|
LifelongFan posted:Question about credit scores. I was thinking about buying a car in the next 6 months so I checked mine and it was atrocious (609). You would not have a near 600 score for utilization alone. See the adverse action codes on your credit report if you can...that will spell out the top negative drivers. EDIT: sorry, misunderstood. I would dispute that paid collection every other month until it dropped...I bet they won't verify.
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2011 03:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 16:17 |
|
|
LifelongFan posted:Question about credit scores. I was thinking about buying a car in the next 6 months so I checked mine and it was atrocious (609). A paid collection account will look better than an unpaid one. Paying off the credit cards will help too. But opening up accounts and trying to outguess FICO never works, or if it does it is so minimal. Time and having low balances will heal your credit. That said, just because you will be getting a nice raise isn't an excuse to run out and get a new car. Is the one you have falling apart? Assuming that is the case and if you get stuck with a higher rate, the solution is to get a cheap car. A 10% loan doesn't kill people. A 10% loan to finance their dream car over 7 years does.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2011 03:18
|
|
|
Zeta Taskforce posted:A paid collection account will look better than an unpaid one. Paying off the credit cards will help too. But opening up accounts and trying to outguess FICO never works, or if it does it is so minimal. Time and having low balances will heal your credit. If that's not possible right away, I'm okay with that, but I was just stunned at my credit being so lovely. I've put things on the credit card while in college, but I haven't lived beyond my means and have never had any problems making the payments. I was wanting to finally reward myself with a car but if the credit remains lovely I guess it'll have to wait. Guess I wanted to know what a reasonable time frame would be to expect to get back above 700 on the credit score? LifelongFan fucked around with this message at 04:33 on Apr 24, 2011 |
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2011 04:26
|
|
|
I've heard it mentioned somewhere along the line in this thread that a person can have too much available credit (like, it would hurt my credit report, or something). How do I figure out how much is too much for me? I have three credit cards and, between them, $25K available credit. I want to get a fourth card, a specific one everyone in my area has because it has great airline mileage rewards. I certainly don't need four cards, as I never carry a balance, but I'm hesitant to close any because I heard that's generally not good. The one I would want to close has a low $1K credit limit. It's not the oldest account, but close to it (3 months younger than my oldest card).
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2011 05:38
|
|
|
In February, I went through a "finance shift" and branched out to other companies to try and maximize that I could do with my money. I originally had my checking and savings through Wachovia, and a credit card through Wachovia/Wells Fargo. I decided to leave my checking at Wachovia, go to ING for Savings (who was advertising 1.1% interest at the time) and Citi Forward for my credit card. As it stands, I have: Checking: $750 WF Credit Card: $0 ($1200 limit) (Opened 02/2010) Citi Credit Card: $1300 ($3500 limit) (0% now, 13.99% in the future) (Opened 01/2011) ING Savings: $5100 I just found out that as a student employee of my University, I'm eligible to join the State Employees Credit Union. They offer a checking account with .25% interest, a savings account with 1.25% interest, and a credit card with 6.99% interest. Should I move anything over to them? The only reason I'm still at Wachovia is so my parents can add/take money as they need to through their own account. Is the .25% increase in interest through SECU's savings enough to warrant a shift over? And most importantly, I'm scared to apply for ANOTHER credit card through them and have it reflect poorly on my credit that I've already got 3 cards. I know I don't HAVE to take one through them, but the consolidation would be nice. Goon thoughts?
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2011 17:01
|
|
|
I was talking with a coworker today and the following question came up. My friend has over a couple hundred shares of EMC. He bought in Dec around 22 and he is waiting for the one year holding period before selling for tax purposes. We were discussing him writing covered calls that expire in Jan of 2012. Towards the end of the conversation he mentions that this stock is in a Roth IRA that is options enabled. My question is in a Roth IRA you've paid taxes upfront for tax free withdrawals. How does long term and short gains get handled in a Roth as long as any gains stay within the Roth IRA?
|
|
#
?
Apr 25, 2011 19:08
|
|
|
Visible Ivan posted:I was talking with a coworker today and the following question came up. My friend has over a couple hundred shares of EMC. He bought in Dec around 22 and he is waiting for the one year holding period before selling for tax purposes. We were discussing him writing covered calls that expire in Jan of 2012. Towards the end of the conversation he mentions that this stock is in a Roth IRA that is options enabled. Tax free is tax free. Take the gains whenever you want - they'll never be taxed so long as they stay in the account (specifying "in the account" because early withdrawal of gains does get taxed). Upside is you can take gains whenever you like and not worry about it, but the tradeoff is that losses are also outside the tax code, so you can't take losses in a Roth to offset gains outside the Roth. Hopefully you'll get more gains then losses over time, though, so that's a small price to pay.
|
|
#
?
