Credit scores

• sportchampps

  So today I bought a new car and got my score for the first time in awhile. As I was reading it I read that scores range from a low of 253 and a high of 893. They used transunion to check the score. I had always though 850 was the highest did this change or is it just a transunion thing. What do you consider a high score.
• THE4RINGZ

  

  Anything over 700
• sportchampps

  But is the highest score 850 or is the 893 a different number
• sportchampps

  It said my score was out of 893 and I thought 850 was the highest
• gut

  I think the highest rating - excellent - is like 760+.
• JTizzle

  Big Mirgs is 420!:thumbup:
• j_crazy

  

  720 is what banks think is high. I think. That's good enough for me. Didn't know what the maximum was.
• queencitybuckeye

  Not sure, but I think the max is different between the major reporting companies.
  
  To me 800 is a really good score.
• Con_Alma

  ^^^^
  
  This.
  
  
  There are multiple credit scores and each generate it differently. Transuinion is just one barameter. FICO is another.
• SportsAndLady

  

  j_crazy;1211806 wrote:720 is what banks think is high.

  That is correct. Also depends on the state. Bank I work at, 720 is the minimum score for Illinois and Florida. 680 is the minimum for other states (Ohio, Indiana, etc).
• SportsAndLady

  

  queencitybuckeye;1211872 wrote:Not sure, but I think the max is different between the major reporting companies.
  
  To me 800 is a really good score.

  The different credit bureaus are just more accurate depending on what part of the country you live in. Midwest, you want to look at Transunion. One is out west, the other is east coast. The max is all different, but really people with 780, 800, or 850 credit score aren't going to be looked at any differently.
• DeadliestWarrior34

  

  You shoulda went to freecreditreport.com
• fan_from_texas

  The highest possible score depends on the bureau. I believe TransUnion is the highest.
• jmog

  I honestly have no idea what my credit score is and could care less. I don't need it anymore.
  
  I have my house.
  I carry only 1 emergency CC that I carry a zero balance on it.
  I have zero car payments and buy cars, when I need a new one, with money out of savings.
  I have zero debt other than mortgage and some student loans left.
  
  I couldn't tell you if my credit score is 600 or 800 and I honestly don't care.
  
  If for some reason I have to quickly move out of state for work I will care once again.
  
  My father-in-law is the type that obsesses about his credit to the point its odd to me.
• j_crazy

  

  jmog;1211964 wrote:I honestly have no idea what my credit score is and could care less. I don't need it anymore.
  
  I have my house.
  I carry only 1 emergency CC that I carry a zero balance on it.
  I have zero car payments and buy cars, when I need a new one, with money out of savings.
  I have zero debt other than mortgage and some student loans left.
  
  I couldn't tell you if my credit score is 600 or 800 and I honestly don't care.
  
  If for some reason I have to quickly move out of state for work I will care once again.
  
  My father-in-law is the type that obsesses about his credit to the point its odd to me.

  
  I don't have anything to add the conversation but here is how I'm better than you.
  
  -jmog'd
• jmog

  j_crazy;1212003 wrote:I don't have anything to add the conversation but here is how I'm better than you.
  
  -jmog'd

  Not better, everything I know about credit scores says that I'm retarded for not caring or paying attention to it. So in essence I admitted to doing a pretty stupid thing.
• gut

  I always laugh when I see people bragging up not using a credit card. I use mine almost all the time in lieu of cash, just simpler and more convenient so long as you pay it off each month. And the points, while not a lot, can still add up to a free airline ticket or a couple nights in a hotel, so still a benefit you don't get using cash (assuming you have cards without fees). And I've also learned it's smart to have a few cards in case one gets rejected for whatever reason (and not everyone takes AMEX).
  
  It does make sense to periodically review your credit scores, in part to protect yourself against fraud. And the flip side is when you decide you need credit (maybe you're refinancing or buying a new house), you may not have time to clean-up some inaccuracies that could end-up costing you a lot of money on your loan. And borrowing for a house or car at 3-4% makes a lot of sense - I can meet or beat that rate in the markets, not to mention the flexibility and piece of mind of not tying up that capital, so it's actually prudent financial management.
• jmog

  gut;1212046 wrote:I always laugh when I see people bragging up not using a credit card. I use mine almost all the time in lieu of cash, just simpler and more convenient so long as you pay it off each month. And the points, while not a lot, can still add up to a free airline ticket or a couple nights in a hotel, so still a benefit you don't get using cash (assuming you have cards without fees). And I've also learned it's smart to have a few cards in case one gets rejected for whatever reason (and not everyone takes AMEX).

