@NRB525 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I have never carried a balance on my credit cards before (other than two accidental late payments, one in 2008 and one in 2009). I had to take my boyfriend to the emergency room on two occaisions a couple of weeks ago, and today, we got the bills (insert scary music here). As soon as I saw the bills, I called the hospital, knowing that they have a discounted rate if you pay your full balance soon after the date of the bill. I was able to score a 25% discount, but had to pay it then. I put it on my Discover It card, which has a 0% promo interest rate for a while (since I just got the card in April). I could have paid it out of my emergency fund, but I thought it would be just as easy to do it this way. What do you guys think? Boyfriend will just make the payments to me and I will pay off the balance as he pays me. I know it will get paid, since we have lived together for nearly a decade and he has never not paid me back for anything, but I am still a little unsettled about carrying a balance. I assume I will see a drop in scores temporarily for utilization. Can I expect any other side affects from this?
1 - Sorry to hear about the medical emergency. Hopefully everything works out, and he gets back to 100% soon.
2 - Kudos for getting the 25% early bird discount. I'd have let that ride on the Discover. DBF is going to need that emergency fund as he gets back on his feet? He may have the cash now to pay it, but can his cash flow for the next few months handle it?
3 - You have quite a wide difference, 65 points, between TU and EX/EQ. Why is that? You've got a long credit history, how much impact are these two lates? Anything else causing that 65 point gap between the 3 scores?
4 - Could you please clarify your statement "I have never carried a balance". Do you let any cards report any balance on any statement?
Because, with your long credit history, even with a couple of lates, you only have $10,500 of regular credit card lines? And if those are on 4 0% Offers (implying they are relatively recent card apps?) that you aren't using, what other regular (not store) credit cards have you had?
Good luck certainly, I'm just trying to understand your overall credit picture.
Great questions. I'll try to answer them fully. I love any input from all on my situation.
1. Thank you. He is already feeling great again.
2. This is a great question. I can handle all of our bills on my income alone, so we won't be in any immediate danger if his cash runs low. Luckily, we don't have any debt other than my student loan (which is a little over 5K) and just regular monthly expenses. But that it something to think about. It would be manageble, but tight, if his cash reserve ran low.
3. I think I can explain the difference in the reports. The two late payments from 2008-2009 are on my oldest card (the Fashion Bug card). The late payments are reporting on EX and EQ, but not on my TU. All other accounts on the reports are showing the same, so I have to discern that it is, indeed, these two 30-day late payments that are weighing down the scores on EX and EQ.
4. I usually rotate letting a balance report on different cards, but never more than a couple of dollars. All balances are paid before the statement cuts, unless it is the card that I choose to let report, in which case, the balance is paid directly after the statement cuts.
The Fashion Bug card was opened in 2006. I have had a couple of personal loans (very old, most are falling off of the reports now). All of the other accounts in my signature were just opened in April-May of 2015. I basically ignored credit for a few years and used cash/debit only. Both QS1s, Discover, and Amex are all on 0% offers right now because they are all new accounts. About Around 2002 I did have an Orchard Bank card (with horrible terms) that I defaulted on (typical young person credit card mistakes. It had a $300 limit. No trace of that on my reports now).
