Category: credit

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How an Excellent Credit Score Can Save You Thousands

As I have mentioned several times lately, I just moved back to New Mexico from California. My rent and the majority of my expenses are a fraction of what they were prior to my move back here, but there is one expense that just went up — I needed a new vehicle. See, New Mexico is the land of dirt roads, arroyos, beaten paths, and trailblazing; it is not the land of nicely paved roads. Sure, the highways are fine, but around any town or city the roads are barely paved and often just rutted dirt paths. A MINI Cooper S, the car I had in California, doesn’t cut it here because it is so low to the ground that there are places in town that I couldn’t go to. Thus it had to go for that reason and one other, which is my plan to hit the road later this year with a camper being pulled behind my car. The MINI wouldn’t pull a camper too well, I am afraid. So what did I have to do to meet my requirements for where I currently live and where I plan on going?

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credit • saving
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How to Build Credit History – 9 Ways to Improve & Build Good Credit Fast

No credit history? Starting anew with bad credit? It’s time to build up your credit history so that you can get decent rates for small loans and mortgages along with increase your chances to get the apartment of your dreams and better rates on your car insurance. But you may be lost as to where to start building up your credit, so I wanted to put together a list of things you should do/work on in order to build it up quickly.

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credit
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How to Increase Your Credit Card Limit

Think you don’t have enough open credit? Have a major purchase coming up, like buying a car with a credit card to get more reward points? If so, you may want to give some thought to asking your credit card issuer for an increase in your credit limit, which is actually a pretty painless process. But before you do so, you may want to give some thought to a few things you should take care of before applying. Here are 5 things you should know before asking for a credit line increase:

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credit
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What Is a Good Credit Score Rating For a Mortgage or Loan?

Your credit score can make or break many situations in your life. From renting an apartment, to getting a job, to buying a car, to getting a mortgage, your credit score is incredibly important. Last time I checked I had a credit score of 800, which probably helped me to get my current rental over some of the other potential tenants. But what what determines the score that you have, and what number makes for a good credit score? Let’s take a look.

Your credit score is based upon five major criteria set forth by Fair Isaac, the creators of the scoring system called FICO, which TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax use to tabulate your score:

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credit
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Buying a Car with a Credit Card – Can You Do It?

I bought a car with a credit card. There, I said it, and now everyone can gasp for air as I explain how I bought my latest car with a credit card. I drive a Mini Cooper S, a used car that I bought for just under $19,000 earlier this year, after selling my Subaru Forester for a more city-ish car. After all, I didn’t really need a 4WD station wagon in Los Angeles, did I? But back to the topic at hand – buying an automobile with a credit card. It’s generally frowned upon to buy a car in this matter, because you are at the mercy of the credit card company in terms of your interest rates, monthly payments, fees and charges, and just a general sense of dread when one gets a credit card bill every month saying one owes $18,000 or so. Sure, you can get 0% cash advances or promotional APR’s to buy a car with, but what if you don’t pay off that balance when the interest rate reverts back to 23.9%? What if you miss a payment and the interest rate goes back up only one month into making payments? That wouldn’t be too fun, nor would it be too smart a move. That’s why we all generally take out auto loans direct from lenders, where we know up front just what the interest rate is, how much the monthly payment is, and when we will be done paying off the loan. But with a credit card, a lot of those variables can change at any moment. Unless…

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automotive • credit
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