Personal Credit Thread

dodint
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Personal Credit Thread

Postby dodint » Sun Jan 24, 2021 11:17 am

The freeze/unfreeze functionality of my Equifax credit report has NEVER worked. Every time I have to unfreeze my account I have to call an overseas call center, during bankers hours, to get them to lift it. It's the only aggravating thing about having my credit reports frozen.

Not receiving unsolicited credit offers in the mail is nice, though.

mac5155
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Personal Credit Thread

Postby mac5155 » Sun Jan 24, 2021 11:58 am

We have been knocking out CC debt with the student loan interest freeze and have almost got it to zero.

Its a liberating feeling as we were almost in 5 figures a year or so ago.

dodint
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Postby dodint » Sun Jan 24, 2021 12:14 pm

You're not alone. I've mentioned before but the various CARES Act efforts and the unemployment kicker has helped consumers wipe out debt in an unprecedented way. Not being able to go on vacation or out to events combined with the lessening of obligations means people are just funneling money into debt obligations.

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Sun Jan 24, 2021 12:37 pm

I recall a report about that last year. I’d be interested in seeing a follow up. My sister was in massive debt (mostly school, but plenty of CC), and if I had to guess, she hasn’t paid enough of it down.

mac5155
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Personal Credit Thread

Postby mac5155 » Mon Jan 25, 2021 9:31 pm

So question, I'm still on the fence about mortgage refi but mainly because I'm unsure about my credit score.

There's an 80 point difference between my Equifax score (obtained by credit karma) and my Experian FICO score (obtained from my monthly credit monitoring provided by PSECU (credit union))

What one would be more/most accurate?

mikey
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Postby mikey » Mon Jan 25, 2021 9:33 pm

You're off by just one thread here, maction jackson...if you would just buy 5000 shares of $AMC you could just buy your house and your neighbor's house in cash and/or crypto...

I took the liberty of reporting your post for you, no worries...

mac5155
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Postby mac5155 » Mon Jan 25, 2021 9:35 pm

Thanks Mike. Going for a cash out refi for the house on $AMC so...

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:38 am

So question, I'm still on the fence about mortgage refi but mainly because I'm unsure about my credit score.

There's an 80 point difference between my Equifax score (obtained by credit karma) and my Experian FICO score (obtained from my monthly credit monitoring provided by PSECU (credit union))

What one would be more/most accurate?
I've had multiple experiences, personally - similar to this: https://www.erate.com/credit-score-average

With Better.com, they used my TransUnion score and nothing else.

skullman80
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Personal Credit Thread

Postby skullman80 » Thu Dec 30, 2021 4:38 pm

So my bank (Citizens) sent me a pre-selected letter for their 1.8% cashback on everything card and a 15 month 0.0% APR balance transfer offer. We had just gone to Vegas and I had charged most of it on my Capital one card to get 1.5% cash back.

I was going to pay a chunk of it off this month, then pay the rest off come tax time. The APR though would have bit me for one month unless I moved some other money around...so that made me look into the Citizens offer. I had called them earlier today to see if they could give me an idea of what my limit would be since I do bank with them, but they said they couldn't just that it would be between 500 and 25k.

In any event I applied...and it said I was approved I would get my card in the mail etc, but didn't tell me what my limit was to start. Called up the number and they gave me 18k right off the bat. It's crazy how my digging myself out of credit hell 5 or so years ago and keeping my scores all up near 800 makes them want to give me 18k to start. I was just going to use it just for the balance transfer, but now it's 1.8% cashback on everything compared to 1.5% capital one card...so I may just make it my main card. I have a discover card too which is 1% back on everything, then 5% on certain things every 3 months (cleaned up on Amazon using that for Christmas).

faftorial
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Postby faftorial » Thu Dec 30, 2021 4:48 pm

Is anyone on the board aware of a bank/institution that will allow for refinance of a small amount of student loans (<$6k)? Most institutions are minimum of $10k.

i don't really care to pay them off, because the interest rate is pretty low. The main reason for refinance is that they have a cosigner attached to them (my wife's sister), and I'd like to remove her obligation. I've already tried to ask Navient to remove her, and for some god unknown reason (they are dodints) they said no.
My ex refinanced hers and I had co-signed on one of them and my name is apparently still on them as my credit score went in the toilet when she missed two months of payments.

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Thu Dec 30, 2021 4:52 pm

I have four cards that I use for various purchases, at this point:
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred: 3x dining, 5x travel, 25% travel bonus, 1x everything else, 10% anniversary bonus
  • Chase Freedom Flex: 5x rotating categories, 3x dining, 3x drugstore, 1x everything else
  • Chase Ink Cash: 5x phone/internet, 5x gas
  • Discover More: 5x rotating categories, 1x everything else
I maxed out at least 85% of my categories this year, as they were all pretty awesome. Groceries and dining rotated between cards regularly, and Chase’s Pay Yourself Back had 25% bonuses through September on dining/grocery stores. I redeemed over $400 in Chase UR from that alone.

tifosi77
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Personal Credit Thread

Postby tifosi77 » Thu Dec 30, 2021 4:57 pm

So my bank (Citizens) sent me a pre-selected letter for their 1.8% cashback on everything card and a 15 month 0.0% APR balance transfer offer. We had just gone to Vegas and I had charged most of it on my Capital one card to get 1.5% cash back.

I was going to pay a chunk of it off this month, then pay the rest off come tax time. The APR though would have bit me for one month unless I moved some other money around...so that made me look into the Citizens offer. I had called them earlier today to see if they could give me an idea of what my limit would be since I do bank with them, but they said they couldn't just that it would be between 500 and 25k.

