Hello all, I am 19 yrs old, and I work for a Police Department as a corrections officer (Jailer) I've worked there for a year now and I make decent money. I just recently got married to my wife and she works at the PD as well as a 911 dispatcher. So, with combined income we make great money. However, her credit is not good at all because when she was 18 (she is 20 now about to turn 21) she got a credit card and ran it up but did not pay the bill. I have a credit score of 611 I found out today. We are trying to get a vehicle but I was declined today for not having enough credit history. They said that because no one has lended me a large sum of money in the past, that they can't. Well, I do have a best buy card that has a balance of $1,800.00 that I pay for monthly and a Kay Jewelers card that has a balance of $766.00 on it that I pay monthly and I have a car loan on my current vehicle with a balance of $10,000.00 dollars on it. Those are the only things on my credit that I pay ON TIME monthly. I have a few questions... 1. How am I supposed to get a car loan with limited credit? 2. Would my score raise if I payed off the Best Buy & Kay cards? 3. How to raise my score in general? Can anyone please help me?
I hate to say this but they could be looking at your age,who loaned for for your first. 2 pay them down to a low fiqure don't close them.the less you owe will raise your score.her credit shouldnt affect your if you just apply.
my dad co-signed on my first auto loan with was only $6,000.00 then I traded that in the dealership payed that loan off and I purchased my second vehicle which I have now. Americredit is who I finance through.
A few things: 1. Your age is a factor here and it's not your age in life, it's your age in credit life. You average account age can't be more than a year old since you are only 19. This hurts your score. I'm 31 and have had cards since I was 18 and it's still one of the things that comes up as hurting my score! 2. What are the limits on the Best Buy card and the Kay card? If you are over 25-30% utlization (that is, if you have $1,800 on Best Buy and the limit is $2,000.....you are utilizing 90% of the available credit) then it is hurting your score. I'm in a tough spot right now and sit at about 50% total utilization and my scores have suffered tremendously. 3. Don't give up. Work on a few things like paying down those cards and I think your score will go up. Of course it's like throwing darts but you get the idea. Having that auto loan already on your record will help a ton. I bought my first car on credit at 22 and my wife did at 20 so it's doable. Keep doing what you are doing and try the auto makers credit, like Ford Motor Credit. They're hard up for car sales right now, so they might be the better option for you. Hope this helps!
THanks for that I really appreciate it. Yea, my limit is $2,000. I have the money to pay it off completely. I know you said 20-30%, but would it help just to pay it off all together?
Of course, the more the better and the less money in interest you donate to the card company. If you want to make a purchase like a TV, charge it and then either pay it off or pay off the majority of it. Charge an XBOX game here and there and then pay it off. You want to use it right now to build your history, but use it wisely.
You already have one car loan at 10K, and as you said the Best Buy card is right up to its limit almost. While I a m a big fan of paying off cc debt, and I don't know what your interest rate is with this card, I would pay off a few hundred on it, and then with the 1500 you have try to find a dealer that will sell you a 5K car with this amount down. In this economic recession cars are being sold for cheap unless a hybrid, so I believe you could get a loan albeit a higher percentage rate, with around 30 percent down. Also put on paper what your incoming and outgoing money is and see if you can save a little. I stopped buying magazines and only one paper daily,and all fiction books and go to the library now,and save about 100 a month! Woofer
I am of the idea that you could try to open some new credit cards, am not sure though if this would boost your credit rating. some people think that opening credit cards would boost credit scores, while some think that it will drag it down. What do you guys think? My thinking is get 2 or three cards (not too many and not at the same time) charge off and then pay diligently and promptly. Your wife's credit history shouldn't affect yours.
Opening new accounts will lower your score in the short run, but if you keep your utilization low and pay it every month, over time your score will increase.
