topic Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction" in Credit Cards

The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 20:19:30 GMT

I think we can all agree that these forums are amazing! An absolute GREAT resource to many of us!

However, I feel that I everytime I get really re-engaged in the multiple topics around the fourm (and learn tons), I begin to get the "myFico itch." I want to start pulling my reports like crazy, look for new cards to app for, and call all my banks and request APR reductions and CLIs.

When, I'm less active I live life a little more fully and don't worry as much about the above...this is all kind-of funny. But, I was wondering if you all felt the same? In essence, the forums (asthey new this before launching them) help customers as well as sell their products (which really are good qaulity).

In the end, I use to have a the "bad credit disease", I've been cured thanks to my "myFico.com medication;" however, there are some long-term side effects, lol.

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 20:30:05 GMT

Sometimes the cure is worse then the disease!

Message Edited by krystofur on 02-01-2008 12:30 PM

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 20:33:57 GMT

pjriverap wrote:
I think we can all agree that these forums are amazing! An absolute GREAT resource to many of us!

However, I feel that I everytime I get really re-engaged in the multiple topics around the fourm (and learn tons), I begin to get the "myFico itch." I want to start pulling my reports like crazy, look for new cards to app for, and call all my banks and request APR reductions and CLIs.

When, I'm less active I live life a little more fully and don't worry as much about the above...this is all kind-of funny. But, I was wondering if you all felt the same? In essence, the forums (asthey new this before launching them) help customers as well as sell their products (which really are good qaulity).

In the end, I use to have a the "bad credit disease", I've been cured thanks to my "myFico.com medication;" however, there are some long-term side effects, lol.

PJ- you will get over it in time. And yes, in the beginning most of the people do pull their reports very frequently or use a daily monitoring service. Going from not paying your bills to pulling reports could be seen as a good thing

After a while you will see that pulling from Fico itself that once a quarter is genrally good.

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 20:38:11 GMT

PS- again , going from not paying bills to being totally aware is a great step up!!

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 20:39:02 GMT

ya know i was just think ing about this. whoever thought of selling fico scores through a forum should have negotiated a piece of the action. if they didn't fair isac should go hat in hand with a huge bonus check.

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 20:55:35 GMT

pjriverap wrote:
I think we can all agree that these forums are amazing! An absolute GREAT resource to many of us!

However, I feel that I everytime I get really re-engaged in the multiple topics around the fourm (and learn tons), I begin to get the "myFico itch." I want to start pulling my reports like crazy, look for new cards to app for, and call all my banks and request APR reductions and CLIs.

When, I'm less active I live life a little more fully and don't worry as much about the above...this is all kind-of funny. But, I was wondering if you all felt the same? In essence, the forums (asthey new this before launching them) help customers as well as sell their products (which really are good qaulity).

In the end, I use to have a the "bad credit disease", I've been cured thanks to my "myFico.com medication;" however, there are some long-term side effects, lol.

Yep, I agree completely, but I have found that living by a few "rules" helps me control my desire to both apply for new cards and pull my scores too frequently. It's kind of complicated, but it works for me.

This is my system. I know this kind of thing doesn't work for everyone, but hey, I'm a software developer; this "rule-oriented" approach is just a result of the way I think.

Rule #1) Only pull one score per month, on a rotating basis. To some this may sound like a lot. To me this is just right. It's an ongoing expense of about $12 per month. I can live with that.

Rule #2) Keep a wishlist, and don't apply for anything that hasn't been on that list for at least 3 months. This rule lets me avoid impulsive apping.

Rule #3) Don't apply for new credit until I know what my score is on the day that I apply, and only apply if the score is higher than the last time I pulled it.

So, let's say I decide I want an Amex Platinum. It goes onto the wishlist, and I have to wait three months before I even consider it again. If I still want it three months later, then rule #3 kicks in, and now I have to wait until I'm allowed to pull EX according to Rule #1, which could be another couple of months. If EX has gone down since the last time I pulled it, I have to wait until EX's turn rolls around again three months later, and hope it has recovered in the meantime.

With this system, I always have at least a 3-5 month "cooling off" period before I apply for something. It's worked well for me so far.

