Quick ways to build credit? *HELP ME*

[Valhalla1]

I currently have and use pretty often 3 credit cards. I'm only 19, dont have much of a credit history. I am paying off a car loan now that is under my name only, no co-signer. but I have applied for nicer credit cards like the GM card, and Amex Blue for Students and have been denied.

I still get tons of $500 limit high interest Visa offers every day. I just toss them. but I want to be able to get a car loan on my own with a sane interest rate, and be able to have good credit cards like Amex Blue.

is there a way to build credit quickly with these small limit cards? if I say, signed up for 5 of these $500 limit cards.. bought something for $500 on the first one, then pay each one off within a month with another credit card, cash advance or something. then write a check for $500 for the last credit card I use, at the end of that month.

would this build my credit much at all? it would seem like I had bought 5x$500=$2500 worth of stuff on credit, but it was really just $500. or say I just did $100 at first. so then every time I wanted to buy something for like $100-$200, I put it on one card and pay it off with a sequence of other small limit cards. as long as I am careful and on time with payments, no big deal right?

is this viable/stupid/not worth the trouble? any other schemes like this that look good on my credit report?

 

[OS]

This guy I know offered to give me good credit for 200 bux. What they do is right before an old/good customer closes an account somewhere, the unnamed guy attaches your name to it so it looks like you have the same credit as old/good customer.

 

[Valhalla1]

interesting. for $200 bux though, I would have to have my credit jacked up big time..

 

[monto]

<< This guy I know offered to give me good credit for 200 bux. What they do is right before an old/good customer closes an account somewhere, the unnamed guy attaches your name to it so it looks like you have the same credit as old/good customer. >>

heh l33t

 

[EvanFerguson]

heh

 

[aimn]

Just keep paying off your credit cards in full each month, and you will have good credit in no time! My roommate had bad credit, got a high interest card. He maxed this card out every month, and paid it off every month. Within a year he had 10k credit at low interest. Anyone know someone at one of these credit reporting agencies that want to make some &quot;extra&quot; money?

 

[Emulex]

wait till you have about 9 months of credit under your belt, pay off all your current cards in full every month, then apply for a citibank mastercard..

you'll get between $1000-2000 depending on your income level.

wait about 3 months, apply for another citibank card.. you'll get another.

then about 3-4 months later, you'll be able to apply for a mbna visa, and of course, if your income supports it ($30-40K at least) you'll be getting the $5500 and up cards.

really simple dude.

 

[Mday]

lie about your income =)

 

[rc5]

Why the hell do you need some credit limit you can afford?

Most loans are much cheaper than credit loans.

 

[Valhalla1]

I dont see why I get screwed on credit cards..

I make more than the average 19 year old full time college student (filed my income taxes last year for roughly $42k.) I have 3 credit cards that are usually completely maxed out yet I pay them off every month.

I also have my car payment which currently I am making double and triple payments each month.

why should I get rejected for Amex for Students? the way they sell the card they make it out as a complete begginner credit card for students who don't make hardly any money at all. they should be begging for my business because I would use the hell out of an amex credit card.

so tell me this - if you take a cash advance on a credit card, do you have to pay fees/interest, if you pay at off right after you make the advance? if its basically a free month's worth of borrowing money, whats to stop someone with a high limit card from putting a new car on a credit card, then getting a cash advance for all the money from another credit card, and pay off the first one.. then vice versa ad infinitum, thus never actually paying for the car?

 

[Valhalla1]

anyone?

 

[Maetryx]

Student credit cards are for students and are marketed that way to get students in over their heads. Then their parents pay up. Your *good* credit history for a 19 year old is probably why you can't get a student credit card. They want a screwup that will earn them a ton of late fees and high interest rates.

When you pay your credit cards off every month, the credit card company makes almost nothing (besides the ubiquitous 3% from the vendors who accept credit cards).

Anyway, go to NextCard for a fast answer on a new credit card. It's got all the online options available, like click-to-pay and online statements.

 

[kaiotes]

of course there are fees for cash advance.
anyone who has money and are do'n cash advance to build credit should be shot.
thats where CC make money off of you.
my advice, purchase via CC, pay off statements in full due amounts and you will build it.
nothing is free from CC companies (except Blue~)

 

[RossMAN]

so tell me this - if you take a cash advance on a credit card, do you have to pay fees/interest, if you pay at off right after you make the advance? if its basically a free month's worth of borrowing money, whats to stop someone with a high limit card from putting a new car on a credit card, then getting a cash advance for all the money from another credit card, and pay off the first one.. then vice versa ad infinitum, thus never actually paying for the car?

DO NOT take a cash advance on a credit card because unlike regular purchases the interest begins accruing the same day you make your cash advance. Let's say you advance $1,000 on 7/1, your statement cuts on 7/20 with a due date of 8/5. On 8/5 you will owe MORE than $1,000 because the interest would have been adding up from 7/1 through 8/5. To make matters worse there is usually a cash advance fee, cash advance interest rates are usually higher than normal purchases and to top it off your cash advance limit is usually not equivelant to your purchase limit. So if you have a $5,000 credit card chances are you cannot go to the ATM or bank and get $5,000 cash.

We could speculate for eons about how to make your credit perfect but without seeing your credit report we're just taking stabs in the dark. Look into getting a free copy of your credit report, after you have received it PM me and we'll talk. Hopefully your FICA (fair isaac credit score) will be on there and I can tell you if you suck, are a loser or are Donald Trump.

 

[raven82]

Ameridebt to the Resuce.

 

[luv2chill]

Valhalla1,

One thing credit companies do look for is the ratio of how much debt you are currently using to how much you have available to use. Seeing as you say that you max out all three of your CCs every month (yet pay the balanace every month) your credit report may show that all three cards are fully tapped (kind of a warning sign in many cases).

