TTMA Credit

[Deleted]

Okay, I need help. Give me all your tips on how to raise your credit score. Or how to pick a credit card. Or anything, really. It's becoming more and more evident that it's not possible to go through life without a legit credit score, so it's time to grow up. The only things on my credit report are school loans and a car loan, all paid off and closed for several years, which is apparently bad? And H doesn't even have a credit score. 

So I've been reading everything I can find and I think I'm more confused now than I was when I started. Please help? Give me all the links and articles and tips you have. Pretty please?


Here's a cute cat playing with bubbles for your troubles.

[Daikoku]

Have a credit card in both your names. Charge something on it regularly that you usually pay for (gas, groceries, etc.). Since you spend money on these things anyway, you have the money to pay it right away and not rack up interest. It doesn't have to be something that is a huge part of your budget. You can make this go even further by getting a credit card that offers some rewards (air miles, cash back, etc.) that are a bonus.

I've done some crazy other things to boost credit and avoid interest, but I don't want to write a book.

[♪♫choppinbroccoli♫♪]

I have a Discover card, and I really like it. Plus, something that would be good for you, based on what you've written in OP, is that they give you your FICO credit score each month.

[Ray]

All what PP said. Grab a CC with rewards you'll use (we use one with air miles) make all your day-day purchases with it. Transfer the $$ to your card when you get home. Then you never pay interest but build your credit history

[♪♫choppinbroccoli♫♪]

Do you shop anywhere regularly?

[thelittleredm]

We are in this same boat. I had one CC in my name for vet visits but H had none. We finally decided to go with a CC from one of the credit unions we have accounts at.

[Deleted]

Aug 20, 2015 21:10:42 GMT -5 gooselover2012 said:

*Get a credit card and use it monthly. Never charge more than half your limit on it each month. So if you have a $1000 limit don't put more than $500 on it per month. This is really important if you are going to carry a balance on it. It is best to pay your balance off in full each month to really build your credit. Since you have not depended on a credit card in the past I don't suspect that should be an issue for you.

*Stay away from department store credit cards

*Don't expect your credit to improve over night. It can take 6 months to a year to really see a drastic increase in your score

*Don't pull your credit too much. Multiple inquires on your credit report can actually lower your score

*Check annualcreditreport.com to make sure that what is on your credit report is accurate. If there is anything that is not accurate you can dispute it easily. This is the legit site that allows you to check your credit report once per year with each credit reporting agency. (Equifax, Experian and Trans Union) ( ETA: This site does not allow you to check your score for free)

*Having a car loan would actually be helpful. Do you have any equity in your current vehicle that you could take a loan out on it? Some banks won't let you take out cash equity on a car but it is worth thinking about. Having secured debt (car loan/mortgage) should help your score increase faster vs. only unsecured debt of a credit card.

Hope this helps!

Why stay away from department store credit cards? I don't shop anywhere enough to warrant one, but why?

We were debating trading in our car and getting a loan to give us enough credit history to get a credit card later. What would be the point of taking out a car loan on a car that's already paid off? How does that even work?

[Deleted]

Aug 20, 2015 21:10:33 GMT -5 ♪♫choppinbroccoli♫♪ said:

Do you shop anywhere regularly?

Not really. WinCo for groceries is about the only regular place we go. Amazon would be a close second.

[easilyunamused]

Once you get your first credit card, keep it open. The longer you have that open line of credit the better your history when they pull it for different reasons.

[PepperPottsJ]

@led my employer is in the midst of a HUGE building credit effectively campaign, I'll pm you so links/docs tomorrow night or Saturday morning if that timeline is ok? Can access TCF from. The office

Edit uber bouncing spelling

ETA they are company agnostic not sales pitching

[Deleted]

Aug 20, 2015 21:18:52 GMT -5 PepperPottsJ said:

@led my employer is in the midst of a HUGE building credit effectively campaign, I'll pm you so links/docs tomorrow night or Saturday morning if that timeline is ok? Can access TCF from. The office

Edit uber bouncing spelling

That would be awesome!!! I'm not in a hurry, just trying to figure all this shit out.

[easilyunamused]

Do you balance your checking account daily? One thing my MIL does that helps is to deduct what you put on your CC so you don't get ahead of your spending and have that money there to pay off your card monthly.

[Deleted]

Aug 20, 2015 21:21:00 GMT -5 easilyunamused said:

Do you balance your checking account daily? One thing my MIL does that helps is to deduct what you put on your CC so you don't get ahead of your spending and have that money there to pay off your card monthly.

I look at our balance once a week maybe? We don't really spend much money other than regular bills and groceries/gas. 

[tincupchalice]

Read the fine print in the credit card offer. You don't want annual fees. If you are 100% committed to only charging a little and paying it off each month, the interest rate doesn't really matter.

[Deleted]

Aug 20, 2015 21:30:20 GMT -5 tincupchalice said:

Read the fine print in the credit card offer. You don't want annual fees. If you are 100% committed to only charging a little and paying it off each month, the interest rate doesn't really matter.

