Comments on: How to Build Your Credit History with Tradelines

By: C E L

C E L — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:09:06 +0000

What most people are missing is the power of LEVERAGE with credit.Most of the wealthy people would not be where they are if it hadn’t been for the use of credit at some point and time.

By: Jason Dyer

Jason Dyer — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 02:51:06 +0000

I dont like the fact that I had to use Trade lines to help me get financed for a new house but I do know that I got hell of a lot better deal with a 720 score than they were going to give me with a 640. I used a company called Reinstar financial, they were upfront and didnt give me false information about what they could or couldnt do. It was expensive but it worked and honestly with the lower interest rate it paid for itself in about 8 months. Banks have been ripping us all off for years, Trade lines are a way of leveling the playing field

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:09:41 +0000

It is a wonderful thing to pay in cash but with insurance companies and and employers trying to snoop into your credit it still pays to have a strong credit rating.

By: Dave Listor

Dave Listor — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 21:37:55 +0000

Btw to pay off a $5000 credit card(max’d) only paying the minimum amount will take over 25 years.

By: Dave Listor

Dave Listor — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 21:31:25 +0000

Many of you are wrong. I never wanted credit and paid for everything cash(salary of $158k) to include a home(rent to own), car, college amongst a plethora of other things. At 40 years of age, I wanted to try and build a credit profile and when I got my report, it was considered a “thin file”(no credit history and thus a 620 score).I applied for two credit cards, and was approved for both one for $3500 and the other for $5000. I use them often and pay almost 90% off every month just leaving a small balance to reflect the bureaus ever changing methodologies of scoring. Im 42 now an both card limits have more than doubled and I now have a 780 score. It is possible

By: David

David — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 03:23:26 +0000

Eric, Credit is a moving target. While I agree with Joe, who sounds like Dave Ramsey, I don’t believe paying cash for everything is realistic. Your situation at the bank is more realistic. To establish a 750 credit score it will need to be done with more then just 2 lines. Some Credit experts suggest 1 installment loan (e.g. mortgage and/or car) and 3 Credit Cards with balances less then 30% of your high balance or max limit, whichever shows on your Credit Report. You may need to find a secure line of credit, which the lenders will usually switch over to a unsecured line after a 6 to 12 months of on time payments.

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 21:37:26 +0000

Just applied for an auto loan today and got declined. I only have 2 trade lines, and was declined because I did not have 4 trade lines. Its almost like to borrow money, you are required to make tons of dumb mistakes by buying crap that you do not need on credit. Not quite sure what Im going to do, but I have to figure something out.

By: sean

sean — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:17:59 +0000

if i have a credit card account that has reported on time for 5 months is there a significant jump in score at month 6 or are there any other magic numbers within the repositories scoring models?

By: Nick Burton

Nick Burton — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:39:18 +0000

This is possible if you have a clean credit report with almost nothing on it. When you insert 1-2 tradelines on a credit report with 0 history, it’s almost automatic that you receive a score anywhere from 750-800. It’s once you start adding other tradelines with balances near the credit limit and other various negative items that will keep your score in the 600s or lower.

By: Nick Burton

Nick Burton — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:37:13 +0000

This is a great article. You are telling users how to establish a credit score. One tedious thing about building your credit score is time. It takes a long time to establish good accounts with over two years of history, which is a main factor when being approved for loans. Though time can present a problem for people who are in a tight schedule, there are other alternatives (though you have to pay some fees) to building your credit score much quicker.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:54:07 +0000

Jim,

Where did you get the info that “It’s generally believed that to get a score of 750, you need two lines of credit with 24 months of consecutive on-time payment.”

I have been told it takes much longer than 24 months of solid history for a score of 750.

I hope I can get up to 750 but just curious…

By: Morgan

Morgan — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:32:17 +0000

Another great way to get your credit history started, especially in this tight credit market is if you’re a member of a credit union. Anyone can join some credit union and there’s probably one in your town.

The thing to do is get a line of credit on your checking account, which is technically an unsecured loan. If you spend money that’s not in your checking account, money is released from this line of credit. You can pay it back in monthly installments, or do like I do and pay it back that day… I check my account online frequently and just simply move money from my savings account to my checking account. There’s no overdraft fee and I’ll pay (at most) pennies in interest if I forget to pay it off that day. I hardly ever use it, and it doesn’t cost me a dime (unless I forget) and it’s improving my credit score!

By: Damon Day

Damon Day — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:41:09 +0000

One great way for young people to jump start their credit score is referred to as piggy backing. I did this when I was in college. I had my parents add me as an authorized user on two of their cards. That basically gave me instant good credit. Now of course I know if that was the only thing I had a lender could see through that, but couple that with two other small balance accounts in good standing and I really had a good start.

A few years ago fico changed how authorized user accounts were scored so that people could not do this anymore. The main reason was to combat fraudsters that were actually selling positive trade lines. No Joke, there were companies, that for a fee would add you as an authorized user to some account. Fico didn’t like this very much and cut it off.

However recently I read that Fico has changed it back and being an authorized user on a positive trade line will have a positive affect on your score again. So if you are trying to boost your score and you have a good friend or family member willing to add you as an authorized user it might just give you a nice little bump. Of course the family member doesn’t even actually have to give you the card so you don’t have the ability to spend their money

By: Bri

Bri — Sat, 23 May 2009 23:48:54 +0000

Paying cash isn’t always the best way. On a small scale, I use my Discover card for all of my purchases because I get between 1% & 5% back on everything. On top of that I can save up my rewards for gift cards that can even double that reward at store I frequent. Why pay cash when I can make money off paying with my credit card? I pay my balance in full each month so not only am I building a positive credit score I get to make interest off my money while it’s in the bank AND make my bonus rewards off the credit company. Similarly, for larger purchases if you can qualify for a low interest loan it could be more beneficial to invest your money in a high-yield account rather than paying cash for it.

By: Bri

Bri — Sat, 23 May 2009 23:40:34 +0000

It isn’t always most beneficial to pay with cash. I always have the money sitting in a bank account, but why pay cash when I can get between 1%-5% cash back for buying things I was already going to buy? I pay my balance in full each month, plus I can save my rewards up for gift cards ro stores I frequent that multiply my bonus.