Apr 25, 2011 19:55
|
|
|
Here is my credit card debt scenario: During college, and for a year or two after where I made some loose and fast decisions financially, I have ran up a bit of a credit card balance. My credit score sits around the 670s currently and I am looking to consolidate/eliminate my debt. I currently have three cards listed below with APR, balance, and limit. Cap One - 9.72% - $1,050 / $1,150 BofA - 13.24% - $1,920 / $2,000 Chase - 14.24% - $5,300 / $5,500 So, after being a moron who has ran up huge amounts on the highest interest cards, I am now ready to start tackling this $8,400ish in credit card debt. I am hoping to put about $600-$800 a month into tackling all of this. Obviously I need to start with the Chase card, then BofA, then CapOne. What I am wondering is if I can get any of the card companies to do the following: 1) Increase my line of credit to $8,500 2) Lower my interest rate 3-4 points 3) Give me two balance transfers from the other two cards without a fee. Does anyone know if this is in the realm of possibility or have had any experience in negotiating this type of deal? I'm not looking to close any of the accounts, I just want to not have $100 a month go to interest.
|
|
#
?
Apr 25, 2011 21:36
|
|
|
Please start a thread and spend years making a series of bad financial decisions, it's the best entertainment we have around here and lately Cornholio and IllegallySober have been letting us down by paying theirs down.
|
|
#
?
Apr 25, 2011 23:30
|
|
|
LifelongFan posted:My car is falling apart. It's leaking every fluid possible and has about 190k miles on it. I've driven it for 9 years and it's well beyond time to upgrade. I figured I'd finally get the opportunity to buy a new car now that I was moving up in my career. Ok. I concede that you need a different car. What I will not concede is that you need a new car. You don't have to wait until you have a 700 credit score (which is hard to predict, but even if you paid down the credit cards to near zero, my guess is 18 months) to buy a car. Its not like it's a house. People usually way overestimate the effect of interest rates on payments. For example, say you got a $10,000 used car loan at Penfed Credit Union at 2.49%(I just gave half of BFC a hardon by saying Penfed BTW). Your payment would be $289/mo. But say that you buy the same car, finance it at 10%, 4x the rate. your payment? $322/mo. An extra $33/mo will not kill you. If you shop extra careful, buy the same car off craigslist instead of the dealer and get it for $9000? You pay $290/mo, the same as Mr. 750 credit score. You can try disputing that collection account, but it is not automatic they will forget to respond to your dispute, even if it is $50. At my credit union we have people who routinely dispute all of our negative reporting and we always respond. Sometimes this cat and mouse game goes on for years.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2011 01:25
|
|
|
Vilkata posted:Here is my credit card debt scenario: During college, and for a year or two after where I made some loose and fast decisions financially, I have ran up a bit of a credit card balance. My credit score sits around the 670s currently and I am looking to consolidate/eliminate my debt. I currently have three cards listed below with APR, balance, and limit. You are not in horrible shape. Those rates are far from atrocious. Get on a written budget, spend all the money on paper before the month starts, monitor your progress, pay $800/mo, you will be done in a year. As far as what account you start with, it depends on the guru you believe. Suze Orman says pay the highest interest rate first, minimum payments on the rest. Dave Ramsey says pay the smallest balance first, min payments on the rest. Dave has a point. If you do pay $600 to $800, it will feel good in 4 months when you have killed 2 out of 3. Now let me answer your questions. 1. If you are current on all your debts, one of them will raise your limit. 2. I doubt it. 3. Maybe. But seriously, pay it off. Otherwise you are rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic as you play with interest rate magic.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2011 01:37
|
|
|
Ulf posted:Please start a thread and spend years making a series of bad financial decisions, it's the best entertainment we have around here and lately Cornholio and IllegallySober have been letting us down by paying theirs down. Can someone summon Murderknobs from the dead?
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2011 01:39
|
|
|
Zeta Taskforce posted:Can someone summon Murderknobs from the dead? I thought Murderknobs was banned, rather than dead. I always wondered what had happened to the guy... froglet fucked around with this message at 14:46 on Apr 26, 2011 |
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2011 14:37
|
|
|
froglet posted:I thought Murderknobs was banned, rather than dead. I always wondered what had happened to the guy... I hope he didn’t die. The guy seems to be able to hold his liquor well. I just meant that because he doesn’t post here, he is dead to me.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2011 14:48
|
|
|
Is it generally possible to do the 'slickdeals' type thing with credit cards [i.e. min-max your money to get the most rewards possible and then stop using or cancel a card all-together] or do they tank your credit rating as revenge for taking advantage of them? Credit rating seems very nebulous and possibly ominous if you do something banks don't like.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2011 23:10
|
|
|
Does anybody know of a reputable credit repair organization? I keep reading that many are shady, but that a good one can take a lot of the work out of getting your credit score back on track.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2011 12:06
|
|
|
Pizer posted:Is it generally possible to do the 'slickdeals' type thing with credit cards [i.e. min-max your money to get the most rewards possible and then stop using or cancel a card all-together] or do they tank your credit rating as revenge for taking advantage of them? I’m not cool enough to know what “doing the slickdeals type thing” is, and “min-max your money” sheds no light on the matter. That said, if you somehow manage to outsmart a credit card where they give you more rewards than you give them in fees, interest and interchange revenue, its not like they take some vindictive punishment out on your credit. But I guess if this scheme involves opening up 3 accounts a month and then closing them once you used your points, that might look bad. Also, I would encourage you to look into a different hobby.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2011 14:31
|
|
|
Zeta Taskforce posted:I’m not cool enough to know what “doing the slickdeals type thing” is, and “min-max your money” sheds no light on the matter. It's signing to new cards just to get the signup bonuses, especially in regards to airline reward cards since those often allow you to move your points to other accounts. ie: sign up for British Airways card, spend the mandatory whatever money you need to spend in 6 months to get the 100k mile bonus, transfer those miles/points to whatever aggregator account you're using then ditching the card. If you do it too often, you'll get turned down for new cards when they check your credit report. They're not entirely stupid.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2011 14:43
|
|
|
Merrill Grinch posted:If you do it too often, you'll get turned down for new cards when they check your credit report. They're not entirely stupid. I am almost 100% sure they are not judging based on that criteria (they really can't anyway). What MAY be happening is they will deny you if you have too many inqueries as that is a fraud indication.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2011 14:47
|
|
|
LorneReams posted:I am almost 100% sure they are not judging based on that criteria (they really can't anyway). Most likely, but the fatwallet/slickdeals crowd aren't exactly very subtle when they're gaming the system. The cheap travel type sites typically advise spreading out your gains a bit to keep your credit report clean. Frugal Travel Guy is a decent place to get started in card flipping if that sounds like something you might be interested in but you're not really going to rack up the miles unless you're dropping ~$2k a month on credit already. Merrill Grinch fucked around with this message at 15:03 on Apr 27, 2011 |
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2011 15:01
|
|
|
I know a couple of institutions that got burned pretty bad by having someone come in with great credit, and over the course of a month opening up 20 or more credit accounts (commercial and unsecured credit) and then transfering all the money out of country. Most now have a hard limit of inqueries that will start to push you into judgemental/denial just for that.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2011 15:06
|
|
|
smith7800 posted:Does anybody know of a reputable credit repair organization? I keep reading that many are shady, but that a good one can take a lot of the work out of getting your credit score back on track. The only one my credit union refers people to is Money Management International (formerly Consumer Credit Counseling Service). They are the national organization that is affiliated with the banking industry. Other than that, just assume every single one out there are a fly-by-night crooks. There is nothing that any of them can do (MMI Included) that you can’t do. The only thing that will “fix” your credit is good behavior and the passage of time. Get current on everything, settle bad debts, keep current, pay down and off your balances; your credit will take care of itself.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2011 15:16
|
|
|
Zeta Taskforce posted:Also, I would encourage you to look into a different hobby. There's deals for up to 100K miles, and on that blog i'm seeing it takes about 25-35k for one way US-Europe. He really goes all the way (2 weeks in europe for a total of $860? wow) Pizer fucked around with this message at 16:01 on Apr 27, 2011 |
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2011 15:59
|
|
|