In any event I applied...and it said I was approved I would get my card in the mail etc, but didn't tell me what my limit was to start. Called up the number and they gave me 18k right off the bat. It's crazy how my digging myself out of credit hell 5 or so years ago and keeping my scores all up near 800 makes them want to give me 18k to start. I was just going to use it just for the balance transfer, but now it's 1.8% cashback on everything compared to 1.5% capital one card...so I may just make it my main card. I have a discover card too which is 1% back on everything, then 5% on certain things every 3 months (cleaned up on Amazon using that for Christmas).
I got a new airline card for the express purpose of being a 'rainy day' card. $10k limit. The month after opening that acct, 2 of my 3 other cards upped my limit without me asking. My utilization plummeted in 45 days without me really doing anything. Credit is weird, but I'm glad Alexander Hamilton understood it.

dodint
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Postby dodint » Thu Dec 30, 2021 5:00 pm

NTP66 should teach a high school class on Personal Finance.

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Thu Dec 30, 2021 5:01 pm

Somebody sure as hell should. I’m a big fan of making your credit/money work for you. Cash is for suckers and @Willie Kool.

faftorial
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Postby faftorial » Thu Dec 30, 2021 5:39 pm

NTP66 should teach a high school class on Personal Finance.
:thumb:

My main understanding of credit cards from my dad was to only use them if you can pay off the balance before the end of the month.

Edit: My ex didn't understand this so I didn't get to this point until being single.

mac5155
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Personal Credit Thread

Postby mac5155 » Tue Jan 11, 2022 2:53 pm

My Southwest Chase card is about to renew and I'm thinking of canceling it for another card as the annual fee is $129 and I do not travel as much as I used to. Any recommendations on a card with a nice sign up bonus right now? Capital One Venture card seems to be the best one.

My only hesitation in canceling is it is my highest limit card at $15k. Is the strategy to apply before canceling or after? I have a ~$5k balance on a 0% APR card until December of 2022.

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Tue Jan 11, 2022 3:04 pm

I have a Venture card, and that seems to be pretty good in terms of reward redemption. You can link it to your Amazon acct and use points as a payment method.

After getting the AA card a couple weeks ago I just opened a Disney account with Chase. Plan on only ever using it for Disney purchases, but the added limit further reduced my utilization.

mac5155
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Postby mac5155 » Tue Jan 11, 2022 3:07 pm

You can get any travel related expenses with the venture card, right? So theoretically if I decide to go somewhere in 2 years I could use the points for travel?

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Tue Jan 11, 2022 4:15 pm

That's my understanding of it, yes. I think it's something like 5x miles for hotels and car rentals and 2x for everything else. Miles don't expire (as long as your account is open), no blackout dates, credit towards Global Entry/TSAPre.

faftorial
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Postby faftorial » Tue Jan 11, 2022 4:23 pm

Any recommendations on a card with a nice sign up bonus right now? Capital One Venture card seems to be the best one.

I'm also interested in this. @@NTP66

Who has the best rewards, something like Tif mentioned with putting money in your Amazon account.

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Tue Jan 11, 2022 4:56 pm

IMO, Doctor of Credit should be your first stop. Their list is massive, and ‘beat’ depends on what you intend to use it for (if other than cash), among other things:

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-cur ... n-bonuses/

Outside of signup bonuses, benefits are big. My Chase Sapphire Preferred came with 2 years of DoorDash for free, which we use weekly, so I’ve saved hundreds on that alone. My Chase Freedom Flex comes with 3 months of DD for free, then 9 months at half price, so I’ll continue that trend of saving.

tifosi77
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Personal Credit Thread

Postby tifosi77 » Thu Feb 03, 2022 2:15 pm

So my bank (Citizens) sent me a pre-selected letter for their 1.8% cashback on everything card and a 15 month 0.0% APR balance transfer offer. We had just gone to Vegas and I had charged most of it on my Capital one card to get 1.5% cash back.

I was going to pay a chunk of it off this month, then pay the rest off come tax time. The APR though would have bit me for one month unless I moved some other money around...so that made me look into the Citizens offer. I had called them earlier today to see if they could give me an idea of what my limit would be since I do bank with them, but they said they couldn't just that it would be between 500 and 25k.

In any event I applied...and it said I was approved I would get my card in the mail etc, but didn't tell me what my limit was to start. Called up the number and they gave me 18k right off the bat. It's crazy how my digging myself out of credit hell 5 or so years ago and keeping my scores all up near 800 makes them want to give me 18k to start. I was just going to use it just for the balance transfer, but now it's 1.8% cashback on everything compared to 1.5% capital one card...so I may just make it my main card. I have a discover card too which is 1% back on everything, then 5% on certain things every 3 months (cleaned up on Amazon using that for Christmas).
I got a new airline card for the express purpose of being a 'rainy day' card. $10k limit. The month after opening that acct, 2 of my 3 other cards upped my limit without me asking. My utilization plummeted in 45 days without me really doing anything. Credit is weird, but I'm glad Alexander Hamilton understood it.
Yeah so this 'rainy day' card...... one hospital stay later, 50% utilization.

mac5155
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Personal Credit Thread

Postby mac5155 » Thu Feb 03, 2022 4:41 pm

MURICA!

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Mon Feb 07, 2022 10:26 am

My wife got an alert from Discover card's SSN monitoring service that her SSN was found on a dark web site. Probably going to have her freeze her credit at all agencies now, along with adding extra security to her mySSN site account. Fun.

dodint
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Postby dodint » Mon Feb 07, 2022 10:27 am

I default to frozen credit reports. It's not too difficult to unfreeze them when needed, takes about 5 minutes per agency through their respective online portals. She'll get a lot less junk mail, too.

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