AWW$HEEET Posted December 19, 2009 Report Share Posted December 19, 2009 us bank refused to lower my APR, so I paid the full $6500 off in cash. they are now receiving 0% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nurkvinny Posted December 19, 2009 Report Share Posted December 19, 2009 Second, carrying a balance DOES NOTHING for your credit, it just simply costs you money in interest. This is false. The balances and percentage of credit in use on your trade lines does indeed weigh in the credit limit and approval decisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bam Posted December 19, 2009 Report Share Posted December 19, 2009 This is false. The balances and percentage of credit in use on your trade lines does indeed weigh in the credit limit and approval decisions. I said FOR your credit, sorry I wasn't specific enough, I can see how my post could be taken either ways. I meant benefit your credit score/report. Yes indeed it can negatively affect you if you have balances, especially high ratio of balance to limits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8 Beast Posted December 19, 2009 Report Share Posted December 19, 2009 Credit scores have lost a lot of value these days. With the economy being so messed up people are more willing to approve you anyway. After that issue with my mortgage company that dropped my credit score 150 points I was able to add the Edge on while still having the envoy and stratus. Supposedly its ok to have someone thats "at risk" finance $1300 in car payments each month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nurkvinny Posted December 19, 2009 Report Share Posted December 19, 2009 I meant benefit your credit score/report. Sorry man, this is also false. Carrying a balance and making minimum payments on-time can and does improve your credit standing, especially if you are trying to come back from a bad credit issue. It's much more complicated than I will ever spell out here, but, in a nutshell... Each of the credit bureaus can calculate a bureau score for customer X and send that score to "the credit card company". In addition to the actual score, the bureau sends a ton of data about you to the company. The company then has the option to use the bureau-supplied score, or use all of the data to calculate their own 'custom' in-house score. Often, it uses the better of the 2 scores and/or may offer you different levels of card depending on the different scores. Your score that you find on the gimmicky credit score sites may have nothing to do with your actual ability to get credit. Anyways, I have a driveway to see and a wife to plow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bam Posted December 19, 2009 Report Share Posted December 19, 2009 It's much more complicated than I will ever spell out here, but, in a nutshell... You're right, so I won't even bother. Anyways, I have a driveway to see and a wife to plow... One step ahead of you today... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casper Posted December 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 Why close them? As long as there is no annual fee and no balance, why get rid of that credit history by closing the account? Open credit lines with zero balances hurt your credit. It's viewed as credit available that you could run up if you become unemployed, a family emergency occurs, etc. Because open credit is bad for your report. Though, if the account is old enough, the open credit could be offset by the length of time the card has been open. Both are items off of which your credit score may be based. Two years, so not that much. Thanks, I was thinking the same exact thing. As long as there's no annual fee why lose the credit history you have with that particular companyJust dont use the card. See my reply above to Nitrousbird. How about . . . you dont use a credit card unless you have MONEY to cover it when the bill comes? Fucked up idea, huh? Ugh, I guess I'm not sure who you're talking to. If we didn't have the money we wouldn't have been able to pay them off in full. First off, If you're smart and do not carry balances, interest rates don't matter. PERIOD. Not true. Paying them off monthly and not letting the banks make money off the interest hurts your credit more than helps. So no, this wouldn't be smart. It would be absolutely counterproductive. Second, carrying a balance DOES NOTHING for your credit, it just simply costs you money in interest. Again, not true. The sweet spot is to carry a balance around 50% of your available credit for each line of credit. Third, having OPEN/UNUSED credit does NOT negatively affect your score as long as you have proven responsibility in the past. Again, not true. I'm noticing a trend here. Credit ratings are all about risk. No matter what your past trend is, if you have a $30,000 limit line of credit with a zero balance, the risk is high for you to rack up $30,000 in debt. This is taken into consideration when calculating your credit score, thus it hurts your credit. Also, too many open lines of credit negatively effects your credit rating. I speak from personal experience as well as knowing many in the related fields. I have PLENTY of available credit, have NEVER carried a balance, and have a nearly perfect credit score. I had no problem obtaining multiple car loans and two mortgages due to my amount of unused credit. I agree the rate hikes suck, but there is no point in closing an older card and losing all that history just because you want to "stick them" with losing you as an account holder. They could give two shits less, they have millions of other minions to earn money from and if anything, without you they have one less liability on their hands. Credit scores have lost a lot of value these days. With the economy being so messed up people are more willing to approve you anyway. After that issue with my mortgage company that dropped my credit score 150 points I was able to add the Edge on while still having the envoy and stratus. Supposedly its ok to have someone thats "at risk" finance $1300 in car payments each month. Depends what you're buying. A car? Yeah, anyone