I can't explain why you got denied fro Amex for Students. One reason could be what I stated above. Otherwise it might be because you're still relatively new to credit. Given that you're 19, can I assume that you got approved for your first line of credit last year when you were 18? That's not very long in credit terms. You're a student, right? Many of these cards provide a place on the app to indicate so, asking you to fill in the name of the school you go to. Often this helps you get approved.

I wouldn't expect too much out of these cards--they will have fairly conservative credit limits and higher interest rates. CC companies know that college-aged kids are notorious for getting into debt they can't get themselves out of. Unfortunately, you just become part of a statistic. There's really nothing you can do but make sure you pay on time EVERY month and that you don't let your total debt equal the amount of your total credit.

The last thing I would do is order a copy of your credit report from experian.com (it is one of the three big credit reporting companies) and scour it for red flags. There could be something on there you don't know about, possibly an error or errors--it CAN happen. If you've been denied credit within the last couple of months, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report (which company's report you can get depends on which company the creditor used in evaluating whether or not to extend credit to you). The details of how to get your free report are included with your rejection letter. If you've thrown out your rejection letters, you should try calling CS of the cards you applied for. Keep in mind that there's a time window during which you have the opportunity to request it--usually only a month or two (I can't remember). After that, you'll have to pay.

Hope some of this helps you. Mostly, having good credit just takes time. After 5 years (I got my first CC in college at age 18... a Discover card with a 500 limit and 20% APR) I'm just now getting good rates.

Like insurance companies, credit card companies just don't trust teenagers very much. Sad, but not much you can do about it.

Good luck!

l2c

 

[luv2chill]

One last thing:

Check out this service. It was posted in Hot Deals a couple of months ago and it's pretty slick. This company will actually give you a credit score based on information on your credit report. Better yet, it breaks down what factors raised and lowered your score. All in all it's a very helpful tool to guage &quot;where you're at&quot; so to speak.

There is a FAQ on there explaining everything (and for those wondering, no it doesn't show up as an inquiry on your credit report). They don't agressively try to sell you anything either. I did it a couple of months ago and have never heard from them.

Looks like it is still free to do it, so give it a shot!

l2c

 

[Valhalla1]

okay I just used the eloan.com credit rating thing..

it said my rating was 654, better than 35% of US customers.


so what does this tell me?

 

[RossMAN]

654 isn't that bad, I can only narrow it down to:

1) Too many inquiries, how many loans, credit cards and car loans have you applied for in the past 12 months? How many credit card increases have you requested?
2) How long have you had credit on all of your credit accounts?
3) Have you paid the Grand Nagus his monthly fee yet?

 

[crzyc]

here is my advice:

i would try to only have one of those high interest cards...

since you were denied credit, get a free credit report, and cancel accounts that you didn't know you had.

on the card that you don't cancel (the one you use the most) call and ask for a higher limit / lower rate.

i have around 10k in credit (capital one @ card and amex blue) and only make around 10 grand a year (im a student) so this has worked for me

 

[luv2chill]

654 isn't all that great. It considers you a higher risk. It should have given you specific reasons for why your score ended up at where it is and also suggestions as to what you could do to improve that. Did you see that information on there? If not, go back because that analysis is what is useful. The score by itself only confirms what you already knew--you're getting denied for offers. Here is the key if you didn't see it already:

Above 730 Excellent credit
700 - 729 Good credit
670 - 699 Lender will take a closer look at your file
585 - 669 Higher risk; you will not be eligible for the best rates and products. Credit products may not be available.
Below 585 Credit options will be limited or not available. Lender will need to consider other information in your application.

l2c

 

[RossMAN]

Do you still have a copy of your most recent decline letter?

Have you had that decline letter for less than 30 days?

 

[Valhalla1]

I dont think I have a copy of my latest decline. but I've been declined for at least 5 credit cards in the last year and a half


according to the score report, it says one thing that is hurting me is that I keep my cards near the limit. which is only because I have a lot of money that I want to spend, and my limits are low so its too easy to be at the limits. plus I was told once that buying up to the limit and then paying it off every month in full drives them nuts and they keep upping your limits trying to get you to spend more than you earn.

anyway, I'm pretty much pissed right now about the whole thing

I just wish I could talk to an actual person about my situation and maybe then I could qualify for one decent credit card. instead I'm a faceless piece of paper, and I'm an average or statistic

 

[RossMAN]

I would say get your owing balances at least 60% or less of your available credit. So if you have 3 credit cards with $500 limits you would owe $300 (60%) or less per credit card. Time is against you though, the more you do in the shorter span of time the more it hurts you. I know you probably don't have the luxury of waiting another 12 months but if you keep applying for credit you're just going to keep driving nails into your credit coffin. Start putting cash in your favorite cookie jar or underneath your mattress. Change your lifestyle and spending habits, it's time to buckle down.

 

[luv2chill]

Can you use a debit card or money order to pay for this stuff you want to buy? It sounds like you have more than enough capital to buy the stuff you want to buy--you're just using the CC for convenience.

Also, have you tried calling your CC companies to get an increased credit limit? That might help.

It sounds like you're very responsible with money. I know it's unfair that younger guys get the shaft (your car insurance must be outrageous too given the car that you drive!). Unfortunately, that's just the way it is--you have to go along with the system.

Sadly, you would probably appear to be a better prospect if you carried some revolving debt (i.e. carry a balance and pay interest on it). CC companies like to see that you're going to earn them some money. That idea may sound terrible to you, so your alternative is just to develop a good credit history over time by keeping at what you're doing. Unfortunately there's no shortcut.

l2c