0-430 in eight months

Ok so quick credit question. So been trying to build credit ( btw thanks for eveyone who gave me advice ) and tried applying for a credit card. Went after Harbor Freights in-store card since I'm always in and not like I'm going to get anything more than $900 (and their payment plan seems pretty good) there but got turned down because of a low credit score of apparently 430. Now I'm curious roughy eight months ago when I bought my car the lady at the dealership said I had basically no credit at all. So in the course of eight months just paying my car note ( only missed one payment) how good is it that I've gone from basically 0-430 ? Should it be more possibliy?

The missed payment is killing you.

Not good at all. Pay your bills and DO NOT miss a payment. If You are missing payments you have a vehicle that you can't afford. If That's the case, you need to sell the vehicle and get one that you can afford.

Also, You need to pay your credit card off every month. It is absolutely stupid to pay interest on a credit card. If you can't afford to pay your card off each month you are spending too much money and need to STOP. If you can't afford to pay the credit card off each month you certainly can't afford to pay Interest.

I have had a credit card for over 20 years and have never paid one cent in interest, Not one! If I can't pay for it I don't buy it, plain and simple.

Too many people live beyond their means and buy Crap they don't need.

Sorry to be blunt, but you are not in a good spot.

Just had my credit ran when I bought my truck 791.

I've had a checking account since 18, credit card since 18, I pay my card off every month. That is the only things I have really done.

Don't miss anymore payments, that is hurting you. Go get a credit card with a lower monthly limit, research some cards, I believe there are a few with a couple hundred dollar limit just for this type of thing, use it and pay it off every month.

go a year missing no payments and you will probably be 550-600

it's a little like school 0 is failing 300 is failing
450 is a D
550-600 is a C
650-700 is a B
700-750 is an A
when you get over 800 your into grade weighted classes with an A+ I think they call it AA

if you can get a payment ahead on your car and your house it is not a bad idea

I spent a long time in the 700s

then one day you end up over 800 when you have obscene amounts of credit and have most everything paid off , half your mortgage paid off , a decade with out any late payment.

No it's fine. Dint think missing one payment would hurt me so bad. Honestly it wasn't me not being able to afford it , that $250 is budgeted out the last pay check if each month. I handnt received my bill in the mail and when I asked everyone just old me some bull about holidays, thank God I called and they said it was their fault something about a glitch in the system, long story short I went digital. Was my fault should have been on it more but tryin to do better.

And I understand completely about the people trying to live beyond their means , one reason I'm really trying to tip toe into this whole credit thing.

Thinking had a checking since I was 15 lol but credit is just a taboo thing around here I guess. Ask any of my family about what I should get or advice it's just nope you dont need one don't get one .

Wanted to get the HF card because it's a 0% intrest as long as your balance is payed off in full each month . And the way it's set up they will break up your payments equally for 6-36 months depending on what you bought. 25.9% APR though which has me worried but I like how I only use it at HF. Least that way I won't become a idiot ( seems eveyone my age gets a credit card and end up using it in every place they walk into) and have a bill I couldn't pay up front in cash. I could care less about their reward points and all just like the idea of being able to build credit by paying for something over time I already ready had cash for . I am looking into other cards though I keep meain to stop and talk with my bank about getting one from them

Well my house is paid for except for the property tax yearly so I don't have to worry about that but I am working on getting ahead on my car payment. At the very least I try to pay a extra $20 or so on each note. It's not much but from everything I've read it does help. Since it's $250 a moth I was planning on trying to budget so can double that every few months or so ( as in paying $500 instead of $250 every now and then)

Thought this was gonna be about Chevy trucks. The amount of time going to the mechanic

You need to increase your income. Your income plays a big part in your score. That missed payment will haunt you for awhile. If you can earn more money your score will reflect it.

Credit cards are fine if you keep it under control. I pay my cards off every month and have for years. Our credit score the last time we had it checked was over 800 on 3 different ones according to the loan lady at the bank. She said it'd been a long time since she saw that.
Wolf dog you seem to have a lot of common sense so I think you'd be fine getting a low limit one. I use mine all the time, it's convenient to pay it when the bill comes. The 2 I use primarily. have rewards attached to them so there's a benefit. (Cabela's and American Airlines). I also have a Kwik Trip card for convenience and discounts.
Don't miss any more payments and pay a little extra on that loan and you'll get there.

Did you ever make up the payment you missed?

Is there a place a person can find what his credit score? I figure the less credit I have the better. I hate owing anybody anything. Several years ago it was over 800.

I think your family has already given you the best advice. Why play games with the credit card companies to build your credit score so you can borrow more money? Screw that. Leave them alone.

