LorneReams posted:

If you have a low limit card and some other higher limit cards, and you are maxing out the low limit card, it will have no effect on your credit score, and will probably be a new positive overall.

http://credit.about.com/od/creditreportscoring/a/creditutilization.htm posted:

How Credit Utilization Factors Into Your Credit Score

The FICO scoring model looks at your credit utilization in two parts. First, it scores the credit utilization for each of your credit cards separately. Then, it calculates your overall credit utilization, that is, the total of all your credit card balances compared to your total credit limits. A high credit utilization in either category will lower your credit score.

Harton posted:

I don't even like having a credit card, I got rid of all mine 4 years ago and I'll never go back. Much better to just save up money for things you want, then buy them.

Mantle posted:

There is nothing "bad with money" about hitting the limit on a credit card like mine that doesn't charge overage fees. If it happens I just pay for stuff I need by another method. Sounds like you just didn't like my story of getting free gas.

Sorry, but it happened and it doesn't make me bad with money just cause it offends your morals.

/r/personalfinance posted:

So my girlfriend (20 now 21 in February) just got her license about a month ago. She was very eager to get her own car and become independent. I understand how she feels because that was me 2 years ago.

So we looked around on websites and filled out a form on one of the car loan websites that Credit Karma recommended to us. The website sent her a email saying that JDBuyRider would accept her and she called and made an appointment for Wednesday the 22nd. I had to work that morning so her mom was talking her. Her mom is not the smartest person and I didn’t like that her mom was taking her. I told her DO NOT sign any paperwork and DO NOT leave with a car. My GF acted like she was fine and knew what she was doing, when I knew she didn’t. Despite what I told her she left with a car. She financed a 2007 Dodge Caliber with 102,000 miles on it. The thing is they charged her 12,800 dollars for the car with a 21% interest rate for 4 years!! She is paying more a month than me and I have a brand new car! On top of that whoever they set her up with insurance was charging her almost 400 a month! She said the car sales people helped her subsidize it to around 200 a month.

So in total she has to pay 198 dollars a month for insurance, and 380 dollars for the car and then 39 dollars for what I believe is because they subsidized the insurance (I’m not totally sure). She told me her mom was no help and that she (my gf) got sick and was throwing up in the bathroom while they were at the dealership. When I asked how she got a car she says “I don’t know It just happened”. I’m like shocked and I feel like this place was very shady and basically tricked her into getting a lovely car at a ridiculous price. I was wondering is there anyway she can return it with no penalty? I saw in the state we live in Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) there is a 3 day window for returning a new car. Does this also apply to used car sales as well? Or what can I do to help her get out of this mess? Or does she have to simply live with it?

She works 2 jobs and she makes about 150 a every 2 weeks from one and 250ish a week from the other one.

LorneReams posted:

I think right of rescission only works with mortgages...she's hosed.

Guinness posted:

Some more tier 1 bad with money (and shopping, negotiating, and life in general) from /r/personalfinance:

RommelMcDonald posted:

I'm surprised she even got financed earning $1,300 per month for double the blue book value. I'm not even sure this is a good deal for the lender, since they look to be an independent financing company that works with dealerships.

What does the finance company expect to do when in the event of a repo? Finance companies don't want to hold on to the cars. If they gave the dealership a lump sum payment of 90% of the $12K credit line, then they'd be taking a huge bath when they try to re-sell it to the next dealership.

I worked at a leasing firm that was very similar to ByRider, from what I see on their website. Maybe it's different with a loan, but there's a reason we capped the financed amount at a little over Blue Book.

Guinness posted:

Some more tier 1 bad with money (and shopping, negotiating, and life in general) from /r/personalfinance:

Krispy Kareem posted:

You have other credit though, right? I ask because my dumbass uncle has no credit - neither bad nor good. He's an unusual case since he has no job, no loans, and no utilities in his name so it's figuratively like he doesn't exist. Not many 55 year olds can claim to have the credit of an 18 year old. It screwed him over when he wanted to change banks because it looks suspicious as gently caress to be that old with a blank slate.

Authentic You posted:

Holy poo poo. My bf recently bought a brand new car with full warranty and zero miles on it and is paying like half that per month in payments/insurance. And 12k for a 7-year-old car with 100k miles on it? What the gently caress? People are selling similar models on Craigslist with tens of thousands fewer miles and for way less money. Also I Googled for three seconds and PNC will finance your private seller car purchase for like 6% APR (instead of 21%). If the loan amount is reasonably small (mid four figures, say), could someone like the girlfriend in that post go to a real, reputable bank, get the loan to pay the Craigslist seller the Blue Book value, drive the car home, and then pay off the bank at a reasonable interest rate and time frame? Are people with low income and/or bad credit/insufficient credit history left with no options other than saving up and paying cash or going with some rip-off shady auto loan, or do people just get roped into horrible auto loan situations due to slimy sales tactics and lack of financial education and impulse control even if better options exist?

For the record, I've never taken out a loan or bought a car, so I'm not particularly familiar with how this stuff works.

Wickerman posted:

Also, seeing as how he predicted this situation the guy should probably dump this chick and date someone he doesn't have to babysit 24/7.

GoGoGadgetChris posted:

I bet that's because 6 year loans weren't very common in 2007.

Cicero posted:

...that's literally exactly what the chart is showing, isn't it?

Guinness posted:

cowofwar posted:

If she stopped making payment and they repossessed the car, what exactly would happen to the debt?

Would she still be in collections for owed value less the recovered value of the car? Like if she bought it for $12k and they repossessed it and established the value as $6k (despite selling it to her for $12k) would she still be in arrears for $6k?

MJBuddy posted:

It's probably just interest rates, which plummeted post-2008.

Yeah some of it is bad money management, but that's just the nature of it. I've considered a 72-month loan purely because I have longer term student loan debt at a higher interest rate than the car, so spreading it out further frees up monthly cash flow to pay that down.

It looks like it would be an issue regarding re-selling it, though, so I'll probably go shorter, but if I intended to drive it 6 years it would be prudent.

Dik Hz posted:

We just recently purchased a new (to us) car and went with the max-term 75-month loan because the interest rate was significantly lower than our mortgage.

Rick Rickshaw posted:

Isn't it a symptom of low interest rates as well?

I also wouldn't rule out the possibility of lifestyle inflation. People get a hard-on when they find out there's a way they can get a fancier vehicle, long-term costs be damned. The banks have caught onto this.

Cultural Imperial posted:

What make and model of car did you buy?

MickeyFinn posted:

It is difficult to separate cause and effect, but it seems like interest rates are falling and the price of cars is going up over the thirty year window I mentioned.