Poll of the Day > How closely do you follow your credit score?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Are you fiscally responsible and does your credit score really affect your life?

Never look but I know my credit card limit goes up 3 to 10k every year for the past 15 years? So I imagine its going the right direction.

I used to check sometimes but it stressed me the fuck out

Credit scores are stupid anyway. You can have someone who made every car payment and rent on time but might have had credit card problems or something that caused their credit to say they can't get a mortgage on a house thats probably 100-300 a month cheaper than their current rent.

Every once in a while

Was limited by the sheer "length of credit history" for a long time, but finally cracked into the 800's like 2 years ago.
If my credit wasn't amazing, getting a home construction loan would've been much harder and/or cost more.
Raising credit score is pretty fucking easy. Just buy stuff w/ credit card like you would've w/ cash, pay in full (don't treat it like a loan for money you don't have), and just...keep doing that. The amount of time it takes is the only "hard" part.
Obviously if you have some medical issue or something and go into massive debt, then it's gonna be tougher. But I doubt such a person is worrying about their credit score anyway.

streamofthesky posted...

Just buy stuff w/ credit card like you would've w/ cash, pay in full (don't treat it like a loan for money you don't have), and just...keep doing that. The amount of time it takes is the only "hard" part.

Honestly thats what I used to do. Pay my bills with my bank account and use my Amazon Credit card for everything since they give 3% cash back on all purchases and 5% on their web site. So I would buy stuff and submit a payment the next day. I would almost always get 100 bucks a month from the cash back.

Occasionally I do, though its always between 770-797.

hypnox posted...

Honestly thats what I used to do. Pay my bills with my bank account and use my Amazon Credit card for everything since they give 3% cash back on all purchases and 5% on their web site. So I would buy stuff and submit a payment the next day. I would almost always get 100 bucks a month from the cash back.

I buy w/ my credit card, get the % cash back, and have auto pay set up to take the balance out the day it's due from my bank account. It's literally zero effort.

streamofthesky posted...

I buy w/ my credit card, get the % cash back, and have auto pay set up to take the balance out the day it's due from my bank account. It's literally zero effort.

I had my credit card number stolen locally four times, so I check my balances often. So I just pay off the balance since I have the app open anyway.

hypnox posted...

I had my credit card number stolen locally four times, so I check my balances often. So I just pay off the balance since I have the app open anyway.

Well, on the bright side, you have the protections of a credit card. You could actually dispute charges and get them removed.
If it was a debit card linked directly to your bank account, you'd be screwed.
Debit cards are dumb. Worst of both worlds.

streamofthesky posted...

If it was a debit card linked directly to your bank account, you'd be screwed.

Debit cards hold the same insurance as credit cards. So you aren't liable for any purchases they make as well. But it is something better to catch early and not later.

streamofthesky posted...

If it was a debit card linked directly to your bank account, you'd be screwed.
Debit cards are dumb. Worst of both worlds.

Not even remotely true. Ive had fraudulent charges against my debit card repeatedly in the past. Ive never been screwed. Even when it was over $2000 worth of gift cards at a pharmacy...

I don't need to because I don't use credit.

should have gone to freeee credit report dot com.

last I checked it was around 800, not something I really check often since I don't have debt (just every now and then you be like yup nothing out of the ordinary)

also credit doesn't travel so I basically don't have any credit history again now since moving abroad

hypnox posted...

Credit scores are stupid anyway. You can have someone who made every car payment and rent on time but might have had credit card problems or something that caused their credit to say they can't get a mortgage on a house thats probably 100-300 a month cheaper than their current rent.

Or you can make every single payment on time on everything but lose 50 points for successfully paying off debt.

Every once in a while. It's over 750, so there is nothing to really worry about.

Prior to the 1970s, there was no such thing as a credit score at least for consumers but then that all changed when credit card companies started issuing CCs to working people and they needed a way to "check" your credit worthiness since CCs are "Unsecured Loans" which require no collateral.

argonautweakend posted...

Every once in a while. It's over 750, so there is nothing to really worry about.

That's great but it all takes is a missed payment and it takes a hit even if the missed payment was an honest mistake in which someone may have simply forgot to make.

It's estimated that roughly 123M Americans have less than a stellar credit score.

Been hovering at 845+ for years now, was able to get 850 2 or 3 times. It doesnt mean anything since Ive paid off my car but nowhere near enough money to start looking for a house in the Bay Area.

Yeah, it used to be like 815, then I paid off my one of my loans and it dropped like a rock. Fucking scam.

Every now and then I check mine just to see what it's at, but I have little use for it at the moment. I've been hovering in the 750s for awhile but simply have nothing to really use it for.

It was good enough to get my mortgage when I bought my house, but I should have that paid within the next 5 years and then I don't plan to ever borrow money again. So my credit score could be negative 500 for all I care.