Credit cards can be a real handy tool or da debil. Its all up to you.

We haven't had debt in 25 years. Life really is better without owning anyone anything. We are planning to move in about a year. We will probably be looking for a mortgage. Not sure how that's handled when I have no credit score at all. Seems to me that we're managing our money better than most but it will probably hurt me. Hoping we can find a bank that will look at our whole financial picture without a credit score.

Wolfdog If you can pay the $250 days before it is due this will help your credit score & keep paying the $20 extra if you can. JIm

X100 your family gave you the best advice on here....you dont need credit cards

I think there are some times that you do need a CC. For example, try to rent a car without one. You can't. Besides those few cases where you really do need one, a CC is a huge convenience that saves both time and money. My card pays me back a minimum 1.5% on every purchase. No points or airline miles, it automatically applies against my bill. That means I pay less for things than people that pay cash. At the gas station I am in and out faster because I use a card. That saves me time. Try to make on line purchases without a CC. If you can it will be with a significant delay as they wait for you check to arrive and clear. It all adds up over the years.

With the benefits established, it must be realized that some people are better off without CCs because they can't exercise the discipline to control their spending and pay off the card on time every month.

Gary-

I don’t know if everyone does but capital one and Wells Fargo both send me monthly notifications that you can view your fico credit score

You have missed 12.5% of your payments on your car. This will kill your credit score. No one wants to loan money and then not get paid. It shows your word is not much good if you agree to pay something and you don't do it. They do not care why you missed it. They just care that you did not make it. Sorry if that sounds rough but you asked and it is the truth. LLL

I have the Capital One with Cabelas. Maybe it's on my monthly statement. I'll have to czech.

I agree with Ed P here. In today's world you need good credit, whether you owe money or not and credit cards are handy. You can not reserve a hotel room without one. I pay them off every month as well.

I can do all these things with my debit card and I do not pay annual fees. LLL

Not all credit cards have yearly fees and actually my cards MAKE me money in points as I never carry a balance in the 20 yrs Ive had them and built me an 827 credit score.

You dont really owe anybody if you pay it off monthly,in fact it works in your favor. You can do a free credit check once a yr just ask it on the net. I check my credit constantly in my bank acct online. If you have capitol one they have a free credit check on your credit card. I have 2 capitol one cards. They are the least beneficial to me.

Credit cards can be harmful to someone like the OP. He does not make all his payments and to say you can build your credit to someone like this is possibly poor advice. I have a credit card also and have a 840 as well as my wife . We can handle credit. Some cannot. That was my point. LLL

Wolfie,go to your bank where you do business and tell them you want a credit card and they can set you up. When you recieve a low limit card and use it,and pay it ON TIME,after awhile you can get higher limits. I can buy a car with c.c. but most dealers dont like to do it.

agreed,,sounds like wolfie cant use one responsibly,,many cant,many can. Credit cards allow you to use opm as long as you pay them off monthly. In the 21 yrs Ive had them I have NEVER paid any interest.

X2 on all above.
Wolf dog, sign up for credit karma they will show you what you can do to increase your score and they will show you what cc you qualify for. That missed payment will be on your report for 7 years after the loan is paid off.
Keep in mind every hard credit check will drop your score. Wait at least 6 months between credit checks. Too many in a short time will pop a red flag too.

every , well almost every card is 0% interest if you pay your bill every month. they bank on you not paying every month.

your family is smart to be weary of credit or people offering it.

do you have a bank or credit union you might try and find a credit union , if there are non local or even if there are , look for a Army or US service personnel credit union , start an account put some money in checking and ask about a credit card.

when I was 19 my dad said you want to build credit and we went and visited my aunt at the bank set up a separate saving put 500 in it and then asked for a 500 dollar credit limit on a credit card they gave it too me no risk to them they had my cash as deposit. I had started a job that involved travel once I graduated I needed a card to put hotels and such on if I got stuck some place. 500 wasn't much but it started turning into a lot of other offers after not very long.

Ed, you may have been correct 10 years ago, but not anymore. You can get a rental car with debit cards, you can reserve hotel rooms with debit cards and the list goes on. You also have the same consumer protections. Of course, credit card companies would still like everyone to believe you cant get by without their cards...they want people to spend more than they can afford. Wolfie, family knows best, get rid of that card and pay cash.

