Poboy1911

hi all i appreciate the advice so far

So my utilization is high because apparently the AC company ran the 0% thing as a wells fargo credit card? with a maximum of 18k and I still owe about 12k? idk if thats usual or not; its still 0% for 36 months and I will definitely pay it off before then, but thats how it shows up on my credit report. Could that be nuking it?


I have 2 personal CCs that I never defaulted on but i dont use them because like i said earlier I really dont want to go down the 'i make enough i can pay this off later' trap. tbh i consider myself a poor administrator so try to avoid debt like the plague or get rid of it ASAP. so i have them but never use them for anything.

quote:

---

IYou won't get the best rate on an auto purchase, but it won't be astronomically higher like you're insinuating. The alternative to paying significantly higher interest over the life a vehicle for example is to put more down on a vehicle. Are you able to save much each month?

How old are the kids? Assuming your wife doesn't work out of necessity of child care?

---

My monthly surplus is about 4k. Initially when I started making a lot more I would spend almost all of it on stupid shite literally no one needs, spoiling the crap out of my kids and taking them and my wife on fancy vacations that they're too young to give a shite about anyway. I have since dialed that back b/c i realized they are just as happy if not more so playing out back with the sprinkler.

wife manages the kids which is a FT job in and of itself. it took a lot to get to this point so the last thing i want to do is throw away extra money on some stupid high APY or interest rate. just want to be better positioned for the future really

Hi all, was lurking and reading the affordability post of the guy who cant afford his house and wanted to get some advice on my own situation

So my credit is horrific, 650 or so. for a financial snapshot I am in SE LA, married with 4 kids, my wife does not work. I make about 11k a month after taxes, so thats net pay. sometimes more if I work extra for a bonus, an extra 2k after taxes a couple times a year, 1.5k christmas bonus, 10k bonuses yearly that all of course are taxed. My wife can work but she doesnt so she can take care of our kids. 2/4 are in private school, will be 3/4 soon. Biggest expense I have easily.

No car payments. No student loans. So except for house no real debt. I max my 401k match and max my roth and put some in a brokerage. i try to spend within my means and invest within my means.

But my credit sucks arse. financially struggled bigly several years ago, maxed out a credit card to 20k surviving. it went into collections, they will not remove it so i have to wait for it to age off. it remains the sole ding on my credit score.

But now, seems like everything I do brings my score down even more. I paid off a vehicle quickly, my credit went down. I paid off my student loans and my credit went down. I took advantage of a 0%apr 15k 4 year offer on an A/C replacement for my house, set it to autopay, put a few thousand in to start off because i really hate debt, and boom my credit went down again. I want the adaptability to buy a new house eventually since my family has grown but im not gonna be able to do that with such shite credit.

I have other credit cards but i hardly use them because i was historically bad with money and am trying to avoid falling into that 'oh i make enough i can pay it off' trap.

any advice would be appreciated, because rn it seems like everything i do even if it makes sense just drags my score down even more.


essentially thanks to my credit being low i have zero flexibility. if my car gets totaled im gonna be paying out the arse for a new one IF they will even sell me one.