Back to the OP. Try and keep your debt below 30% if you want a nice FICO bump. :thumb:

FICO bump = good.

But I already have good credit and this is way more interesting and so far its been civil.. :D

Wanna piss off red meat voters? Use the word regulation. So ironic that we'd all benefit from it.

Find it yourself. Look up history of usury and ethics of lending and banking practices.

On being educated, some things seem so simple you think it’s street smarts but in fact you were taught certain things. An uneducated person might not understand what interest is, how a percentage is calculated, or even what a percent is. The way you argue is tedious and not worthwhile once you start trying to pick apart an unassailable thesis. It’s universally agreed upon that people well versed in banking ethics and practices should not exploit laypersons beyond traditional rates which run from around 3 to 10%.

As for comparing our banks to every other industry: no thank you. Every comparison is tedious false equivalency although elph is right that unethical business practices should be scrutinized across the board.

Damn. Nailed.

If your thesis of "look it up, it's tradition" doesn't stand up to scrutiny, then it's assailable.

All I’m saying is that lenders shouldn’t bend people over just because they can. If you got an issue with that knock yourself out.

I take issue with your lackluster justification of tradition because that's a cheap conservative move that's not usually a part of your style on top of being fallacious.

The only thing tedious here is you making claims youre not willing to provide evidence for. I've already admitted I'm relatively naive to the subject. I'm also totally willing to read the evidence for your claims and further educate myself.

I'm not arguing that they shouldn't exploit people and I never argued they are equivalent, but it's still a fair analogy.

I agree with the bolded.

You probably signed up for it somewhere without realizing or someone opened it using your name. I can't find any evidence that CC companies can just force you into a line of credit you didnt sign up for.

Also, I know people who have been denied credit cards because of their bad credit, so isnt that comparable to the bartender analogy?

Never been in debt, never bought anything with money I didn't have.
If I didn't have it, I didn't buy. Simple.
Suckers.

#GrindysLifeLessons

Even cars?

Even cars.

This song might cheer you up if you’re in debt and have wrecked your credit

It's a shame that most folks can't take a ride on the same boat as you.

I'd wager that less than 2% of people are able to purchase cars outright with cash.

The other 98% have to lean on lending. Suckers.

Experian, Equifax, and Transunion are legally required to give you a free copy of your credit report every year. Space all three of them out over the year to check for errors as they come. Here.

My car wrecked my credit as much as anything. Repairs I couldn’t afford but couldn’t get to work without.

1) Automotive
2) Family Emergencies
3) Medical
4) Veterinary

Ugh

My advice to young people is to either accept they’re going to end up ****ed and just live or save. Good credit is good but actually accumulating wealth is the ticket. Live under your means and save every month.

I’m hesitant to even advise buying a home or investing in a degree.

Put it this way, I wouldn’t recommend buying a house you don’t really want just as an investment. Same with college.

Signed,

Worst Financial Advisor Ever

We were very lucky in that we bought for $172K back in early 1998 when the bubble was taking a nap. Value sky rocketed over the next few years up to $500K until the crash of 2007-2008 when it plummeted by a quarter million bucks. Very slowly recovered and we sold this past March for over $300K more than we paid.

For every story like mine there's 9 others that don't turn out well at all.

Again, lucky. And grateful.

yeah, i strongly disagree. i’ve seen people at my work who bring in 10 times the money any of us do, but are unable to buy a vehicle because the bank won’t touch them. if you’re a multi millionaire then maybe you can just buy everything out, sure. but if we’re talking someone bringing in a few hundred thousand every year, nah you’re ****ed without good credit.

https://media.giphy.com/media/oYtVHSxngR3lC/giphy.gif

Let me know if they’re in the market for a Buick (that runs)

i’ll be sure to pass that on

Only downhill though.... :D

This was an interesting topic to read through so I'm bumping it 5 days later

I was a titanic fool in my early-mid college years. We're talking ignoring daily calls from Discover demanding I pay my past due balance levels of foolish. I didn't even realize the repercussions, which is of course my own fault but also god damn those kinds of things need to be required curriculum in schools. Also why did my parents not warn me, I mean jesus. I only had one credit card but it was maxed out and I could not even make the monthly payment of $35 without asking for help from parents/whomever considering I was a full-time college student and was also working as many hours as I could take without going full-blown insane and still had to live off of like $50 a week after rent/utilities.

Anyway my credit score was pretty atrocious for a while obviously but now that I've grown into a reasonably responsible adult (I still make some stupid purchases here and there but I never miss payments!), I've gotten my score way up to a currently Credit Karma-estimated 696, which feels pretty nice. It's not the best score but it's good enough to make me not a complete biohazard to banks. Definitely on the lookout to make some big purchases in the next couple years too like a house potentially by 2020. Bought an engagement ring a month ago which I'd like to have paid off within a year, and then I have a credit card with a small balance of like $400 and another credit line with about $1100. If I can pay all that off by next year the only debt I'll have to worry about is student loan debt...which...is massive so it's not like I'll be out of the woods, but...yeah...

YD

How much money do you think your credit score is worth?

Besides homeownership what does it get you?

How much cash in hand would you sell 300 credit points for?

What if you buy a house and the market collapses and you’re upside down on your mortgage?

I’m not arguing against having good credit but ultimately it’s about living below your means and saving money. It’s like people think their credit score is wealth. Good credit ultimately just means how much access to debt you have. The belief that good credit is a kind of wealth is false. If you need the credit you’re still in trouble.

I’m a **** up so yeah everyone can take that into consideration

But if you don’t wanna get ****ed later on focus on building that savings account bit by bit starting in your twenties.

Savings is your financial savior. Not credit.

It's only equitable to wealth if you're a g at investing with your dick always in the water to sense the tide.

True

Do you think I’m right that there’s an overemphasis on credit scores going on here?

And I’ll pose that question to Chula too.

I realize Chula that credit allowed you to buy a house that worked out for you so that part of you is going to say **** yeah low interest debt and high yield investments but can you weigh that against what I’m saying about living within your means and building wealth steady and surely?

Of course it's not like some ticket to financial security, I understand that. I'm just glad it's in a better place for the handful of reasons TO have it that way

Currently I'm trying to prioritize getting rid of as much of the little debts here and there that I have by consistently paying above the minimums. This sacrifices the disposable extra income I have that would normally go into a savings account. I turn 24 next month and have literally zero savings and only a couple grand in my account, but I think if I'm starting to build it by 25 or 26 I'll still be fine in the long-term.

I agree that credit score isn't wealth, but it's definitely important given our current system. It's a financial skeleton key that everyone should try to achieve.

Dude you’ll be fine

At 24 I don’t think I even knew the meaning of the word future

Pretty much still don’t

And like a skeleton key you don’t know what’s really behind the door until you open it.

Well if youre ****ed enough to need any emergency loan at least it gives you an opporunity vs saving and having no credit where if you dont have enough youre ****ed right there. At least wih the former you can go about living with a lesser income while you payback your debt.

Can’t deny it.

Facts is facts