Best way to build credit?

[otakuneko]

Stop me if I'm wrong but with a score of 746, shouldn't Jester already be able to get a regular unsecured credit card?

I got my first (and only, unless you count the [Brand] card that only works at [Brand] stores) credit card by just walking into my bank and saying, "I want a credit card." I've no idea what my FICO was at the time but prior to that I had no financial history to speak of aside from maybe internet and cell phone bills in my name. They gave me a Visa just the same, had maybe a $1k limit at first I think, it's much higher now as I've had the card at least a decade.

And that's pretty much all I had when I eventually applied for and got a mortgage and bought a house last year. Just that one card and a history of paying my bills on time. They showed me my FICO during the loan process but now I've forgotten what it was.

[EricKei]

Congrats on the improvement to your score! ^_^ That's awesome! Even if you *never* are forced to take advantage of it, it's a good thing.

PS, What was said about recalculating your vehicle insurance is definitely worth checking out.

because in their eyes you are a very bad customer.

60 Minutes and similar shows loved to run stories on this sort of thing back in the day. CC companies refer to customers who never carry a balance at all as "Deadbeats."

Also dispute anything that looks unfamiliar.

What would be the best way to look up info that is *part* of your overall report, but not listed in the section that potential creditors can see? In my case -- The last time I tried to look up my credit history online, it used prior physical addresses as one of the "security" questions. One address it listed was in Wyoming or something -- I have never even traveled to that state ,let alone lived there. At the time, I had been living in the same (NOLA-area) house for over twenty years.

Best guess -- A book of checks belonging to our family was stolen during the year 2000. We called the bank and had it completely shut down within 2 hours of the theft (it turned out to be guys in a fake plumbing-company truck who were casing the neighborhood and stole Dad's briefcase), along with any other financial-stuff the case would have contained. We knew it ended up in Wyoming because a grocery store called us to collect on a bad check that had been written there to our account ~_~ We just told them "Sorry, guys -- we closed that account weeks ago because of theft." We gave them the bank's number, and never heard back. Yes, this was in a time when such a store could and should have been using CheckSmart or something similar.

I did ask that they take me off all their mailing & telemarketing lists, since they kept sending me offers for which I clearly didn't qualify.

I don't recall the exact location, but there is a "Do Not Contact"-type list that applies to credit card snail-mailings if you're in the US; I believe it lasts for five years from the time you sign up. It has worked wonders for me.

[Jester]

I rented for a very long time myself. Buying is a very personal decision and depends on your goals.

For various reasons both personal and financial, I have no current or future plans of home ownership. I'm perfectly happy as a renter.

I don't think you'll find better rates than at a credit union. Since they work for their members, not a corporate board, they can usually offer the best deals and they're not the fuck you over deals the big banks offer.

I have been very, VERY happy with this credit union, and will miss them when I leave Florida. However, there is a credit union back in Phoenix that my parents have also been very happy with, and that is where I intend to establish my new accounts when I finally head back west.

Stop me if I'm wrong but with a score of 746, shouldn't Jester already be able to get a regular unsecured credit card?

Probably. But I'd like to build on my current situations, and assess the various offers I get, if any...though the bank manager I talked to said I should start to expect such offers in the mail in the near future. Luckily for me, I am in no rush, and can take my own sweet damn time.

PS, What was said about recalculating your vehicle insurance is definitely worth checking out.

Which was...what, exactly?

CC companies refer to customers who never carry a balance at all as "Deadbeats."

Fuck CC companies and their idiotic terminology. The human race refers to people who don't pay their bills or take care of their responsibilities deadbeats. Not a bit surprising to me that a financial industry would twist the English language around so much.

[taxguykarl]

Stop me if I'm wrong but with a score of 746, shouldn't Jester already be able to get a regular unsecured credit card?

Yes indeed. Mrs. TGK & I re-fi'ed on lower scores.
Freeloader is another term bankers use for those who pay balances off monthly.

[EricKei]

Jester - Your credit score has a bearing on your vehicle's (and possibly other) insurance rates. If the score has gone up by a significant amount, you may be able to use that fact to get a discount on your insurance. Consider going to their site for an estimate with the new data, or just calling your agent to inquire about it.

[otakuneko]

Just for schlitzengiggles I dug out my bank paperwork from when I applied for my mortgage.

There was a 33 point spread in my FICO scores between the three agencies. Experian and TransUnion were pretty close. Equifax really hates me, apparently. I guess they remembered that I once accidentally broke the database on one of their security appliances and they had to restore from backup.... >.>

It was a normal procedure I'd done several times before without incident... but now, we don't do it anymore...

[Jester]

Jester - Your credit score has a bearing on your vehicle's (and possibly other) insurance rates. If the score has gone up by a significant amount, you may be able to use that fact to get a discount on your insurance. Consider going to their site for an estimate with the new data, or just calling your agent to inquire about it.