I do a version of Frugal Travel Guy "lite", if you will. I did in the last 6 months: ~$1000 in travel from the Capital One Venture "Match my Miles promotion" -75,000 AA miles from the Citi Visa -50,000 Member Rewards points through Amex platinum becomes 75,000 Delta miles (50% transfer bonus, which also gives me Silver Medallion status) - I also get lounge access and fast-pass through customs) -50,000 Delta miles (Amex Gold Skymiles Card - combined 125,000 miles becomes a around $1100 in Amex gift cards) -2 free southwest roundtrips (Southwest Visa) -50,000 Continental miles (CO Mastercard) So total that's: -4 free roundtrips (2 southwest, 2 CO @ 25k miles per) -$1100 in Amex gift cards (from the Delta and MR points) -75,000 AA miles (which I redeemed for a business class roundtrip for my honeymoon - so probably a few thousand dollars in value) -$1000 in travel reimbursements from Capital One (also using this on the honeymoon, no foreign transaction fees) Plus status on Delta, lounge access to all airlines (mostly), and fast pass through customs. I've paid $509 in annual fees (450 for Amex Plat, 59 for southwest), and according to CreditKarma my score has dropped around 4 points on their scale. It might go up once the half-dozen hard inquiries fall off my report. Looking at it all written out like that doesn't seem very lite, maybe...but I'm not putting thousands of dollars in coins from the mint on these cards or anything. I can put my rent on any Visa, which lets me easily hit minimum spends, and all the travel is really useful to me. As long as you track it well, and only do a few cards at a time, it isn't really a problem.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2011 16:25
|
|
|
Zeta Taskforce posted:The only one my credit union refers people to is Money Management International (formerly Consumer Credit Counseling Service). They are the national organization that is affiliated with the banking industry. Other than that, just assume every single one out there are a fly-by-night crooks. There is nothing that any of them can do (MMI Included) that you can’t do. The only thing that will “fix” your credit is good behavior and the passage of time. Get current on everything, settle bad debts, keep current, pay down and off your balances; your credit will take care of itself. Well, I understand that these services will dispute certain debts and advise me which ones to actually pay. A lot of the debts date back several years, so I would rather wait for those to fall off than pay them. I'm just not sure how far back to go and whether or not settling for less than the full amount would even be worth it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2011 20:56
|
|
|
smith7800 posted:Well, I understand that these services will dispute certain debts and advise me which ones to actually pay. A lot of the debts date back several years, so I would rather wait for those to fall off than pay them. I'm just not sure how far back to go and whether or not settling for less than the full amount would even be worth it. Some of them will advise just disputing everything and see what sticks, and while they are in dispute go out and get a bunch of new credit and if you do it in the right window, the people you are applying with won't see the derogatory items. You can do what you want, but according to my moral compass, the entire concept stinks. Is there a reason you have not paid these debts other than you don’t want to?
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2011 22:02
|
|
|
Zeta Taskforce posted:Some of them will advise just disputing everything and see what sticks, and while they are in dispute go out and get a bunch of new credit and if you do it in the right window, the people you are applying with won't see the derogatory items. You can do what you want, but according to my moral compass, the entire concept stinks. Is there a reason you have not paid these debts other than you don’t want to? Didn't have the means until recently. Just recession-era problems. I do appreciate your input.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2011 22:49
|
|
|
Here's a question I've been pondering lately, what with reading through some of the BFC Greatest Hits and also watching a lot of TV: Why would anyone lease a car? Under what, if any, circumstances would it actually be advantageous to do so?
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2011 18:21
|
|
|
If you're the type of person who wants a new car every few years or doesn't want to deal with the hassle of trying to keep an old car running, leasing would be much cheaper than buying new each time. Since you're only paying for the depreciation of the car for the time you drive it, you're basically buying a piece of a car instead of the whole thing, and you don't have to worry about it depreciating to the point where you're upside down on your loan. You can also generally get a nicer car this way than if you buy one up front. It also eliminates the hassle of buying and selling a car in general. I know absolutely nothing about this process on either end and it sounds intimidating, so I can see the upside of that. Sort of like renting an apartment vs. buying a house, though with a much smaller magnitude and much fewer sunk costs up front. And finally, I'd think it would save time for busy people who don't care. Ultimately it's obviously cheaper to buy a car, keep it maintained, and use it for a good long while, but some people just don't see that as worth their time.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2011 18:45
|
|
|
There are jobs where flashiness of a car and personal appearance really matters. Think lawyer or high end real estate agent.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2011 23:53
|
|
|
overdesigned posted:Here's a question I've been pondering lately, what with reading through some of the BFC Greatest Hits and also watching a lot of TV: I lease a car. After exploring both options I was able to get a much nicer car with a reasonable payment than I would if I was purchasing, even factoring in that I had several thousand dollars in negative equity from my previous car (which I purchased) that I rolled into the lease. I do like to get a new car every few years, and in almost every instance in the past it has bitten me in the rear end trying to sell a car or trade it in. My apr is 4.8% on my lease, which is high since I don't have crystal clear credit. If I qualified for 0.9% apr perhaps I would have purchased instead of leased, but that isn't the case. The most car I could get for my money was definitely with a lease.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2011 06:34
|
|
|
kaishek posted:
What is up with CreditKarma? I just checked out my score there and it is ~25 points lower than my credit score on the big three.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2011 06:45
|
|
|
When do I ask for a credit limit increase with my BoA card? It went from 1600 to 2500 in October or November I think, and since then I've paid it off by the end of every month except for one when it went up to a 700 balance (usually 200ish) and was still paid off quickly. I don't NEED a higher limit but having more available would make me more comfortable in having that much more 'oh poo poo' emergency funding. Would be a better bet to just apply for a new card somewhere else?
