Do you know your ceredit score? The national average is 678.

[Papa Deuce]

Don't post yours. But I am betting that the DIS has a higher average than the national average?

Dang, this was supposed to be a poll but I messed it up! So it could be anonymous.

Anyway.... above or below 678 for you?

 

[luvmyfam444]

I dunno - but I bet lower - had bad credit - still digging out.........

 

[2Poodles]

Above.

 

[FreshTressa]

Way above. I'm a bit shocked it is that low.

 

[Papa Deuce]

Way above. I'm a bit shocked it is that low.

Above 700 is considered good credit. 850 is the highest. Under 600 is considered poor credit.

 

[FreshTressa]

The only thing bad on our credit report is that it says I have too many department store credit cards!

I'm a sucker for that "save 10%" deal they give you. They get paid off a week later, but they still count against the credit score.

 

[Papa Deuce]

The only thing bad on our credit report is that it says I have too many department store credit cards!

I'm a sucker for that "save 10%" deal they give you. They get paid off a week later, but they still count against the credit score.

That would be my wife... except that I finally got her to understand how so many cards hurt your credit, and, more importantly, open yourself up to more ID theft occurences.

I have 3 cards. One MC, One Visa, and a Visa that I only use for my business. That's it.

Oh, and we are above the 678.... I don't think I have ever missed a payment date on anything in my life except one time when I lost the bill, and so, forgot to pay it.

 

[Diva of Dragons]

Above!

 

[ducklite]

Well above.

It's something DH and I take very seriously and have made a priority to maintain over the years.

Anne

 

[kydisneyfans]

Mine is above-not sure about the wife's, she is considered dead by the credit bureaus.

 

[aprilgail2]

Mine is well above that...I am actually surprised but when I went to buy a new car they came back with my score and I had to go home and check my credit report myself to make sure it was right LOL.

 

[LoraJ]

Well above!

 

[MushyMushy]

Below.

DH and I went through a nasty separation for a year. I wasn't working (full time college student), and he (unbeknownst to me) didn't pay rent or any bill for 3 months before he quit his job and walked out the door. That first week he was gone, not only did I have to deal with him leaving, but also nearly every utility company coming to the door to shut us off.

It's so easy to fall into a bottomless pit of debt and can happen so fast. But climbing out is a long, hard road that can take years. We're still not done, but we're getting there.

 

[SandraVB79]

Can someone explain me what the credit score is and how it works? I have heard about it, but since we don't have such a thing, I am curious what it is.

Thanks,

 

[mrsltg]

DH and I are above.

 

[golfgal]

Dh and I are well above that, above 800 even (we just bought a new house so we got that a few months ago).

Sandra--a credit score is a mathematical score assigned to a person based on how financially responsible they are, in theory. It takes into account how much outstanding debt you have and which kind, mortgage, revolving (credit cards), etc. It will look into payment history and rate you on how well you pay your bills, whether you pay them on time or have a history of late payments, etc. It will show if you have filed bankruptcy or have any liens-judgements against you. It is basically a way for lenders to quickly determine of you are a good credit risk.

There is some room for interpretation on your credit score as well. Often you will see comments like "too many inquiries in the past 6 months". Well, most lenders will ignore that unless there really are too many inquires (people pulling your credit report, usually if someone is shopping around for financing or opening too many credit cards). Our last reports said that and the only inquiry on there is the one from the bank from whom we got our mortgage.

One of the funny quirks about credit scoring is that the less credit history you have, the lower your rating will be compared to someone with similar payment history, etc. If you pay cash for everything you aren't considered a good credit risk.

 

[NewJersey]

I spent a bit toooooo much in college, so once I start my job next month I'll be repaying off my CC and have it done by the end of the year so I can work on getting my credit perfect. It's killing me that it's not!

 

[mom2rb]

We are well above the average. My parents declared bankruptcy when I was little so I have always been paranoid about good credit. When I met DH he was 23, young and stupid. I took charge and cleared up his credit. That took a few years. Now I think it is funny that my score is one point higher than his and he makes WAY more $$ than I do. He doesn't think it is so funny.

 

[Amy]

We're above average. Mostly thanks to me - DH is terrible about paying bills on time, so I took over bill paying early in our marriage. I get so paranoid when he travels - he has a "work" American Express card that's in his name (he submits his expenses and we pay the bill, the company doesn't pay), but they send the bill to his work address. By the time it goes to the mailroom and it gets sorted and makes it to his desk, he gets it only a day or two before the due date. Thank goodness for online bill paying!

 

[NewJersey]

We are well above the average. My parents declared bankruptcy when I was little so I have always been paranoid about good credit. When I met DH he was 23, young and stupid. I took charge and cleared up his credit. That took a few years. Now I think it is funny that my score is one point higher than his and he makes WAY more $$ than I do. He doesn't think it is so funny.

How did you get his credit score great? I'm guessing paying all the debt off and making sure you pay your bills on time?

I've missed some payments on my CC, and I maxed out my card, but thankfully I'm not using it anymore. I'll have it paid off in a few months.

I'm so embarassed that I was so reckless in college.