Message Edited by cheddar on 02-01-2008 12:55 PM

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

rred4 — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 21:46:20 GMT

I was just thinking about this, I spend so much money on MYFico scores that I could have paid back some of my old collections. My TU is only 15 days old but I want to see how my Hooters Card uti effects my score so I have to pull again.

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

score_building — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:01:05 GMT

the thread i started called "confessions of a closeted fico addict' could essentially be merged with this one or others -i'm sure.. it's funny how (at least for me at first) you think you're the only one feeling the effects of new found fico moxy as a near addiction. It is nice to know it is sort of the nature of the beast from what i've been reading (for hours a day )and that there are a host of effective coping mechanisms one can employ at will (not the least of which is The Fico Sleigh Center for Appaholics) and i love your cardinal 3 rules which i'll incorporate into my personal arsenal of fico restraint techniques, if ya don't mind...

Message Edited by score_building on 02-01-2008 02:01 PM

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:00:06 GMT

I does take a huge amount of time form my day. On the bright side it helps pass the hours wen it's slow.

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:22:36 GMT

Hey cheddar, that's an amazing system. You should sell it to S. Orman!

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

brendogg27 — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:53:22 GMT

Cheddar,

You're a freakin genius! I find myself addicted to this website. I use to be addicted to chatting but now this has taken its place. The sad thing is I've been home for 15 minutes and this is the first thing i went after. I NEED HELP!

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 23:04:57 GMT

brendogg27 wrote:
Cheddar,

You're a freakin genius! I find myself addicted to this website. I use to be addicted to chatting but now this has taken its place. The sad thing is I've been home for 15 minutes and this is the first thing i went after. I NEED HELP!

This is a GOOD ADDICTION. I liken it to becoming an excercise freak- if that's the worst thing we are addicted too that all is A O K.

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 01:06:21 GMT

Cheddar - I truly love the system!! I'm going to adopt it! Thanks!

Krystofur - you are hilarious: "sell it to Sue O."!!!!!!!

Message Edited by pjriverap on 02-01-2008 05:06 PM

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 03:32:22 GMT

I'm sooo addicted. I just started posting here but Ive been lurking for a while. At one point I started feeling soooo lame because all I could think about was how I could get my score higher. I started wanting to pull scores everyday. Thats what led me to score watch from EQ. I still get anxious for the first week in the month because thats when I usually get updates lol.

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 03:58:22 GMT

Wow. Didn't expect responses like that.

Everyone who likes the system, yeah of course, adopt it, edit it, modify it, scratch it, do whatever you like with it.

It's not a magic bullet, though. There's nobody making you follow the rules except yourself. You need at least a little bit of self-control in the first place.

Mostly that system lets me come up with an excuse why I shouldn't app if I get the urge to, but it also gives me a target date to look forward to. For example, I have wanted to join Delta CCU for a while. It's been on my wishlist for like 6 months.

But I haven't done it yet because they pull EQ, and when I pulled EQ in January it was 700, down from 711 the last time I pulled it. So now I have to wait until April, and hopefully I'll be able to apply then because EQ will be above 700 and moving in the right direction.

But that's OK that I have to wait. If I didn't have this system in place I probably would have apped for about 6 cards in the last 2 months. As it is, it means that every one of my apps is well thought out and part of a bigger plan.

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 04:37:48 GMT

I still pull my CRs every day. All 3. I try to skip a day. The urge is too powerful. Must pull! lol. The only way to break the addiction is to reach 850.

Message Edited by ilovepizza on 02-01-2008 08:37 PM

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

llecs — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 13:57:32 GMT

There are no side effects ......twitch....twitch..........to the MyFICO Addiction. We are all..........twitch.........here to get some useful........twitch.....twitch.........knowledge and know-how. I'm sure.......twitch........we all benefited from this.............twitch.

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 14:01:33 GMT

Nothing like saying "LOL" out loud to your boss over the phone, LOL.

twitch ... twitch ...

Re: The Negative Side of the "MyFICO Addiction"

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 23:17:46 GMT

I have only bought scores twice Dec and Jan ---hopefully i will graduate from pulling once a month all 3 to pulling all 3 once every 3 months--to hopefully just semi annually--no big purchases coming up so hopefully I can manage --I figure besides checking to make sure things are correct all should be well if I keep paying on time and doing my part to make my scores increase versus decrease --