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2011 07:16
|
|
|
Good luck; I can't get Discover to raise my credit limit for love or money, and it is much lower than my earning capacity. I don't know if they're disinclined to extend more credit to people who aren't carrying small balances or what, but it's like pulling teeth.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2011 12:46
|
|
|
So Amazon offers a credit card where you earn 3 points for every dollar spent at Amazon (and 2 points for gas/drugstore/restaurant, 1 point everything else). I'm currently using a 2% PenFed card for everything. I spend a decent chunk of money at Amazon though. Would it make sense to open an Amazon card and then use it exclusively for my Amazon purchases while retaining my PenFed for everything else? Or is it silly to micromanage reward cards this way? Edit: The card has no annual fees, but a higher than average APR (17-24%). However, I always pay off credit cards each month so I'm not worried about the APR. polyfractal fucked around with this message at 16:25 on Apr 30, 2011 |
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2011 16:15
|
|
|
zelah posted:When do I ask for a credit limit increase with my BoA card? It went from 1600 to 2500 in October or November I think, and since then I've paid it off by the end of every month except for one when it went up to a 700 balance (usually 200ish) and was still paid off quickly. I don't NEED a higher limit but having more available would make me more comfortable in having that much more 'oh poo poo' emergency funding. This isnt really helpful information, but HSBC doubled my credit limit after six months of good payments. I do have/had sub par credit though, ~630 score. (Steadily Rising though!)
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2011 16:49
|
|
|
polyfractal posted:So Amazon offers a credit card where you earn 3 points for every dollar spent at Amazon (and 2 points for gas/drugstore/restaurant, 1 point everything else). I'm currently using a 2% PenFed card for everything. I spend a decent chunk of money at Amazon though. Look at the Citi Forward card. 5 thank you points per dollar spent on amazon (counts as a bookstore) and restaurants, movie theaters, etc. Convert them to some giftcertificates for an effective 5% rate or even if you convert it straight to cash 5 points per dollar comes out at about 3.8%.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2011 17:25
|
|
|
Chin Strap posted:Look at the Citi Forward card. 5 thank you points per dollar spent on amazon (counts as a bookstore) and restaurants, movie theaters, etc. Convert them to some giftcertificates for an effective 5% rate or even if you convert it straight to cash 5 points per dollar comes out at about 3.8%. Awesome, thanks!
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2011 18:08
|
|
|
Bojanglesworth posted:I lease a car. After exploring both options I was able to get a much nicer car With all due respect (It’s never good when people start “With all due respect”) leasing is made for people like you. And by that I mean people with champagne tastes on a beer budget. Leasing is by far the most profitable way for the auto industry to sell cars. Most profitable for them automatically means most expensive for the consumer. But because you are not paying anything back (until you get to the end, when they might force you to) and you are just paying depreciation and some financing cost, it is cheaper and you can get into a car you otherwise might not have been able to afford. Do you know why you are being bitten in the rear end when you try to trade it in? Do you think it has something to do with rolling negative equity into a deal and then stretching the payments out to make sure you can afford them, and then wanting a new car in a few years after the one you have been driving has been hit hard with depreciation? And then rolling the negative equity into the next deal? You can do what you want, its your money, and we can still be friends. But when you leave in your new car, I'm going to look at it and say "Look at that huge payment driving down the road"
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2011 16:17
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 16:17 |
|
|
Sophia posted:Good luck; I can't get Discover to raise my credit limit for love or money, and it is much lower than my earning capacity. I don't know if they're disinclined to extend more credit to people who aren't carrying small balances or what, but it's like pulling teeth. Ugh, my Discover card is about a year old with a $500 limit (they gave me a student card for some reason). Every month I hit that limit about halfway through the month, then pay it in full on my statement date. The rewards are great, but it's a hilariously low limit. I'm going to buy a computer and I don't even know how I'll rangle it on the card (have the cash, want to get the 1% rewards).
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2011 17:04
|
|