Well everyone gotta say as much as I'd like to just pay cash for everything and not worry about credit ,I'm learning in n alot if various ways the wood dosent wanna work like that anymore. The fact I have the cash in hand doesn't seem to matter more and more . Anyhow thanks for all the responses

every , well almost every card is 0% interest if you pay your bill every month. they bank on you not paying every month.

your family is smart to be weary of credit or people offering it.

do you have a bank or credit union you might try and find a credit union , if there are non local or even if there are , look for a Army or US service personnel credit union , start an account put some money in checking and ask about a credit card.

when I was 19 my dad said you want to build credit and we went and visited my aunt at the bank set up a separate saving put 500 in it and then asked for a 500 dollar credit limit on a credit card they gave it too me no risk to them they had my cash as deposit. I had started a job that involved travel once I graduated I needed a card to put hotels and such on if I got stuck some place. 500 wasn't much but it started turning into a lot of other offers after not very long.[/quote]
Think I'm going to look into this more than anything

I've never had any problems renting a car or getting a hotel room with a debit card. The person behind the counter has no idea if it's a debit card taking cash out of my bank account or a credit card taking money out of a line of credit. We card just about everything, just not on a credit card.

Remember ,Card utilization will drop you credit score .you have anywhere from 1/4 or more of your total amount your getting hit .

Honestly there is no reason for your score to be that low! You can get free credit reports from all three agencies. Do that and see if someone else got credit in your name!

You probably know most of this Wolfdog, but I'm going to spell it all out anyway.

Your credit score is a number to indicate how good you are at paying your debts. The better record you have at paying debts, the more likely that someone will loan you more. It's like if someone asks to borrow my tools- if he has a good record of borrowing and bringing stuff back, I'm more likely to loan to him again. Someone with zero history is an unknown. That's why it's hard to get a loan with no credit history. You have to start small and build trust.

You should think of your credit score like a percentage or ratio. Missing one payment in 10 years won't matter too much, but missing one in 8 months means you've missed 1/8 of your payments, or 12.5%. That's not good. After 2 years of good payments it'll only be 4% (1/24). So, it takes a lot of good payments to make up for a bad one. That's why, if you have debt, it's really important to pay on time, every time. And, the longer your credit history is, the more lenders trust you.

There are 3 businesses, called "credit bureaus", that calculate credit score: Experian, Equifax and Transunion. Usually the 3 will have slightly different numbers for your score, but pretty close because they use basically the same formula. A large lender will usually check all 3 scores and use the average; some small lenders might only check one.

Now here's an important part: checking your credit score too much can hurt your score. That's because the automated system thinks that if someone (including you) is checking your score, you must be trying to get a new loan, which is recorded as negative activity if it happens too much. Don't worry though, there are ways to check your score without damage.

One option is a credit monitoring service like Credit Karma, which Adam mentioned. The downside is that monitoring services usually cost money, unless you get a promo deal. Many services will offer a month free, then you just cancel before the month is up. IMO, you don't really need to pay for constant credit monitoring unless you have quite a bit going on financially.

Your bank might offer some kind of free credit report or monitoring. If you use TurboTax or H&R Block to do your own taxes, they usually offer me a free credit check when I file. Also, any time someone runs a credit check on you (like when you apply for a loan), you can ask for a copy of the report. Lastly, the most basic way to check your credit is directly from the bureaus. By law, you can request your own credit report once per year from each of the 3 bureaus. So if you spread them out, that's 3 free reports a year with no penalty.

If you have any savings, probably the best way to build credit is with a Savings-Secured Loan (other banks might use different names). Basically you give the bank $1000, and they give you a $1000 loan. You make the payments for the term, and then they give your money back. Even though it starts with your money, it shows on your credit report as a loan so it's good for your score. Just make your payments!

Debt can be a very valuable thing, if it's managed right. It really expands your options in the world.

Do the Dave Ramsey plan. No credit score needed.

Your credit score is made up of a formula. Debt to income ratio, revolving credit and other things to. You could never miss a payment and still not have a perfect score do to this goofy formula they use. Your score just gives you an idea of how much debt they will let you take on. Pay cash and no credit score needed.

It takes time to build up a good credit score. I just checked mine and it's 817. Having a CC is a good idea for emergencies. Maybe you'll never need it but it's handy if you do. Yes, some of these guys are proud that they can pay cash for everything but at some point in time a good credit score will help you. It's 2021.

Gary, its not about being proud of paying cash, but rather offering insight into something schools do a poor job of teaching...money. Anybody that is able to stay out of debt by living within their means is going to have a leg up in this world. I remember a post on here a year or so back talking about debt and how some still think carrying mortgage debt is a good idea because it builds credit, you can deduct the interest and because the interest they were making in the market was more than the interest they were paying on mortgage. Thats all well and good until crap hits the fan, unexpected layoffs, government shutdowns, etc. Probably nobody here will admit it, but im guessing some of those pro-mortgage folks got bit in the hind quarters over the last year when they lost jobs and still had mortgage payments to make. I know the same size shoe doesnt fit everone, but I just offered the advice that I think would benefit Wolfie the most financially. He is free to take it or ignore it, but has nothing to do with 'pride'. If that is the way it sounded, it wasnt meant that way.

