Comments on: Lesson learned

By: J. Money

J. Money — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:19:21 +0000

couldn’t agree more! use them credit cards every now and then. i just got a notice that our APR went up because there’s now a minimum of 6% being applied as the lowest you can pay….kinda sucks, but just gotta keep making sure no balances stay on there

By: Stephanie PTY

Stephanie PTY — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 01:11:35 +0000

Ouch, yeah, your credit might be dinged for a while. That sucks!

Funny you should post this today – just this afternoon I got out my emergency credit card and used it to buy a couple of pairs of gloves (that I needed anyway), just to keep it active. I haven’t used it for anything since January 08, I think, so it was time.

By: asgreen

asgreen — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:24:26 +0000

I always have to remind myself to use my oldest credit card.

I recently opened a Chase Freedom card and I love it. I’ve already gotten $50 in cash back, plus if I really want to I can use my points for something else.

By: karla (threadbndr)

karla (threadbndr) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:08:57 +0000

yep, happened to me, too. The worst of it is that this is the card that I’ve had the longest. So it didn’t only ding the ratios, but the length of history, too.

I HATE the whole FICO thing. My son pays higher car insurance rates because he hasn’t ever had a credit card. And he doesn’t want one, but may be forced into this game just because it’s the only one in town.

By: Jennifer @ Money Saver 101

Jennifer @ Money Saver 101 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:05:04 +0000

It doesn’t make sense to me why your credit would be affected in that way. It’s stupid. Why do they do that?

I wouldn’t worry too much about it, though. I’m sure your credit will bounce back in no time.

By: Fabulously Broke

Fabulously Broke — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:32:29 +0000

I think it dings your credit score a little bit and of course affects your credit to debt ratio, but your score will pick up again in a couple of months.

No need to worry. It’s a good ding

By: MrsMoney

MrsMoney — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:30:23 +0000

The same thing happened to me recently!! I was so mad!

As far as the debt ratio, this shouldn’t really affect it. At my bank, we go by how much credit you have in use versus your income. If anything this would help because you don’t have it available to spend. I think the biggest thing that will affect your credit score is that you now have closed a line of credit that you’ve possibly had open for years. I think it’s crappy about credit card companies, but what can you do? They should at least ask first, I think!