Did fucking APRs go up or what....

[picklemonkey]

Re: Did fucking APRs go up or what....

that hurts your credit score

[palmer]

Re: Did fucking APRs go up or what....

get rid of credit cards.
honestly.
if you can't buy it with cash, you can't afford it.
bunch of no good YFB's.

[shosh]

Re: Did fucking APRs go up or what....

switch cards every 6 months to take advantage of low intro rates.

closing and opening accounts hurts your credit score.

[picklemonkey]

Re: Did fucking APRs go up or what....

I pay my credit cards off each month. somewhat like palmer said... if you can't afford it, don't buy it.

[miketpoto]

Re: Did fucking APRs go up or what....

OH MY GOD!!!! Lower Credit Score???
Surely I'll be miserable and worthless with bad credit or no credit, right?
I found out after 8 years of eating up with a spoon this constant fear and insecurity over what the importance-of good-credit-propaganda "it could happen to you" or actually allowing myself to get excited and feel like a "valued customer" like my special monthly bill told me I was... Good Credit rewards must be amazing since they emphasize how bad the opposites are.... right?

For the sake of time and avoiding a rant, believe me when I say that you can rub feces all over your credit rating until it smells so bad nobody will go near it.... Nothing earthshattering happens actually, except for a lot of phone calls you become very good at ignoring, and perspective on the concept of

Why is it so vital
that I stress myself out
and try to keep up
and play along with a game
that has SHADY RULES
and POLICIES
that is run entirely by greedy corporations who only almost exclusively profit and market towards gaining profit by ensnaring/luring in people for offers they have previously and statiscally proven will make them end up losing a lot more than they have to gain. How do ya like dem ONE-LATE-PAYMENT detfault 29.9% apples?

Luckily as a professional faggot I am unable to legally marry and/or be eligible for any sort of tax benefit, I suppose the same tax laws that apply to you guys....
who god loves and approves of and all that good stuff,.... I'm not eligible for those legally binding agreements either, right? It's like, I dont have to pay dues for a union I'm advertised as definitely not welcome in, right?

and finally, not naming names, but i know of at least 1 person who has posted in this thread that used to be a big twilo-head, and I wouold like them to re-read their post(s)_ in this forum and then say out loud repeatedly.... " I am officially OLD, I have accepted being officially OLD, I talk and concern myself with ultimately transparent and nonexistent financial and social ideals and it's going to be my reality from NOW ON... "

ok, so a little harsh, i know, but please live a little during this lifetime everyone, I know you know how and used to remember to do it all the time

[day_for_night]

Re: Did fucking APRs go up or what....

you guys can go ahead and keep paying 20% interest in the name of your credit score...

[shosh]

Re: Did fucking APRs go up or what....

your little rant didnt make much sense. in order to be able to "live a little" you need a certain financial situation. so with a lower credit score you can get a better rate, better program, and make more money. i dont see the fallacy in that. i agree the credit scoring system is flawed, but if this is the current situation and we have to deal with it.

you might not be miserable, but financially its not sound to not give a shit about your credit score.

[day_for_night]

Re: Did fucking APRs go up or what....

ok, ya if you want to buy a house in the near future, your credit score is important. but this whole coversation is pretty irrelevant anyways...anyone using a credit card (under normal circumstances) and not paying off every last dime of it at the end of the month is burning there money. a line of credit for most people is much better way to borrow long term. credit cards should only be used as a last resort, or if you know for a fact you can pay it off at the end of the month.

[shosh]

Re: Did fucking APRs go up or what....

^ i agree with you. most people are not disciplined with their finances. however, besides mortgages, credit cards are the best and fastest way to build good credit. you dont need a credit card with a huge balance, just use it instead of your debit card and pay it off at the end of the month. but that requires discipline... and as you make your payments on time, the limit goes up and its easier to live beyond your means.

with the appreciation rates so high right now, buying a house is a very smart thing. using your equity for investments is very smart also. but in order for both of those to actually work, you need good credit scores.

P.S. I'm a mortgage broker and so I work with credit all day and all night long. Feel free to pm me with questions.

[Kamal]

Re: Did fucking APRs go up or what....

well I've been a good customer with this card and it had a fixed APR at 12.9. Apparently they sent me a notice in July that it was going to go up to 24.7 and for no apparent reason. I got late on a payment last month (my first one on this card) and they pushed up APR. Credit score isnt that bad, sitting around mid six hundred (I just learnt yesterday that diff credit reporting companies report different scores..... WHACK). Anyways I'm shutting the card out.....

and its not a store card, its a regular bank credit card

[picklemonkey]

Re: Did fucking APRs go up or what....