  I agree, I used to do this, exactly this, for the points. For whatever reason I got away from it (honestly no idea why). However, you are correct, as long as the person is disciplined enough to pay the monthly balance in full each moth, using a CC with some type of rewards is smarter than using cash.
• gut

  jmog;1212050 wrote:I agree, I used to do this, exactly this, for the points. For whatever reason I got away from it (honestly no idea why). However, you are correct, as long as the person is disciplined enough to pay the monthly balance in full each moth, using a CC with some type of rewards is smarter than using cash.

  True. LOL, perhaps you've gotten away from it because a lot of places are on to the game and are now charging additional fees for using a CC or preventing it all together (i.e. can't put your rent or mortgage payment on it without paying for it).
  
  If I frequent a local restaurant or some place like that, I do try to pay in cash because the 2-3% extra they pay adds up for them but not really for me. Plus, I still am a bit paranoid about where I use my CC so I try not to use it for small transactions. It's been fairly painless each time to resolve, but I have had my CC compromised a few times. You're also getting additional consumer protection if you buy a tv or something on your CC.
  
  And the sad reality is more people are not disciplined or savvy enough to use credit responsibly. Most end-up using it to live beyond their means, unfortunately.
• jmog

  gut;1212058 wrote:True. LOL, perhaps you've gotten away from it because a lot of places are on to the game and are now charging additional fees for using a CC or preventing it all together (i.e. can't put your rent or mortgage payment on it without paying for it).
  
  If I frequent a local restaurant or some place like that, I do try to pay in cash because the 2-3% extra they pay adds up for them but not really for me. Plus, I still am a bit paranoid about where I use my CC so I try not to use it for small transactions. It's been fairly painless each time to resolve, but I have had my CC compromised a few times. You're also getting additional consumer protection if you buy a tv or something on your CC.
  
  And the sad reality is more people are not disciplined or savvy enough to use credit responsibly. Most end-up using it to live beyond their means, unfortunately.

  When I was heavy into it I was paying utility bills, my mortgage, nearly everything on it, some of them slowly got taken away as possibilities and that might be the reason I stopped much of it.
  
  Also, the AMEX I had, it's yearly fees went from $35 to $95 and I didn't care for that much.
  
  But hey, I did get a few free airline flights to Vegas for the wife and I out of it over a few years.
• gut

  Yeah, I pay @ $70 on my AMEX. First year fee was waived. I planned to ditch it, but I use it for business travel so the points are more than making up for it. And there's some convenience to it being with the same place I bank at. At the end of the day, $70 a year isn't really worth my shopping around and applying to get a lower fee. Some of the ones with no annual fees are stingier on the points, so you have to take that into account with your use. For emergency purposes, yeah absolutely you want one with no annual fee.
  
  Otherwise, I'd recommend having 2 of the big 3 (Visa, Mastercard, AMEX). Not really an issue in the US, but when you travel internationally sometimes 1 of them aren't accepted.
• jmog

  gut;1212076 wrote:Yeah, I pay @ $70 on my AMEX. First year fee was waived. I planned to ditch it, but I use it for business travel so the points are more than making up for it. And there's some convenience to it being with the same place I bank at. At the end of the day, $70 a year isn't really worth my shopping around and applying to get a lower fee. Some of the ones with no annual fees are stingier on the points, so you have to take that into account with your use. For emergency purposes, yeah absolutely you want one with no annual fee.
  
  Otherwise, I'd recommend having 2 of the big 3 (Visa, Mastercard, AMEX). Not really an issue in the US, but when you travel internationally sometimes 1 of them aren't accepted.

  Yup, had a few times my AMEX was not taken when I was in Europe and Asia. I had to use my personal Visa debit card (my work card is an AMEX as well, they are switching to VISA soon).
  
  The transaction fees for using a checking account card abroad is nuts, but I did expense those fees out of course and the company paid them.
  
  You are right though, I have run into AMEX problems abroad. The major places (hotels, etc) take it usually but not a lot of smaller (restaurants, site seeing activities, etc).
• RedRider1

  

  I look at credit scores as a part of my job and have only ran into 1 or maybe 2 that were under 500. Couldn't imagine how financially wrecked someone would have to be for their score to be under 300. Yikes.
• jmog

  RedRider1;1212172 wrote:I look at credit scores as a part of my job and have only ran into 1 or maybe 2 that were under 500. Couldn't imagine how financially wrecked someone would have to be for their score to be under 300. Yikes.

  I can honestly say I was under 400 at one point. When I bought my house 5 years ago I had taken that sub 400 and got it up to about 650 in about 1.5 years of working on paying stuff off.
  
  Since I got my house I haven't looked at the score since, but pay everything on time so I imagine it had to go up.
  
  However, yes, when I was sub 400 I was 'financially wrecked'. I had been laid off, went back to school full time to work on a MS and had a wife and 2 kids making hardly $15k/yr.
  
  It honestly doesn't take that much time to repair your credit if you 'buckle down' and just pay crap that you owe.
• Automatik

  

  741 as of last week. Super!
  
  Now my DTI? Makes me sick.