Not proud to pay cash for everything. In fact, there are lots of things we don't do or don't buy because we don't have the cash. We got into trouble with credit cards when we were in our early 20's. Took us a long time to climb out of that mess. As soon as we missed a payment we couldn't afford, there were late fees which pushed us over the credit limit. Then there were over the credit limit fees too. And all of the purchases we had made were now due at the new 28% interest rate plus all the fees that had accumulated. We owned a few thousand but paid at least 3x that by the time we were done. Credit card companies make money by getting you in trouble and their system is designed to make that happen. I'm not dancing with them again.

If you CHOOSE to charge more than you can pay every month dont blame the bank. You should already know that money is expensive. If you need a loan go to your bank. If you have been using your cc responsibly it will take about ten minutes to get approved. People who blame banks for their debt have a lot of problems

10-4

Must be nice , I've been turned down at three or four hotels trying to get a room even though I had cash in hand. No credit no room. And buying this car was beyond a pain.

Most credit unions and some banks will give you a free credit report. Between that and the Big Three (see the links) that are federally required to give you a free credit report every year, you can get a free credit report every four times a year, every year. Getting these reports does not hurt your score.

However, when you go for a loan and they run your score, it lowers your score a little bit. So don't apply for a bunch of credit cards, car loans, etc in the same week. There is a way to lower the impact of several checks on your report, if they're all for the same type of loan (say a car) and they're all in a short space of time (think 6 weeks, but don't quote me).

It always pays to know the rules before playing.

https://www.usa.gov/credit-reports

https://www.ftc.gov/faq/consumer-protection/get-my-free-credit-report

Best. Answer. Ever.

Christ I really wish they taught this stuff in school. I may just try Ramsey's methods but I'm trying to learn from others mistakes at this point. There's been alot of problems I've seen my freinds and family have because they didn't have credit and I'm trying to avoid those.
Again thanks yall

Just use her card.

Debit cards hold rooms.

Building credit takes a long time. But miss one payment and they smack you back down quick.

Don’t worry, you’ll get there. Never carry a balance on a credit card, never miss a car payment, nor any other kind of payment. When I was young and dumb I had a credit card I let go delinquent, and a truck that got repossessed, and medical bills and phone bills that went to collections. I had BAD credit for quite a while, but I got my head on straight and started down the right path and my wife just looked at our scores the other day and I’ve got a 798 score now. You’ll get there, just be patient.

local home town banks, especially if you have any history with them , will overlook credit scores.

Not sure if its the same in the States but unpaid fines can have a devastating effect on credit rating here.

Same with loan sharks and drug dealers.

I used to work for hotels and you're right. Hotels don't want cash. That's for two reasons. First, the people that party, play loud music, get drunk at the pool, and trash hotel rooms are usually weekend cash customers. The second is that the the hotel wants a credit card to charge for the damage to the room when those guests stay. Cash is out for hotels. But with a debit card I've never had a problem. I've stayed in hotels in at least a dozen states, maybe two dozen, and never got questioned about my debit card once.

I also bought a car once and after we negotiated a price, I met the finance manager. The finance manager's job was to get us to finance the deal. Dealerships make more money on financing than they do on car sales. The FM was a hard sell. We walked out of the FM's office and found our sales guy. Told him that if he could do the deal we agreed to, we'd buy but we weren't dealing with the finance manager any more. By the way, the finance guy is the top sales guy at a dealership. He makes the most money and brings in the most money for the dealer. We really thought that dealership wasn't interested in a cash sale and were just going to buy a car somewhere else. We got a call from the sales guy the next day and we bought the car in cash. I've bought several cars and all have been cash deals. That was the only problem we ever had paying cash. And, of course I mean a cashier's check from the bank. If I showed up with a briefcase full of brand new $20's there might have been some raised eyebrows.

yeah, dont tell them your writing a check till you have a price

This may have been mentioned already- but you don't have to use a credit card much at all to build credit. I went from mid-400s (no credit) to 720s in less than a year, and I probably used my credit card once a month.

My advice, fwiw, is to find a secured credit card with no annual fee and preferably an autopay function. When it arrives, throw it in a drawer somewhere and forget about it. Once a month, pay for some cheap takeout food with it and throw it back in the drawer and pay your bill online.