BigSoccer Personal Finance and Credit Repair: New low 2% APR

I would start a savings account at the bank that you get the loan from, deposit the funds of the loan into the savings account and set up an automatic payment of the loan from that savings acct. The bank will might even give you .25% off the loan rate if you autopay as well.

 

Whoops. Time to revisit this thread for me.

peledre, to answer your qustion: The Capital One card in question is indeed a sub-prime card. Nine days ago, I zeroed out that card. Last Thursday, I zeroed out my Target store card. This Thursday night, I'll walk out to the mailbox and drop a check in the mail to zero out my other card.

By the middle of January, I plan to pay off the last three months of a loan and my closed credit card account in full. If it doesn't happen on the 14th, it'll definitely happen a week later.

Then I'm thinking it would be a good time to contact Capital One and either cancel the card or get rid of the annual fee, which will actually be assessed in March. Question: Does voluntarily canceling a credit card hurt or not hurt your credit score?

I'm going to wait 30 days after paying off all my accounts and then apply at one of two credit unions in town -- except I just now checked, and the one I do most of my banking with only offers a Platinum Visa, which seems to be a change from the two different VISA rates they offered earlier. The other offers a Visa with a 10.5% APR, and I'm considering switching to them anyhow for a variety of reasons.

I was considering applying for both Visa cards at the same time, but now I'm wondering if I shouldn't just apply for the latter Visa card.

At any rate, I want to switch my Target card to a Target Visa later next spring, when I can use it to get 10 percent off on a nice collection of home electronics for the World Cup and yet still have the cash on hand to pay it off immediately.

I am working some long, long weeks right now. 70 hours a week and once you throw in commute time it's more like 80 hours a week. But it'll be worth it later this winter to watch my bills vanish and the cash pile up in my account.

 

Good one. Thanks for posting that.

I particularly liked this part:

"In a separate statement, Experian said the new scores will be grouped on "the familiar academic scale." Experian gave these groupings:

A — 901-990

B — 801-900

C — 701-800

D — 601-700

F — 501-600"

That should cut down on the "Is mine a good score, or not?" questions.

 

Barb has had a couple of her cards knock 2-3% off of her interest rate just by calling and saying, "hey, is there anything you can do about my interest rate?"

Sometimes it's that easy. But it depends on the company. Lately, Chase Bank One has been giving me REALLY crappy customer service.

 

My mom had luck calling them and telling them if they didn't bring her down to x% she would close her account.

 

If you really want a dramatically lower rate, and you have a card with a major bank, ask to speak to someone in the Retention department about closing your account. The Retention departments of the major banks can dramatically lower your rates, even more so than any supervisor can.

 

Very soon..... I will have some exciting news to share with all of the subscribers of this thread.

Stay tuned.

 

Dude. I got the same offer from Orchard Bank, too. No biggie.

 

Our Leva decided to move to Pittsburgh where he can root for a quaterback who doesn't pull El Foldo in the playoffs.

or

He's running for Alderman because the street around him has been named Dos-a-Cero Way.

or

He and Jennifer Garner are going to star in an X-rated all singing, all dancing version of "Carlito's Way"

or

He just saved 15 percent on his car insurance.

Sachin

 

I think Ed McMahon is dead.

 

OK. I ordered my free credit report a month ago and saw an inaccuracy on there -- a collection was reported as still open even though I'd paid it back in full back in November. I made some calls and confirmed yesterday that my account is now accurately reported as paid in full.

Just now, I ordered my credit score and don't know if that collection is still on the record. I'm not terrifically happy with my score, but it's not unexpected. Not going to mention the score, but first for "Factors that impact your score" is not enough revolving debt experience. I guess this means I should use some cards and pay them off each month, no? Looks like I'm headed to Target with my Target card. I haven't used my credit cards in so long, though, that they've all expired and the new cards are probably buried in some box somewhere in the garage or in my storage unit.

The rest is an expected litany of "you screwed up, now you have to prove you're good." The good news is that apparently my credit score can see dramatic improvements in one year.

That's the bad news. The good news is that I still have everything paid off, except for the car. And right now I don't have to make another car payment before July 25.

Considering that I'm not going to be eligible for student loans this fall, due to already having a B.A., what should my next step be? Wait for the correction to hit my record with the agencies, and then talk to the credit union where my car loan is at? Or should I do something else? Thanks.

 

Go for your Masters?

 

Jajajaja .. no cats...

I paid off my credit card in full..............

 

Congrats! That's great news!

Sachin

 

for the WWII benefits:


1. Contact the local Social Security office.

2. Not sure if this is the benefit your mom was referring to, but here's one nonetheless:

http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10157.html

And it's explained a little better here

http://www.federalgrantswire.com/special_benefits_for_certain_world_war_ii_veterans.html

3. Contact the local VA office and ask for info on benefits for WWII veterans. Or spend some time on www.va.gov

 

Minnesota Public Radio + others have a show called Marketplace Money (used to be Sound Money). Give them a look at http://marketplacemoney.publicradio.org/. You can listen to them off of MPR.org when it's being broadcast and it may be on a local public radio station of yours. You can email them your questions. My suggestion would be to get it a bit more specific and they'd probalby answer your. They've gotten the general "are reverse mortgages good?" questions before. My impression from that show and reading about them is that they're maturing as a product and definitely worth looking into. I suspect the reason they're better than a lump payment is that you get around the capital gains laws since, I'm assuming, she would be turning around and buying a place.

If you have the time to share your thoughts after you find more I'd love for you to share them with us. I suspect it's something many of us around here will be facing as our parents age.