Hadn't thought about that, and here's why: a while back, deciding I was paying way too much on car insurance, I did some shopping around. And I found a much better deal. As happy as I'd been with Flo, the Gecko had a much better deal for me. You know those commercials where they say 15 minutes could save you 15%? I spent about 40 minutes, and saved about 40% over what I'd been paying with Flo. (I spent so much time because I wanted to make sure the coverage on any new plan was the same or better as on my old plan. I was thorough.)

So, yeah, hadn't really thought about this in a while.

[taxguykarl]

As you rent, had you looked into bundling renter's (technically tenant homeowner's) insurance with your car insurance?

[Sapphire Silk]

As you rent, had you looked into bundling renter's (technically tenant homeowner's) insurance with your car insurance?

I did that and was surprised by how much money it saved me. At the time (when I was still a renter), the discount essentially made the renter's insurance free.

That's not true now that I own my home . . . but it's still a nice discount.

[Jester]

As you rent, had you looked into bundling renter's (technically tenant homeowner's) insurance with your car insurance?

Nope.

Actually, not entirely true. Many years ago, it was suggested to me to get renter's insurance. I called the local insurance company that was suggested to me a few times, and they never got back to me.

Also, a while back, my apartment complex said that renter's insurance was now required. My roommates and I got a year policy. It lapsed several months ago, and as the complex has not said a word to us about it, I'm not bothering getting it again, as it did nothing but cost us some money.

But regarding your question about bundling it with my car insurance, my initial answer still stands: Nope. Never looked into that. Don't know that Geico offers renter's insurance, actually.

I did that and was surprised by how much money it saved me. At the time (when I was still a renter), the discount essentially made the renter's insurance free.

Please, elaborate on this discount....?

[mathnerd]

Don't know that Geico offers renter's insurance, actually.

*snip*


Please, elaborate on this discount....?

Geico does offer it, and you can get a multi-policy discount if you go through them. Last I had both car and renter's insurance through them the discount on my car insurance was greater than the cost of renter's insurance. I forget the numbers, but let's say that on it's own, my car insurance was $50/mo, but I got a discount of $15/mo if I also had renter's insurance, but the renter's insurance was $12/mo, so both together only cost $47/mo; less than just the auto insurance alone. I'm quite certain those weren't the actual numbers, but it did wind up being less money for the two together than just the auto insurance alone. And I use Geico, so it was through them.

[Sapphire Silk]

Please, elaborate on this discount....?

Sure. I have State Farm. I've had my auto insurance with them since I started driving.

When I first started renting, someone suggested I get renter's insurance. We'd had some break in's in the neighborhood. So I talked to my agent.

My car insurance at the time (I was under 25) was somewhere around $400 every six months. My agent said renter's insurance would cost me around $50ish per year. It only insured my personal belongings, not the house itself (the landlord was responsible for insuring the house). He said since I was already a SF customer, he could give me a discount on my car insurance by getting renter's insurance. The discount effectively amounted to what the renters insurance cost.

I basically got the renter's insurance for free.

My rates went down even more when I bought my Jeep CJ7 (my play car). Insurance for the 2nd car effectively paid for itself.

I guess customers who have all their insurance through one company are considered better risks. So the price goes down.

[Jester]

Good to know. Thanks, guys. Now I'm wondering if Geico offers health insurance, too.

[Jester]

UPDATE!!!

My attempt to build credit and get a real credit card has started to pay off, even though when I started it about a year ago it seemed like it would take forever.

This last October, I applied for and received a Visa with a $2,200 credit limit. I have judiciously used it, and the balance, while a bit higher than I would like, is at least high enough to attract other offers.

And those other offers have run the gamut. I got one from American Express, which offered no annual fee the first year, but a $90 annual fee each year thereafter. No thanks. Into the garbage went that one. Following it in was an offer from another Visa card supplier that I was told can be a bit of a pain in the ass to deal with, and their interest rate was a bit higher than I preferred.

One that did not go into the garbage was an a nice little invitation from Discover. I went online, applied for that card, and was approved, though I will not know what kind of credit line I will get until I get the card in 5-10 business days.

So far, so good. And the best part is that each of these makes it a bit easier for me to reach my goal of moving back to Arizona this summer. I still have to save up some money, but the light at the end of the tunnel is just a bit larger.

Also, in case of some emergency that I have to suddenly fly off to somewhere to deal with, or have to deal with it in some other way, I now have my new Visa (and perhaps my new Discover) to fall back on. With my parents getting older and my stepsister still in the care facility, this gives me a bit more piece of mind.

And a special thank you to Mathnerd, who has helped guide me through some of this stuff with her experience in banking. Thanks, M! Much "credit" goes to you.

(Sorry, bad joke I know, but I just couldn't resist.)

[Sapphire Silk]

Awesome, Jester! Congratulations!