From an older crowd share/give advice on how to save

[whatevergirl]

i disagree with everyont that said not to use credit cards. use them for everything just make sure to pay them off every month. get points/miles/cash back and profit

i agree...but proceed with caution when using cards, is my advice. i think everyone has these good intentions, but often times...people are maxing their cards out cuz they GOTTA have something, right there and then...and they end up in debt.

[tmonkey]

damn typos!

negged for going back and fixing it

[whatevergirl]

negged for going back and fixing it

I didn't...
Hoch was referring to the 2nd time I used the word.

[desslok]

i agree...but proceed with caution when using cards, is my advice. i think everyone has these good intentions, but often times...people are maxing their cards out cuz they GOTTA have something, right there and then...and they end up in debt.

This is a great point. Been there myself and seen it happen to TONS of others. You have best intentions to pay it off every month. Then BAM your breaks down, and you/family member/pet gets sick. You miss work, pay medical bills, and then realize you can't pay your CC off. Or a concert comes in town of your favorite performer and you think its a once in a lifetime opportunity, what harm could it do not paying your CC "just this once". Next thing you know you are digging a hole that gets deeper and exponentially harder to dig out of.

[StressMonkey]

i disagree with everyont that said not to use credit cards. use them for everything just make sure to pay them off every month. get points/miles/cash back and profit

I'm with you. When I was in college a LOT of my friends got into big trouble with cards. They unfortunately took the "free money!" or "I only have to pay ten dollars a month!" attitude and it really came back to bite them. I refused to get one until after college. For a few years it really sucked applying for things (cell phone, loans), etc. because I didn't have an established credit history.

[Crazymix]

Protect your credit record. Its amazing how many things are influenced by your credit record. It can be the difference between paying $250 a year, and $1200 a year for something as simple as homeowners insurance. Same with car insurance. Pay your bills on time, don't over extend yourself, and don't mess with credit cards. Have one, as an emergency only back up, or traveling.

ok to use credit card when traveling but not while around the house?

i disagree with everyont that said not to use credit cards. use them for everything just make sure to pay them off every month. get points/miles/cash back and profit

I always heard it was good to use a credit card for gas at least once a month.

[Crazymix]

Thanks in advance.

[desslok]

I always heard it was good to use a credit card for gas at least once a month.

That's kind of economic broscience. If you open a credit account, use it once, and pay it off, then don't use it for years, your credit report will still show: Balance $0, max credit xx, pays as agreed. Having too many accounts open will hurt your FICO score. Having too high a percentage of credit used will hurt it too. Having too many inquiries can effect it. But the things that hit it hard are late payments, and collections.

[flairon]

ok to use credit card when traveling but not while around the house?


I always heard it was good to use a credit card for gas at least once a month.

If you can honestly get a credit card and use it, but pay it off before the billing cycle comes around this does 2 things. It shows that you pay your bills in a timely manner and it gives you an open credit line. These 2 things have an effect on your credit rating. There are many factors that affect your credit score. Paying bills on time, amount of credit vs debt, and amount of credit vs available credit and amount of credit vs income are just a few.

[whatevergirl]

http://www.daveramsey.com/home/


^^ this guy is really good...he doesn't believe credit cards should be a way of life.

[mslman71]

I was told my credit rating was lower than it would have otherwise been if I didn't have such high limits on my credit cards. I charge on them regularly but pay them off each month. For a while the companies were automatically increasing my limits so while I had basically a zero balance I had the possibility of having some ungodly balance ($50k+). I got rid of all but two or three and had the limits set at a reasonable number.

I say make sure all your unused accounts are truly closed (on the credit report) and that your CC limits are at a reasonable value.

[desslok]

I was told my credit rating was lower than it would have otherwise been if I didn't have such high limits on my credit cards. I charge on them regularly but pay them off each month. For a while the companies were automatically increasing my limits so while I had basically a zero balance I had the possibility of having some ungodly balance ($50k+). I got rid of all but two or three and had the limits set at a reasonable number.

I say make sure all your unused accounts are truly closed (on the credit report) and that your CC limits are at a reasonable value.

That is a factor, but not a big one. What is pretty cool are some of the "what if" calculators. I have been a member of Equifax, and I have the credit watch service where I can get free credit reports and FICO scores. There is a "what if" calculator that shows you what would probably happen if you paid off one of your cards or closed an account,etc. Also know that a car loan will pull a different FICO and a home loan an even different one.

