Establishing A Credit History

Establishing A Good Credit History - How to establish a good credit history!
@maddysmommy (16230)
United States
July 18, 2007 5:00am CST
My husband and I are in the process of establishing a credit history. We now have two credit cards and one department store card at present. He wants to keep applying for more credit cards and or department cards to help establish a good credit history and I don't really want him to because I don't want to get into credit card debt. I thought one credit card and one department store card would of been enough, as well as making sure we paid all our regular bills on time. Do we really need more to establish a good credit history? Our credit scores are very good at the moment so I don't see why we need anymore. He is also thinking of buying a second hand vehicle which I am not keen on because it also means more added bills and with the gas prices going up, I don't think I want a car at the moment. I make do with public transport and the only struggle I have is when we need to buy groceries, but now I can do that online. What are your thoughts on establishing a good credit history for a new comer/immigrant to USA? Thanks in advance!
1 person likes this
9 responses
@addysmum (1225)
• Canada
18 Jul 07
You don't even need that many. You need to have credit with companies that report credit history, that is the big thing having credit is pointless if you don't get it reported. Paying your regular bills on time and making sure they don't report bad credit. Maybe a loan with your bank to secure credit history with them. The biggest mistake people make with credit is running out and getting a load of credit cards and then they can't pay them off. Simple is best when it comes to credit. We have one credit card with our bank and we have had several loans for different vehicles over the years with our bank. The last loan was just for the credit history, we had the money to by the van out right but took out the loan for several months before paying it off, just to add a little more good credit. A mortgage is a good way to get good credit, use a broker and get the best interest rate. When we bought our current house our credit was so good we didn't need to verify employment or income they gave us our mortgage on my husbands word alone.
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@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
19 Jul 07
Thanks addysmum. As far as I am aware both credit cards get reported and so does the department store card. I just don't want anymore and it's hard to get through to him and explain there really is no need for more. This should be plenty to build our credit on so in the long run we are fine when its comes to owning our own home.
@patgalca (18164)
• Orangeville, Ontario
18 Jul 07
My husband took out a personal line of credit at the bank. I balked at it but he said it was his and none of my business. But then we got in deep water and needed to extend the credit line. In order to do that we had to put the house up as collateral which meant I had to sign for it. So now my name is on there. I regretted it as soon as I did it. I thought, what the heck are we getting ourselves into? Debt we will never be able to pay off? Last month the statement came in and the minimum amount due was $34. My husband said he wasn't going to make a payment. I let it sit. My Mom gave me some money so I decided to go put some money on the Line of Credit. I was a day late but they were okay with that. They DID tell me that if we hadn't made a payment at all we would have risked our credit rating and possibly lost the line of credit altogether. Now why couldn't the guy come up with $34? I think the fewer credit "issues" you have, the better your credit rating will be. We have two major credit cards (well, I have one shared with DH and he has his own VISA) and two department store cards. That is plenty. Who needs all those bills coming in added to the hydro, phone bill, cable bill and heating bill? It's just too much to pay off and very overwhelming, especially when you don't have the money.
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@patgalca (18164)
• Orangeville, Ontario
19 Jul 07
I would think that paying your rent and your utility bills on time would give you a good credit rating, and perhaps ONE credit card. You don't have to have 5 to prove that you pay your bills because you'll probably find yourself in the situation where you won't be able to pay all five bills.
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@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
19 Jul 07
Aargh that is why I don't want anymore. I don't see the need to get anymore but he thinks we need more so that it will help increase our credit ratings which are excellent anyway - what we have now should be enough and in time be able to establish a good enough credit history to eventually buy the one thing I have always wanted, was to own our own house. It really doesn't make sense to me why he would want more.
@mgmagana (3618)
• United States
20 Jul 07
u don't need more than 2 credit cards, the more debt u have the worse it looks! then if u want to get a loan they look at things like ur income to debt ratio, and if u have too much debt it doesn't look good! but just b/c u open those cards doesn't mean anything, u have to use them and pay the bill on time so it shows on ur credit report!
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@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
20 Jul 07
Yup I am aware of that, but its trying to get through to my husband that we don't need anymore because we have more than enough already. Thanks for responding mgmagana.
@Rozie37 (15499)
• Turkmenistan
19 Jul 07
I attempted to establish credit and ended up with bad credit. They say that having no credit is the same as having bad credit? That is a bold face lie, trust me. Be very careful.
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@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
19 Jul 07
My husband was told that too and that is probably why he is wanting to get more. It just scares me having what we have right now - I don't want it to jeopardise our chances of eventually being able to own our own home. Thanks Rozie!
@mummymo (23706)
18 Jul 07
Well sweetheart I really don't know much about establishing a credit history in the US but from what you say it sounds as though your credit history is good at the moment and I would agree with you that you needn't get in too deep - that will probably affect your credit rating negatively! Talk with your hubby and explain your fears and why you don't want to take too much on! xxx
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@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
19 Jul 07
Thank you mummymo :) This is one of the reasons I needed some advice so I can explain to him why I feel the way I do. I needed to hear what others felt about having too many credit cards and whether it is a good thing or not. I need to get that through his head that what we have is plenty and that the more cards or whatever we get is going to affect our rating bigtime. Thanks again my friend :)
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@mummymo (23706)
19 Jul 07
Good Luck Sweetheart - remember to be patient and spell things out - you know what men are like! lol xxx
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@Gemmygirl1 (2867)
• Australia
20 Jul 07
I have a thing about credit cards, don't get any more though coz you will get yourself in to trouble if you have too many that need to be paid. Credit here in Oz does apply to credit cards but it also applies to other things - our credit history is looked at by things you hire purchase - as in, getting a fridge (for example) via hire purchase so you pay it off monthly until you pay it outright. You can also get a small personal loan & the ability to pay it back without any hiccups goes towards a credit history as well. It probably wouldn't hurt to have a 2nd car, get it on finance, that will help your credit rating as well. You don't need perfect credit history though, if you make a mistake, they do look past things like that after a certain amount of time. Why do you want a credit history anyway?
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
20 Jul 07
Hi Gemmygirl, what your describing is what happens in New Zealand also. The system here in USA works so much differently and they base everything on your credit history and score. It's even hard to get a small loan or credit card or department card if you don't have a good enough credit, or no credit history at all which is where we are coming from, being new to USA. I hope that makes sense.
@charms88 (7538)
• Philippines
19 Jul 07
I'm not sure how the credit card system work in your country. But I'm very satisfied with using one credit card at the moment while having some other cards from various establishments where we earned points while purchasing their items. We can used the points earned in exchange for a nice rebates. I have friends who are holder of 4 or more credit cards. They told me that each credit card company have their own freebies being offered every once in a while and it actually help them save more.
• United States
19 Jul 07
One thing I have been told is not to have too many credit cards because that acutally hurts. What you can do is never carry a balance on your credit cards. Always pay it off as soon as you can, and that will help you greatly!
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@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
19 Jul 07
Thank you djbizmonkey, appreciate your comment.
• United States
18 Jul 07
i wouldnt keep applying for them. actually, the more cards you have, the worse ur credit history is. every time you apply for a new card, you take a hit on your score. it is best to apply for all of the cards that you want to apply for within 7 days. for some reason you dont take as many hits on ur history.
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@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
19 Jul 07
Thank you sparkie, I was not aware of that - that is something I need to tell my husband. I really don't want anymore credit cards. thanks for responding.