can get a car loan right now. A primary residence? Eh, it's iffy but I've seen both stricter and more relaxed lending rules lately. Second residence/vacation property, no fucking way. They're only approving 750 - 800 or higher right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8 Beast Posted December 22, 2009 Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 Its very iffy and inconsistent. My coworker was turned down for a 150k house by one bank then approved for up to $250k house by another Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evan9381 Posted December 22, 2009 Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 Again, not true. The sweet spot is to carry a balance around 50% of your available credit for each line of credit. actually, its 30%, but i think even that is too much. i dont have "a lot" of available credit between my cards (6500 between 3 cards), but even at 30%, that'd be carrying $1800 in balances, and at 50%, $3200. no thanks. i just paid off all my credit cards on friday (one i used for christmas purchases, one i had at 0% for my tv from last year, my gas card). only monthly bills i have now is my mortgage, car insurance, cell phone, and gym membership. if they deem me irresponsible and drop my score for paying off my balances, oh well. im 24, have my own house, car, and last time i pulled my credit i was at equifax-709, transunion-801 and experian isnt letting me see the file i saved but it was either 808 or 818. cant remember...and this is with purchasing a house <8 months before these reports were pulled, which most people say getting a house drops your score for a while because your DTI goes way up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bam Posted December 22, 2009 Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 (edited) The sweet spot is to carry around 50% of your card's balances? NO that'd be RETARDED. I'm sorry, but for people that have quite a bit of available credit (I have 70k), carrying a 50% balance would RUIN quite a lot of people's financial credit reports/scores. Think of all the rich people in the world w/ hundreds of thousands of dollars in available credit, nobody wants them to keep a $150k tab on their credit card to show they are responsible. I'm not going to waste my time responding to the rest of your post, but if you think that's how things are...i hope the best for you. Sorry casper... Edit: Just wanted to make sure you understood that I wasn't calling you retarded but the simple thought process of carrying that much of a balance. I'm sure it sounds good with your $6000 credit card, but think of the big picture, and maybe you'll understand what I'm saying, or maybe not. Edited December 22, 2009 by Bam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillbot Posted December 22, 2009 Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 I'll follow my financial analyst's advice which boosted my credit. Anyone who chooses to gather info from here instead, best of luck to you because there is a lot of misinformation being spread about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRed05 Posted December 22, 2009 Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 Open credit lines with zero balances hurt your credit. It's viewed as credit available that you could run up if you become unemployed, a family emergency occurs, etc. Thats the exact opposite what they told me last time i went to get a car loan. She said that if there isnt any balance, or a very small balance on a line of credit, they dont care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bruh Posted December 22, 2009 Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 Thats the exact opposite what they told me last time i went to get a car loan. She said that if there isnt any balance, or a very small balance on a line of credit, they dont care. if you have an open line of credit, like credit card and never use it it will give you a positive score. i see it all the time and sell cars and deal with the financing. and no dont carry 50% on your cc dont even carry a balance, but if you do like 20-30% max Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossle Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Not true. Paying them off monthly and not letting the banks make money off the interest hurts your credit more than helps. So no, this wouldn't be smart. It would be absolutely counterproductive. Again, not true. The sweet spot is to carry a balance around 50% of your available credit for each line of credit. That is absurd, are you kidding me. Why would anyone want to spend more for what they purchase? Paying your card each month is the best thing to do for your own being. Screw how it helps the company get richer, why waste your money? I agree totally with what Beer30 is saying, not saying his facts are 100% correct, but the interest rate does not matter if you pay your shit off. You cannot tell me that someone that has to pay monthly on multiple credit cards carrying a balance at 50% of it's limit has a better credit score than someone that pays off their entire bill each month. If you disagree I could kindly point you in the direction of some people aka my parents who have NEVER carried a credit card bill and use them quite frequently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nurkvinny Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Agree with an earlier post... there is some flat-out incorrect info being thrown around in here. All of the answers can be found in 20 minutes of Googling (hell, even Binging ). I have been elbow-deep in credit score coding and calculations for most of the past 10 years now. Again, one thing to keep in mind is that no matter what any of the major 3 bureaus calculate your score to be, any given credit provider will probably use - as least partially - their own inhouse risk scores. So, not every company views your trade lines the same. But, yeah, some of you guys need to go fact-check yourselves before you post your opinions as facts. Carry on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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