Finance Gets Personal

My Washington Mutual credit card gives me free access to my FICO score, which is updated each month.

Here are my scores for the past 12 months:
Aug 07 - 784
Sept 07 - 787
Oct 07 - 783
Nov 07 - 787
Dec 07 - 787
Jan 08 - 787
Feb 08 - 787
March 08 - 787
April 08 - 793
May 08 - 793
June 08 - 796
July 08 - 842
842? And the highest you can get is 850? And I’m 28 years old?

Surely this is either a mistake, or this is actually one of those scores that goes up to 900 or something. But it says it’s my “FICO score,” “provided by TransUnion.”

Maybe they really liked me paying off my credit card this month!

Co Signer Needed
Reply to: sale-746982363@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-07-08, 11:50AM CDT

I was going through a young and stupid time- co signed on stuff with my ex- and now I’m paying about $900 a month in debt payments. I can’t get a loan from the bank- to get settlements on my payments due- because of bad credit- from my ex not paying his bills. I just need a small loan to get settlements on all of my payments- or a cosigner on a personal loan. I do have two jobs, and I work very hard- I’m just still short. I’m just trying to get my life back on track and I’ll try anything. I would sign a professional contract with you- so that I would pay you everymonth. I would agree to an interest rate if you were to give me the loan or cosign the loan (so you will be making something on this- and I would add in cleaning every week, or painting your home, or something. Please, I don’t have a family to help me, I just want to get this paid off and put behind me so that I can move on with my life. I know this is a weird request, I just don’t know where else to turn anymore. Just please give me a chance.

Just to be clear, Finance Girl does not think anyone should co-sign this (or any other) loan.

It’s Saturday night and your team isn’t in the Final Four (or didn’t even get invited to the tournament - sigh).

Let’s find a way to drown your sorrows…

Presenting: Financial “I Never” with Finance Girl

In order to play Financial “I Never,” you first need to find the hard liquor of your choice.

There, that will do nicely.

Next, read the following statements. For each “I never” that you have done, take a shot. I’ll play along too. Here we go…

I’ve never bounced a check:

Damn.

I’ve never carried a balance on my credit cards:

Damn again.

I’ve never taken a cash advance on my credit card:

Who’s drinking now, bitches?

I’ve never borrowed money from relatives:

Give me a break, I was 17.

I’ve never co-signed a loan:

Thank God!

I’ve never financed a new car:

Whoopsies!

I’ve never had an Old Navy credit card:

Take that!

I’ve never taken a payday loan:

What do you think I am, stupid? Don’t answer that.

I’ve never borrowed money against my 401k:

Please - if I wanted to borrow money, I’d use my credit card. duh.

I’ve never had a home equity loan or home equity line of credit:

How else are you supposed to buy a house with no down payment?

I’ve never bought a pair of $100 jeans:

Well, I did once, but I returned them. Does that count? Fine…

I’ve never taken a refund anticipation loan:

Please. I’m too cheap to go to H&R Block in the first place.

I’ve never paid for a groceries with a credit card:

A girl’s gotta eat!

I’ve never charged up a bunch of concert tickets on my credit card and not gotten paid back for all of them:

If you tell me you’re going to go, you better damn well go! If you don’t go, you still owe me for the ticket (and the convenience fees - Ticketmaster ain’t cheap!). It’s also not my job to find someone else to buy your ticket.

Sorry, drunken rant…

I’ve never gambled:

I am probably the cheapest gambler ever to visit Vegas though. And I’m too scared to play the tables.

I’ve never signed up for a credit card to get a free t-shirt:

Dude, it said “College” on it. Like Animal House, you know? And I was in college! Get it?

I’ve never signed up for a “pay no interest ’til 2030″ credit card in order to buy a big-screen TV:

Watching Kansas or North Carolina lose tonight will be so much better in high-def.

Sorry, I meant to say, “I LOOOOOOOOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to find someone to hold my hair.

Photo Credits: no chase, bitches! and jr and amanda by theogeo, used under Creative Commons licensing

I’m sure you know someone like this:

“Credit cards are great! I use mine for everything and pay it off each month. I flew to Tahiti last March with the airline miles I earned and I get $500 cash back from my Discover card at the end of the year. I know some people can’t handle credit cards, but they can be used to your benefit if you do it right!”

Admittedly, I am not one of these people. Maybe someday I will be, but I don’t trust myself to pay everything off and not spend more than I would otherwise.

One of my coworkers is, only she takes it to a whole new level. Every few months, she will open an American Airlines or Continental credit card that offers 20,000-40,000 airline miles for signing up. She’ll make the required number of purchases with the card and keep it open long enough to get the miles. As soon as the miles are transferred to her frequent flier account…bam!, she closes the card. She then has her husband do the same thing.

After waiting a few months, she calls the credit card company and applies for the exact same card. Makes her purchases, gets the miles, closes the card. Repeat.

She now has enough miles for her and her husband to fly to the Caribbean every six months for the next three years.

Crazy? I’m not so sure. The only drawback I see is that it might affect their credit scores by opening and closing cards so often. But since only 10% of your FICO score is determined by new credit, it shouldn’t affect it too much.

It’s really tempting to open a card for both my husband and myself and use the points to fly us somewhere for our fifth anniversary next year, but I think I’ll stay away for now. I can’t believe I’m quoting Dave Ramsey here again, but, “When you play with snakes, you’ll get bitten.” And I can’t afford to take any chances.

Everyone knows that having a high FICO score is key to getting low interest rates and can save you thousands of dollars. But what if you don’t need to borrow money? Financial guru Dave Ramsey calls the FICO score an “I love debt score,” and suggests manual underwriting for mortgages.

I maintain that there are at least five good reasons why you need to have a good FICO score, even if you never borrow money:

1. Renting an Apartment. Many landlords check credit reports now, and a low or nonexistant FICO score means you might be required to hand over a hefty deposit, pay a higher rent or get a cosigner, if you’re not flat denied.

2. Getting and Keeping a Job. Some industries now check applicants’ credit reports prior to offering them a position. This is especially true for financial, military and other government positions. Your credit score can also be checked regularly after you are hired as a basis for retaining employment.

3. Obtaining Low-Cost Auto and Home Insurance. Insurance companies typically use data from your credit report in determining your rates.

4. Getting a Cell Phone Plan. Yes, you can get a prepaid phone or a “deal” from one of those “we don’t check credit” places, but the main carriers check your credit and will deny you if they don’t like what they see.

5. Turning on Utilities. If your score is bad, you might have to pay a deposit, get a co-signer or even pay higher rates.

So, boys and girls, keep that score up!