^ i agree with you. most people are not disciplined with their finances. however, besides mortgages, credit cards are the best and fastest way to build good credit. you dont need a credit card with a huge balance, just use it instead of your debit card and pay it off at the end of the month. but that requires discipline... and as you make your payments on time, the limit goes up and its easier to live beyond your means.

agreed. if you're not responsible enough to not spend money, you shouldn't have a credit card... it'll at least keep you out of trouble. If you can control yourself, a credit card is a one-way ticket to getting the house or car that you want with the lowest payment possible. I pay mine off each month, and after only two years my two credit card limits have raised by over 700% (giggity) Even when I bought all new furniture for my house and nearly maxed out one of the cards, it was all paid off so the man didn't stick it to me.

with the appreciation rates so high right now, buying a house is a very smart thing. using your equity for investments is very smart also. but in order for both of those to actually work, you need good credit scores.

almost done with the refinancing paperwork... this'll be going strong by Nov 1

[toasty]

Re: Did fucking APRs go up or what....

your little rant didnt make much sense. in order to be able to "live a little" you need a certain financial situation.

Agreed 100%. When I was in college many moons ago, I lived the devil-may-care, pay-what-I-want-when-I-want lifestyle. Although it was certainly fun to not worry about shit in the short term, it didn't make "living a little" any easier in the big picture. It took some time to dig myself out of that hole, which was even less fun. The financial freedom I have now, though, is on a completely different level than the extra $50 I had in my pocket because I didn't feel like paying the phone bill or something.

If your idea of living it up is paying more for car insurance, car loans, mortgage rates and credit cards -- if you can get credit at all -- then by all means keep blowing shit off. Words from the wise, though, whether you're gay, straight, married, single, union, employed, unemployed, black, white, hispanic, whatever, there will come a time that your credit score will be germane to something you'd like to do, and you'll wish you could turn back the clock.

Seriously, does taking 15 minutes out of your schedule each month to pay bills in a timely fashion really cramp your style that much?

This likely sounds condescending, and that's not my goal, but I look back on my much I fucked up my situation when I was younger and "living a little" and what an incredible pain in the ass it was to un-fuck it. It takes so much longer to raise a bad score than to make a good one fall. I wish I had fully comprehended the import of maintaining good credit at the time. Call me an crinkly old fogey, but I don't think that having fun and being financially responsible are mutually exclusive anymore.

Cheers

[edited to correct typo]

[shosh]

Re: Did fucking APRs go up or what....

To get more info on your credit report and how to read it, Click Here!

Long, but very useful docs.

Contact me to apply for a home loan!

[miketpoto]

Re: Did fucking APRs go up or what....

oye.... the complexities and differences of every individual's situation....

Basically I live in manhattan, I have for 10 years, and we dont own cars or our homes, most of us dont have nest eggs, and to buy a place here... even a tiny one, like REALLY TINY, is ridiculously expensive. So my reality dictates a different goal in mind than most other peeps on this board. Ideally I'd love to be extradited to Europe and that sort of thing, maybe experiment with tax evasion in my later years, but nothing solid planned so far. I like my job, so no plans to change much of anything for the time being...

I understand having freedom/flexibility and had it for a long time with very strong credit that I built up...

unfortunately I get extreme anxiety from having to maintain/monitor things that I have little to no control over (meaning all the in's and out's of the banks/credit card companies/etc, and the fine print bullshit) so besides the fact that these companies are going to push all their power to try and get as much $ from me as possible ...

(try getting a reasonable human being on the phone from one of them, better still try getting one in this country)

.... if something isnt a part of my daily life or the people in it, or in any situation where it's not me - rather, ME ON PAPER ( not nearly as cute or amusing as I am) I get intensly consumed with dread and tension, I have my entire life. So rather than being on a bevy anti-depressants trying to hide the misery of putting so much effort into something I don't really even want, I just said "fuck it" to worrying about external pressures or expectations, and to deal with my own (i like nice things/financial freedom but i value other things a hell of a lot more). And 100% honestly, I'd rather kill myself than go back to the former....

Not trying to judge or slam anyone, just merely suggesting that the actual disapointments and moments of pain/regret that my future holds for me will likely be about the loss of people and hopefully minimally, wishing I had done more or said more "back when".

OK, that's it.... too heavy for now... had a surprise moment of emotional reality, and I have work to do

[shosh]

Re: Did fucking APRs go up or what....

unfortunately I get extreme anxiety from having to maintain/monitor things that I have little to no control over (meaning all the in's and out's of the banks/credit card companies/etc, and the fine print bullshit) so besides the fact that these companies are going to push all their power to try and get as much $ from me as possible .

it doesnt take that much to monitor or control your credit. fortunately you have a lot of control over it and you can help or hurt your credit score. its not that hard to control what happens regardless of the fine print bullshit. understanding the simple rules and how credit scoring and reporting works, can help you improve your credit score.

Basically I live in manhattan, I have for 10 years, and we dont own cars or our homes, most of us dont have nest eggs, and to buy a place here... even a tiny one, like REALLY TINY, is ridiculously expensive.

that doesnt mean that you cant buy a property somewhere else as an investment. there are things you can do if you really want to do them. and, with a really good credit score you can make more money than the banks are making off of you...