That's one of the problems I've been finding. With no/limited credit I can't find any credit cards that don't have an annual fee.

[Ray]

I just figured out what TTMA means lol

[phoebe]

Even with no credit or a low score Capital One will usually give you a credit card. That's what we did when we first started to build our credit. The limit will be low at first, I think $300, but they will usually raise that up a bit after paying on time for so many months.

And I think they have some cards without any annual fee.

[Ray]

Aug 20, 2015 21:50:52 GMT -5 ugaqueencity said:

Aug 20, 2015 21:41:06 GMT -5 Ray said:

I just figured out what TTMA means lol

LSS took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out

Still nothing. Enlighten me.

[JustJudy]

Aug 20, 2015 21:34:09 GMT -5 @led said:

Aug 20, 2015 21:30:20 GMT -5 tincupchalice said:

Read the fine print in the credit card offer. You don't want annual fees. If you are 100% committed to only charging a little and paying it off each month, the interest rate doesn't really matter.

That's one of the problems I've been finding. With no/limited credit I can't find any credit cards that don't have an annual fee.

I would definitely check into a credit union then. I have a Macy's card and Nordstrom card, and never carry a balance on them bc the interest rates are truly atrocious, but I like the extra sales and other bonuses they provide.

[gabride2010]

I have an American Express that I love! Most AmEx cards have to be paid off at the end of each month (they don't let you roll the balance over to the next month). The AmEx was the first CC I got by myself so I wouldn't allow me to rack up CC debt. I have had it since I was 21/22. I have the regular green card, and I have to pay $75/year to have the card. They have caught several fraudulent charges before I did! AmEx isn't accepted everywhere though, but most places take it.

H has a Visa with Cabelas (hunting/outdoors store), and he gets $$ to spend as Cabelas.

[cnf2013]

Aug 20, 2015 21:18:08 GMT -5 @led said:

Aug 20, 2015 21:10:33 GMT -5 ♪♫choppinbroccoli♫♪ said:

Do you shop anywhere regularly?

Not really. WinCo for groceries is about the only regular place we go. Amazon would be a close second.

Amazon offers a credit card through Chase, just a regular Visa, not like a store card. No annual fees and awesome cash back reward points, especially for shopping through them. If you shop at Amazon a lot it might be worth looking into. This is the card my H has since we shop online a lot, but it also works everywhere else too. 

[teraiin]

Aug 21, 2015 6:17:43 GMT -5 cnf2013 said:

Aug 20, 2015 21:18:08 GMT -5 @led said:

Not really. WinCo for groceries is about the only regular place we go. Amazon would be a close second.

Amazon offers a credit card through Chase, just a regular Visa, not like a store card. No annual fees and awesome cash back reward points, especially for shopping through them. If you shop at Amazon a lot it might be worth looking into. This is the card my H has since we shop online a lot, but it also works everywhere else too. 

We recently got this one and love it!

[Deleted]

Aug 21, 2015 6:17:43 GMT -5 cnf2013 said:

Aug 20, 2015 21:18:08 GMT -5 @led said:

Not really. WinCo for groceries is about the only regular place we go. Amazon would be a close second.

Amazon offers a credit card through Chase, just a regular Visa, not like a store card. No annual fees and awesome cash back reward points, especially for shopping through them. If you shop at Amazon a lot it might be worth looking into. This is the card my H has since we shop online a lot, but it also works everywhere else too. 

Awesome, thanks!

[acorn99]

Aug 21, 2015 6:17:43 GMT -5 cnf2013 said:

Aug 20, 2015 21:18:08 GMT -5 @led said:

Not really. WinCo for groceries is about the only regular place we go. Amazon would be a close second.

Amazon offers a credit card through Chase, just a regular Visa, not like a store card. No annual fees and awesome cash back reward points, especially for shopping through them. If you shop at Amazon a lot it might be worth looking into. This is the card my H has since we shop online a lot, but it also works everywhere else too. 

+1 to the amazon card. I give amazon pretty much all of my money.

My H was in a bad place credit wise a few years ago and we started by getting him a credit card through our bank with a low limit. He would then pay for all his gas plus a few other small purchases a month on it and had it automatically paid in full from his account monthly so that he never missed payments. 

[joy]

If you don't have much of a credit history, then getting a card with any kind of rewards is going to be difficult. You need to start smaller.

I lived responsibly, within my means, and off my debit card forever. When I wanted to get a credit card, I was denied across the board. It was infuriating. I was finally offered a card where I pre-paid a balance to prove that I would not overspend. You know - like the debit card system I'd been living with for the past fifteen years!! I was so mad.

Because my husband lived far less responsibly than me in his early twenties, he has an amazing credit score. Sigh. This topic makes me mad.

[helloerrbody]

We use our Discover card for everything. Then we pay off the entire bill each month from our checking account that sat fat while we only used the Discover. Since we are using the CC for things we would buy anyway, the whole bill gets paid and we've never paid a dime of interest. We like discover bc they give cash back as their reward instead of points or miles. So we make money by using the card for everything.

