Now, I make a point to use all my credit cards regularly that I even track what charges go on which credit card.

A credit rating is something people take for granted until they need it. I know I do. But after getting a perfect 850 credit score from Equifax, I aim to guard it.