December 30th, 2008 — , Capital One, Credit Cards, account closure, balance transfer, banks, cash advances, credit card companies, credit karma, credit score, credit scores, different situation, economic environment, good stock, groceries, mail, modesty, necessities, period of inactivity, personal finance, point of view, redu, splurge, stock portfolio from Kenneth Lin @ Credit and Personal Finance Blog | Credit Karma
Last week, Capital One cancelled one of my older credit cards for non-usage. With credit card companies and banks scrambling for capital and looking to reduce risk, this was bound to happen. For background, I’ve had this card for almost 6 year and have only used it once for a promotional balance transfer. It had [...]
Online Stores Related Websites - Are You Managing Your Debt Correctly? Although debt is a dirty word to many, the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of us are in debt in some way or another. No matter how hard we try, there are times when you simply need something and cannot afford to pay for it straight......
- Using Credit Cards to Make More Money When it comes to credit cards, most of us think of them as a way to get things we really want right now. We may not actually "need" these things, but we sure do want them. Whether it's a new couch, a new stereo or even a new wardrobe, we......
Continue reading → Credit Crunch Affecting My Credit Cards
December 24th, 2008 — , Lenders, assumption, auto loans, common misconception, credit experiences, credit karma, credit profile, credit score, credit scores, credit scoring system, fee credit cards, groceries, histoy, home equity loans, long time, mortgages, no annual fee credit cards, personal finance, simple answer, statistical perspective, time payment, variables from Kenneth Lin @ Credit and Personal Finance Blog | Credit Karma
For many US consumers, it is a common misconception that if you have no debt then you must have good credit. Several of our members write comments with that assumption every week or ask if the system is broken because their credit score is not excellent even though they carry no balances.
The simple answer is [...]
Online Stores Related Websites - New Loan Funded — Financial Freedom / Credit Card Consolidation — $25,000 at 11.44% — AA Credit — DTI 37% A new loan funded (Financial Freedom / Credit Card Consolidation – $25,000 at 11.44%). I participated via my standing order RL Overlooked. The borrower had AA credit, a 37% DTI. As a reminder my standing orders (and manual bids) only find loans with 0 current delinquencies, 10 or less delinquencies in the last 7......
- Huge Prosper Borrower Success Story I don't normally read the stories in forum, but this one caught my eye. It is enough to make this fiscally libertarian, environmentally green, and socially democratic prosper lender smile... OK, I don't have a lot of time, but I REALLY wanted to get this out there. First, I would......
Continue reading → No Debt Does Not Mean Good Credit
December 19th, 2008 — , 0 balance transfer, 0 balance transfer credit cards, 12 months, Credit Cards, balance transfer credit cards, balance transfers credit cards, credit, credit card companies, credit scores, first taste, groceries, interest rates, loans, money, pitfall, pre approval, suggestion, unsecured loan from Kenneth Lin @ Credit and Personal Finance Blog | Credit Karma
About 12 years ago, I started my first business with 0% loans from my credit cards. I had good credit and received at least 5 pre-approval offers per week. So I decided to use my good credit to finance my first business. I needed $20K so I charged all the start-up cost on my credit [...]
Online Stores Related Websites Continue reading → How to Save Money with Balance Transfer Credit Cards
November 21st, 2008 — , 19 months, Credit Cards, Q&A, closure, collections, credit, credit card account, credit card application, credit karma, credit score, credit scores, delinquencies, discover card, late payments, logarithmic, long time, mortgage accounts, negative impact, payment history, personal credit history, time payment, two ways, withdrawals from Kenneth Lin @ Credit and Personal Finance Blog | Credit Karma
Question:
Why is it that any simulated action I take cannot raise my score over 769 maximum? I pay all of my cards off entirely every month. My Mortgage accounts are amortizing and paid with auto withdrawals. Why can’t my score be raised?
Answer:
The answer actually differs for each consumer based on their personal credit history. [...]
Online Stores Related Websites - 6 Easy Tips on Raising Your FICO Score In today’s world, it’s easy to define your self worth by your FICO score. Whether you are trying to buy a house, get more credit or just get back on the right track, a low FICO score can really impact your entire life. However, there are some easy steps that......
- What You Need to Know Before Going Into Debt Let’s face it, if you want to get ahead in today’s world, you’re going to need to go into debt, at least a little. The key is managing your debt properly and avoiding common traps. Not all debt is bad, even if we have been trained to think that it......
Continue reading → Credit Advice Q&A
September 26th, 2008 — , Credit Cards, Credit Crunch, bail out, interest rates, personal finance from Kenneth Lin @ Credit Karma
The popular sentiment right now is that the $700B government bail out is about Wall Street, CEOs, and in general, rich people. While the bail out will most certainly help the aforementioned, it has much larger ramifications on the general economy. To start, a failure in the financial system of this [...]
