[Sara]

Originally Posted by jlspeed29

hey sara...no theres no such thing (to my knowledge) as "charging too little"
its all about ratios as far as creditors are concerned.

If you charge 50, then pay it off when the bill comes...if you must carry a balance, make sure you pay more than the minimum always
and using less than 30% of Available credit is preferred

Ok thats the answer I was looking for. Cause I work for the company and I get everything FREE so I hardly ever purchase something from them. But this makes me feel better about not using the card so much. I was feeling like I should just find things to buy just for the sake of using it.

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by Blake

no no i meant 10% of the total line. enough to not have a zero balance, but not getting charged a ton of interest.

goood, then yes I completely agree with you.

[NYCGP]

Originally Posted by Sara504

Someone explain the AMEX charge thing to me.. We skipped that question too. Please and thanks

http://www.americanexpress.com/irela...rge_card.shtml

[jlspeed29]

Originally Posted by Sara504

It was my first credit card. I opened it when I was 19. Im not going to close it. Ive had it almost 4 years now. I hardly use it, but I think I should be using it more. Ive put $10.77 on it in the last 3 months lol... Im thinking thats tooo little. Am I right?

do not close that card under any circumstances....since its your first card, that is anchoring your credit history

[Sara]

ANOTHER question!!! I have store card, thats also a visa that I can use anywhere. How does this look to creditors.

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by Sara504

Ok thats the answer I was looking for. Cause I work for the company and I get everything FREE so I hardly ever purchase something from them. But this makes me feel better about not using the card so much. I was feeling like I should just find things to buy just for the sake of using it.

I disagree with jlspeed, and I think blake might as well. If your credit line on that card is $5000, and you're only spending $50 a month, that's not good (it's not bad, but you want to spend more, again about that 10-20% line)


Again, I would like to emphasize, these points are only for reaching the VERY top echelon, when you're at 650 or 700, these suggestions mean jack shit

[Sara]

Originally Posted by jlspeed29

do not close that card under any circumstances....since its your first card, that is anchoring your credit history

Gotcha. Awesome thanks.

[Sara]

Originally Posted by NYCGP

http://www.americanexpress.com/irela...rge_card.shtml

What happens if you dont pay the full balance? and if you have to pay it all off, whats the point. Why wouldnt I just use my debit cards in the first place?

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by Sara504

ANOTHER question!!! I have store card, thats also a visa that I can use anywhere. How does this look to creditors.

store or not store doesn't mean shit. All that matters is that it's a visa backed card. it's viewed no different than a regular visa card.

[Sara]

Originally Posted by Freakazoid

store or not store doesn't mean shit. All that matters is that it's a visa backed card. it's viewed no different than a regular visa card.

Ok good.

[Freakazoid]

on the note of AMEX charge cards... I don't believe all AMEX is charge based. I'm pretty sure AMEX Blue for example is a regular credit card.

Blake, GP? am i wrong here?

[CollinsE90]

Originally Posted by Freakazoid

store or not store doesn't mean shit. All that matters is that it's a visa backed card. it's viewed no different than a regular visa card.

+1

Its just a way for VISA to get you to apply for a credit card, using the store. Usually its free interest but if you are late or miss a payment, all the interest you didnt pay comes back. They expect people to mess up, and hope they do.

Correct me if im wrong freakazoid

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by Sara504

What happens if you dont pay the full balance? and if you have to pay it all off, whats the point. Why wouldnt I just use my debit cards in the first place?

they come over and PIITB. Nah, seriously I don't know, I just seriously hate AMEX (if this hasn't come through my posts yet)

[NYCGP]

Originally Posted by CollinsE90

+1

Its just a way for VISA to get you to apply for a credit card, using the store. Usually its free interest but if you are late or miss a payment, all the interest you didnt pay comes back. They expect people to mess up, and hope they do.

Correct me if im wrong freakazoid

correctamundo

Amex makes money off the merchants (and the clients that can't pay off their cards that month). Mastercard and Visa makes money off their card holders inability to afford their purchases.

[Sara]

God damn, this is starting to become rocket science lol

[Feyd]

Originally Posted by Sara504

Someone explain the AMEX charge thing to me.. We skipped that question too. Please and thanks

It means you must pay it in full EVERY month... regardless of how much you put on it.

It was really popular back before debit cards (At least the ones with the Visa/MC logo) starting showing up. In the beginning they were used mostly as a convenience so people wouldn't have to walk around with cash or checks all the time. You charge up whatever you want and then right one large check at the end of the month to AMEX to basically cover all of your purchases made.

Same concept still exists today... But you'll find that most people now use them to operate their businesses out of. It just keeps things simple (less paperwork, etc.) kind of like NYCGP is talking about. The idea of the average joe using AMEX has kind of gone by the wayside since your bank will usually issue you a debit card when you open a checking acct.

*edit*

looks like some of this has been covered... sorry for the repeat, but this thread is moving pretty fast.

[Sara]

OK so what Im getting at is,

1. 3 cards is just fine, I dont need 4-6
2. I need to spend more on my store card.
3. Amex is awful.

Am I right?

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by CollinsE90

+1

Its just a way for VISA to get you to apply for a credit card, using the store. Usually its free interest but if you are late or miss a payment, all the interest you didnt pay comes back. They expect people to mess up, and hope they do.

Correct me if im wrong freakazoid

Good God you're right. For some reason people fuck up department store credit cards and the such 1000000x more often than they do with the 'real' cards. I have no idea why, but it's the case.

for some reason people dont' realize they're 'real' credit cards. there's all sorts of little benefits (better cashback, no interest, as noted above). but they will bite you in the ass HARD if you screw up once.

[jlspeed29]

Originally Posted by Freakazoid

I disagree with jlspeed, and I think blake might as well. If your credit line on that card is $5000, and you're only spending $50 a month, that's not good (it's not bad, but you want to spend more, again about that 10-20% line)


Again, I would like to emphasize, these points are only for reaching the VERY top echelon, when you're at 650 or 700, these suggestions mean jack shit

i think you are right, to a degree. if an underwriter is going through my credit on a case-by-case basis then yes, I can see that they may not like the fact that im only charging a very small amount...just because i can pay $50/month does not mean i can afford $500/month..right? again this is if an underwriter is looking at it....
for the masses and credit cards however, i dont think it really matters...all that stuff is computer generated with little to no human involvement...

no with regards to the "very upper echelon" that is a conversation for another forum, like ferrarichat or something hahaha jk

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by Sara504

God damn, this is starting to become rocket science lol

it's worth noting, as I had put in my one post, this fine tuning is what gets you over into that really high echelon. If you're just looking to get to like high 700s, most of this stuff is just common sense. getting over 800 takes planning.

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by jlspeed29

i think you are right, to a degree. if an underwriter is going through my credit on a case-by-case basis then yes, I can see that they may not like the fact that im only charging a very small amount...just because i can pay $50/month does not mean i can afford $500/month..right? again this is if an underwriter is looking at it....
for the masses and credit cards however, i dont think it really matters...all that stuff is computer generated with little to no human involvement...

no with regards to the "very upper echelon" that is a conversation for another forum, like ferrarichat or something hahaha jk

you're 100% right across the board, it really won't matter that much...its better to err on the side of too LITTLE than too much. But if you are looking to get to that level, this stuff matters...unfortunately

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by Sara504

OK so what Im getting at is,

1. 3 cards is just fine, I dont need 4-6
2. I need to spend more on my store card.
3. Amex is awful.

Am I right?

What 3 do you have? My personal suggestion is to get a Visa, a MC, and a Discover.

But #2 is right, and #3 eeeeexactly