[lavinia]

Aug 20, 2015 21:10:21 GMT -5 ♪♫choppinbroccoli♫♪ said:

I have a Discover card, and I really like it. Plus, something that would be good for you, based on what you've written in OP, is that they give you your FICO credit score each month.

+1 to Discover card. I love the rewards system. I got one while I was still in college with basically no credit so you could look into that. I think my first card was a Capital One with a $500 limit. I'm sure you would qualify for that.

[aprilz81]

Aug 20, 2015 21:17:09 GMT -5 @led said:

Aug 20, 2015 21:10:42 GMT -5 gooselover2012 said:

*Get a credit card and use it monthly. Never charge more than half your limit on it each month. So if you have a $1000 limit don't put more than $500 on it per month. This is really important if you are going to carry a balance on it. It is best to pay your balance off in full each month to really build your credit. Since you have not depended on a credit card in the past I don't suspect that should be an issue for you.

*Stay away from department store credit cards

*Don't expect your credit to improve over night. It can take 6 months to a year to really see a drastic increase in your score

*Don't pull your credit too much. Multiple inquires on your credit report can actually lower your score

*Check annualcreditreport.com to make sure that what is on your credit report is accurate. If there is anything that is not accurate you can dispute it easily. This is the legit site that allows you to check your credit report once per year with each credit reporting agency. (Equifax, Experian and Trans Union) ( ETA: This site does not allow you to check your score for free)

*Having a car loan would actually be helpful. Do you have any equity in your current vehicle that you could take a loan out on it? Some banks won't let you take out cash equity on a car but it is worth thinking about. Having secured debt (car loan/mortgage) should help your score increase faster vs. only unsecured debt of a credit card.

Hope this helps!

Why stay away from department store credit cards? I don't shop anywhere enough to warrant one, but why?

We were debating trading in our car and getting a loan to give us enough credit history to get a credit card later. What would be the point of taking out a car loan on a car that's already paid off? How does that even work?

I'm late to this thread, but there is NO NEED to do this.  You will pay closing costs on the loan plus interest.  You do not need to spend money to raise your credit score.

Your credit score is made up of a few different components, a few of the biggest are:

1) Debt to Credit ratio.  It is great if you have a high credit limit (across all credit cards or lines of credit) and don't use much of it each month.  Example you have 2 credit cards with a total credit limit of $10,000.  If you spend $2,000 a month that would be a low utilization rate and would be seen as a positive for your credit score.  The opposite is also true in that if you use too much of the credit available your score will go down.

2) Length of credit history.  I would caution you against opening up too many lines of credit at the same time because you will have a lot of "new" credit without a history.  This is something that is largely out of your hands because you can't go into the past to open up a credit card.  This is also why it isn't always a good thing to close down a credit card after it is paid off.  It is best (assuming you don't have a spending/debt problem) to just stop using it.

3) On time payments.  A history of on time payments does wonders for your credit score.  

There are some other things factored in (bad debt, bankruptcy, liens, etc.) but if your low score is due to lack of credit this shouldn't be an issue for you.

Some people also think that you need to carry a balance on a credit card and make on time payments to build your score.  That is NOT TRUE.  You do need to make on time payments (duh) but you can pay the entire balance off.  The only thing they are looking for is ON TIME.  Paying in full has the added bonus of keeping your debt to credit ratio low.

[pismoduo]

Aug 20, 2015 21:04:33 GMT -5 Daikoku said:

Have a credit card in both your names. Charge something on it regularly that you usually pay for (gas, groceries, etc.). Since you spend money on these things anyway, you have the money to pay it right away and not rack up interest. It doesn't have to be something that is a huge part of your budget. You can make this go even further by getting a credit card that offers some rewards (air miles, cash back, etc.) that are a bonus.

I've done some crazy other things to boost credit and avoid interest, but I don't want to write a book.

+1. I got a small "student" card from my credit union my first year of college. Every quarter I'd put books on it two weeks before classes began. Then when my loans disbursed on the first day of class, I'd pay off the credit card.

Also, I've heard the occasional store credit card (like Best Buy, Macy's, etc) is good. I have one for David's Bridal (from buying my wedding dress), which is great because it's a line of credit in my name, but I never use it. I also have a Home Depot card that has a pretty high credit limit but that I rarely put more than a couple hundred bucks on (usually for a new appliance, at 0% for 6 months).

[pismoduo]

Aug 20, 2015 21:34:09 GMT -5 @led said:

Aug 20, 2015 21:30:20 GMT -5 tincupchalice said:

Read the fine print in the credit card offer. You don't want annual fees. If you are 100% committed to only charging a little and paying it off each month, the interest rate doesn't really matter.

That's one of the problems I've been finding. With no/limited credit I can't find any credit cards that don't have an annual fee.

This is why I ended up starting with a "student" card at my credit union and a department store credit card. Department store cards usually have no annual fee, but the interest rates suck.