Online Stores Related Websites - Resisting Panic: A Quick Guide to Surviving The Credit Crunch A few years ago if you referenced the term "credit crunch", most people would be puzzled. Today barely a single day can pass without the phrase seeing consistent if not constant use in the newspapers and on television. The credit crunch is a crisis that is affecting numerous financial institutions......
- Loans and the Credit Crunch The credit crunch is a hot button issue right now, raising red flags in the eyes of consumers not only all over the United States, but also elsewhere in the world. When the economy in the United States begins to have difficulties, the rest of the world is going to......
Continue reading → How the Bail Out Affects Everyone
September 23rd, 2008 — , Credit Card Limits, Credit Cards, Underwriting, approval, interest rates from Kenneth Lin @ Credit Karma
On our credit card offers, there are several discussions about how credit limits are set. Although its been almost 10 years since I worked at one, I can share my personal experience with how credit card companies underwrite and determine credit limits.
The two main factors in the credit approval and credit limit determination were credit [...]
Online Stores Related Websites - Restore Your Fico Score – Part One While obsessing over a FICO score is not a good idea, this is a number that will have a lot of bearing in your life. This number determines whether or not you will be able to get a house, a new credit card, or in many cases, whether or not......
- Programmer and Blogger Seeks Credit Score Improvment Loan My Prosper Group is proud to present our 3rd listing (2nd endorsed listing)... This listing is attempting to put the social in social capital. The Penny Saved has been a known blogroll buddy of RateLadder for sometime. He asked me about this loan strategy about 2 months ago. This is......
Continue reading → How A Credit Card Limit Is Determined
September 22nd, 2008 — , Deposits, Savings Rates, WaMu, interest rates, personal finance from Kenneth Lin @ Credit Karma
We just received notification that WaMu is increasing their online savings rate from 3.75% to 4.00% effective immediately. According to our rate table, that is the highest short term rate available outside of the credit union loyalty rates we discussed earlier.
Based on the user feedback, about 70% of users have had a good experience [...]
Continue reading → WaMu Increases Saving Rate to 4.00%
September 16th, 2008 — , Credit Cards, personal finance from Kenneth Lin @ Credit Karma
Recently, I got busy with work and forgot to pay my Discover card. They have great online access but somehow I locked myself out and it took me a few days to get it all sorted out. The result was that I got hit with a $39 late fee.
By all accounts, I deserved the late [...]
Online Stores Continue reading → It Doesn’t Hurt to Ask
September 3rd, 2008 — , Credit Questions, FAQ, Q&A, credit scores, personal finance from Kenneth Lin @ Credit Karma
With all the great discussion going on at forums.offtopic.com, I thought I would take a minute to consolidate some popular questions and answer them in a centralized location. The quick disclaimer is that these answer are based on my 10+ years in credit and finance but they are still my personal thoughts.
Q. I don’t understand [...]
Online Stores Related Websites - Restore Your Fico Score – Part One While obsessing over a FICO score is not a good idea, this is a number that will have a lot of bearing in your life. This number determines whether or not you will be able to get a house, a new credit card, or in many cases, whether or not......
Continue reading → Offtopic.com Q&A
June 30th, 2008 — , credit scores, interest rates, personal finance from Kenneth Lin @ Credit Karma
At Credit Karma, we want to give our users access, information, and leverage. We read everyday about the importance of credit but I don’t think we do a very good job quantifying it. Last Friday, I called up a friend at E-LOAN and asked about the best rates for a 650 credit score versus a [...]
Online Stores Continue reading → The Importance of Credit
June 3rd, 2008 — , Checking Finder, High Interest Checking, interest rates, personal finance from Kenneth Lin @ Credit Karma
While most of the major banks are providing .25%-3.25% interest, there are many small community banks and credit unions that are willing to provide 4%-6% interest on your checking and saving deposits. I was a bit skeptical when I first saw the rates since it seemed too good to be true and way out of [...]
Continue reading → Great Rates with CheckingFinder (Up to 6%)
May 16th, 2008 — , credit scores, functionality, personal finance from Kenneth Lin @ Credit Karma
We get asked this question quite often. Technically, it can change any point your credit report changes. Any of the following can trigger a credit score change:
Missing a Payment
Applying for a New Loan or Credit Card
Changing Your Available Credit
Defaulting on a Loan or Charging Off
Bankruptcy
The List Goes On……
But some people have asked why their score [...]
Online Stores Related Websites - Analyze a Loan Using Crystal Report and Data Export Since starting this blog I have reviewed several loans. Since then I have developed a basic crystal report to analyze a loan (DTI, Amount, Credit, and Lender Rate) in the context of all loans on Prosper.com. The report takes as import the credit grade and the debt to income ratio. It then filters the loans......
- Credit Karma -- Free No Strings Credit Scoring Never before have Americans been so interested in their credit scores, and as such, numerous sites have cropped up offering to sell them. It can get pretty expensive if you want to keep checking your score with these sites and many people discover hidden monthly fees that rack up quickly.......
Continue reading → How Often Does Your Credit Score Change?
