Establishing Credit - tips and tricks please

[happiestmanalive 23]

very nice threat!

What would you guys suggest when a future spouse has a bad credit... should he add me to his account when we get married or should I just open my own and how will it look at the AOS interview, shouldn't we have the same account etc?

It might look suspicious. Better to work on things together.

As for building credit, it takes time. Plain and simple. There are hundreds of factors that go into your credit score and understanding them can take longer than building your credit. If starting at 0, get a department store credit card. Work your way up from that. Never make a late payment. Having a balance does not make your credit score go down. Having a large balance that never decreases might have a negative impact. Whatever kind of credit you are going for, the most important thing to remember is not to be late. Also, it's good to know that a lot of credit cards don't report late payments if payments are still paid (usually 15 days) after due date. I also just recently signed up for a credit report. Understanding why your score is the way it is will also help you to improve. Good luck!

May the power of love be with you.

[DouglasFiel 53]

Review. creditkarma.com and clarkhoward.com. Both will give you free un-biased information on how to increase your credit and/or

credit score. Taking our a loan (and paying interest) for the sole purpose of increasing you credit score is usually not a good idea.

The best way for a new immigrant to get usable credit history is to get added as an authorized user to the spouses "OLDEST" credit card.

In our case, I added my new spouse to a card issued in 1982. Her credit history jumped from none to more then 25 years and her credit

score to 720+. After that she was able to apply for and get a couple of credit cards in her own name.

However, some things may have changed with the new DOD FRANK banking regulations. I understand there is some changes for non-community

property states on non-working spouses and obtaining credit.

Regards,

dc

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Also read myfico.com to understand what is reported to credit agencies and what is not (bank accounts, utilities, etc). If a spouse has bad credit having a joint checking or savings account will not harm you because a bank account is not related to credit.

Edited June 25, 2012 by Harpa Timsah

[Dave-n-Oksana 49]

Also it's not only the amount of credit but the type of credit that also affects your score.

What you might also look into is getting an auto loan. You may have to go through a company that caters to no/bad credit individuals and pay a hich interest rate, but after a year you should be able to refinance at a lower interest rate.

[katiushka 1]

i got my first green card on february 2009, last time i checked my credit score was 760. First i got a job. it was an awful and didn't pay too much but it was a job. This allowed me to get my first credit card with a 500$ credit limit. My husband also added me as a user of a couple of his credit cards but i don't think that affected my credit score.

Eventually after working for a while they raised the 500 to 900. During that time we also bought some sofas in Rooms to go and got a credit on my name with him as cosigner. paid it off in 2 years instead of 3 that was the agreement.

Then one day at the bank they told me i was eligible for another cc... this time they gave me 1500$ credit limit

Also we bought a used car from a relative and we went to our credit union and got a credit on my name with him as cosigner. also paid it off.

at least 2 times i spent more than my credit card limit but i never had any problem with that because both times they would just increase my limit! i guess kinda lucky!!!

now we both are debt free (except for house mortage that i am not in as my previous lack of credit would increase the interest rate) and my credit is getting much better!!!!

next financial move: i am saving to buy a new car this time on my credit!

[together4evr 360]

My husband has a credit score of 738 at 2.5 months after arriving to USA.

I added him as an authorized user to 2 of my credit cards over 1 year ago.

This has no effect on his score but it shows up on his credit history

He immediately applied for capital one credit card 6 weeks after arriving here

and got a limit of 2000.00

He has been on my verizon cell phone over 1 year before his visa

I have mail sent to my home before his arrival in his name

he had magazines, credit card offers, junk mail!

TIPS:

Never use more then 30% of your total balance

Do Not pay off the total amount of the credit card. You need revolving credit so

Minimum payment is 25.00

monthly balance is 300.00

total balance is 450.00

You should pay at least 26.00 but not more then 299.00

Having 2 credit cards helps report your credit score quickly

Having a car loan helps

Any loan helps

But the quickest way to establish credit is

2 credit cards and pay as described above

[Sean86 31]

My husband has a credit score of 738 at 2.5 months after arriving to USA.

I added him as an authorized user to 2 of my credit cards over 1 year ago.

This has no effect on his score but it shows up on his credit history

He immediately applied for capital one credit card 6 weeks after arriving here

and got a limit of 2000.00

He has been on my verizon cell phone over 1 year before his visa

I have mail sent to my home before his arrival in his name

he had magazines, credit card offers, junk mail!

TIPS:

Never use more then 30% of your total balance

Do Not pay off the total amount of the credit card. You need revolving credit so

Minimum payment is 25.00

monthly balance is 300.00

total balance is 450.00

You should pay at least 26.00 but not more then 299.00

Having 2 credit cards helps report your credit score quickly

Having a car loan helps

Any loan helps

But the quickest way to establish credit is

2 credit cards and pay as described above

I really believe that you do have to pay your card in full.. I think it is foolish to play interest on the balance just to increase your Credit score... even though you don't pay $1 from you credit card balance as you said they charge you interest on the whole amount not just the unpaid balance (you can look that up ) which on some cards is upto 25%.. so i really recommend if you can pay it off DO PAY IT OFF

Revolving credit just mean using a card regularly... even if you have a card and don't get many benefits from it.. just make a $10 purchase from it thats revolving credit... but i would definitely pay off my cards every month if i can.

