603
submitted 9 months ago by Varyk@sh.itjust.works to c/til@lemmy.world

I always assumed credit scores were an integral and historic part of the American financial system.

They were not, they are very recent,most of your parents didn't have credit scores growing up, and as you can probably tell or at least intuit, it's mostly just a b******* scheme for those with capital to accrue more capital by invading your privacy.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] optissima@lemmy.world 19 points 9 months ago

You forgot the most important part: never have an unexpected expense, like going to a hospital or your car breaking down.

[-] Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works 8 points 9 months ago

We got a new card, no interest for a year. Put our entire kitchen reno on it. Credit score went down 47 points altogether. Paid it all off, credit score went up 17 points. All of this inside 6 months. It doesn't make sense lol.

[-] thatgirlwasfire@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

High utilization affects your score. For example, if you have a credit limit of $1,000 and have a balance of $900 when reported to credit agency, your utilization will be 90%. This will negatively impacts your score even if you pay it off on time. It is possible to avoid this by paying off purchases immediately, since your balance is only sent to the credit agencies once per month. Also if your limit was $10,000 the same balance would only be 9% utilization which is a lot better.

[-] intensely_human@lemm.ee 2 points 9 months ago

Oh interesting. A friend is a financial advisor and had told me that he often just pays his card immediately after making a purchase. That must be why.

[-] Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 months ago

I pay mine every Thursday so it clears Friday and I'm ready for the weekend.

[-] TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world -1 points 9 months ago

or it's just because he doesn't want to pay interest payments.

[-] UmeU@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

Interest or not, you should never carry a balance on a credit card. You should also never have more than 10% utilization.

Looks like you probably did three things which hurt your score… having a new account, carrying a balance, and possibly having more than 10% utilization.

I know the whole credit score thing seems stupid, but if you know how their calculations work you can get a high score in just a few years of doing everything correctly.

[-] TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 0 points 9 months ago

right, the thing that idiots do is load up their card once they get one and then make minimum payments.... tanking their credit. and instead of paying it down... they open up a new one.

[-] intensely_human@lemm.ee 1 points 9 months ago

I recently was a cabinet seller, and basically 100% of my customers either paid cash or paid on the Lowe’s card to get the 5% discount, then paid it off immediately with a different card.

So, among the population of people doing kitchen renovations, it seems your case is toward the “overextended” end compared to how most people do it.

In your case it was probably just credit utilization ratio that got you. I doubt they’re considering the types of purchases.

Just saying, in my experience at a big box home improvement store, basically everyone who buys cabinets does so with cash on hand.

[-] Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 months ago

Everyone has some great points about credit cards in here. Just like to point out that despite how good they are most of you missed the point completely.

If my credit score goes down 50 points for a reported balance, once that balance is paid off, not returning to the original score is simply absurd. It's a penalty just for existing in the system.

this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2024
603 points (97.3% liked)

Today I Learned

17858 readers
3 users here now

What did you learn today? Share it with us!

We learn something new every day. This is a community dedicated to informing each other and helping to spread knowledge.

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules (interactive)


Rule 1- All posts must begin with TIL. Linking to a source of info is optional, but highly recommended as it helps to spark discussion.

** Posts must be about an actual fact that you have learned, but it doesn't matter if you learned it today. See Rule 6 for all exceptions.**



Rule 2- Your post subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material.

Your post subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material. You will be warned first, banned second.



Rule 3- Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here.

Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here. Breaking this rule will not get you or your post removed, but it will put you at risk, and possibly in danger.



Rule 4- No self promotion or upvote-farming of any kind.

That's it.



Rule 5- No baiting or sealioning or promoting an agenda.

Posts and comments which, instead of being of an innocuous nature, are specifically intended (based on reports and in the opinion of our crack moderation team) to bait users into ideological wars on charged political topics will be removed and the authors warned - or banned - depending on severity.



Rule 6- Regarding non-TIL posts.

Provided it is about the community itself, you may post non-TIL posts using the [META] tag on your post title.



Rule 7- You can't harass or disturb other members.

If you vocally harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathiser or a resemblant of a movement that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of a group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you will be banned on sight.

For further explanation, clarification and feedback about this rule, you may follow this link.



Rule 8- All comments should try to stay relevant to their parent content.



Rule 9- Reposts from other platforms are not allowed.

Let everyone have their own content.



Rule 10- Majority of bots aren't allowed to participate here.

Unless included in our Whitelist for Bots, your bot will not be allowed to participate in this community. To have your bot whitelisted, please contact the moderators for a short review.



Partnered Communities

You can view our partnered communities list by following this link. To partner with our community and be included, you are free to message the moderators or comment on a pinned post.

Community Moderation

For inquiry on becoming a moderator of this community, you may comment on the pinned post of the time, or simply shoot a message to the current moderators.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS