Sneaky ways you're ruining your credit score

From the Community…

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  Posted by Bellisima Tue Jul 8, 2008 5:20pm PDT

  Well said.....I hate when they insist on telling you not just once but insist that "Oh, if you apply you will save your % NOW,"... I politely decline. There's always bound to be a "great" sale anyhow. Who are they kidding.

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  Posted by kimthegr8 Thu Jul 10, 2008 6:28am PDT

  Also, when you run your balances on your credit cards over the half way point, that negatively affects your credit as well, even if you NEVER make a late payment, up to 30 points off your score. When your available credit is large amounts too that can also make it difficult to obtain a loan. An example would be if you have 3 cards each with a limit of $15,000, and you only make about $60,000/ yr, too much of your income could go to paying those cards if they were maxed out. Lenders look at all that.

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  Posted by JOE S Thu Jul 10, 2008 10:04am PDT

  is it better to close or leave your acct open when you pay it off.

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  Posted by Disgruntled Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:38am PDT

  I agree with Angela. Avoid store credit cards. They have the highest interest rates which offset any one time saving that the store uses to entice you into getting the card. You really don't need more than one credit card and it should be one of the major ones that is accepted anywhere. You can usually put off the pushy sales clerks by asking them what the interest rate is on the store credit card. They either have no idea or they figure out that you're smart enough not to fall for that "Save 10% today" nonsense.

  Obviously paying off your credit card balance monthly helps. If you can't you should still pay off more than the minimum payment.

  Also, on most car loans and mortgages you can pay extra every month without penalty. This can help you pay off the loans quicker because usually the extra amount goes towards the principal of the loan not the interest. I've paid off two car loans a year early this way.

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  Posted by Laura Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:27pm PDT

  One can not overemphacize the problems to follow by missing, skipping or underpaying the monthly due on your credit card(s). We have a high credit rating and we always pay off our card debt each month. We never charge more than we can pay out for that month! But, we recently applied for a significant loan. We got the loan, OK, but that darn missed payment 20 years ago still comes up when our credit rating is checked! It is as easy to get off your credit record as is removing a birthmark! It is there for life!

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  Posted by Melisma Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:25pm PDT

  What's wrong with accepting a credit line increase, I got one (and was veeery happy about it), but I've never exceeded it or anything, and my credit report is fine.

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  Posted by gorselindsay Sat Jul 12, 2008 1:22am PDT

  i think the way these people credit score is ridiculous, my husband is the wage earner we have a mortgage and he has a credit card with Barcleys but despite always paying these he cannot get a bank account with a debit card from the same bank!I on the other hand dont work and have a debit card account with Lloydstsb a 15.000 bank loan and a platinum credit card all from my bank,surely this is backwards credit scoring.The worst thing is after clearing some ccjs over 3 years ago to get our first mortgage they still appear on my husbands credit rating and this affected the deal we got when we remortgaged this year how can this be fair we have never missed one single payment!

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  Posted by pa18519seller Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:06pm PDT

  It is better to leave a zero balance credit card open. Closing a paid-off account looks worse than having a card with no balance.

  Remember this easy way to establish good credit: Use a card to buy gas and pay it off every month (as long as your gas station doesn't charge more for credit card purchases). Doing so will build up a better credit score!

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  Posted by TWisgrt Sun Jul 13, 2008 3:59am PDT

  if credit scores are so sacred why are there so many home foreclosures and delinquencies on credit cards,car loans etc. Weren't they used to measure credit risk? Credit scores are little more than legal ways to get more money out of the consumer with their arcane rules, i.e. if you have one card maxed out and 5 open vs spreading it out across all cards tour score goes down? My advice don't use credit cards and live free of potential traps.

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  Posted by Arlene B Sun Jul 13, 2008 7:53am PDT

  For lorjon007... Seven years is the max anything should affect you on your credit report/score. Even bankruptcies. I had a 500 about nine years ago, cleaned up my act, and now my score is above 800. NO LATE PAYMENTS is the absolute key.

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