Edited June 25, 2012 by Sean86

[S and R 8]

This is all so strange, coming from Australia where credit is a big no-no. Credit is bad, we make it a point not to get any!! The less credit one has the better and even more, the more likely one is to get a credit card or a mortgage. Does one have to have a credit score in the US?? What is the worst that can happen?? It appears everyone is 'manufacturing' a credit score, just to survive! Why? If you need credit to get by then you are living beyond your means.....personal opinion here.

[Sean86 31]

This is all so strange, coming from Australia where credit is a big no-no. Credit is bad, we make it a point not to get any!! The less credit one has the better and even more, the more likely one is to get a credit card or a mortgage. Does one have to have a credit score in the US?? What is the worst that can happen?? It appears everyone is 'manufacturing' a credit score, just to survive! Why? If you need credit to get by then you are living beyond your means.....personal opinion here.

well you do need credit for house loans, cars , need cell phone contracts and even credit card for convenience... so i won't say "If you need credit to get by then you are living beyond your means" everybody needs credit cards even billionaires..

its just part of the live in this age

[Jen and Jon 14]

That's interesting... Last week we stopped by at the Chase branch and chatted with a rep ( I mean, a "banker", not a tellet/cashier ) He told us precisely the following - a card holder can add anyone to his account, Chase will even not care about the SSN for this person, the account holder is still the only responsible party for all the transactions and THE CREDIT HISTORY OF THE ADDED PERSON ISN'T AFFECTED IN ANY WAY. When I asked what would be the scenario when somebody is added as a JOINT ACCOUNT HOLDER, the rep was not certain about the consequencies credit history-wise.

Not sure if it holds true but that's the conversation we had. The guy seemed to me to know what he's talking about...

I had asked my company about adding my soon to be spouse as a JOINT ACCOUNT HOLDER, they would only add him on as such after he has established about 6 months of credit history for himself. The recommendation I received was to add him onto one of my retail cards.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

This is all so strange, coming from Australia where credit is a big no-no. Credit is bad, we make it a point not to get any!! The less credit one has the better and even more, the more likely one is to get a credit card or a mortgage. Does one have to have a credit score in the US?? What is the worst that can happen?? It appears everyone is 'manufacturing' a credit score, just to survive! Why? If you need credit to get by then you are living beyond your means.....personal opinion here.

You need a credit score to get a mortgage, car loan, cell phone, etc. Also, a better credit score saves you money because you get a lower interest rate on these things. You cannot get a mortgage without a credit score. Can you afford a house in cash?

[alizon 77]

I really believe that you do have to pay your card in full.. I think it is foolish to play interest on the balance just to increase your Credit score... even though you don't pay $1 from you credit card balance as you said they charge you interest on the whole amount not just the unpaid balance (you can look that up ) which on some cards is upto 25%.. so i really recommend if you can pay it off DO PAY IT OFF

Revolving credit just mean using a card regularly... even if you have a card and don't get many benefits from it.. just make a $10 purchase from it thats revolving credit... but i would definitely pay off my cards every month if i can.

Agreed, you should pay your credit card down to $0 every month to avoid interest charges, but I did see a drop in my credit score when I let my bank assess me a bill of $0 on my credit card for one month.

My strategy is this: receive the credit card bill for the previous month, immediately pay it down to $0 to avoid interest charges on the next bill, keep using my card throughout the month, but pay all but about $100 of it down repeatedly during the month so I still have a balance but I don't end up charging more than I actually have, leave that $100-200 balance to become the next bill, pay it down to $0 again immediately, and repeat. My credit score is in the 700s, and my one credit card is essentially my ONLY credit (no retail cards, no house, no car, just some student loans that are in deferment because I am still in school), so I think this strategy works pretty well.

[together4evr 360]

I had asked my company about adding my soon to be spouse as a JOINT ACCOUNT HOLDER, they would only add him on as such after he has established about 6 months of credit history for himself. The recommendation I received was to add him onto one of my retail cards.

Chase has just changed my husband from a authorized card holder to a joint credit card.

[together4evr 360]

I really believe that you do have to pay your card in full.. I think it is foolish to play interest on the balance just to increase your Credit score... even though you don't pay $1 from you credit card balance as you said they charge you interest on the whole amount not just the unpaid balance (you can look that up ) which on some cards is upto 25%.. so i really recommend if you can pay it off DO PAY IT OFF

Revolving credit just mean using a card regularly... even if you have a card and don't get many benefits from it.. just make a $10 purchase from it thats revolving credit... but i would definitely pay off my cards every month if i can.

this thread is about credit scores and not financial planning. I have shared how to get a decent score quickly

[alizon 77]

this thread is about credit scores and not financial planning. I have shared how to get a decent score quickly

The two go pretty much hand in hand, and there is a way to tweak your method so you can both get a good credit score using your credit card AND not pay interest (see my post above).

Edited June 25, 2012 by alizon