Yes, and that sucks. Also potential landlords if you want to move - your history of paying rent and utility bills is somehow totally irrelevant (because they can’t easily pull a report on that) to considerations of whether you’ll pay rent and utility bills, so if you don’t have and use credit cards, you’re out of luck.
You pretty much have to build a good credit record nowadays for the basics like getting hired, or getting an apartment. That means you have to get credit cards, and use them. Something my parents always told me never to do, because so many people had so many problems with it. And it takes about a year before your credit score goes up significantly. So it’s not a quick/easy thing to do.
I’ve been paying my rent on my credit card to help rebuild my credit. It gives me some large activity on the card. I pay extra to go it but I otherwise don’t use it much so it helps some.
From my reading, the biggest way to improve credit is get another card or raise your credit limit on the card you have. I dong want to do this either because historically if I have credit I use it.
I can’t tell you what’s best because I’m figuring it out myself, and I don’t know if it’s right. But what I’ve been doing is the following:
I got a secured store card at Amazon for $500, used it, but trying to keep its utilization around 30% or less, and after 9 months or so they eventually refunded the money and gave me an unsecured card, I put that money right into the security deposit on a Discover IT card. Again I try to use it for small things and always pay it off in advance. My credit has gone from lower 600s to well into 700s (721 right now) in just over a year.
My wife followed on after me - I think about 8-9 months behind, but is doing the same. I have no idea how her credit affects mine or vice-versa, but she’s up into the 700s too, and still just has the Amazon store card.
My utilization is at 3% and primary detractor is short age of accounts. I think increasing the limits would help, but I’m not ready to ask for that. I already have two $500 lines of credit (one still secured and one not), but I guess that’s what people do? Ask for more whenever you can (and don’t need it) so the numbers are better for when you do need it? I don’t know. I’m not used to having credit. I’m used to paying up front for everything.
That’s pretty much right. Low utilization + on-time payments + length of time.
Right now, my credit score is 785, with 15 years, on time payment and low revolving use. Your spouse’s credit won’t affect yours unless you co-own property and they default or something. What does affect mine right now is loan balance on my student loans. I only really had to start paying significant cash on them recently, so the ratio of debt originated to held is quite high.
If you ask for a larger line, your utilization goes down. But if you don’t feel like you want that temptation, don’t. I have 50 grand in available credit, but both my husband and I regularly get reimbursed for business expenses. Which is a fucked way to do business, but Republicans have attacked the public sector pretty relentlessly so
Edit: really, think of this like a scummy loan shark. Do you want to lend to someone who pays on time and doesn’t take out astronomical sums they can’t repay? Or someone who takes out huge amounts and defaults? Lenders are just legal loan sharks.
On June 8th, New York City entered “Phase I” of the state’s re-opening plan. COVID-19 is still a big problem, but people got tired of pretending to care about it.
Today it’s a warm Friday night. Many restaurant on 3rd Avenue have re-opened. One place even dressed a couple of employees up in inflatable shark costumes. The sidewalks were packed with people who longed to eat restaurant food while standing outside. And you can’t eat no food while wearing no mask. Het ready for another spike of cases.
There don’t appear to be any large marches in Brooklyn this weekend. There are a couple going on in Manhattan, but I really don’t want to travel a long way on subway in order to stand around a large group of people. And anyway, I own a part of Brooklyn now, I really should protest here.
So no marches in Brooklyn, but the small nightly vigil at the union of 4th and 5th Avenues is still going strong. This is the small protest I wrote about last time that was started by an unapologetic hippy. I’ll call her “June.”
It seems to be gaining more popular goodwill the longer it goes. Some people honk and wave as they drive by. Other times people walk by and will say a few positive words. Tonight the vigil attracted five people at the same time. It’s hard to socially distance on a small triangular piece of concrete.
At the hight of the police violence, June’s original idea was to get arrested by running in the streets wearing nothing but a selection of face masks. Her friends talked her out of that idea.
So instead she attached home-made signs to a large, tie-died, rainbow peace flag. She sits every night for three hours or so, with a number of candles and incense sticks. A much better idea. More people see it and can interact with her.
Went to church to attend my brother’s confirmation ceremony today. We figured that it was somewhat safe… we’d be socially distanced and the infection rate here in BC is low, although people are a little rattled by a recent superspreader event.
At the church, people were sort of social distancing… no one except my family was wearing masks. The accompanist in the choir was hacking away and gulping down throat lozenges. Now I’m paranoid again…