[mslman71]

That is a factor, but not a big one. What is pretty cool are some of the "what if" calculators. I have been a member of Equifax, and I have the credit watch service where I can get free credit reports and FICO scores. There is a "what if" calculator that shows you what would probably happen if you paid off one of your cards or closed an account,etc. Also know that a car loan will pull a different FICO and a home loan an even different one.

"What if" calculators would be handy. The whole system is a black box to me. There's always some reason why it isn't as good as it could be and I find it a bit goofy; "we want you to owe money, but not too much, we want you to have borrowed money, but not too much, etc." At the same time you have to stay on them because they f*ck up regularly. I had a mortgage loan on my report that wasn't even mine. Someone didn't do the paperwork properly and if that person had screwed up it would have affected my credit. They don't care, they are under no obligation to keep their operation(s) clean...

[gbg]

Don't live within your means, live below them.

[jnwaco]

"What if" calculators would be handy. The whole system is a black box to me. There's always some reason why it isn't as good as it could be and I find it a bit goofy; "we want you to owe money, but not too much, we want you to have borrowed money, but not too much, etc." At the same time you have to stay on them because they f*ck up regularly. I had a mortgage loan on my report that wasn't even mine. Someone didn't do the paperwork properly and if that person had screwed up it would have affected my credit. They don't care, they are under no obligation to keep their operation(s) clean...

That's the way I feel. I don't use credit cards. I have one with a $3,000 limit with a $0 balance and my report said that I didn't have enough credit capacity, and that was costing me a few points on my credit report.

It's a sham. Go into debt to get a better score - so that you can go into more debt? WTF? None of these scores knows how much money I make relative to my debt load (house payment and one car payment - no other debt), and yet they know whether I'm credit worthy or not? There are people with 780+ scores for whom one false move would cause a domino effect of defaults, lol.

[desslok]

"What if" calculators would be handy. The whole system is a black box to me. There's always some reason why it isn't as good as it could be and I find it a bit goofy; "we want you to owe money, but not too much, we want you to have borrowed money, but not too much, etc." At the same time you have to stay on them because they f*ck up regularly. I had a mortgage loan on my report that wasn't even mine. Someone didn't do the paperwork properly and if that person had screwed up it would have affected my credit. They don't care, they are under no obligation to keep their operation(s) clean...

Yeah I would recommend that Equifax service, even just get it for one month and cancel right away. I think its about $15/month. You do have to stay on top of things. If you close an account it will stay on you're report, but if you call the creditor they can add a "closed" note to the report. Also if you have a derogatory report, it should get removed after 7 years (for most things), but sometimes they stay on. So you have to get on them to remove it. This Equifax service is nice cause you can file a dispute right online electronically to all 3 bureaus, rather than filling out all the right paperwork and mailing it to 3 places.

[hochspeyer]

If you have a long term loan like a car or a house, you can significantly reduce the loan's payoff date and amount by making your regular payments and then making a half payment in the middle of the month and designating it to go to the principal.

Eating out costs a hell of a lot of money compared to eating at home

Pay attention to the type of account you save your money in. Look for the highest interest bearing account you can for your money.

Credit cards will usually not be worth it. If you do decide to apply for one, pay close attention to the interest rates. The devil is in the details. That super duper low introductory rate usually changes after a year or so OR if you are on a late payment and some of those changes are ridiculous. Your best bet is to get rid of them if you have them or don't carry them around and only use them for extreme emergencies. Using them for something like gas or groceries is dumb.

If your work offers a 401k plan and they match funds, take it. It's free money.

Don't even think about borrowing short term like amscott for something you want The interest rate is about 200%

If you have a fixed-interest loan (such as a car loan), you can decrease your monthly payment and pay the loan off quicker by making a habit of making a larger payment whenever possible. It may not seem like much- and you still end up paying the same amount- but there's a certain gratification that comes from seeing your minimum monthly payment shrink. Besides, as your payments decrease, you have "extra" money to do other things- like maybe shrink your payments even further. Just be careful to avoid any prepayment penalties- even simple interest loans can have them.

[z-killa]

Heard once...if u start saving at 12% interest (like $50 dollars a week or something) when you are 18 and you can stop saving when you r 26 and let it sit...by the time u retire u will b a millionaire