Credit information?

[Pimpin Dsmstyle]

I'm sure most of you on these boards have heard some "detailed" information about how to so called "build" your credit. I have been doing searches on google trying to figure out the rock hard information that explains credit in general and I cannot for the life of me find it!

If you ask anyone how to "build" your credit, you will find that many people have different opinions on how to build credit. Examples
-Credit card
1. Only charge an amount of money you can pay off monthly
2. Never make minimum payments
3. Be sure not to pay off the card leaving a zero balance every month.

I'm sure many of you have heard these variations. The question is, "What is the truth?" I can't for the life of me locate a credible site that explains the "Credit chart" or basic information about credit building. When I google this, I get massive "FREE CREDIT REPORT" offers that are likely not legit offers.

Better business bureau had some information but not nearly what I was hoping to run into. I was really hoping someone on here has had this same question and ended with higher success than I've achieved. If you have, please do me a favor and send me a link. Word o' mouf is great and all but I want INFORMATION, not hear say.

[tim]

I was told by my bank when applying for a loan that the 2 things that matter most is your credit to debt ratio and obviously that you make payments on time.

[Pimpin Dsmstyle]

I was told by my bank when applying for a loan that the 2 things that matter most is your credit to debt ratio and obviously that you make payments on time.

It's called "Debt to income ratio" and yes that is as important as credit according to a bank. Making your payments ontime is an A+ but people don't get outstanding credit scores just by making ontime payments. There are plenty of information out there, I just can't find it. All of the ads keep the real information hidden.

[Halon]

When I purchased my house last year, I had a 790 credit score. I didn't use any special process to build my credit. Just 1 car loan that I paid off in 4 years. And a couple credit cards that I just made on time payments too. No special tricks or processes. Just some credit cards and 1 loan, and made sure to make my payments on time. When I was looking for house loans, every bank I spoke with said my score was excellent for a 23 year old, and I'd have no problems getting a loan. My score is still in the mid 700's, the only debt I have is my house, and $500 left on my 13mo no interest loan from Circuit City from when I bought my TV setup. I'm sure people will say that always having a little debt is good, but I personally hate debt, and pay cash for just about everything. I'll buy something every couple months on my credit card just to keep it current, and then pay it off a couple days later. That's obviouslly worked for me.

[AJ]

I've had to get back to using credit cards to build my credit. Carrying a balance works to build credit cause it shows you can manage money. But, the key is to not get the need for that. Brandson had the perfect layout to building and keeping good credit when young. And it's people 18-25 that detroy their credit most. It's hard to build it back up then as well. I've watched my score jump up about 75 points in the last year. One more year like that and I'll be sitting pretty. One thing we did a lot last summer was put a lot of the gas we used on a card with a $300 limit. I kept a revolving balance of around $70 for the summer, so it did cost me a little in intrest but the general rule was to pay off everything as it statement came in. Now with the new car loan we've kicked the use of our credit out a lot.

[Halon]

Well I just checked my score just now, still sitting pretty!

[A//// Guy]

Where did you check it? I know there are free ones all over, I havent checked mine ever.

[AJ]

There is a guy on MNSC 'jjdurrant' that works for the company that created the credit score shit. He has some great tips over there as well. One which is to only use www.myfico.com to get your solid credit score. He also advises on some credit cards that do more damage that good.

[Kracka]

FYI: Everytime you (or anyone else) checks your credit score (with your permission) it is lowered slightly. Checking it once a year is a good idea, but just don't do it too often. Getting insurance quotes, applying for loans/credit cards/etc. all lower your score slightly.

Only buy what you can actually afford and always make your payments on time. A few late payments can really affect your score, this includes cable TV, utility bills, everything.

[Halon]

I spoke with my loan agents about that actually, and she said the amount your score lowers when someone checks it is very small. It's when you have multiple people checking it, in a small period of time, is when you might actually notice. I had my credit report checked 3 times while I was looking for a home loan, by different agencies. That may have impacted my score a little. But checking it once a year, shouldn't noticably affect it. I usually check it once a year, to make sure I don't have any false accounts on mine.